All posts tagged Knit for Peace

Hats (and mittens) off

I decided to have a bit of a rummage up in the loft last weekend and came across a box of crochet items that were originally made for sale. I haven’t had a stall at any event for a while, so these had slightly fallen off my radar and I decided to sort some out to donate to charity, adding them to the small collection of hats that I have made recently.

In the end, there were 13 hats and 5 pairs of fingerless mittens. These will be on their way to Knit for Peace very soon. In addition, I added three pairs of knitting needles to the box. Apparently KfP are always in need of needles suitable for double knitting wool – 3.75, 4 and 4.5 mm – so if you too have any of these sizes going spare, they’d be delighted to receive them.

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by The Snail of Happiness on June 27, 2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on June 27, 2019

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2019/06/27/hats-and-mittens-off/

Dame Hilary, in the Library, with the Knitting Needles

In the United States of America there is a network of Presidential libraries and a library has been established for every president since Herbert Hoover, each located in their home state. In the UK we don’t have such a network, so there is only a single Prime Ministerial library: Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden in Wales.

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Gladstone’s Library

Being the only Prime Ministerial library is not the only thing that makes this place unusual, it is also the largest (some sources say only) residential library in the country. It’s a place that has fascinated me ever since I first heard of it and so, when I saw that Knit for Peace were running a short knitting holiday there, I couldn’t resist.

Last Saturday, therefore, saw me arriving at this amazing building, ready to enjoy meeting other knitters in some impressive surroundings. Outside, there are gardens and an area of woodland, but it is the building that is really impressive, both outside:

and inside

The books are mainly history and theology, so no light reading, but they are accessible on the shelves and you can even sign them out if you are staying and take them back to your room to read. However, I wasn’t really there to read, I was there to knit, socialise and visit some woolly places… which is just what we did.

Upon arrival, we congregated in the sitting room, where I was surprised to be introduced to the founder of the Charities Advisory Trust (the parent organisation of Knit for Peace) Dame Hillary Blume. Two other members of staff also attended the weekend as well as a number of their regular volunteers, meaning that I got to hear lots about their work, from who curates the wool collections for the monthly raffle (which I won last autumn)to the compilation of the Good Gifts Catalogue and what day of the week they have cake in the office.

Each day we went out and about, visiting local wool producers/ retailers, making trips to Abakhan, Black Sheep Wools, The Lost Sheep Company and the Chester Wool Company/Fibrespates, returning to the library to knit and chat. To be honest there was rather more chatting than knitting, and indeed so much chatting that at least two of us (me being one) had to frog some of our work because we made mistakes whilst getting distracted by the conversations!

Black Sheep
Abakhan
Lost Wool Co.

So, the weekend was a great success – money was raised for the charity, lovely places were visited, knitting was knitted, crochet was crocheted, conversations were had and I made a hat from some of my raffle winnings (it will be returned to Knit for Peace, who will find it a good home).

That’s Dame Hilary in the middle
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by The Snail of Happiness on May 10, 2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on May 10, 2019

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2019/05/10/dame-hilary-in-the-library-with-the-knitting-needles/

Pampered pooches

I regularly support Knit for Peace (a wonderful charity) with donations or entering their regular raffles. I’m not generally lucky, but a couple of months ago I was the winner of their British Wool raffle and very quickly the recipient of this box of delights:

I really, really don’t NEED more wool, but it was such fun to receive, and I will probably give some of it away; however I did want to use some of it. As you can see, Sam and Daisy were very interested, so I decided that they could benefit from this unexpected bonus.

Years ago, when we first got a second dog, we bought a big soft bed for them to share, comprising an inner cushion and an outer squishy surround. Over the years it’s got more and more tatty and the filling had clumped together, so that is was extremely lumpy. Neither Sam nor Daisy was interested in using it, preferring the sofa, the carpet or whatever thing I’m knitting or crocheting. I was thinking about this, and realised that the pooches clearly like to snooze on woolly things, so would probably appreciate a woolly bed. Not wanting to entirely discard the original bed I decided to re-cover it, but first I pulled all the stuffing out of both pieces, fluffed it up and put it all back into the cushion part, supplemented with some extra stuffing and a whole load of tiny wool scraps that I have been saving for just such a project. The outer piece went into the fabric recycling bag because it really wasn’t salvageable.

Then I set to work making some squares, which Daisy kept safe for me:

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MY squares

Interestingly, when turned the re-stuffed cushion over, so that the cotton side was upwards rather than the artificial fleece, both dogs became more interested in sleeping on it (as demonstrated by Daisy below right). However, soon it will have a whole new woolly cover and may be even more tempting. I have completed the first side and it has been tested and approved:

The other half is well underway in slightly different colours, so that we can ring the changes simply by turning it over.

I realise that Sam hasn’t had much of a look-in in this post, despite it being about dog beds, so here she is having fun on the beach the other day:

I’m hoping I will have the completed doggy bed ready to show you later in the month.

