Blanket for Cupofteaplease: Crafters & donors, your help is needed. x

[KnottyLocks]

I have to admit that it has taken me while to write this. Sometimes it feels that despite all the words at our fingertips, there are never the right ones.

This morning we learnt of the heartbreaking news that Cupofteaplease's beautiful daughter, Beatrice, had been taken from us: another bright star to light the skies above us.

If you have followed Cup's threads, you could not have failed to be touched by Bea's magic and be inspired by her mother and her family (affectionately known as The Teaset ) who ensured that for Bea, 'A life filled with love is a life worth living.'
Their dedication to Bea, their bravery and love reached many hearts and touched many lives. Bea will live long in our hearts and memories.

Our thoughts and love are with them all and we hope that this blanket may give whatever comfort it can to them.

We would be very grateful for your help. Here's how:

We need knitters, crocheters and donors.

RatherBeOnThePiste will coordinate and match crafters and donors, and deal with the admin side. I'll try to answer any queries you may have.

If you would like to be involved in any way, please post on this thread and PM Pistey with your offers: crafting, donating, need wool, etc, and she will match you up.
Whatever way youd like to be involved, please PM Pistey: it really helps us to know how many people are involved. Thanks

The wool we are using:

• Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK (NOT the baby cashmerino)

• Rowan Cashsoft DK.

*Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK.

*Artesano Superwash Merino DK.

They are very similar and can be combined.

• 4mm knitting needles or hooks

• knitters cast on 33 stitches (this is a guide for less experienced knitters)

• 6" squares

The Colours:

Pinks, blues, greens, warm purples, silvers and cream (we'd be grateful if you use Debbie Bliss 013, if opting for cream)

If you wish to make flowers and bees and would like to use yellow, please PM Pistey as we have some in our stash and we would like to use the same colour throughout. Thanks

Ideas for squares:

Motifs:
Bees, primroses, violets, daisies and any other flowers.

Please don't feel daunted by any of the ideas as we really love plain squares and simple textures too. They look as stunning as the more complex squares and actually play a vital role in the overall effect.

Previous blankets can be seen here on the Woolly Hugs website . We also have a Facebook page: MNWoollyHugs and are on Twitter @MNWoollyHugs. If you 'like' our Facebook page, you'll be updated on progress via your News Feed.

As always, we thank you so much for your support.

My wool has come. Many thanks to my donor. I have received two lovely balls of wool in pink and cream. xxx

All I have to say is :How the hell am I supposed to crochet with that?! :o

Pistey and Knotty Locks. I wish that I'd know you were there. It was a beautiful service, on such a sunny day. DD had bought me a sunflower yesterday from Olney market so that I could take it to Beatrice's service.
The 403 pink and purple balloons that were released, one for each day of her life, were lovely.

It is lovely that some of you were there for Bea and cup and the teaset.

Yes, how lovely that some of you could make it :)

We're on our way home.
It really was the most beautiful service. So personal, touching and a true celebration of Bea's life.

Home now.

It really was everything Knots said, and the sun shone so all the sparkly clothes everyone wore twinkled in the sunlight. A balloon was released for every day Bea lived. Just beautiful, so moving, just perfect. A very special celebration of the life of a very special girl.

Thinking of them all tonight Xx

Will catch up with all PMs first thing tomorrow. Thank you everyone x

That's lovely to hear.

Pistey, Knotty and Sally - thank you for being there on behalf of the wider MN community. I've been thinking about the Teaset all day.

I fear I mistakenly fibbed about my square - I have just found the cocktail stick cable one in a pile here, and can't now remember what I sent for the blankets .

Neither you are very welcome.
So what exactly is a cocktail stick cable???

Hey SallyBear, Pistey and I wondered if you were around somewhere but didn't want to go around asking everyone if they were SallyBear.

Can I just confirm that these are 6in squares and not 6cm? If I cast on 33 stitches it comes up closer to 6cm than 6inches.

They wee expand as you knit them hell. Trust in the woolly wonder of wool!!

Hell - yes, definitely 6 inches not CM - I think the 'hookers' have enough to do with 6" squares, I think they'd need much much more alcohol to do it with 6cm squares

I need about 38 stitches to get 6" and you have to do at least 6-8 rows before you can even begin to see what size it will be :)

Will not wee!!

Thank you, it seemed tight when I cast on but 33 stitches is perfect.

I have to cast on 39 and still only 5.5"
Also knit 40 something rows?! I have to knit about 60 or 70 to get 6" ! I must be a tight knitter. Tho I always make sure it'll slide up and down my needle, just.

Everyone is different and it depends on the stitch you are doing too. 33 in garter stitch for me is fine, but anything else I need to test it first.

Oh, I am so glad there was a MN delegation at Bea's send off.
The sun shone here and I thought of all the Teaset on and off all day.

Fittingly, my wool arrived, phew! I now feel under pressure to deliver - I fear they will be rather plain sqaures to allow me not to miss this blanket...

Yep, you do need to work out your own GAUGE (always to be referred to in capital letters). 33 is only a guideline, it varies massively as we can see. I only manage about 28 stitches even on teeny tiny 2.5 or 3.25 mm needles, so you need to give it a go to see how you get on. As Glaikit says, though, don't measure the cast-on row, you need to see how it is once you've done about 10 or so rows.

Glad you were able to be there for Tea and family today, Pistey, Knotty and Sally.

Just lovely that some of the huggers could be there. I have been thinking about beautiful Bea all day. I decided to wait until today to knit my squares for her blanket.

Happy to say they are both done and will be winging their way to Pisteyland by Monday.

Sally - I had a go at a cable square, but as I don't own a cable needle I used a cocktail stick instead . I'd been proudly telling Pistey about it.

I've been knitting assorted squares for Woolly Hugs and some other blankets, so have quite a stash of squares built up. DH was going to the UK last weekend so I sent some squares with him to post for both Woolly Hugs projects, but couldn't remember which ones I'd sent back - so when Pistey asked if mine was the cocktail stick one I just assumed it must have been - until I found it this afternoon. And then felt bad for fibbing, even though it was accidental.

You're making yourself sound more and more guilty, Shredded. Soon you'll be breaking down and sobbing and confessing that you are actually Debbie Bliss, that you own every cable needle on the North American continent and you don't know how the cocktail stick story got started but you didn't mean any harm.

Talking of America, I assume you haven't been blown away by not-hurricane Sandy?

Are you in America shredded? I had you on a completely different continent! :o

Knotty, if I'd known that you would be there I'd have made myself more visible! I was saving a seat for another MNttr, and gave the seat to the person who I thought was the MNttr. Only to discover that it wasn't. No wonder she kept giving me odd looks.