Hello to everyone,

For those who don’t know me, I’m Lyn, and this is just a quick note to update you on a recent ebay auction to benefit MSF and p/hop.

Here’s the story: I knitted a large scrap yarn blanket (the multicoloured kind – think technicolour dream coat) which ended up being about 5 by 3 feet, made of merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn in lots of little different coloured mini skeins. I used this free pattern from ravelry by Debbie Orr: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/zig-and-zag-sock-yarn-pram-baby-blanket. As I tend to knit because i enjoy the process, rather than because I particularly need the finished product, I decided that someone should have it who really liked it and wanted to use it. with this in mind, I contacted p/hop (you can take a look at this discussion if you like: (http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/p-hop/1515251/1-25) and through contributions from all the members, decided to offer it up for sale on ebay. A very helpful raveler, Jo (aka josp on ravelry) offered to coordinate the actual sale. within a few days, everything was organised, the auction was being publicised on ravelry, twitter, facebook and by word of mouth and all we had to do was sit back and nervously bite our nails in anticipation!

To begin with, the total rose ever so slooowly, but (watched by anxious eyes) it topped 30 pounds, then 50, then 80, and on the last nerve-wracking day, climbed over the 100 pound mark and finally sold, to a very generous person, for the grand total of 122 pounds!

I’d like to thank (ha! I sound like I’ve won the Oscars… but seriously I am really grateful to everyone!) p/hop for first of all taking me seriously, then coming up with all these useful suggestions (someone even said we should time the sale so that it ends on a Friday, apparently people are more generous on that day of the week – where do people come up with these things?!), everyone who read the discussion, contributed to it,organised the auction, publicised the event, bid on the blanket and finally the very lucky successful bidder who now has a beautiful (if I do say so myself!) blanket to enjoy.

This whole experience was a bit of an experiment because to my knowledge, p/hop hasn’t auctioned items off on ebay before, so it was a learning curve for all of us, not only me. but in my opinion, it’s had a fantastic outcome and will hopefully be the first of many successful fundraisers for MSF and p/hop!

Lyn x

My first ever blog post – be gentle with me!

P-hop sucks you in, its tentacles of humanitarian goodness creep out and grab you.

Happily lurking on Ravelry, I pipe up and the next thing I know I am Ebay – seller extraordinaire for the most gorgeous blanket.

Created by Christi1 (aka Lyn) to Debbie Orr’s pattern it has been generously donated for p-hop/MSF and we are auctioning it on Ebay! It is made from hand dyed mini skeins by Xenia Baxter at Art Of Xen, in 4ply 80% merino/ 10% cashmere/ 10% nylon superwash. The yarn alone cost £70 plus the hours of knitting that went into it make it a unique work of art to be treasured for generations.

So, tell your friends, colleagues and everyone with taste about this beauty. The auction ends on Friday 25th Feb at 8pm. Spread the word (Tweet about it, blog about it share the link on facebook or social network of choice, the more the merrier).

If this works for us, it could be the first of many.

That link again – http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170603811385#ht_922wt_932

Happy bidding

Jo

Happy New Year Everyone. Before we launch headlong into 2011 I’m going to take a few moments to look back over 2010. What a year it was, we were here there and everywhere meeting hundreds, if not thousands of friendly and generous knitter, but you know all that (well you do if you read the blog). One of the things I love about p/hop is when people are inspired to make a difference and raise money which will enable MSF to provide vaccines, midwives, nutrition and other life saving care to people who desperately need it.

Take for example IsobelM who asked for a collecting tin and some info on p/hop and MSF to add to a display on knitting in her local library in the Isle of Man.  Or Shelia who always makes a donation through Just Giving whenever there is a birthday in the family, remembering those who have very little in life at times of personal celebration. Or Rhoda who knitted tea cosies to sell for MSF at a local craft cafe and gallery. Or the anonymous knitter who donates for a pattern.  Or Rooknits and Picperfic who coordinated the 2010 raffle blankets and all the individuals who donated their knitting time to make squares to create beautiful throws. All these acts of kindness make a huge difference.

