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!

Imagine my delight when I woke up to the following tweet this morning

After some twitter based detective work I discovered the lovely Gerard Alt, of long time p/hop supporters IKnitLondon, had been on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme talking about knitting on TV. The main topic was THAT JUMPER from the top Danish crime drama The Killing (or Forbrydelsen) but he also gave our Cranford Mittens pattern and the talented Jane Lithgow a mention. Thank you Gerard.

So if you’ve found your way here from the Today programme, welcome!

We’re a knitting fundraiser for the incredible and inspiring emergency medical aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières MSF (Doctors Without Borders). You are more than welcome to download any of our beautiful knitting patterns. All we ask in return is you make a donation to MSF/DoctorsWithoutBorders based on how much pleaseure you’ll get from your knitting pattern. It’s as simple as that.

If you already know about us but missed the radio item you can “listen again” here.

As always you can follow us on twitter @msf_phop and get the latest news about MSF’s life saving work at @MSF_uk

A few months ago, my friend Ankaret Wells self-published two books: The Maker’s Mask and The Hawkwood War. The books are part fantasy, part detective novel, part Regency romance and part cyberpunk, full of humour and populated with wonderfully vivid and three-dimensional characters. I particularly loved Ankaret’s heroine, Tzenni Boccamera, a shy, geeky engineer with a marvellously level-headed approach to problems and a great deal of determination, and I was inspired by a Twitter conversation to design some socks inspired by her.

One of the first things we learn about Tzenni is that she is scared of heights, and particularly of staircases, which puts her at something of a disadvantage living in a world of vertical city-states, or Spires. So I knew straight away that the socks would have to have a staircase-like stitch pattern. However, I didn’t want Tzenni’s socks to define her just by her fears when I had been inspired by her awesomeness. Fortunately her society has a complex system of heraldic devices, and Tzenni’s personal symbol is a rose-glyph, so I took the Rosebud Lace from the first Barbara Walker Treasury, charted in in Excel and then added a framework of purl stitches around the rosebuds to represent the staircases.

I’d never designed anything before, let alone written a pattern, but a few people on Ravelry asked if I was going to write this up, so I thought I’d give it a go. Once I’d made that decision I knew I wanted to offer the pattern to p/hop; I’ve had a great deal of pleasure from knitting p/hop patterns myself and I really hope that other knitters will enjoy knitting their very own Tzenni socks and knowing that they are helping MSF at the same time.

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Thank you Sadie. You can read more from Sadie on her blog, the Knitting up the Ravelled Sleeve of Care.

We’re really feeling the love here at p/hop after winning Most Creative Fundraiser at the Just Giving Awards. Thank you to everyone who has sent us messages of congratulations, they are very much appreciated.

I spotted these fab Serpentine Valentines Socks while browsing Ravelry at the weekend, knitted by the designer herself, Hilltopkatie, which I thought would be perfect for today.

Serpentine Valentine Socks Knitted and Designed by Katie Weston

I’m in a pondering mood this morning and while mulling over Valentines Day my mind wandered to p/hop and humanitarian work. What makes us give up our spare time for MSF? A Saturday to volunteer on the p/hop stand at a festival, the hours and days spent writing and test knitting a pattern knowing there won’t be any personal profit, offering yarn for donations instead of selling it?

I think part of that answer is love. Love for our fellow humans who by misfortune of geography are living in appalling situations. There are other emotions involved such as a sense of  justice, equality and fairness which also motivate us to make a difference but love and compassion are pretty high on my list.

Whatever your views on Valentines Day, thank you for taking a little time out to make a huge difference.

On a rainy Thursday evening I squeezed onto a packed bus up to Holloway, skipped over puddles and headed to the mighty Emirates Stadium.

As you probably know p/hop was nominated for Most Creative Fundraiser at the Just Giving Awards, so I soon was transported from rainy London to the swish entertainment room of the stadium.

The evening began with a glass of bucks fizz and a spot of knitting gazing out on to the Arsenal pitch, which had lamps on it to make the grass grow at night. Who knew they did that!

