Knitted Comfort Eases the Stress

Knitting blankets for traumatised children originally started as a simple thread of an idea from one Gisborne woman, but is now about to weave its way across New Zealand and beyond.

Joy Ashwell has spent more than a year knitting “cuddles for kids” as part of Gisborne’s Blanky Circle.

Every week she and about 70 others spend tireless hours looping, slipping, purling and ribbing to create blankets for distressed children after incidents such as car crashes or family violence.

The blankets are given to police, who then offer them to children when they are called out. More than 100 blankets have been given out already, and the circle plans to take it further.

“That would be my aim for next year. I don’t feel I own the idea. It’s an idea that has got to be shared,” Ms Ashwell said.

Rotorua and Taupo are among some of the New Zealand centres that have already shown interest in adapting their own Blanky Circle but it does not stop there.

“I’ve even had a lady from Wales contact me,” Ms Ashwell said.

“They have set up their own knitting circle where they all go down to the pub and knit once a week.”

Ms Ashwell plans to expand the circle nationwide by early next year.

She regularly works on the blankets while monitoring the police station front counter — where she volunteers.

A woman who came in recognised the blankets and “her eyes lit up”.

“She received blankets after a domestic violence incident and her kids got them. They just love them. They sleep with them and when they make their beds, they put them on their pillows.”

Ms Ashwell came up with the blankets idea a year ago.

As a teacher, she had always had an affinity for children, she said.

“I’ve always felt they are at the mercy of adults but really I’m just the front person for a whole lot of people. It’s not just me.”

Community safety officer Senior Constable Quentin Hollis said the blankets were a major help for police. Police could sometimes spend hours dealing with just one incident.

“If there are kids there it’s always a nice thing to pass on the blankets.”

He described the circle, which is strongly supported by the Women’s Institute, as “very, very generous women”.

The blankets are created from donations of wool and the knitters’ personal supply.