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!

The stunning Dido Shawl and Dido Scarf pattern has been generously designed and donated to p/hop by Åsa Tricosa.

The pattern can be knit as either a shawl or scarf and uses 4ply yarn.

To find out more and download a copy of the pattern in return for a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières click here.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter or join the p/hop Ravelry group to keep up with the latest news and new patterns. Happy Knitting!

Thanks to the generosity of designer Karen Wessel (aka quesselchen) we have a new p/hop sock pattern.

These gorgeous Stained Glass Window Socks work brilliantly with graduated yarn colours as well as combinations of solid and variegated yarns. Let your imagination run wild…

To find out more and download a copy of the pattern in return for a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières click here.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter or join the p/hop Ravelry group to keep up with the latest news and new patterns. Happy Knitting!

Rooknits will be up on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square this Saturday, the 15th of August from 9am to 10am as part of Antony Gormley’s One & Other project.

Come along and support Roo as she knits for p/hop. She will be working on some squares for the p/hop Afghan and sewing them into one of the blankets that will be raffled at the I Knit weekender in September.

The weather forecast is sunny and 27 degrees. No excuses for sleeping in!

If you can’t make it on Saturday go to http://www.oneandother.co.uk/ for a live stream of Roo’s adventures on the plinth.

Goodluck Roo and thanks for dedicating your hour of glory to p/hop!

Photo by Wymworld on Flickr

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

“Come to the little knit meeting we have in Golders Green” said Jane over the phone.

Lovely, thought I. In a coffee shop, a couple of people around to chat to and get tips off. And, most importantly, no pressure….

Wednesday rolls around and I turn up at the the cafe. THERE ARE 19 KNITTERS! Small group? Suddenly I am immensely nervous. I walk straight through the cafe and order a medium black coffee and pop to the loo. I wash my face and return. The coffee is waiting for me – this must be an American style coffee shop as my medium coffee fills a vessel the size of a small bucket. I take a sip and, as casually as I can, stroll over.

Of course I am being ridiculous! The knitters are lovely and Jane and introduces me to the other 18. I forget each name as I am introduced and get my wool out.

Going so well.....

Jane is a great teacher and I am soon finishing a first row of twenty! This is easy! As I round the bend and start my second row, I am in very high spirits. Admittedly, I cannot knit and do anything else – such is the concentration I am devotingto the needles in my hands, but I am making progress…

Four rows in and Jane calls for a stop. This is a practice – the scarf needs to be much wider, so gotta do longer rows. ‘Piece of cake’ thinks I (also secretly glad that I get to “frog” so early in my knitting career).

I am a natural!

I tie my slip knot and off I go again. But something is different… It seems that the wool is tighter on the needles and I am having trouble maneouvering them properly. I begin to get stressed and tense (not helped by my two litres of thick, caffeine filled beverage)  and Jane wisely tells me to lower my shoulders from around my ears. But it’s no good, something has gone wrong. It seems like the needles are tiny and each movement restricts my movement more and more.

Uh-oh...

And they are kicking us out of the cafe.

I cannot believe I have learnt to knit and forgotten again in the space of two hours…I was so close.

But I am not easlily beaten and I will be back to Golders Green knitting group – at least I’ll have a chance to remember some names!

Harry Potter and the Sleeping Commuter

P/hop swapping is frenzied in the p/hop world at the moment, turning the forum in ravelry into a veritable market place. Except with less tat. As I wander past the various stands and stalls, I see Thimblina p/hopping some cobweb yarn from the back of a white van.  Our very own Lou is browsing over at Yellowpurplezebra’s stall as they work out what size needles she might need for her first project. In another corner, Natalie is doing a line in antique patterns, announcing her wares through the brisk winter’s morning like Delboy himself.

Other swappers are busy all over the place and the atmosphere is great, the sun is shining.

But what’s this?? Hilltopkatie is offering a Harry Potter DVD?? Is this to do with knitting? Is it Harry Potter and the Needles of Newport? No, it is not. As news spreads through the market, a hush falls… “That’s nothing to do with knitting” is heard murmured from place to place……     A tumbleweed blows through the scene………

Then, and at the same time, the traders and customers come to a communal realisation. P/hop isn’t about knitting! It is because of, and thanks to knitters, but really it’s about compassion and sharing and recycling and supporting a great cause!

People turn again to Hilltopkatie with smiles in their eyes. Villain to visionary in 8.3 seconds… Not bad.

So, you can p/hop swap anything. And it will all benefit MSF. I wonder what time the market closes….

By msf-pete. Photo by gunnisal, courtesy of Flickr.