Pete and I pretended to be at a game, I’m supporting Flowers in the Rain (one of our samples which I borrowed for the evening) and Pete looks miserable because Arsenal haven’t won anything for ages.

We enjoyed a delicious meal and good conversation with the other nominees at our table. I managed to squeeze in our unofficial motto, “p/hop the less sweaty way to give” while talking to someone who organises charity bike rides.

As well as Flowers in the Rain being at the awards Natalie had a gorgeous Trinity Shawlette which her friend Paraknit had made especially for the occasion, again demonstrating how generous knitters are.

After dinner there was a superb and heartfelt performance by the Choir With No Name which is made up of homeless and vulnerably housed people. Please take a moment to visit their website as they are truly inspiring.

Then the nerves set in as it was award time. Being part of the Just Giving Awards was a humbling experience as we were among wonderful and inspiring people and many of the stories of how people started fund raising brought a tear to my eye. The other finalists in our category were great fund raising ideas (You can read about the Davenant Slum Survivor Team and  Gabrielle Latham & Joanne Hall’s Big Wheel Lock-in fundraiser on the Just Giving website) so I had no idea who would win.

I was caught completely unawares when Natalie’s name was called out so only got this photo of her collecting it. She made a brilliant acceptance speech about how knitting a jumper starts with just one stitch, then you knit another, and another and it grows, which is how p/hop has happened. It’s thoroughly deserved and well done to Natalie for coming up with such a brilliant idea. Keep an ear out on your local radio as you might hear Natalie talking about p/hop as she’s done loads of interviews over the last 48 hours.

I did get a better photo later on once we’d calmed down…

and we had to show the award with some knitting!

Awards aside, something just as momentous happened last night. Watch this video to see more…

It was a great evening and we’d like to thank Just Giving, firstly for helping to make fund-raising so easy and secondly for a lovely event.

Finally we’d like to say a  HUGE thank you to everyone who has made this happen. I hope you know p/hop isn’t about a few people, it’s about a whole community, so if you’ve done something, no matter how small, pat yourself on the back and say “I did this”.

BRILLIANT! Now what’s next?

…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.

Like all the best teams we’re off to the finals at the Emirates Stadium, no, not for a footie final but the finals of the Just Giving awards. You may remember we were shortlisted in the Most Creative Fundraiser category in the 2011 awards, which was thrilling enough, but to make it to the final three is very, very exciting and also a great honour.

The awards are on Thursday 10th of February at the Emirates Stadium. Pete is giddy at the thought of Emirates as he’s a huge Arsenal fan and Natalie and I are both excited yet wondering what to wear as we don’t go to smart events all that often. I may well wrap myself up in the p/hop samples. I’m going to try to find a way of tweeting at the event so I can keep our lovely supporters, i.e. YOU, involved.

Our Ravelry group has produced some wonderful reasons why they think p/hop is special on hearing the award news. Here are a few of them:

Ros said ” I was just looking at the other nominees in the JustGiving awards and it made me realise the thing I like most about p/hop: I get the pleasure and so I give in response whereas so many fund-raisers are about sponsoring other people to do fun or interesting things.”

Jael said “p/hop is also very inclusive (if you like yarn) – by its very nature it can potentially involve so many more people.”

Purletta said “The other good thing about p/hop is that not only do we get pleasure from doing the knitting but often we also give pleasure to other people by making gifts of the knitted object. For example, loads of the Cranford mitts were knitted for other people. It seems so much more productive than going on a sponsored walk or something like that.”

We also went on to discuss how many fundraisers involve exercise and therefore sweating which resulted in Probably Jane coining the following p/hop slogan:

p/hop, the less sweaty way to give.

Pete might dispute the sweaty nature of knitting. Will he finish that scarf in time for the award ceremony?

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.

Like any knitter, I’m often being asked who taught me to knit and how old was I when I learnt and what was my first garment knitted and so on. So I thought I’d have a bit of fun and share some photos of me as a nipper sporting some of my mum’s handknits!

