Knit a Condom Amulet!

Naomi of A Little Red Hen has been knitting condom amulets to raise awareness of safer sex for a while now, which you know if you’re been reading here since early last year. Concerned about rising rates of HIV infection among older adults, and the stigma against talking about sex in general, Naomi has been whipping up these visible reminders that protecting yourself isn’t shameful and chronicling her progress on her blog. The project has now expanded to include its own website and additional knitters, with a goal of “encourag[ing] other knitters to use leftover yarn (or buy one on-sale ball) and make these, get the message out.” Free patterns are available on the site for you to knit your own, and you can submit your own condom amulet project work to be featured on the site.

Now for the gushing…

I can’t believe these are so pretty. Just go look at this bra pouch version by Lisa Daehlin – a beautiful pink bra complete with a small pouch for stuffing with your favorite condom – or bus pass, or change, just like grandma used to do. I don’t normally go in for pink things, but this is gorgeous. Artist Amanda Gale has made a thong version. Likewise, Naomi makes the college-themed amulets, which are so clever – she was kind enough to send me an Oberlin one. I’d love to see colleges’ student health/sexual health/orientation folks making these available. If I’d known Naomi in college, and she’d been making these then, I totally would have made a costume for Safer Sex Night out of these puppies. Go look at them all, they’re stunning.