Charity engine? A locomotive for fund-raising? Something about a car?

Even better than that! Charity Engine is a very easy way to help MSF raise money.

Computers are a bit like human brains, in that most of the time not all of the processing power of your PC or Mac is being used. Charity Engine is a nifty way of donating that spare processing power to MSF.

It won’t affect the way your computer works but it will help MSF supply more vaccines, doctors, you know good, life-saving things to people who need them.

p/hop changes the world one stitch at a time, Charity Engine are changing the world “one bit at a time”.

There are more details on the MSF website.

Join now

If you want to get cracking go directly to Charity Engine’s website and remember to include “MSF” in the invite code field on the form.

I’m Helena Callum and I am writing this guest blog post for p/hop to introduce my new pattern, which is now available as a p/hop pattern.

Like all p/hop patterns, it can be downloaded in return for a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières .

The pattern is for a pair of colourful fingerless mitts using DK-weight yarn.

Several colours are used, but because the stitch pattern uses slipped stitches, only one colour is used in any round.

The mitts are worked in the round and incorporate a peasant thumb (sometimes called an afterthought thumb) which means that you just knit a straight tube for the hand, with no worries about remembering to increase for a thumb gusset.

Why are they called “Ermintrude”?

Well, though the stitch pattern looks most obviously like a brick wall, for some reason it reminded me of a cattle grid.

But a very pretty, soft and gentle cattle grid -suitable perhaps for a pretty, soft and gentle cow such as Ermintrude from the Magic Roundabout.

I hope you enjoy the pattern and supporting MSF!

Two MSF staff members were killed in Somalia yesterday. This is shocking and very sad news.

Philippe Havet, a 53-year-old from Belgium, was an experienced emergency coordinator who had been working with MSF since 2000 in many countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Somalia.

Andrias Karel Keiluhu, better known as ‘Kace’, was a 44-year-old medical doctor who had worked with MSF since 1998 in his native Indonesia as well as in Ethiopia, Thailand and Somalia.

There are further details on the MSF website.

Philippe Havet (right) and Andrias Karel Keiluhu, better known as ‘Kace’ (left). © MSF

My thoughts, sympathy and love go to their families and friends, those affected by the incident, as well as the people of Somalia.

One of the reasons I support MSF is their commitment to the people who need health care, even in the worst situations.

This tweet from @msf_field sums it up for me;

Even in times of personal grief and hurt, MSF are planning how to continue to help the people of Somalia.

This is why I p/hop.

The photo above says everything I was going to say in this blog post.

This is an MSF team outside one of the many clinics MSF runs in Somaliland.

A big thank you to everyone who has made p/hop a success in 2011.

Here’s to a happy and peaceful 2012.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our supporters.

If you’re in need of a very last minute gift these p/hop patterns are pretty speedy:

Clyd Headband is a great stocking filler and is a very quick knit.

Teeny Tiny Teddy would look cute on a key ring, or knit a few in festive colours and use them as decorations.

If you’re handy with a hook our Moebius Cowl crochets up pretty quicly too.

Of course many of us are too busy to knit at this time of year and most of our patterns require a little more time to make.

If you think you’ll have more knitting time in the new year why not make a gift voucher to give to a loved one, promising to make them a bespoke gift of their choice. You could let them choose from our wide selection of patterns.

Anyway, I’ll stop writing as you’ve probably got sprouts to wrap and presents to peel.

We hope you have a happy and peaceful festive season full of good company and cheer.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Saturday 10th December saw the first P/hop Yarn Swap take place at The Yarn Cake in Glasgow. This was organised in response to a highly successful visit by Clare and the P/hop stall to the Glasgow School of Yarn back in October.

Knitters were invited through Ravelry to find items from their stash that they would be willing to donate to the Yarn Swap and they certainly dug deep. Amongst the stuff up for grabs was some Madelinetosh, Fyberspates, Lorna’s Laces and some fabled Wollmeise.

