''Wrap with Love'' is an Australian charitable organisation, founded in 1992 by Sonia Gidley-King, OAM, to produce

knitted Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

wraps (used as

blanket A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection. Etymology The term ...

s) as gifts for people who have exposed to the cold and susceptible to

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

and especially those who have experienced loss and trauma as a result of war. The wraps are knitted, transported and assembled by volunteers. Over 30,000 volunteers around Australia have been involved in the project and more than a quarter of a million woollen wraps have been produced. The wraps are created by knitting 28 equally sized squares in garter stitch, sewn together into

s of 4 x 7 squares. Although simple, this formula allows for an almost unlimited variety and the resulting wrap is a unique possession for its final owner. Some wraps incorporate a single stylised

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

as a symbol of their origin.

Knit-in

Detail of wrap square with kangaroo motif

In 2003, ABC Sydney Radio Station

702 ABC Sydney ABC Radio Sydney (official call sign: 2BL, formerly 2SB) is an ABC radio station in Sydney, Australia. It is the flagship station in the ABC Local Radio network and broadcasts on 702 kHz on the AM dial. The station transmits with a power ( C ...

and ABC Local Radio created the "knit in", so named after the " sit-in" form of direct action protest, to support the movement and increase awareness of the ''Wrap with Love'' cause. Presenter Angela Catterns is credited with the "Knit-In" idea. Other knitting events have been held at a variety of

community hall Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

s and local libraries across the country.

Collection and distribution

Finished wraps are collected by over twenty non-denominational and non-political aid agencies and taken to a warehouse in Alexandria, New South Wales from where they are distributed to other charities working directly with communities in need. For example, as of 2012

World Vision Australia World Vision Australia (WVA) is an ecumenical Christian non-governmental organisation based in Melbourne, Australia. It is a part of the ''World Vision International Partnership'' led by World Vision International. WVA is Australia's largest o ...

had distributed to

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, Rwanda, Burundi, Laos and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. In 2013 they distributed a further 10,180 hand-knitted blankets and wraps to Burundi,

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

, Mongolia, Swaziland,

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

References

External links

Wrap with Love website https://www.wrapwithlove.org/ Charities based in Australia Knitting organizations {{Australia-org-stub

Knit-in

Collection and distribution

See also

References

External links