This Season, Give The Gift Of A Meditative Hobby — With A Charitable Component

Welcome to Extra Gifted, our hub for all of 2019's superlatively superior presents worthy of a moment in the spotlight. We’ll unveil a new pick every day in December, so watch this space for the best of the best in giftitude to suit every price point and person on your list (even if that person is you).

Have you heard about 11-year-old “crochet prodigy” Jonah Larson, a middle school-resident of LaCrosse, Wisconsin who taught himself to knit at age 5 from a YouTube video, and thanks his lightning-fast fabrication skills and a social-media savvy mom, quickly amassed an Instagram follower count of over 200,000? No? Neither had we, until we found ourselves browsing the website of We Are Knitters, one of our favorite purveyors of knitting supplies and kits, and stumbled across a charitable collaboration featuring the handiwork of the pint-sized knitwear whiz.

We Are Knitters is a Madrid, Spain-based company that offers a plethora of crafternoon-ready goods: wooden knitting needles and crochet hooks; sumptuous, cozy yarn blends in wool and alpaca; and pre-assembled kits for would-be makers (in additional to a host of tutorials and blog posts to guide knitters of all levels). The kits come equipped with everything you need to make a loomed item of your choice: a sweater, scarf, or blanket — or, in the case of their collaboration with Larson, a “charity beanie” that benefits Roots Ethiopia.

Jonah — who runs a website and online store called Jonah’s Hands and has authored a book about his practice — designed the oversized, pom-pom adorned beanie himself, and partnered with We Are Knitters to create the kit using their premium fiber. “Their chunky yarn is soft and beautiful and it glides easily through my [crochet] hook,” he said on their blog earlier this year, “I really like the variety of rich colors.” (So do we, Jonah! Customers can choose from over 29 tones to combine in the dual-hued design.) We also like the opportunity to contribute to community-building and education efforts in Ethiopia, where Jonah was born. With all of these positive elements at play, a purchase of the Charity Beanie may be the best $60 you’ll ever spend.