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by The Snail of Happiness on December 6, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on December 6, 2018

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2018/12/06/pampered-pooches/

Yarn out, books in

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Lots to get my hooks into

I love our local library, but it doesn’t serve all my needs when it comes to books – first, they don’t have all the books I want, especially specialist books and, second, I have to take the books back! Now the latter is fine most of the time – I read a book and then I’m done with it – but it’s not always the case. So, recently, I have been building up a collection of reference and source books for my knitting and crochet. I want to develop my skills, I want to expand my horizons. I know that there’s the internet, with a host of web sites and videos, but it’s not the same as browsing through a book. And when I’ve found something I want to focus on, in general I’d rather not have to have a screen in front of me (after all, that’s how I spend my working life, so I don’t want it to fill my leisure time too).

I’m hoping that all these books will aid me in working my way through my yarn stash – providing new ideas and inspiration – as well as with my pattern design aspirations. For the moment, though, I’m focusing on getting some WIPs and UFOs out of the way. In this respect this week has been very positive: two projects completed. The first I showed you nearly finished the other day in my ScrapHappy post – a woolly hug for a friend – but now all the ends are stitched in and it just needs to be packed up and sent on its way:

The second is also a scrappy project, this one for charity. A few months ago, a friend gave me some very old crochet squares. These had been made by her aunt (I think – correct me if I’m wrong, Ann) in Belgium. She asked if I could make use of them for a charity blanket. Time had not treated them well, and there were three of four squares that had been nibbled by mice. However, I was able to repair the holes and replace the edges where necessary. I crocheted them together using wool left over from a previous project and then edged the blanket with some scraps that my mum passed on to me a couple of years ago. So, this too is ready to be packed up and sent off to Knit for Peace:

At this rate, all my projects that are languishing in bags will be done and my stash will be greatly reduced by the time I go to Yarndale in September.

53 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on February 18, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on February 18, 2018

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2018/02/18/yarn-out-books-in/

Playing

Sometimes it’s good to play. So, after making some very specific items for particular reasons and to deadlines, I thought that I’d spend some time just playing with my crochet hook. I have piles and piles of yarn oddments to use up, so I’ve been trying out some new patterns and some old favourites:

They are various sizes and I plan to put them (and more) together quite randomly into a large blanket that I will donate to Knit for Peace, who can always find a good home for woolly items.

All the above are made of wool or acrylic, but I also have a bag of cotton yarn oddments. Because cotton isn’t stretchy, it doesn’t really belong in my planned blanket, so I thought I would have a go at a completely different type of square, with a view to putting lots of these together into a fancy shawl or throw. It’s not my best work, but this is what I made:

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cotton square

The design is from the book Connect the Shapes. I’m rather fond of this book, particularly because it’s spiral bound, so it stays open whilst you are working from it! In addition it includes both charts and written instructions, making complex patterns easier to follow.

Now I have another specific task to get on with, but the playing has been fun…

14 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on December 4, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on December 4, 2016

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2016/12/04/playing-2/

Small acts

IMGP6674I’m still feeling rather gloomy about the state of the world, but a friend pointed me in the direction of the following quote earlier today:

Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. JRR Tolkien

Being at home working means that it’s quite difficult to manage any spontaneous small acts of kindness right now. I was kind to Mr Snail this morning by making leek and potato soup – his favourite, apparently – but it seems like a very small thing.

However, I have discovered a good way to do some crafty kindness… a lovely charity Knit for Peace. I came across them as a result of a Twitter post and am rather taken with their ethos:

Knit for Peace UK is an initiative of the Charities Advisory Trust. It grew out of projects we developed in Rwanda and India, which brought together women of traditionally hostile communities (Hutu and Tutsi war widows in Rwanda and Muslim and Hindu women in the slums of Delhi) to knit clothes for street children and orphans. We paid the knitters and distributed the clothes through local NGOs.

The funds came from the Good Gifts Catalogue (another of our initiatives). Knitters in the UK asked if they could knit for those in need, and we discovered there was a huge need for knitters to have someone to knit for. Once we said we would distribute donated knitting we found we were inundated.

Here at Knit for Peace we believe that knitting is good for people in all sorts of ways. As well as being fun and therapeutic, knitting brings people together and gives a way of helping others in need, providing benefits both to the knitter and the recipient. Based on our experience of developing Knit for Peace over the last few years, we have learned that knitting is extremely important as an activity that can be carried out right into extreme old age and helps improve long-term health.

Our policy is to encourage people to give, whether it is time or money. So we set about finding outlets. We now distribute regularly to over 80 outlets, including hospitals, women’s refuges, refugee drop in centres, prisons, community groups, and hospices as well as to developing countries. We never sell the clothes; we send them where they are needed. We also pass on donations of yarn and needles to enable people on low incomes to knit. The operation has grown organically, and we estimate we have over 11,000 knitters.

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This can be an act of kindness

How great is that? They will accept all sorts of knitted items and find a good home for them. So any knitter/crocheter with a bit of time on their hands can contribute… whether you like making hats and scarves or blankets or cardigans, your work will be found a good home. This means, that I can manage a small act of kindness any time I like, just by picking up a hook or needles. I think that I’m going to start making granny squares, which can be turned into a blanket or dressing gown when I have enough.

So, can you cheer me up? Do you have any tips for being kind or any stories to share?

38 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on November 17, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on November 17, 2015

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2015/11/17/small-acts/

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