On my recent trip to Oslo Strikkefestival I noticed many people knitting simple garter stitch scarves. I commented about this to another visitor at the festival, and her first question was: "Were they orange?". She then explained to me about this huge charity knitting project in Norway. The project was organised by Kirkens Bymisjon, a charity organisation that helps people who are struggling with their daily life in various ways. The idea was that people will knit orange scarves, "oransje skjerf", and they will keep someone warm in the winter. There was also a special yarn for the project, also named #oransjeskjerf, that was sold in yarn shops and NOK 5 of each ball would go to Kirkens Bymisjon.

Once I saw the yarns at Heimen Husfliden, I decided to participate, and bought the four balls that the basic garter stitch scarf would take. Instructions were on the ball band, and they can also be found on Kirkens Bymisjon's website. I quickly read through the instructions, and learned that you can knit any pattern you want (and with any yarn, as long as it's orange). As a plain garter stitch scarf sounded a bit boring, I decided to use my own Helmipöllö Scarf pattern that I've used for charity projects before.


Helmipöllö Scarf has more stitches than the basic Oransjeskjerf pattern, so I could've used one more ball of yarn for some added length. I do believe this will be a warm scarf for someone, though, as there's enough to wrap around your neck. The yarn is a mix of wool (65%) and alpaca (35%), so it should be extra warm.

The Norwegian project had ended before I got started with my scarf, so I won't be sending this one to Norway. However, we have similar organisations here in Finland that I can donate my scarf to. I'm thinking of Sininauhasäätiö that gives socks and other warm hand knits to homeless people.

Disclaimer: I don't speak Norwegian, so I might have misunderstood some of the information on Kirkens Bymisjon website. Please correct me if you notice anything wrong!