There was much debate to be had on the Yarn Cake Raverly forum as to how this should be shared equitably. On the night itself the tables on the petite tables at The Yarn Cake were groaning with yarn, roving and some fantastic books. The crowd were largely well behaved though the odd fibre fight did break out. (see below)

The atmosphere in the shop on a frosty winter’s night was helped along by mulled wine and festive nibbles and the scores of punters who showed up gave very generously so that the total raised was an amazing £481.20.

Special mention should go to those who travelled some distance to be there from all over Scotland and to the lovely husband who came prepared with instructions from his sick wife to bag some undyed laceweight. Watch this space for next year.

This competition is now closed.

Congratulations to Claire, Linda, Sara and Sarah who were the lucky winners.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and encouragement and to all the lovely people who donated prizes.

We don’t have any partriges in pear trees, or lords a leaping, but we do have a magnificent first prize, yes that’s first prize, there will be more thank one winner, read on, dear reader, read on…

One luck winner will win a beautiful, hand crafted Sunflower Swift …

… not only will the first person drawn at random win a swift, perfect for winding those gorgeous skeins of hand dyed yarn, but they will also win their choice of one of the following yarn bundles.

A further three lucky winners will win their choice from the yarn bundles below:

Bundle A: Like three wise men, three fantastic dyers have donated these stunning skeins of yarn.

Which are:

Easy Knits Twinkle Lace (75% Extra Fine Merino, 20% Silk, 5% Stellina, 800m/100g, colour: Goblin)

Artisan Yarns Seren Lace (alpaca, silk, cashmere, 1200m/100g, colour: nostalgic)

Nimu Yarns Swirkhow DK (100% merino, 225m/100g, shade: crayon)

Bundle B: The marvellous TheYarnYard, mother of p/hop, has donated Three French Hens, 3 skeins of Yarn Yard Bonny (75% wool, 75% nylon, 420m/100g).

The colours don’t show up well in my photo thanks to miserable winter skies, but I can assure you they are soft and beautiful.

Bundle C: Four calling birds – A gorgeous selection of yarns from John Arbon 2 skeins DK knit by numbers, 1 skein 2-3ply Alpaca, 1 skein laceweight

Bundle D: Two Turtle Doves Two fabulous skeins of Juno Fibre Arts Buffy 4ply yarn.

Superwash Bluefaced Leicester, 400m/100g. Colours: Speckle Blues & Patchwork

So, what do you have to do to win one of these fab prizes?

Over the last 11 competitions we’ve been asking you to read about MSF’s work in the field. You’ve met some of the people who donate their time and skills to people who would otherwise be without healthcare.

Every year more than 2,500 international staff join 20,000 locally hired staff to provide medical aid in countries around the world, as well as all the office staff, volunteers and fundraisers who make MSF happen.

We would like you to leave a message of support to those hardworking and inspirational people, many of whom will be working over the holidays.  We will share your messages with MSF workers all over the world.

Just leave your message in the comments section below, making sure you leave your email address. We will pick one at random from all the comments left by 10pm Monday 19th December.

We will not use your email for any purpose other than contacting you if you win.

And finally, a wee reminder.

We are a fund-raiser for MSF, so if you’ve been inspired by the peole and work you have read about please consider making a donation. As always this is optional and there is no obligation to donate if you are entering the competition.

If you do decide to make a donation, thank you, it is very much appreciated.

1) Competition ends at 10pm (GMT) on Monday 19th December 2011
2) Winners will be drawn from all comments by random number generator and notified by email. Prizes will be sent by post.
3) Competition open to everyone, including people outside UK.
4) No cash alternatives
5) One entry per person per competition.

This competition is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Congratulations to Jen from East Lothian who answered correctly with “The fridge will be used to preserve vaccinations” and was chosen by random number generator.

Again, yes, a fridge, carried on foot over mountains, in a conflict zone, so vaccinations will reach those who need them. This is one of the reasons why I support MSF, the sheer determination to provide care to everyone who needs it.  If you missed this competition, Ferry’s blog post is still well worth a read!

It’s Fibre Thursday!

Today’s beautiful prize has been generously donated by Hilltop Cloud.

Here’s your chance to win fibre club membership for January 2012.

This means on those cold, miserable, post-Christmas, January days you will get a lovely surpise of 100g of soft squishy fibre, and a greeting card of the picture that inspired the fibre.

