Lion Brand Yarn, Faber-Castell Team Up to Help Kids Stomp Out Bullying

A special edition of the Creativity for Kids Quick Knit Loom makes it easier for youth to get involved with the anti-bullying campaign #HatNotHate.

On Sep 16, 2020

Carlstadt-based Lion Brand Yarn Company and Faber-Castell USA, based in Cleveland, OH, announced the release of the #HatNotHate special edition Quick Knit Loom, a fun and meaningful kit for crafters ages seven and older, produced through Faber-Castell’s Creativity for Kids^® brand. The collaboration is designed to support #HatNotHate, an anti-bullying campaign and Lion Brand’s premier advocacy initiative. The kit allows crafters of any skill level to create two EZ-knit blue hats. Blue hats are the key assets of the #HatNotHate campaign.

“We couldn’t be happier about partnering with Creativity for Kids on the #HatNotHate Quick Knit Loom kit,” said Shira Blumenthal, brand ambassador for Lion Brand Yarn and founder of #HatNotHate. “With this easy-to-use product, children and adults who may not have been able to knit or crochet and want to contribute to the campaign can now use the kit’s simple materials to make not one, but two blue hats, which they can either donate or keep as they stand with us in solidarity against bullying.”

Founded by Blumenthal in 2018, #HatNotHate was born from its creator’s own experience with youth bullying at the hands of a female classmate. Determined to ensure that bullying is no longer dismissed as an accepted part of growing up, and that no other child has to endure what she did, Blumenthal began collecting homemade, blue stitched hats from across the globe and distributing them to U.S. schools, culminating each year with a vast show of solidarity during National Bullying Prevention Month in October.

“Our mission is to enrich lives through creativity and self-expression, and that starts with childhood creativity,” said Jamie Gallagher, CEO of Faber-Castell® USA. “With #HatNotHate, we saw an opportunity to foster that creative confidence in a whole new way, and even more importantly, share it with others. Bullying can often stifle the self-expression of our youth, and with this kit, we’re proud to help Shira and #HatNotHate prevent that from happening.”

Contained within the kit is everything a crafting novice needs to jump on board with #HatNotHate, including four balls of blue yarn, one round loom, one tassel/pom pom maker, one loom hook, one plastic needle, two needle threaders, and two branded #HatNotHate faux leather tags. Crafters can follow along with the kit’s clearly written instructions and online video to complete two hats.

The release of the #HatNotHate Quick Knit Loom Kit is perfectly timed with the recent announcement that #HatNotHate’s 2020 campaign goal of collecting 100,000 hats has been extended into 2021, meaning there’s plenty of time for those who purchase the kit to keep contributing to the #HatNotHate cause. While 2020 has been a landmark year for #HatNotHate, including an official partnership with like-minded LGBTQ youth charity The It Gets Better Project, concerns around health and safety have resulted in the postponement of educational, in-person #HatNotHate assemblies at schools across the country. They will resume, along with hat distribution, in October of next year.

“We’re thrilled that the #HatNotHate Quick Knit Loom kit will make it possible for more crafters, young and old, to continue to support #HatNotHate,” Gallagher said, “and we’re excited that Faber-Castell’s Creativity for Kids can be on this journey with the #HatNotHate community as it stretches into the new year.”

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