The Yarn Cake, Scotland’s only dedicated knitting cafe, is hosting is hosting a special yarn swap event to raise funds for Medecins Sans Frontieres using the p/hop principle on Saturday 10th December from 5.30-8.30

There will be a festive atmosphere in the shop for the evening of the swap with snacks and wine, and you can still stock up on all your usual knitting and crochet necessities.

Donations have already been recieved of Louisa Harding, Rowan, and Mirasol yarns amongst other goodies. More details can be found from the Ravelry thread about the swap here.

Donations of good quality yarn, patterns or other needlecraft items are welcome up until the 8^th December; please leave them with the friendly staff at The Yarn Cake

148 QUEEN MARGARET DRIVE, G20 8NY

The most excellent HilltopKatie and her lovely mum are taking p/hop back on the road to Fibre Flurry this weekend (Friday 28th & Saturday 29th October).

We had a great time at Fibre Flurry last year, it’s a marvellous show with lots of great vendors, workshops and friendly atmosphere. Please do go along and say hello to Katie and her mum while you are there. They’ll have all the p/hop patterns for your perusal, including one’s Katie herself has designed and donated.

There will also be a raffle for p/hop at the event so you have a chance to win some pretty nice prizes.

Please visit the Fibre Flurry website for more details.

We’re really excited here at p/hop HQ as it’s less than one week to go til the exciting Glasgow School of Yarn. On Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd October we’ll be in the gorgeous Mackintosh Church on Garscube Road, Glasgow.

There’s loads of cool stuff happening, including book signings by our very own p/hop designer Ann Kingstone, as well as other super designers Carol Feller and Stephen West. As well as the fab vendors in the market place (p/hop included) there will be great homecooked stews and cake as well as a cafe, and also, and I think this is a brilliant idea, a massage therapist for the event, who will be offering a variety of gentle relaxing treatments over the two days.

There’s also the party on Friday evening which I’m really looking forward too.

For more information such as opening times and location please click here.

I’m Looking forward to seeing you there.

PS If you can’t make it to Glasgow we’ll be at Fibre Flurry near Birmingham on Friday 28th and Thursday 29th October.

Can’t kitchener? Confused by cables? You need a Knit Surgery!

Knitting teacher and designer Karen Wessel aka Quesselchen is holding another knit surgery in return for donations to p/hop. Pop along to Big Knitters on Wellfield Rd in Cardiff from 11am to 2pm on Saturday 15th October where Karen will help solve your knitting problems. In return it’s the usual p/hop ethos, make a donation based on how much pleasure/perseverance/persistence/insert p-word of choice you gained from your new skill.

Last Saturday, my rather fully packed backpack and I made our way to my local yarn store (Big Knitters) here in Cardiff. I was a little apprehensive and quite nervous. This was going to be my first ever Knit Surgery and I wanted it to be good.

Anna (the wonderful shop owner) had already set out her board with all the information for the event a good week before and I had tried to spread to word by leaving posters and flyers in many of the cafes in the area as well.

The first thing we did was to set up a little information corner right by the door so people could not miss it. And I promptly forgot to take a picture. Sorry. Next time, I promise! And then we settled down to see what would happen – having done our best to spread the word, it was now down to the knitters and customers to come and ask questions.

Sadly, for some unfathomable reason (the rugby? The weather? The end of the first week of school? We still have no idea.), it was an incredibly quiet day for the shop (and many of the other shops in the area, so the turnout of help-needing knitters wasn’t great. When finally a lady came through the door with her question in tow, I was promptly at a loss as how to help her – but I shall learn how to cast on a moebius in the round rather soon. As the lady wasn’t set on knitting the pattern she had brought in, we solved that problem by suggesting that she knit a rectangle and then sew it up while twisting on end of it. Not the ideal solution but she was quite happy with it as she could now “get on with the knitting”. During the day we also provided some extensive help with choosing patterns for a mother and daughter (not that Anna wouldn’t have done that anyway, but they got my opinion as well ). They were really lovely and it was wonderful to see the mother taking so much care about what to knit for her daughter who was very much appreciative of the effort.

Despite the poor turnout for the surgery we still managed to raise 60 pounds thanks to the help several avid collectors (long standing customers and friends with their children) who took it upon themselves to stand outside with the collection baskets to raise awareness, pass out information (MSF leaflets and p-hop postcards) and collect donations from other shoppers. And quite a few of the people who did come to the shop to browse or just quickly by some yarn also left donations before leaving. A very big and heartfelt “Thank you!” goes to all of you for helping and donating! And of course the money has already been passed on to p-hop. Wouldn’t want to waste time there.

Copyright Karen Wessel

And while we had hoped for a better turnout for the Knit Surgery, I had a very good time just watching and helping where I could and I think that, in retrospect, the quietness and low volume of people through the door was nice for the first try. I say first try because both Anna and I have already decided that there will be a repeat. We haven’t settled on a date just yet but the next Knit Surgery in Cardiff will likely be held in late October and we are aiming for at least another one before the end of the year.

