The Busy Fingers knitting group lived up to its moniker in 2024, producing more than 3,000 items for veterans and other seniors, local women’s shelters, victims of fire who have been left out in the cold and anyone else in need of warmth during Ottawa’s long winters.

Started in 2010 by Orléans resident Eileen McCaughey, the group now consists of more than 300 women including a group of nuns near Québec City.

The core group of about 20-30 women, meets once a week in McCaughey’s South Fallingbrook home where they share their love of knitting and produce everything from small dolls and scarves to colourful afghans.

McCaughey, who is 90 years young, was in the middle of knitting an afghan in 2010 when her husband passed away just four days before Christmas. At the time, her son-in-law, who is a policeman, noticed what she was knitting the afghan and suggested she donate it to the Elder Abuse Section which could use it as a way to build trust with victims. Soon afterwards, McCaughey made other afghans for seniors who had suffered from elder abuse.

When word spread about her pet project, other knitters offered their services to help create the afghans.

Over the years, the group has grown to more than 300 members and includes chapters in the Breauce in Québec, London and Waterloo.

Many of the knitters are either widows, or empty-nesters who have plenty of free time on their hands. The youngest members are a group of students at Le Prélude school in Chapel Hill.

The reaction of the veterans and other seniors who receive the group’s items is truly heart-warming.

“Some of them cry because they’ve never received anything like that in their lives and they are just so thankful,” says McCaughey. “It makes me so happy to be doing that. It keeps me busy and it makes me feel great. I like to help people. It’s what keeps me going.”

With so many knitters working on so many items, the group has been able to expand their scope beyond veterans to victims of crimes and fires, women’s shelters, long-term care centres and hospices. All of the items are given out by Christmas.

More recently, Eileen gave over dozen Afghans to an organization up north,

“By Christmas whatever I have has to go out because it is not warming anyone in my basement,” says McCaughey, who only has one rule, everything must be given away. “We don’t take any money for anything.”

The only thing the group does accept is yarn. In fact, if it wasn’t for donated yarn the group wouldn’t exist. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the group has been so busy, they are very quickly running low on a variety of different colours.

McCaughey is hoping that by getting the word out, the balls of yarn will start rolling in again.

Anyone who wants to make a donation can call her at 613-841-3641 to arrange for the yarn to be dropped off, or picked up by a volunteer.