The winner will get their fibre in mid-January, the parcels will be sent by 16th January.

For your chance to win this gorgeous prize read this incredible blog post by MSF field coordinator Ferry, who tells his story of getting his logistics team over the Hauts Plateaux mountains, in a conflict zone in Democratic Republic Congo, on foot, with a fridge.

Yes, you did read that correctly, over mountains, with a fridge, on foot, in a conflict zone!

Tell us, what will the fridge be used for?

Email your answer to p-hop@london.msf.org with the subject “Climb every mountain” *by 2pm (GMT) on Friday 18th December.

Come back on Friday for our final competition in the 12 days of p/hop. We’ve got several gorgeous prizes up for grabs!

(*Yes, I am getting in the Christmas spirit and thinking about the Sound of Music.)

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Rules:

1) Competition ends at 2pm (GMT) on Friday 18th December 2011

2) Winners will be drawn from all comments left below by random number generator and notified by email. Prizes will be sent by post.
3) Competition open to everyone, including people outside UK.
4) No cash alternatives
5) One entry per person per competition.

This competition is now closed. The correct answer is life expectancy in Central African Republic is a shockingly low 48 years.

Didn’t win? Try your luck with our Day 11 competition.

OMG it’s OMA!!!

Today’s marvellous prize is a gift voucher for £30 for the stunning Old Maiden Aunt shop.

One of the reasons I support Médecins Sans Frontières is they speak up about forgotten parts of the world, the stories that don’t make it to our mainstream media.

Yesterday MSF released a report about the Central African Republic, in central Africa, which is in a “State of Silent Crisis”.

Healthcare is poorly provided by the government there and people struggle daily with many preventable diseases.

MSF work there and you can gain insight of what it’s like to work somewhere where basic health needs have been neglected by reading Dr Frédérique’s day in the life of an MSF hospital.

The MSF article on the State of Silent Crisis is here and well worth a read.

So, back to the knitting. To win this beautiful Old Maiden Aunt prize just answer the following question:

What is the life expectancy in Central African Republic?

Email your answer to p-hop@london.msf.org with the subject “Silent Crisis” by 2pm (GMT) on Thursday 15th December.

Come back on Wednesday for another chance to win a brilliant prize!

1) Competition ends at 2pm (GMT) on Thursday 15th December 2011
2) Winners will be drawn from all correct answers by random number generator and notified by email. Prizes will be sent by post.
3) Competition open to everyone, including people outside UK.
4) No cash alternatives
5) One entry per person per competition.

This competition is now closed. Congratulations to Kirsten from Kirkcaldy who won the Vintage Gifts to Knit book and Skein Queen yarn.

The correct answer to “which birthday is MSF celebrating this year?” can be found on the MSF UK homepage or you can do the maths on the MSF History page.

You could win a signed copy of Susan Crawford’s beautiful Vintage Gifts to Knit book, which has 16 glamorous yet practical patterns, and a Susan Crawford tote bag. PLUS a gorgeous skein of Skein Queen’s Six-4-Gold yarn (75% superwash merino, 20% nylon, 5% gold stellina).

Seeing as the prize is vintage our question is about the history of MSF:

MSF was founded by a group of French doctors and journalists who were frustrated by government interference in humanitarian aid and felt they were being silenced when they wanted to tell the world about the atrocities they witnessed.

The organisation started life as a group of medics travelling to remote corners of the world, providing medical aid to victims of wars and natural disasters.

Over time the organisation grew, employing more people in the countries where it worked.

Now MSF has offices in 19 countries, including the UK, and works in over 60 countries.

So here is the question: Which birthday is MSF celebrating this year?

Email your answer to p-hop@london.msf.org with the subject “Humanitarian” by 2pm (GMT) on Wednesday 14th December.

Come back on Wednesday for another chance to win a brilliant prize!

1) Competition ends at 2pm (GMT) on Wednesday 14th December 2011
2) Winners will be drawn from all correct answers by random number generator and notified by email. Prizes will be sent by post.
3) Competition open to everyone, including people outside UK.
4) No cash alternatives
5) One entry per person per competition.