We are delighted to anounce that the wonderful Susan Pandorf has donated another of her exquisite beaded lace patterns to p/hop. The Hydrangea Scarf is now available to download here and is sure to keep your fingers busy throughout spring/autumn*.

*Depending on which hemisphere you live in.

The stunning Dido Shawl and Dido Scarf pattern has been generously designed and donated to p/hop by Åsa Tricosa.

The pattern can be knit as either a shawl or scarf and uses 4ply yarn.

To find out more and download a copy of the pattern in return for a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières click here.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter or join the p/hop Ravelry group to keep up with the latest news and new patterns. Happy Knitting!

You may have noticed the rather cryptic hints that something fabulous happened in York last weekend. We managed to get several very important people who have played a major role in setting up this wonderful charity effort all in one place.

We had the fantastic Natalie from The Yarn Yard who set up this whole crazy idea.
Also present were Jane who wrote the Cranford Mitts pattern, (currently the 63rd most popular mitten pattern on Ravelry) and the Karenina Socks pattern, Thimblina who designed the Hop Sox pattern and Elizabeth’s Scarf, CelandonSusan who designed Ruth’s Harvest Socks. And that’s just the designers….

The weekend had come about as a way of getting all the wonderful women who hang out in Natalie’s Garden Shed on Ravelry together. Non- knitters, and knitters alike, come and have a look, the kettle is always on, and you’ll meet the most fantastic group of women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Many of us have played a part in the evolution of Natalie’s idea to the current global project that p/hop has become. As well as supporting each other when we dip our toes in to the murky water of pattern writing, we’ve also developed the idea of swapping yarn in exchange for donations to p/hop. Over in the p/hop Ravelry group there is nearly always a yarn swap going on.
A few of us have what might be described as a stash habit, rather less harmful than most habits, as long as you exclude the damage done to your bank balance!

However some stash acquisitions can sometimes lead to feelings of guilt, you bought the yarn and loved it, but your tastes have now changed;  you decided to try lace weight and maybe got a bit enthusiastic with your purchases but discovered you hate knitting with the stuff. Sometimes you’re given yarn that is beautiful, but just not you….

(photo courtesy of Natalie)

We all bought along several skeins of yarn and braids of fibre that fitted those categories (and several books and bags), all beautiful, but just not something we could see ourselves using. The yarn was all piled up on a convenient pool table, and in a very British manner we all picked out our favourite skein.

Keep Calm and Carry Yarn poster from Etsyseller JennieGee

We then carried on picking until all the yarn had gone, it wasn’t a true swap in that some people de-stashed, some people gained stash, and you didn’t have to have put yarn in to take some out.

We’ve all travelled back to our separate corners of the UK, donated what we could afford, fondled our new acquisitions, and told our friends about the swap, and felt good about getting new yarn and doing it for charity!

I’m planning on doing one with my knitting group in Sheffield, if you want to do similar please get in touch with the wonderful p/hop co-ordinators and let them know.

On Monday night the London Stitch and Bitch group held a yarn swap to raise money for Haiti. It was a really fun evening with a  good mix of brand new knitters, people knitting for their BSc project (yes really) and Stitch and Bitch regulars. I went to knit as well as spread the p/hop word and was pleased to see people already knew about p/hop. One knitter was making a very fetching blue pair of  Karenina Socks and another knitter already had the Cranford Mitts pattern in her bag.

The Purple Purler (aka Em) did a stirling job of yelling orders and information (one of the many benefits of teacher training) and the Stitchettes did a marvellous job of coordinating the evening.

The yarn for swapping was laid out along the bar (the yarn bar) and the organised chaos began. For every swap that took place a donation was made to MSF. If the yarn recipient didn’t have yarn to swap the donation was increased to an amount the giver was happy with. It was good fun and an excellent way to either increase or decrease your stash.

Jenny Willknits made a gorgeous blanket using odds and ends from her stash which she raffled off raising £112 for the DEC Haiti appeal.

Knitters are so generous and the evening raised £205.36p (the 36p came from someone emptying the contents of  her purse into the donation bag) for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF use the fundraising money where it is most needed but to give you an example £205.36p will buy three MSF dressing kits which will provide enough supplies for 150 dressings so when you see images of people in Haiti with bandages on after being treated by MSF staff you may have paid for that dressing. This may seem like a small thing but dressings are essential. Without them wounds are more likely to get infected which if not treated can lead to limb loss or even death. So go on, feel that small glow of humanitarian warmth as your generosity really does make a difference.

