Tag: charity

Age Action ‘Made With Love’ Update

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As promised I wanted to let you all know that  I’ve heard back from Age Action and can fill in some of the gaps now.

The official launch of the campaign on is today at The Lepreachun Museum so Age Action hope to get more media and retail interest after it.

At present they are still working on retail outlets in Dublin, Cork and Galway as well as drumming up support so they can sell on the streets for St. Patrick’s Day.  Daragh the man that replied to my email didn’t give me a closing date so for us in the shop we’ll be sending off ours the in the first week in March.  The last day for leaving your shamrocks in the shop for us to send off is Saturday March 1st. 

 I made a boob in the previous post sorry, the target is 20000 shamrocks not 2000.  They’ll be sold  at €2 each and proceeds after print and postage costs go directly to their services, including Care and Repair, Getting Started and their Information and Advocacy service.

Above is my first shamrock which is in need of blocking.  It measures about 3.5″from the 1st to the 3rd leaf and it’ 2″ tall from the top of the leaf to where the stalk (which is 3″ long) begins.

Those of you that know me know I’m a straight talker, so therefore it seems only fair to tell you they’re a little fiddly to knit.  Having said that though it only took me about 30 minutes from start to finish and it takes the tinniest amount of double knit yarn.

Perhaps, you’ll only manage to get one shamrock knitted but every little helps after all.

Happy Knitting!

 

Whilst You’re Waiting

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age action

As I mentioned in my previous post we’re in the process of getting our next charity campaign together but last Friday I received a letter from Age Action asking for our support for their St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock ‘Made With Love’ Campaign.  I was hoping some of you lovely people would take part in this campaign whilst your waiting on ours?

Age Action are encouraging knitting groups, shops and clubs from around the country to knit a shamrock which will then be sold in selected retail outlets in the run up to Monday 17th March.

They’ve set a target of 20,000 shamrocks which will be sold for €2 each.  I have written an email to Age Action to try and clarify how much of this €2 the charity will actually receive and I shall be sure to let you all know.

In the meantime the little shamrocks consist of three little hearts sewn together then you knit a little stem.

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For some reason the pattern available here doesn’t have the instructions for the I-cord stem at the moment but I imagine it will be fixed soon.

Completed Shamrocks should be posted to Age Action at 30/31 Lower Camden Street, Dublin 2.  Alternatively, we’ll be collecting them in the shop to post off nearer the time.  At present there is no deadline mentioned on the literature from Age Action but I’ve asked in my email too.

I can’t imagine they’ll take that long to knit up and the amount of green yarn needed will be minimal and just 1 will make all the difference.

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Happy Knitting!

The Final Count Is In – Didn’t We Do Well?

LeftFootDaisy3 Comments

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My shop looks rather bare now because as you can see from the photograph I gathered all of the blankets for Armenia from their hidey holes in order to pack them up ready for Global Missions Ireland to collect them.

I’m not sure the photograph shows everyone’s efforts off to full effect.  What you cant really tell is exactly how tall each pile is, or that they’re 4 deep.  (Tom Hardy looking on in the top left hand corner can though – Yum)

Global Missions Ireland will hopefully be taking them over to Armenia in the very near future and we’ve been promised photos which I’ll pop up for all to see.

In the mean time after gathering, folding and bagging and most importantly COUNTING, there are ……………. no you’ll have to wait just a little longer…….

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Yes you did read that right, 118 blankets.  Everybody that took part should feel very proud of themselves, we did great.

News about our next collection will be coming very soon, but for now.

Happy Knitting!

How to use Clover Pom-pom Makers

LeftFootDaisy6 Comments

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Being often asked to demonstrate how to use the pom-pom makers from Clover I thought it might be a good idea to pop up a post about them.  Warning though, the post is photo heavy and I’ve tried to cover everything I’ve been asked about them, so apologies beforehand for waffling on a bit.

These clever little gadgets are available in the following sizes with all but the extra large consisting of two makers.

X Small –  20mm & 25mm

Small – 35mm & 45mm

Large – 65mm & 85mm

X Large – 115mm

Clover have also developed heart-shaped pompom makers which I will demonstrate on another post later.

1st Step Open both sides of the maker.

You will notice that it is made up of two separate pieces that slot into each other, this is to allow you to take your completed pompom out.

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2nd Step Begin winding your yarn around one side of the maker

I tend to start from the centre of the semi-circle, holding my yarn against the curve and wrapping my first few turns over the end to secure it.  I’ve had the most success with my pompoms by keeping the yarn fairly taut when covering the arcs.

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Continue to wind the yarn around one side of the maker until it is almost full. Be careful to try and keep it to ensure a more rounded pompom.

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4th Step Break your yarn off, close your first side in and complete the second side of the pompom.

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5th Step Cut a piece of your yarn long enough to tie round your pompom.  Remember to make it long enough as you can use this to sew your pompom on. Then, using sharp scissors and following the groove between either side of the maker, cut around the pompom, making sure you snip each thread completely.

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6th Step Wrap your piece of yarn between either side of the maker and tie in a knot tightly being careful not to break your yarn.  (some wool may not be strong enough to do this, so you can always use a scrap from another kind of yarn)

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7th Step Open both sides of the pompom maker and separate it to reveal your squidgy pompom.  Roll it around in your hands a few times and give it a little trim – don’t cut your ties if you need to sew it on to anything.

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Voilá! Pompom magic.

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Happy Pompoming!

New Year – Time For Change?

LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

Two days in to 2014 already and my brain has been working overtime on things to do in the coming year.  I’m not a New Year Resolutions kinda girl, so whilst I’ve made a mental note to quit the indulgences of the past couple of weeks, get back on my anti-inflammation diet and try to do more exercise in the coming year I’m not going to be too upset if I fall off the wagon, so to speak.

