Wow, what a week it’s been.

We took p/hop to Ireland which was great fun. The reception from Irish knitters was brilliant, watching people stroll past the stand, read the words “Médecins Sans Frontières” above the stand, watch their expressions turn to befuddlement as they saw knitting and MSF info together. As soon as people twigged what p/hop was about their look confusion turned to one of sheer joy. It was MSF Dee’s (MRS Ireland’s press officer) first encounter with the knitting world so I won’t say too much here as she is going to write a post for us about her experience.

What I will say is thank you very much Ireland and Twisted Thread for donating the stand. Thanks also to my knitter friend bioniclaura and her husband who had me to stay and were my taxi service during my visit which was very much appreciated.

On Saturday we headed northwards to King’s Norton for the much anticipated Fibre Flurry. We were not disappointed. It was a wonderful show with many familiar faces as well as people new to p/hop.

Whitehart/Sadie and Thimblina/Joy volunteering on the stand

Mikayla the wonderful organiser took on the raffle for us so we could concentrate on the patterns. The fabulous Lizard Ridge blanket was the top prize as well as lots of beautiful yarns and books from the vendors. You may remember the blanket was made by our Ravelry group so we were working out which squares were the ones we had knit. At one point Ros (one of our marvellous volunteers) and I claimed the same square which reduced us to fits of giggles in a I’m Spartacus, no I’m Spartacus manner. Here’s Diagon/Amy (another fab volunteer), Rooknits and Baby Roo (who are tireless p/hop supporters, Roo coordinated the blanket squares and sewed the blanket together) and me. We didn’t want to give the blanket away but it was won fair and square by Babylonglegs. I wish I’d had my camera handy when we held the raffle as the look on her face was priceless. I have it on good authority that she is already making good use of the blanket.

We also met some very young p/hop supporters one of whom kindly modelled the Stina baby kimono for us.

We also had some hand modelling to show off the ever popular Cranford Mitts. Larissa (who very kindly went out of her way to give me and all the p/hop clobber a lift to Fibre Flurry at stupid o’clock in the morning) is modelling this pair. This month we are having a Cranford Mitt-a-long in the Ravelry group. It’s such a fab pattern and uses such a small amount of yarn it’s perfect for gifts. Please join in, the pattern is here and the thread on Ravelry is here.

The mitten on the left is blocked (and was hastily dried in the car on the way to Birmingham), the right hand one is unblocked as it was finished just as the show opened.

As well as the Mitt-a-long the birthday blog-a-long starts today to help p/hop celebrate it’s second birthday. What a year it’s been. I think that deserves another post.

I will finish here with some very exciting news. WE HAVE RAISED OVER £20 000 FOR P/HOP!!!

This is not including the money from Fibre Flurry or Ireland (remember you can now donate in Euros) or the US dollar donations. The generosity of knitters is overwhelming. The thing I most love about p/hop is it’s not just one person who makes this work, it’s hundreds of people. From Natalie’s original idea at a kitchen table, to Pete’s tireless enthusiasm, to all the designers who have donated patterns, the festival organisers who donate a stand, the people who give up their time to help at festivals, everyone who has made a donation for a pattern of a p/hopped skein of yarn and most of all YOU!!! We couldn’t do it without you.

Let’s not forget what this is all about. Please take a moment to visit the MSF website and see what your help has done to make someone else’s life that much better.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!