600 Monsters Strong

Hello, guys!

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Have you heard of the "600 Monsters Strong" Movement?" No? Let me tell you all about it. Shortly after the tragic shootings in Newtown Connecticut, this group was born. At first, the intent was to have knitters and crocheters create cuddly monster pals to give to kids that were students at Sandy Hook Elementary. That goal was soon expanded. As news of the group spread through social media, the membership numbers grew. Within the first few days, they had over 1000 members!

Given the fact that Newtown was overcome with media, grief and the task of burying those precious victims, it was proving difficult to get the monsters to the school and town. They just had so much going on and the admins of the group weren't going to bother them too much during that trying time.  600 Monsters Strong wasn't daunted at all by this and decided that given that, plus the large amount of interest in the cause, that they would not just focus on Sandy Hook Elementary, but any kids that were affected by gun violence.

I know that some of you might ask "why monsters? I say, "why not?" What's better to ward off "bad things" than your very own monster! That, plus there are so many versions of "monster" that it opens it up for tons of different crocheted and knitted pals. That just makes it even more fun!

I've actually made two monsters myself. I just need to get them to the post office. I keep waiting because I want to make another monster to go with them. Three just seems like a better number for me, but life keeps interrupting me. I have too many crafts. I'm not sure that's a really bad problem to have though.

My goofy crocheted monster. The Pattern was  "Baby Uglee" with modifications by me for the eyes

My knitted monster, "Peter" from the pattern "Penelope the Empathetic Monster" 

So, you want to make a monster of your own for the cause? There are a few guidelines.

• The eyes must be either safety eyes or  embroidered/sewed on. (don't want any little ones choking on things like buttons)
• Must be washable. Acrylic is preferred as it holds up well
• Must be between 9-12 inches tall. A good huggable size but not too big
• No "x" as eyes and try to steer clear of red if you can. (they just don't want a group of all red monsters for obvious reasons although I didn't see this before making mine.)
• For information or to join the movement (if you're on Ravelry click here). If you're on Facebook, click here

The group also posts photos of received monsters on their Instagram page and on their Facebook. I love watching all the monsters that come in. As far as I am aware, they are also now accepting sewn monsters! Check the group for details on that. 

Want to help but can't make a monster? You're in luck. 600 Monsters Strong has an Amazon wishlist for needed supplies. You can check it out here. 

Isn't this just the sweetest idea? I know that when these terrible events happen, many of us want to do something, we just don't know what. Everything seems "too small" like it doesn't matter. In my opinion, that's not the case. You don't know how much one little monster can comfort a child. Something that happened to me once reminds me of this fact. I had given a bunch of hand knitted baby hats to a local hospital. I had 32 little hats but I felt as if nobody would care. A nurse stopped a lady who was leaving the hospital with her new baby.  They let her pick out a hat and she put it on her baby boy. It was adorable. Before she left, she turned to me and with the most serious face, thanked me profusely for giving her baby a gift and told me to keep doing what I was doing because so many people would appreciate it. 

That being said, I hope you can do good wherever you can. Maybe it's not a monster, maybe it's donating to a food pantry or helping an elderly neighbor? Whatever it is, do something. Even if it's a small thing, it could mean the world to someone else.

Until next time, happy crafting~