Hello friends!

I love to make things, but I’ve realised I find the process of making them quite anxious. I get so much pleasure from giving someone a homemade gift, or from using a bag or a scarf that I made for myself. I like to embellish and decorate things that I own as it feels like then they really belong to me and I am really getting good use of them. However, most of the time when I am crafting a thing, the very act of making it means sitting down, focussing and getting something done. I’m not proud of myself but most of the time I hate concentrating. Once something feels like an obligation, if I’m not in the mood, I’m like a cat being given a worming tablet. I will resist in any way I can. It’s ridiculous. Just trying to type this I have made cups of tea for everyone around me, checked twitter 15 times and reorganised my rucksack.

And that is a problem with knitting because knitting takes ages. And attention! When I worked at a call centre, it was great (the call centre was not ever great. On a scale of 1-5 where 1 is gloomy and 5 is hiding in the toilets to weep, i would put myself at about a 4 most days) because I had so much time where I was stuck on the phone and knitting was a therapeutic escape. I made so much stuff and was so much cooler with all of my accoutrements and accessories. I made everyone I loved mittens (with proper colour work!). But now I feel like a faker, not having the time or the good habits to focus and get anything made.

P-Hop’s birthday feels like the best time to stop my nonsense and start something new. I reckon I’ve got just about enough time to make some good quality Christmas presents, and raise some money for MSF, which is a lovely thing to get to do as well. This is a video of me starting a new top-secret p-hop pattern..

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Thank you Josie. As well as seeing Josie on TV you can follow her adventures at www.josielong.com If you’re intrigued about what she’s knitting, all will be revealed tomorrow.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

I’m blogging here today to let you know about a pattern that is new to p/hop.

This pattern was in Inside Loop, which is, alas, no longer with us.

But I wanted people to enjoy this pattern and raise money at the same time.

That’s when I thought of p/hop.

Do give generously as the work that Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) do is invaluable.

And if you don’t knit, well give anyway.

And because we are talking about harvest, here has to be one of the worlds best harvesters……….

Enjoy knitting.

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Thank you very much Susan. You can read more from Susan here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

The cake is going down but the donations are going up!

Yesterday the total went over £7000 (US$ 11500) which is fantastic.

Thank you very much to everyone who has made a donation.

It would be brilliant if we could reach the £10000 target by Christmas.

Please remember to leave your email address when you make a donation so you can be entered into the WIN A YEAR OF YARN competition.

We promise we won’t add you to a mailing list or pass your details on, it’s so we can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

It’s not too late to take part in the birthday blog-a-long, please get in touch if you’d like to join in. Everyone is welcome.

I haven’t blogged for a few days, but this morning the walk to work was so lovely I had to take more images of autumn. With the Sun low in the sky the colours were wonderful.

I work in a University (you may recognise the campus) and as I walked across the campus, I reflected on how fortunate we are to live in this country – free health care, free education and the opportunities that can lead to. Compare that to the life of Francoise, who is being cared for by MSF. Listen to her story before you read more here.

This week knitters of the world are uniting in their support of MSF.

The wonderful Natalie has donated a year’s supply of yarn. If you don’t knit, you could win it for someone who does.

There are new knitting patterns to p/hop, pattern books have been offered and collected, it really is magic.

Please donate and help us get closer to our target of £10,000 by the end of the year. You know it makes sense.

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Thank you Beanz52. You can read more from Beanz52 here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

You may have missed it last night but a new pattern slithered onto the p/hop website.

Katie Weston aka Hilltopkatie designed and donated this snakey sock pattern so be sure to adder it to your knitting queue.

The Serpentine Valentine Sock pattern can be found here, as always for a donation to p/hop.

I was desperately trying to think of something to different to write about msf, and about why the money we are raising was so important. Everything I was wanting to say sounded so trivial, and I also wanted to do something different.

After all p/hop is all about being different, knitting in itself is different, standing out fro the crowd and saying “I care enough to do something” is different. Every time I log on to Ravelry I see that someone else has p/hopped something different. I even gained a spinning wheel and the chance to do something different thanks to p/hop.

In the end I decided to revert to type, I’m a teacher, I’ve just finished teaching my Year 9’s about vaccination, we were discussing why vaccinations are done. They had no idea what many diseases were. The words measles, mumps, rubella, TB, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio mean nothing to them. None of them had ever known anyone with any of those diseases. Every child in the UK will get vaccinated against those diseases, it won’t cost their parents anything.

