Prison Dolls

“You have to watch what you’re doing, otherwise your stitches will become loose or tight or you’ll skip stitches. It almost makes you feel like you don’t have to be anything. You’re all sitting there knitting. You can just be yourself.”
 — An inmate in the popular Knitting Behind Bars program describes the zen of stitching, which a retired 67-year-old brought to the Maryland prison system in 2005. The knitters’ first project was comfort dolls (above), which they donated to children who’d been removed from their homes due to domestic violence, and after that they made hats, which they donated to inner-city elementary-school kids. One man, out on parole, is currently making a beaded scarf. (And these photos are great for, ah, a number of reasons.)

[Photo via Knitting Behind Bars]