Jacqui, modelling her Flowers in the Rain design at Woolfest in July

You’ve helped Dr Ekdahl deliver two healthy babies to Haseena and Jamila in flood striken Pakistan.You’ve helped prevent, control and treat cholera outbreaks in Haiti. You’ve helped vaccinate thousands of vulnerable people in Niger against meningitis. You’ve helped raise nearly £22,000, over US$4000 and 1,500 Euro for MSF since p/hop started.

Good eh? If you helped p/hop raise money for MSF, in any way, no matter how small, in 2010 give yourself a pat on the back, a nice cup of tea,some knitting time, and start thinking about what we can do in 2011.

Photo from MSF UK

Thank you.

Added at 10pm: After I wrote this the UK fund raising total went over £22,000! What a brilliant start to 2011. Don’t forget you can also donate in US dollars, Euros or make a donation in your local currency to your country’s MSF office.

We had a hoot at The Bothered Owl Christmas Party last week. There was tea, wine, mince pies, plenty of nibbles, good food and great company. It was a great evening for socialising and knitting in a lovely relaxed atmosphere. Onehandknits has written a good review of the evening here though I feel I should yarn you, it contains a lot of lovely yarn.

Sadie aka Whitehart and Sarah aka SarahAbroad volunteered at our table where we had our favourite gift knitting patterns available for donation. Sadie had brought along a pair of Cranford Mitts (I think the 8th pair of the nine pairs she has made!) which we borrowed as a sample. The Cranford Mitt-a-long was so popular we extended it to the end of December so please join in the fun over on Ravelry.

Sadie and her Cranford Mitts

We’re also having a knit-a-long for our Christmas Stocking pattern. I made one of these as I wasn’t sure if our sample would arrive in time for Christmas but it only took me a weekend to knit it. A big thank you to Crochet-y-knitter for her beautiful sample. If you’re a little nervous about stranded knitting take a look at this great tutorial (scroll down) to get inspired.

We raised £46.56 at the Bothered Owl party which is pretty good for an evening of scoffing delicious mince pies, vegan sausage rolls and eyeing up gorgeous yarn. A big thank you to everyone who made a donation and to Sarah and Sadie for giving up their free time to help out and a huge thank you to the Bothered Owls for inviting us to such a fun event.

Seasons Greeting to you all, I hope you have a peaceful and happy festive holiday.

We’re off to a Seasonal Knitting Event on Monday, The Bothered Owl’s Christmas Party, which will feature nibbles, drinks, yarn shopping and p/hop as well as good friends and festive cheer. I’m taking along our best Giftmas knitting patterns and am looking forward to chatting with knitters, the lovely Bothered Owl team, and munching mince pies.

If you’re going to a festive knitting event why not take a few copies of you favourite patterns along to help spread the p/hop word. We still have some of our postcards so if you would like some to take to an event please get in touch.

You can also support MSF by buying their Seasonal Cards.

Most of us knitters like to make special, lovingly hand crafted gifts for people at Christmas. You can also give something very special through MSF. MSF have teamed up with gifts4good to offer various medical kits as gifts. Your recipient will receive an email telling them what your gift will do. eg £15 will provide someone with antiretroviral therapy for a month or £150 will buy a surgical kit. At my old work place we used to club together and buy a large gift for good instead of small gifts for each other. 100% of the money goes directly to MSF and there is no waste as it’s all done by email. Brilliant!

So, sometimes at MSF, something comes along and takes your week apart. This happens fairly regularly, to a greater and lesser extent. This week that has happened and it has been cholera in Haiti that we have been working flat out on…..

A relative holds a child's hand who is suffering from symptoms of cholera at a Haitian government hospital where MSF is treating people. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The situation in Haiti is dire enough that we have launched an appeal from the London office to ask for funds specifically to help us up our game there. More than one thousand staff are working round the clock to treat the thousands of patients we are seeing and to build cholera treatment centres so we have somewhere to treat them and providing safe water to communities and community education and and and…..

There is no doubt in my mind that this work merits a donation from me, from you, from anyone…. But…

But, one of the things that makes MSF special for me is the fact that we don’t often ask for money for specific projects – only when we need to act fast and on a very large scale. And why? Because we prefer to have a fund of money that we can use wherever we see fit – wherever the needs are greatest. Basically, we ask our supporters to trust us.

