Random Acts of Kindness

I’ve been really lucky recently. Each month I take part in activities through the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry; this involves posting a wishlist and then looking through other people’s wishlists to see what I can gift to others.

Our post here has been somewhat unreliable recently and I don’t really have any spare wool that I could send on to others at the moment… well, I’ve got some but it’s well buried at the moment and I’m planning on digging it out at some point and sending it on to someone who’ll get some use from it.

I generally send postcards to people who are looking for those with a personalised message. I’ve got a selection of postcards from the island where I live but I’m hoping in the future to get a whole bunch of photos printed that I’ve taken around the place. It’d give me a bit more choice about the pictures I can send on to people and what I can say about the things in the pictures.

I also like to gift patterns on Ravelry. It’s nice and simple, you just select the pattern, say who you want it to go to, and then write a little message. It means you can give patterns to people who you might not otherwise have been able to send things to because of postal costs.

Each month I pick different way to decide who to gift patterns to. I’ve used a random number generator to select a random post and gifted a pattern from there, I’ve looked for someone who wants to make a particular item (like a cardigan) and gifted a pattern for that, I’ve also gifted a pattern for a particular craft; since I don’t crochet I like to gift crochet patterns for things I’d never be able to make myself.

I also like to gift the equivalent of what I’ve received. So I’ve got lots of gifts to pass on this month. I’m trying to select them from the wishlists of fellow April babies like myself this month.

I’ve recently received two boxes of yarn, both of which have travelled to me all the way from America. One contains Red Heart wool (among others) which I’ve heard a lot of people talking about online; it’s a red and black variegated mix and it’ll make a lovely monster, I’m sure. The other box which I received just last week is a selection of leftovers including Malabrigo wool, again it’s something I’ve heard a lot about but never dreamed of buying myself. It’s slightly variegated and there’s various different quantities as they’re leftovers from a beautiful blanket the previous owner made. They’re going to make some lovely hexipuffs.


I love that this group exists to give people a chance to pass on things that might otherwise have gone to waste.

I’ve also received a gift of a pattern as well; Scrat the Squirrel from Ice Age. I’m really excited to make him because it’s a pattern by a designer called Phoeny who is a bit of an artist. I’ve admired her patterns for ages but never gotten round to getting any for myself. I’m going to make him soon, though there are a couple of shades I want to pick up before I start to make sure he’s all the right colours.

I’m looking forward to ‘paying it forward’ and passing on some more interesting little gifts in the coming months, and cautiously excited about what might come my way in turn.