It was my first time at a Stitch and Bitch meeting and I have to say there was no bitching, just lots of interesting and entertaining knitters, good conversation and of course knitting. If you live in London and want to learn to knit I can highly recommend the S’n'B meetings as a great place to start as well as for more experienced knitters to socialise.

Thank you very much to everyone who came along and took part, the Stamford Arms Pub, SE1 for the use of their room (I think they were amazed by how many knitters turned up – how little do they know?)  and of course to Stitch and Bitch London.

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If you missed this event why not hold one where you live? Let us know about it if you do so we can help out with flyers and MSF info. If you’ve already been to an event for MSF please get in touch if you would like to write about it here. Don’t forget there is the ongoing yarn (and books, DVDs, anything-you-can-think-of) swap in the p/hop Ravelry group.

I tell you what, you take your eye off p/hop for five minutes and suddenly you are sitting there stunned again. Woolly Wormhead donated half her pattern sales, the tragic events in Haiti have inspired massive generosity and something strange happened in York!

All we know is that Jane (probablyjane on Rav) was last seen boarding a train heading that way… Suspicious.

You see, I checked the p/hop total just now and there has a been a torrent of donations from our friends in the north, lots of them mentioning York… Has Jane been hypnotising Yorkshire-based knitters? If you woke up in York after the weekend, covered in wool, with a very generous, donation sized hole in your wallet or purse, this may explain it. Could be worse though – you could do an Elvis impersonation every time your phone rings or howl like a wolf whenever you hear the word ‘cake’….

In all seriousness, it is amazing. I remember not more than two weeks ago talking to Natalie about putting up the fundraising target from £10k to £12k and now we’re nearly there…. You all continue to humble and inspire me.

In other news, I have completely failed in my 100days promise. Basically I promised to do two rows a day on the scarf for 100 days starting on the 1st December. Til new year, I was probably doing ok; not every day, but making up for it when missing a day or two. Now, however, I am seriously lagging. Work was crazy in the immediate aftermath of the Haiti earthquake and, although still busy, we are not working every evening and weekend now (unlike our colleagues in the field). On top of this, I have started learning French (brilliant course) once a week and Saturday football with Les Mavericks started up again after the winter break. But enough with the excuses. I shall start again and I shall try to finish by the time the 100days project is over.

Spring is not too far away and the crocuses in my garden are coming through but if you can’t wait that long for sunnier days we’ve got a lovely new p/hop pattern which will see you through to warmer weather.

This is the first of several patterns very generously donated by the fantastic lace designer Susan Pandorf. The Crocus Pocus Shawl is in Susan’s own words “A flippant little snippet of a spring scarf for your wardrobe!” For more information and the pattern PDF please click here.

We have several other patterns in the pipeline and have been overwhelmed by knitters and designers response to the earthquake in Haiti.

Please check back here regularly, follow us on twitter or join the p/hop Ravelry group to keep up with the latest news and new patterns.

The I Knit Tea Party for Haiti last Saturday was great fun and a huge success.

The plan for the tea party was simple, knitters brought along a cake which was then available for a suggested donation along with tea or coffee. I should have known, knitters being as generous as they are, that there wouldn’t have been just two or three cakes to choose from. People really went to town and I have never seen so much cake. There was pumpkin cake, cup cakes, chocolate beetroot cake, flapjacks, rum cake, brownies, fruit cake, yarn cake, you-name-it cake, all of it delicious.

Photo from I Knit London

As well as the huge variety of cake there were several other ways to take part and raise money. Before the tea party the lovely staff at I Knit asked yarn and book companies as well as local businesses for raffle prizes. They were so overwhelmed by people’s generosity that the prizes went further than the raffle. There was a game of pass the parcel with a small knitterly prize in each layer as well a prizes for the most popular cakes as voted for by the guests. As knitters chatted and sampled cake a fuzzy old teddy bear was passed around, the challenge was to guess his name for £1 a go.

Photo from I Knit London:  Ness and the Bear

There was also a wordsearch and a quiz which were also £1 a go with a prizes for the winners.

Knitters also used their own initiative and organised a lucky dip bin with people donating a skein of spare yarn. It was a lovely afternoon. I met lots of new knitters as well as old friends and spread the word about p/hop with samples knits and patterns.

I’d like to give a BIG THANK YOU everyone who came and took part, who donated a raffle prize, ate cake and of course I Knit London.

We raised £650 which is fantastic. MSF can provide four surgical kits and more with that which will certainly make a difference to the Haitian people’s recovery.

Most of the cake was eaten on the day however Ness brought the leftover cake into the MSF UK office. It was very much appreciated and didn’t last long!