I was a fundraiser before I worked at MSF and was an MSF supporter before I was MSF staff and one of my proudest moments as a supporter was following the tsunami in early 2005. MSF ran an appeal for funds, to which I donated. Then, once they realised they could not spend it in a meaningful way, that they had done what they could, they offered to give it back. As a fundraiser, this seemed crazy, but as a supporter, it confirmed in my mind that I had made the right choice with my donation.

P/hop is based on an honesty box, and on trust, and this is one of the reasons it fits so well with MSF. The money that knitters raise through this weird and wonderful knitting project goes directly to MSF’s general fund. You are trusting us to spend it where the needs are greatest.

I think a donation to the Haiti appeal is a donation well made, but you guys should be proud that your donations are already at work battling cholera in Chad, malaria in Niger, treating victims of a cyclone in Myanmar, helping victims of domestic and sexual abuse in Papua New Guinea and doing life-saving work in another fifty odd countries.

By the way, this work has interrupted my knitting, but, before you say anything, this post is not an over elaborate excuse for not having done my rows….

Spring into spring with this gorgeous Chic Spring Beret kindly donated to p/hop by talented designer Jane Crowfoot and the staff at The Knitter magazine.

The beret uses four colours of DK yarn and is a good introduction to Fair Isle (stranded colour) knitting. If you’re new to Fair Isle knitting there are lots of good tutorials on the internet including one on the KnittingHelp.com website (scroll down for the video) or just ask in the p/hop group on Ravelry if you need any advice.

If you want to see what the beret looks like in other colourways take inspiration from what others have made on Ravelry.

To read more about the Chic Spring Beret pattern and download the PDF click here. Happy Knitting!

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.

Three facts gleaned from the Mad Knitters Charity Bingo:

1. Knitters are super competitive
2. They like a glass of wine
3. Alice (the organiser) does an awful ‘British’ accent!

Arriving late to the Mad Knitters Charity Bingo thanks to my complete lack of knowledge of west London, the first game was already in full swing. Shrieks of glee and, more often, frustration filled the room above Alice’s west London shop as the numbers were called from the front (jump and jive 35 proving particularly elusive for some)…

Booze and gambling - a typical knitters night

After introductions for our benefit (real names and ravelry names), we were soon into game two. Drinks flowed, jokes were made and many pages of numbers were spotted by many different coloured pens. Once all the prizes had been won, including a skein of Doctors Without Borders yarn (which I didn’t even know existed), the fiendish light of Bingo left the crazy knitters’ eyes and the air was filled with laughter, the gurgling of wine into plastic glasses and the inevitable click-clack of needles (I didn’t take my knitting, which was a mistake – I shall now carry it to all knitting related events). An evening that I had been slightly apprehensive about, being fairly new to both knitting and bingo, had turned out to be a real giggle…

Now, apart from being a great social event (subjects of discussion including knitting, tattoos, Japan, knitting, sex-shop ownership and knitting just from what I heard), the night was also a p/hop fundraiser for the work of MSF and again confirmed for me the fantastically generous nature of knitters in general. From money taken for the bingo and collected for the raffle, over £300 ended up in the p/hop coffers. An amazing effort!

So, thanks so much to Alice, to all who attended, to the prize donors, to those who provided the wine and food and to all those who bought raffle tickets… You have done brilliantly and your efforts are much appreciated.

For info on the next Mad Knitters Charity Bingo night, go to the Socktobus blog and scroll to the bottom…….. It’s well worth it!

In a frenzy of SkipNorth swapping this week, p/hop donations rocketed over £1,000. Reaching this amount is a significant achievement and goes to show that £5 or £10 here and there really adds up!

Whether you enjoyed a free pattern, swapped some stash at SkipNorth or watched Pete knit up a mountain, your support of p/hop goes a long way.

Just how far….

Buy a 5,000 Litre water bladder which provides drinkable water for 1,000 people a day.

Buy 280 mosquito nets.

Buy enough delivery kits to help bring 125 babies safely into the world.

© François Dumont

Thanks to all you fabulous knitters and p/hoppers out there for making this possible. Here’s to the next target!

*Based on prices in 2008

Post photo: A mother and child in an MSF feeding programme in Ethiopia. By Francesco Zizola