THE EXTREME knitting projects, mentioned here and here, are a radical departure from traditional knitting. Reader Karen I. writes of another form of the craft:

Kendra’s description of the Craft Mafia and their work is disturbing. 

Many women knit for charity, in the privacy of their homes or in small groups. They make things like prayer shawls. While knitting the prayer shawls, they pray for the recipient, who is often someone they will never see as the shawls are distributed by churches to people in difficult situations. I received a prayer shawl when I was in the hospital recovering from major surgery. It was beautiful, and I was comforted by the fact that someone cared enough to take so much time and expense (it was made of lovely yarn) to knit a prayer shawl for me. I remember lying under a pile of blankets in quite a bit of pain while I recovered at home. I somehow found so much comfort in the shawl that I could not sleep until it was placed on top of the pile of blankets. 

The prayer shawl knitters and others who knit for charity are like the anti-Craft Mafia. They work in peace and quiet, spreading kindness where it is needed most and never asking for anything in return.

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