If you’re feeling inspired to host your own tea party or event please do get in touch (P-HOP@london.msf.org). It really is brilliant that tea, cake and knitting really can make a difference!

I’ve recently come across a couple of knitting groups organising fundraisers for MSF and Haiti. This is a great idea. What’s better than meeting with like minded people to swap knitting tips and yarn and enjoy some tea and cake while raising money for a brilliant charity.

These sort of events are fairly easy to set up. If you already meet at a venue all you need to do is advertise your next meeting as a fundraiser (you may get some new members), organise some raffle prizes (it’s amazing how generous people are when you ask), ask people to make cakes and then suggest a minimum donation for tea and cake. You can print out some p/hop patterns for donations and spread the p/hop word amongst other knitters.

If you’re feeling inspired please get in touch (email P-HOP@london.msf.org) or contact the MSF fundraising team as we can send out a pack with posters and leaflets about MSF as long as we have enough notice.

I knit London are holding a tea party on Saturday 23rd January 2010 from 1pm onwards with raffle prizes, lucky dips, quizzes and cake. The I Knit shop details are here.

The London Stitch and Bitch group are having a special yarn swapping for donations meeting for Haiti on Monday 1st February from 6pm at the Stamford Arms, 62 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9LX

If you are having an event let me know and I’ll post the details here. If you’d like to write a review of a fundraising event for the blog we’d love to hear from you.

Pete, MSF UKs Web Editor, along with the rest of the MSF teams across the world, has been working his (non-hand-knitted) socks off since last week when the earthquake devastated Haiti so he hasn’t had much time for knitting his scarf (more on that later). However he has put together this interview he did with MSF surgeon Paul McMasters who is working at the Carrfour hospital in Haiti.

If you want a reminder of why we support Médecins Sans Frontières and the work they do to help people in need please listen to this.

Haitian doctor Adesca, Surgeon Paul McMaster and German nurse Anja Wolz, Carrefour.

Photo JulieRemy via MSF UK

The response to the Haitian Earthquake tragedy by the knitting community over the last few days has been heart-warmingly inspiring.

On the social knitworking site Ravelry.com, knitters, crocheters and other fibre fans leaped into action, asking where they could donate money and if they couldn’t afford a monetary donation thinking of alternative ways to raise money for Haitian relief efforts.

The Yarn Harlot, famous knitter, writer. blogger extraordinaire and founder of Knitters Without Borders/Tricoteuses Sans Frontières lit the “knit signal” and the word to help Haiti and raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) spread like wild fire throughout the knitting twitterverse and blogasphere.

The p/hop ravelry group has been busy with lots of yarn swaps for donations to MSF. Please take a look if you fancy some new yarn or books or if you need to downsize your stash. Someone is bound to want your unloved yarn in return for a donation to p/hop and MSF.

The Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Swap Group on Ravelry has hosted a very successful auction which some beautiful handmade items as well as yarn being auctioned to raise money for relief agencies, including MSF.

A rather notorious Ravelry group (ahem, LSG) have roused their members into donating and have kept a running total which is currently over US$ 32 000 for various aid agencies.

A specific Haitian Humanitarian Aid group has been set up which is consolidating ways of helping both in the short and long term.

Several designers are donating a percentage of their pattern sales to help Haiti.

I’ve been inundated with enquiries about p/hop and our number of twitter followers has doubled since last Wednesday. I’d like to give a big thank you to anyone who has helped spread the word about p/hop and MSF.

We’ve got lots of new patterns in the pipeline thanks to the generosity of some wonderful designers. It’s worth reiterating that 100% of p/hop donations go to MSF and no one profits from them. The only people who benefit from p/hop are the people MSF helps.

Photo from MSF UK. Starting to unload the boxes to set MSF’s inflatable hospital on site in a football field in Port-au-Prince. Monday, Jan 18th 2010. Photo by Julie Remy/MSF

The problems the Haitian people are facing right now will continue for some time so please keep spreading the word and doing what you can. Let’s not forget that MSF continues to help people suffering in less “newsworthy” places such as Eastern Congo so please remember we are here all year round.

As always, p/hop is not the product of a few individuals but a community. If you’ve helped out in any way you can allow yourself a glow of humanitarian happiness knowing you’ve helped lessen people’s suffering.

If you’d like to help or have any ideas or suggestions for p/hop please get in touch.

Thank you and happy knitting.

Clare

PS If I’ve missed out anything you’ve done to help Haiti please leave us a comment below telling us about what you’ve done.