There are however, things I am going to try to alter in the hope that some little changes will allow me a little more time to do some of the more important things like, dare I say it – Exercise more 😦

Top of my list is to get more organised, already I can hear my family groaning.  I do try really hard to set myself deadlines, but it’s sticking to them that’s the problem.  My head gets so full of ideas for the shop, designs, kids crafts, etc that I easily get distracted.  So I’m going to get better at writing things down, that way hopefully, I won’t be constantly running through my ‘list of possibilities’ in my head.

I’m also extending this writing it down thingy to my ongoing projects too, as I’ve been slack with posting them onto Ravelry and have wasted at least a couple of hours mentally running through what I made in 2013.

From what I can remember I made the following, but I know I’ve missed some things.

1 cardigan for me

1 jumper for Dina

2 waistcoats (1 for the shop, 1 for me)

2 pairs of socks and 2 single socks (need to make a 2nd lace one and I’m now half way through the other 2nd sock, see below)

12 hats

8 scarves/cowls

Moody Blanket (must do icord border)

Poncho

Wrap

3 – tea cosies

6 Crochet bunting triangles

5 knitted/crochet brooches

Christmas Angel

4 Baby Cardigans

sample squares for the shop

Blanket squares for charity

Innocent Smoothie hats

If I’m honest, it doesn’t seem like a lot of knitting, must try harder.  As a little extra note to self “should also knit from my stash a little more”.

Starting as I mean to go on here’s my last/first project of 2013/2014.  I’m just about to start the heel flap so it should be finished by the weekend.

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I’m also going to start another Il Grande Favorito with some beautiful Sirdar Connemara from my stash.

All sounds very good so far, but I have a small confession ……..

Whilst waiting for the photos for this post to upload I decided to clear up my email inbox a little and now I’ve become distracted by this lovely DIY Fair Isle Hat deigned by Meg Myers for Classic Elite Yarns.

Which yarn would work best now?

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Happy Knitting in 2014

xxx

It’s A Little Nippy – Last Minute Knit

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OK.  So we’ve all seen the ‘super quick knit’ patterns that seem like a good idea until you realise that they’re actually referring to those amongst us that can break all kinds of speed knitting records.

I’m a steady knitter, neither fast nor slow and if we’re being extremely honest, I’m prone to distraction.  However, this little neck warmer did actually take a little over an hour to knit up – PROMISE!

So what are you going to need?

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I’ve used 10mm needles and 2 balls of Rico Fashion Elegance in shade 3.  They’re 5ometres each so you need approx 100metres of super chunky yarn.

Cast on 20sts and knit every row in plain/garter stitch until work measures 56cms/22″.  Cast off loosely

2013-12-23 12.03.08I slipped the first stitch of every row to keep my edges tidier but it’s not necessary.

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Join by sewing your cast on and cast off edges together.

Ta ddah……..

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Of course now my neck’s warm but I can’t see a blooming thing.

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Much better.

I’m going to make a couple for my youngest to wear as he always forgets to put a scarf on and I’m sure my hubby whose a plumber and constantly working outside on dairy farm installations at the moment, might even fancy a couple.

In case your wondering it’s 20cm/8″ deep.

Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

Top Woolly Gifts This Year

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

As there are only 3 more shopping days for your loved ones to get down to the shop, I thought I’d show you our most popular gift items this year.

In no particular order ……

All things Knitpro Symphonie

knitproThe new Knitpro Karbonz Sets have also been popular.

karbonz-spitzen-setThe extra special Knitpro Box of Joy

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Clover Pompom Maker are a great stocking Filler.

Clover-2-Pom-Pom-makersThe heart shaped ones are a little bit different too.

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The very gorgeous Hedgehog Fibres.

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Scarf Yarns

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Gift Vouchers

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Cushendale Boucle

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Let us interrogate you for a bit about the person, give us a budget and we’ll make up a kit.

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Happy Knitting!

I Think We’re There Now

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

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The last two weeks have seen an enormous amount of squares and finished blankets being handed in to us at the shop.  So many in fact that I’m pretty sure we’ve now passed our 83 blanket target – YIPPEE!

I know from talking to many of you that there are still squares out there yet to be handed in and we will still happily sew them up into the blankets.

Hopefully the Global Missions Ireland team will welcome a few extra blankets, if not I have a few other charities in mind for the surplus.

A humongous, ginormous, gargantuan THANK YOU for all of you that have supported our collection.  It is heart warming to see the extent of people’s goodwill.  I will take lots of pictures of the piles of blankets when all the sewing and crochet is complete.

Happy Knitting!

Week Ending 7th September

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Wow!  We had an amazing amount of squares and blankets handed in last week and at this rate we’ll easily make our new target of 83 blankets.

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Last weeks donations include squares and blankets from the following people-

Noreen handed in 3 blankets, 2 of which Lucy joined to make 1

Linda = 2

Kirstie = 18

Cati = 1

Elizabeth = 1

Betty Holland = 16

Breeda Ryan = 35

Martina = 35

Mary Donnelly = 4

Mary Mac = 12

Lise = 32

Joan = 4

Lucy = 4

Total 164 squares and 2 blankets

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Keep em coming please.

Happy Knitting!

Blanket Update

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

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Last week was a bumper week for our blanket collection and some of you may have already seen the photograph I’d posted up on our Facebook page of the 5 blankets Lil had completed.  In addition to Lil’s contribution we also received 30 more squares from the clients at Oak Lodge, a full size blanket , 51 squares from Lucy, 2 from Edwina, 5 from Mary O and 1 more from Dina.

At my last count that means we have 61 blankets although only 52 of them are fully finished, some still have to be sewn.  The collection will be going on until the last week in November so if you have time please get knitting or crocheting.

Happy Knitting!