If you would like to hold a Knit Surgery for p-hop in your town or city, please do! It’s fun and doesn’t take a lot of preparation and I’m more than happy to share the poster file I made to spread the word around the area.

This week is National Wool Week in the UK with lots of yarny events happening all over the country.  To coincide with the celebration of wool we’ve got some exciting new patterns ready for launch so keep an eye on our blog and twitter feed for the latest news.

Knitting teacher and designer Karen Wessel aka Quesselchen is holding a knit surgery in return for donations to p/hop. Can’t kitchener? Confused by cables? Pop along to Big Knitters on Wellfield Rd in Cardiff from 11am to 2pm on Saturday 10th September where Karen will solve your knitting problems. In return it’s the usual p/hop ethos, make a donation based on how much pleasure/perseverance/persistence/insert p-word of choice you gained from your new skill.

Our Ravelry group is busy this month with a Cranford Mitt-a-long. It’s very easy to join in and littlelixie is even throwing in some challenges such as writing a Cranford haiku to add to the fun. All the details are here and there are badges and project pictures you can use on the pattern page here. If you’re not already on Ravelry it is well worth joining. It is free and a great resource for knitters and crocheters.

We have a stand, in the Square at the wonderfully woolly Woolfest 2011 which takes place at Mitchell’s Lakeland Livestock Centre, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 0QQ on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th June 2011.

It’s a great show where you can see everything from rare breed sheep and angora rabbits to different types of spinning wheels to loads of gorgeous yarn and wonderful people.

Last year there was delicious ewe’s milk ice cream on sale and entertainment from Northumbrian (correct me on the regional nomenclature if I’m wrong here readers) clog dancers and hurdy gurdies. There’s something about browsing and buying yarn when you can smell that heady aroma of the animals they come from. Maybe it’s because I’m now a city lass hankering for the countryside. Who knows? But it’s a great show and well worth a visit.

If you are there be sure to visit us in The Square where our marvellous volunteer Mary aka Beanz52 has given up her free weekend (plus all the time organising beforehand) to run the stand for p/hop. If you visited us last year you will see we have lots of new patterns, nine to be exact and as usual you can have a good look at our samples, all lovingly made by our Ravelry group members, to see which patterns take your fancy.

Two new p/hop patterns, Molly Weasley's Gift Socks and Tzenni Socks

I’d like to say in advance a BIG THANK YOU to the organisers of Woolfest for their continued support of p/hop. I hope everyone has a great show.

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See where else p/hop will be over the summer here.

If you would like to host your own event please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

The lovely people who run Affinity Yarns are holding a Charity Open Day on Sunday 12th June between 2pm and 6pm.

Please see the flyer below for more details. There will be tea and cake as well as knitting. Yum yum.

See where else p/hop will be over the summer here.

If you would like to host your own event please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

First up is this fantastic event this Thursday in London:

What? Cholera treatment exhibition

When? Thursday 19th May, 5-9pm

Where? West Bank London, 133-137 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RS, LONDON

What is it?

MSF are taking a unique and interactive exhibition to Glastonbury festival this year. They are previewing it this Thursday and will feature installations including a cholera treatment centre as used in Haiti, live music, photo exhibitions and live graffiti. There is more information about this on the MSF UK website.

MSF teams treating cholera patients in Saint-Marc, Artibonite region, Haiti. 10 October 2010 Photo by Eliza Currando (Image from msf.org.uk)

It would be great if lots of p/hoppers could go as it will be a fun evening as well as a great opportunity to learn more about the work MSF does with your fundraising money and a chance to chat to some MSF staff.

To attend please email rsvp@london.msf.org

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What? Affinity Yarns Open Studio

When? Sunday 12th June, 2-6pm

Where? AffinityYarns, Whittlesford, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

What is it?

Affinity Yarns are hosting an Open Studio event with proceeds going to to p/hop. You can chat to other knitters while enjoying tea, cake and yarn browsing. Ravelry members can get details here.

Image from Affinity Yarns Open Day in April

Please contact Affinity Yarns for further details.

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We will have a stand at the following knitting festivals:

What? Woolfest 2011

When? Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June

Where? Mitchell’s Lakeland Livestock Centre, Cockermouth, Cumbria

For more information please visit the Woolfest 2011 website.

What? KnitNation

When? 15th-17th July 2011

Where? Imperial College, South Kensington, London

For more information please visit the KnitNation2011 website.

What? Fibre East

When? Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th July

Where? Scald End Farm, Mill Road, Thurleigh, Bedfordshire

For more information please visit the Fibre East website.

What? Fibre Flurry

When? Friday 28th & Saturday 29th October

Where? Kings Norton, Birmingham

For more information please visit the Fibre Flurry website.

As always there will be the opporunity to help out on the p/hop stand for half a day. Please keep an eye on our Ravelry group for requests for volunteers.

If you are holding an event for p/hop we would love to hear about it. If you would like to host an event, eg a yarn swap event or tea party for MSF, but are unsure on how to get started please get in touch, we are more than happy to help.

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.