Sue from Sheepfold introduces the crocheted felted bowl pattern they have generously donated to p/hop.

Felted crochet bowl

I became aware of MSF from news bulletins where the organisation was often giving aid to people in the most desperate of circumstances. Alice and I have science and medical backgrounds, so when the chance came to support MSF by donating patterns we have designed, we jumped at the chance.

I have long had an interest in crochet but shyed away from the contrasting colours of the 1970s and the lace chair backs of my grandmother’s era! I wanted to use the technique for something simple, that a beginner could do, and practical, that anyone could use.

Thanks Sue

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

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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!

…you will see our new video made by Ghadas who is a nurse working for MSF in Nigeria who is also a fan of the fibre arts.

Once you’ve watched Hadas’s video scroll down and check our current out UK total. Not bad eh? I was hoping we’d reach our £23,000 target in time for the Just Giving Awards but didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. I suspect this has something to do with a knitterly meet up in York last weekend (more on that coming soon!).

I took a moment to gaze at the percentage total at 101%, but like MSF we don’t sit still for long (unless knitting or crocheting of course) so I’ve upped the target to £25,000.

When you watch Hadas’s video you may notice a slight irregularity, though looking the the granny squares in the video brings me on to what’s happening in our Ravelry group. Every year the group comes together making blankets for the festivals we attend. Currently there are four, yes four, on the go covering 3 weights of yarn and two crafts. If you like knitting or crocheting please feel free to join in. The main blanket thread is here which has links to the four projects at the top of the page.

I wonder how much p/hop will have raised by the end of 2011, sending more brilliant and committed people like Hadas into the field. Nice work knitters and crocheters.

swatches

The life of a textiles designer is ironically often quite frantic, due to the slow and steady nature of the crafts involved meaning some projects can go on for months.

Last week was one of those busy-busy weeks, with lots of long projects nearing completion at the same time.I have had four knitting and crochet projects to swatch, finish making and/or write patterns for, as well as the day job, a launch party, knitting lesson and Christmas market preparation and some embroidery projects to complete. Phew!

The picture above shows some grey garter stitch, which is a sample of the cowl we shall be knitting in a beginners class coming up this weekend, a mock houndstooth fairisle knit coming to a magazine near you very soon and a couple of crochet swatches for throws. The nice thing about working on so many different projects is that you don’t get bored, or suffer so acutely with RSI or tennis elbow due to the differing patterns of your fingers when working crochet and knitting or chunky and fine yarns.

I have also been planning more adventurous projects, dreaming up and sketching wonderfully glamourous knits for a possible new book, here’s a little exclusive preview of a fringed number. Have been wanting to make this for what seems like forever, perhaps now will be the big chance!

So glad that this week is panning out a little more relaxed so I have finally had a chance to blog and direct people to the fantastic p/hop cause; hopefully all you generous knitters will get huge pleasure from knitting something from the site and be able to take the time to enjoy the process as well as the donating.

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Thank you very much Claire. You can read more from Claire aka Montyknits here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.