Laura Cracknell, who designed and donated her two wonderful crochet patterns to p/hop writes about what inspires her about p/hop.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

As a keen supporter of p/hop it’s been incredible to watch the total given rise and rise over the last year, and I got a great deal of pleasure myself from the leftovers from last year’s huge swap at iKnit.  But having nobly helped to clear the huge pile of yarn, I found that as a crocheter, there were no p/hop patterns that I could use my newly increased stash on.

Of course, there are plenty of other patterns out there, and I certainly got my hours of pleasure from working p/hop yarn, so the thought went out of my head again.  But watching the news this year, I knew that MSF would be out there, right in the middle of the disaster zones, and I started doing some reading.  What really struck me was that MSF aren’t just there when there’s an emergency.  They’re in countries for longer periods, dealing with long-term health problems as well as responding to acute need.  So I decided I wanted to do something more than just make a one-off donation, and hopefully give something that would go on being of use for time to come.

I’d been using these patterns for a while to teach improvers crochet classes, although I’m also very grateful to the p/hop group on Ravelry who helped me iron out the creases and correct my stitch counts.  Because they were for intermediate classes, both patterns use techniques that beginners might not have come across before.  There are full instructions for making crochet cables in the cable scarf pattern, and for the Moebius cowl, there’s an alternative starting row for anyone who isn’t confident with foundation stitches (I recommend looking them up, though!)

Ultimately, I want people to enjoy making the patterns, because the more pleasure, the more pennies, and the closer p/hop gets to raising its next £25,000!

The lovely people at I Knit London, shop and sanctuary for knitters, in Waterloo, London are holding a Crafternoon Tea Party for p/hop on Saturday 16th April 2011, 1pm-5pm.

Everyone is welcome. There will be tea, craft, knitting and chatting and of course, cake! Please feel inspired to bake a cake and bring it as this is how the event raises money – selling it per slice for a suggested donation. There’ll also be a raffle and some swapping, or as we like to call it, p/hopping. All the money raised will go to Médecins Sans Frontières.

If you can’t make this fun and friendly afternoon why not hold your own event? It doesn’t matter how large or small it is, it could be in your local yarn shop, or with a few friends over a coffee or two. You could make and swap cake for a donation to p/hop or clear out your unloved yarn and p/hop it (swap it for a donation to MSF) with fellow knitters. You can read about a recent p/hopping event here.

When you do organise something let us know as we’re happy to help.