I’m not sure how old I am here, but I was young. If you ask Aran who’s in this photo, he’ll tell you it’s him. Actually, nearly all of my baby photos are Aran, apparently..

Variegated yarns are not a new invention… and whatever happened to Rocket ice lollies?

You got it… I’m a child of the Seventies! And now it’s my brother looking like his nephew.

OK, there’s no real woollyness in this shot but it’s worth sharing for it’s cuteness, no?

And to answer some more of those questions? Yep, my mum taught me to knit when I was 3, and my first garment for myself was a jumper that I made aged 9. The woolly genes were passed on, and I’m rather pleased about that.

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Thank you for blogging with us Woolly.

Woolly designed the wonderful Stripey Beanie especially for p/hop last year. It’s a great pattern in toddler to adult sizes and you can also play spot the difference between young Woolly and Aran. You can read more from Woollywormhead and see her fab patterns here.

The blog-a-long has now finished but you can read all the guest blog posts here.

Don’t get you can follow us on twitter @msf_phop and join in the fun in our friendly Ravelry group.

The air is getting colder, the mornings crisper and the evenings are drawing in. All a sure sign that Christmas is getting close. My children have written their Christmas lists; the nine year old has been quite frugal this year, only requesting six gifts and all at very reasonable prices. My six year old, not yet having learned the words ‘modest’, ‘frugal’ or ‘reasonable’ has a list three pages long, and appears to be a word for word copy of a toy catalogue which hit our doormat last week. And so the fun begins!

As a crafter, Christmas has probably been in my thoughts for a little longer than those of other people. I had completed at least two of my main presents before the kids went back to school in September, although I seem to have become complacent, resting on my laurels after this early start and now I’m wondering how I’ll manage to get everything done in time. I think that maybe many of my outstanding gifts will be foodie ones; I have some mint liqueur and orange brandy maturing in the kitchen, as well as a lovely recipe for onion marmalade which I’m quite sure will go down very well with the in-laws. Add in a couple of boxes of chocolate truffles and everyone will be happy.

Of course, Christmas music is playing in all the shops, and the decorations are getting more and more plentiful. On November 10th, together with my husband and children, I headed into Cardiff to see the Christmas lights being switched on. Doctor Who and his companions would be doing the honours, so my two fanboy children were very eager to go and stand in the cold for an hour to see them. We turned up reasonably ahead of time, but were still later than many hundreds of people who had obviously decided to brave the cold for far longer! Although, with so many people there, and packed in tightly together, it wasn’t actually that cold. We pushed and wriggled our way towards the front, to try to get a good view of the stage. We got within about fifty feet when we had to give up and make the best of where we were. Cardiff Council had erected two giant screens so that those of us a fair way from the stage still had half a chance of seeing anything. However, I am only 5′3″ tall, and my husband is a scant couple of inches taller than that so we really didn’t stand much of a chance.

Undeterred, we hoisted the boys on our shoulders (have you tried carrying nine and six year olds for any length of time? Who needs to go to the gym for weight work?) who then had a wonderful view of everything which was happening. Unfortunately, my six year old isn’t so hot with the camera, so I didn’t get any pictures of the switch-on. But then there was a fireworks display which made up for the poor view and the aching shoulders, so I felt much happier!

I love taking pictures of fireworks; they always look so dramatic. Anyway, once the Christmas lights were switched on, the event was over and the crowd dispersed. On the way back to the car park, I captured a couple of photos of Cardiff’s Christmas decorations;

They’ve gone for a blue theme again this year. It looks very lovely, but always makes me feel even colder! I’m looking forward to when they go back to red and green and gold. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to decorating for Christmas!

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Thank you for blogging with us Jensta79. To read more from Jensta click here.

The blog-a-long officially finished last week but like all the best parties is going on into the small hours. You can read all the guest blogger posts here.

You can help spread the p/hop word by following us on twitter @msf_phop and by joining in the fun in our friendly Ravelry group with yarn swaps, knit-a-longs plus all the latest p/hop news.