I want to live in a world where every teacher can talk about vaccinations and have to explain what the diseases they protect against are.

That’s why I design patterns for p/hop, that’s why I offer things I don’t want to others, that’s why I donate.

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Thank you HilltopKatie. You can read more from Hilltopkatie here including a competion to win some ready knitted p/hop patterns and other knitted goodies, all in aid of p/hop.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

I like cake, probably a little too much.  I enjoy everything about it, from selecting the recipe and ingredients to making, baking and eating it.  But I particularly love sharing it with family and friends.  Cake is wheeled out for celebration, commiseration and comfort.  A slice of cake shows that you thought of someone.

As p/hop celebrates its first birthday it felt only right to bake a celebration cake and this is what I would like to share with you.

P/hop Banana Cake

125g unsalted butter, melted
150g sugar
175g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1//2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 very ripe bananas weighing between 300-350g without skins

Pop a paper liner in a loaf tin (I don’t get on with the silicone ones) and set the oven to 170°C/Gas 3.
Melt the butter gently and set aside to cool slightly.
Weigh the flour then add the baking powder, bicarb and salt combining thoroughly.
Using another bowl, mash the bananas to a pulp.  The more mashed the better.
In a large bowl weigh the sugar and add the cooled butter beating well.
Into a jug or small bowl crack the eggs and beat lightly with the vanilla extract.  Add this mixture, half at a time to the sugar and butter beating thoroughly.  Then add the banana.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet a third at a time, combining gently but thoroughly.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for around an hour.  I usually check after 50 minutes and see how it is doing.  A cake tester or toothpick inserted into the centre should come out cleanish when it is cooked.
Leave in the tin to cool for about 15 minutes before popping it on a rack.
Eat as preferred, thick or thin but preferably shared with family or friends.
Enjoy!

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Mmmmm, cake. Thank you Knittingtastic. You can read more from Knittingtastic here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

A pair of Hopsox – £5

Knitting on the plinth – £102

A barn raising blanket – £850

Knowing that we have raised enough money to keep a member of MSF  staff  “in the field”  for a whole year.

PRICELESS

Thank you for making this a memorable year for me – I now have THE BEST pair of purple socks, and I’ve knitted in one of the most random places in central London.

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Thank you Rooknits. You can read more from Rooknits here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

I’m knitting the simplest of scarves (and hopefully the quickest) because I’m working to a self-imposed deadline of 24 hours from start to finish.

The pattern is the Airy Scarf from Last-minute knitted gifts by Joelle Hoverson, but I’m using two strands of Kidsilk Haze instead of just the one as specified. Combining pale pink ‘Fondant’ with the deep raspberry ‘Blushes’ is giving an interesting colour variation and a much more textural effect than with the single yarn, and it’s still as soft and light as a cloud.

In the book, the scarf appears in the ‘two to four hour gifts’ section. Well, my knitting speed isn’t up to that! I cast on at 3.30pm yesterday and as is the way of these things, did a bit and broke off to do something else, did a bit more and went to cook supper, did a bit more …and so on, so quite how many of the 24 hours I’ll have spent on it by the time it’s off the needles I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m getting a lot of pleasure from making it (and knitting against the clock adds to that, actually) and I hope someone will enjoy wearing it when it’s done.

I’m delighted to be taking part – at Natalie’s kind invitation – in the p/hop birthday celebrations, and to be helping to spread the word about Médecins sans Frontières. I shall think of my scarf as the raspberry fondant icing on the p/hop birthday cake, but time is short so I must pick up those needles again!

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Thank you Cornflower. You can read more from Cornflower here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

a little scene from my home . . . our yellow maple just a couple of weeks ago, beginning to shed its branches. now it’s completely bare, as are all the trees surrounding the house.

the sudden transformation floods the house with a new winter glow, bringing all the colors inside alive with light.

cozy warm woolens take on a new importance and life as we get the house ready for winter by spreading blankets and shaking out sweaters and coats from their summer storage spots

new knitting goes on the needles in preparation for christmas giving.

so much to look forward to in the changing of the seasons and so much to be thankful for, inside and out . . . a warm, wooly, and happy birthday to p/hop!

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Thank you Anne. You can read more from Knitspot here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.