Getting involved with knitting for Ukraine has shown me that we do not have to feel completely helpless when watching the news from thousands of miles away.
For me, discovering Common Man for Ukraine and picking up my needles became a clear and tangible way to send a direct message of love, support, and hope straight to the people who need it most.
Every single stitch carries warmth to frontline villages where families face bitter winter temperatures with sporadic heat and electricity.
I have been chatting to Susan Mathison from Common Man for Ukraine, and she has answered everything you’ll need to know about knitting for Ukraine, how to donate, and exactly how your handmade gifts help families on the front lines.
Knowing that a handmade item can bring real relief to an innocent soul living through such terrible circumstances shows that our crafting community has an incredible power to heal and comfort.
The impact of knitting for Ukraine
When you join the effort of knitting for Ukraine, your work travels thousands of miles with Common Man for Ukraine to reach families living in frontline villages.
These handmade knitted gifts offer comfort to mothers trying to keep their children warm, bring a sense of normal childhood to little ones living with air raid sirens, and provide vital support to elderly and disabled villagers.
These labors of love remind vulnerable families that they are absolutely not alone and that people far away are actively supporting them.
Knitting for Ukraine: What to knit and how to donate
If you are sitting at home wondering, “where can i donate knitted items for ukraine?” you can get involved directly through the charity Common Man for Ukraine.
My Magic Heel Socks are great for charity knitting because one heel can accommodate various size feet.
In the full interview below, Susan breaks down everything you need to know to get started. She shares exactly which items their convoys have room for, the best yarn choices to beat the below-zero winter temperatures, how your packages are transported to the front lines, and the incredible families who receive them.
An Interview From Common Man For Ukraine
Susan Mathison from Common Man for Ukraine was kind enough to answer a few questions about how crafters can support their mission with handmade items.
1. Can you tell us how the knitting and crochet donation program began, and what need it was created to fill?
The knitting project began completely organically. A couple of knitters approached us to ask if they could knit hats for the children and families living in front line villages in Ukraine. During one of our humanitarian aid convoys in late 2024, we delivered several hundred hand knit hats, socks, and mittens. People at the front line, living with air raid sirens, bombing, sporadic electricity and heat, and limited food supplies in rural areas in far eastern Ukraine were immensely grateful for these knitted items.
When we returned to the United States, we were approached by a knitter who asked if she could outreach to her knitting network to solicit knitted items from other knitters across the United States. We were OVERWHELMED with the response! We call it the Miracle of the Hats! In December, 2025 we departed for Ukraine with over 6,000 hand knit hats, mittens and socks from all over the United States! They were delivered to dozens of frontline villages to grateful hands, heads, feet, and hearts!
2. When you deliver handmade items to people in Ukraine, who typically receives them, and what do those gifts mean to the people who receive them?
The knitted items travel with us to Poland, then are loaded into our convoy of aid trucks. We travel nearly 2,000 miles across Ukraine to frontline villages outside Kherson, Kharkiv, Odessa, and Zaporizhzhia. People in these under-resourced rural villages meet our convoys near their village center, arriving by foot and bicycle to receive a delivery of non-perishable food, our knitted items, and small gifts for the children.
The photos and videos on our website tell the tale. The photos show the moment of relief to a mother trying to keep her children warm, a reminder to a child of a childhood marked by play instead of bombing, or an elderly or disabled villager receiving enough food for the coming month. We deliver hope, messages of love and support and the knowledge that these brave Ukrainians are not alone, that people thousands of miles away are thinking of and supporting them.
3. Is there a particular story or moment from one of your trips to Ukraine that has stayed with you and reminds you why this work matters?
On the December, 2025 trip, we were delivering our knitted items and I spent a great deal of time with the women and children who were selecting hats and socks. It was joyful chaos. I stepped away from the group and looked at the feet of the crowd. That seems like an odd thing to do, but what I saw moved me deeply.
In the frigid snowy and rainy day, people arrived from cold homes, wearing multiple layers of clothing, evidently everything they had. Sweaters, coats, and cotton bathrobes layered for warmth. Their feet wore oversized boots, plastic clogs, and socks-stuffed into flip-flops in the muddy streets. I imagined their toes stuffed into ill-fitting shoes, boots that had cracked soles and clearly had walked too-many miles. Wet socks in flip flops belied bone-chilling cold.
I was heartened as they looked through giant duffle bags of hand knit labors of love that would help keep warm these victims of war. Not only would they have a warm wool hat or a pair of cozy wool socks, they would know that someone, far away, spent hours thinking of them, sending them warmth and messages of love and support.
4. What types of handmade items are needed most right now, and are there any specific guidelines knitters and crocheters should follow when making donations
We prefer to deliver wool or wool-blend items. Ukraine’s winters are bitter cold, often below zero for weeks on end. Socks, mittens, and hats are welcome. Because we carry these items with us in duffle bags, we do NOT have room for blankets or scarves. We hope to carry at least another 6,000 items to Ukraine’s front lines in December 2026.
5. Many knitters may feel that one pair of socks or one hat can’t make much difference. What would you say to someone who is wondering whether their contribution really matters?
I was taught a wonderful lesson by one of our generous knitters. She explained that knitting a hat or a pair of socks for someone in a war zone far, far away was a clear and tangible way to provide real help. For a knitter, she said, knowing that she could knit something that would help a person in such terrible circumstances was actually a gift to her, the knitter!
She thanked me for the opportunity to make a difference, for one innocent soul, who is suffering. For her, the knitter and for the Ukrainian, one hat made a real difference. When we deliver 6,000 knitted items, just think about the multiplying effects of all these messages of love.
6. If readers of The Autumn Acorn would like to get involved, what is the best way for them to participate and support Common Man Ukraine’s mission?
We hope everyone who cares about the innocent victims of war in Ukraine, particularly the children, will visit our website at commonmanforukraine.org and learn about our trauma counseling retreats for children whose fathers have been killed in the war, retreats for their widowed mothers and our humanitarian aid convoys to safe houses and front-line villages. Please consider a donation for the shipment and delivery of these precious knitted items, a sponsorship of a solar lantern for a child, a pallet of food delivered to the front lines, or more.
For knitting donations, please contact our Knitting Coordinator, Pam at pamonroy@aol.com.
Thank you for caring about the innocent children of war in Ukraine!
