The Crafty Ladies of Cotati

The Crafty Ladies of Cotati

By Lee Gant

“I knit blankets for babies in Hospice care; it makes me happy to know that these soft

blankets will comfort dying children…”

 Who does this? The Crafty Ladies of Cotati, California do.

Three years and still going strong, twenty retired ladies meet once a month in the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Hall to knit, crochet and quilt for people they don’t know.

“We share talent and skills, laughs, and donated yarn” Carol Martinez says. “Our closets get a little thin at times, but we use every little donated bit.”

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of viewing hundreds of hand made items before they were boxed up and delivered. A knitter myself, the quality and sheer amount of items that theses ladies made amazed me, but there was more… the room was filled with love, an overwhelming energy of sharing and caring.

I was blown away.

“We’ve made over 500 baby blankets and lap throws for Petaluma’s Birth Right, Beverly Manor, Petaluma Post Rehab and Country Villa, and Life

Pregnancy Services in Sebastopol.” I spoke to several of the ladies.

Too many to count, adorable preemie hats will warm wee little heads at Petaluma Valley Hospital and Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa.

More blankets, 237 hats and 161 scarves have been delivered to The Living Room and Catholic Charities Family Support Center in Santa Rosa as well

as COTS, a Petaluma kitchen serving over 124,000 meals a year to those in need.

“We recognize the need in our community, we cannot fill it all however, we are doing our best to help others and we do it with a big smile,” says Carol,

a sentiment shared by all the Crafty Ladies.

When asked to join them, I didn’t think I had time to help these Crafty Ladies knit for charity. I was wrong. Online friends answered my call for any

leftover yarn to help the Crafty Ladies continue doing what they love. The response was overwhelming.

I’ll find the time to deliver the boxes of yarn arriving at my house…and to add some of my own knitting to the table at the upcoming Crafts Fair where

the Crafty Ladies will sell a few things, so they can continue to warm the community with their generosity and love.

A volunteer, I teach the comfort of knitting to at risk kids in the community in the hopes that they will find that making something with their hands is

a great way to feel good about yourself. Apparently… giving it away is too.

Lee Gant is a knitter and volunteer in the community. 707-538-8874

And then the boxes of donated yarn from you all at Facebook arrived at my house…Wow, I hardly had room in my car. The Crafty Ladies went crazy!

   

Beautiful bright colors!

Some of the blankets from your donations!

Thank you all for your generous gift of yarn, I now sit with these Crafty Ladies once a month and crochet a quick baby hat…I can’t describe how good it feels to give back.