Ninety-year-old Dorothy Yost recently reached a milestone after she knitted her 1,000th sweater for charity in March.
For the last 25 years, Yost, of Battle Ground, has crafted the clothing which is given to children in need.
On Tuesday, April 11, Yost took it a step further as she worked to create sweater number 1,002. She plans to continue making sweaters for as long as she can and hopes to reach the milestone of 1,100.
“During the second world war, I learned to knit while I was in the second grade,” Yost said. “We were knitting for the soldiers. I knitted a hat and my sister knitted a sweater.”
Her love for knitting continued on after that.
After Yost knits a handful of sweaters, she then donates them to Open House Ministries in Vancouver, which is a family shelter. According to its website, Open House Ministries houses over 100 residents a night and more than half of their residents are homeless children.
While her efforts are focused on the family shelter in Vancouver, Yost said The Salvation Army and other charities that help children are also good candidates to donate to.
Yost gets her sweater pattern inspiration and designs from Knit for Kids. The nationwide program “unites thousands of volunteer knitters to fight poverty with our knitting needles,” states the organization’s website. Founded in 1996, its members have provided over half a million children with clothing items.
Yost said she favors classic knit patterns. The blue and white sweater she crafted on April 11, featured intricate lines and blocks of baby blue.
“I would encourage anybody to (knit sweaters),” Yost said.
Yost grew up on a farm in Ridgefield. Some of the farm’s former land currently houses the Tri-Mountain Golf Course. She has been a resident of Battle Ground since 1953 and has lived in the same house for 60 years.
Those who want to help Yost provide more sweaters can donate knitting supplies like yarn to the Battle Ground Baptist Church, who will then give the items to Yost.
“It’s been very interesting and it’s something I can do because I’m 90 years old,” Yost said. “It’s something that I can do and that way I feel that I’m accomplishing something.”
Yost said women at Battle Ground Baptist Church and at other churches in North Clark County also make quilts or knit clothing items.
She noted there is a need for more people to get involved so they can continue to provide area charities with clothing to children in need.
