#InStitches

The hashtag that lets your joy warm those in need.

A hashtag and the world’s first online knitting machine, working together by knitting a piece of a blanket every time the hashtag is used to share something funny.

We love funny stuff. 

Jokes, pics, videos, fails, bails and funny emails.

And you know what else we love doing? Sharing it all.

Forward it. Repeat it. Copy and paste it. Set it free. 

A good laugh can go around the world in 80 milliseconds or faster and a good laugh is one of the most powerful things out there. It warms hearts and lifts spirits.

But what if we could make all these giggles and gaggles, cackles and chuckles actually do some good for someone who has no reason to laugh?

What if simply sharing a good joke could help keep someone without a home just a little warmer in winter? 

That’s the aim of our Pioneering Idea, turning social activism into real caring action:

#InStitches: The hashtag that lets your joy warm those in need.

It works by letting people to share the things that make them laugh and smile, as they already do, but by adding #InStitches to their tweets or posts, they can actually make a difference to someone left out in the cold. 

How? 

Enter the Twitter Knitter.

A Rasberry Pi or Aurduino interface hooked-up to the internet on one end and to a motorised knitting machine on the other, and programmed to knit a row of stitches for a blanket every time #InStitches is used to share something fun. Completed blankets are then given to the homeless to keep them warm during the winter.

The beauty of this mechanism? 

One joke with the hashtag, retweeted a hundred or so times, can result in a single blanket being knitted, keeping one person warmer when the next cold spell comes around.

And why stop at blankets? The machine can be programmed to knit sweaters, scarves, socks, hats and gloves.

Local artists in the city whose homeless we want to help can design the patterns for the various items the Twitter Knitter makes. 

Throw in a comedian or twenty to get behind the campaign and who knows how many stitches we could create, all by simply sharing the laughter and the joy that we already do.

That’s comic reflief in action.