Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.

[KnottyAndPistey]

Welcome to our second thread, may it be as vibrantly riotous as the first!

Anyone reading this thinking Shall I? Can I? Yes you can! :) We would love to have you on board, from someone who is keen to learn crochet or knitting to the more experienced, ALL are welcome here. And a lack of funds is no barrier, we have wonderful donors who want to take part and need a crafter, so we can send you yarn, needles and hooks if necessary. It is all about being inclusive and team work.

So let's crack on!

This then a C&P of the crafting info from thread one.

Our lovely Zombie (who has said she doesn’t mind being outed as Candy) has long been a supporter of Woolly Hugs, bless her for it! Recently she made a very kind donation to us, and we would love to start an Ongoing project to honour this remarkable woman, who we have both had the privilege of meeting, dancing and drinking with. wine wine She is utterly fab-u-lous. :)

After a chat with Zombie we have made a plan which she loves. We would like to make comforting cosy blankets with love in every stitch for women going through treatment for breast and other cancers, and at times these may form part of palliative care. They will be called Candy’s Hugs.

Zombie is a bright and beautiful woman so we have chosen a palette to reflect this which we call Vibrant Riot; it is inspired too by a blanket that was made for her to give big hugs as she goes through treatments.

Will you join with us? If you would like to be involved in any way, we’d love to have you on board. Please post on this thread and PM with your offers: crafting, donating, need wool, etc, we can help you with all of it.

The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK. Just this please for consistency, and in these colours...

Vibrant Riot Palette
Boysenberry
Claret
Empire
Fuchsia
Grass
Kelly green
Lavender
Lime
Lipstick
Magenta
Meadow
Petrol
Plum
Pomegranate
Saffron
Sherbet
Shrimp
Spice
Turquoise
Tomato
Violet

Squares to be 12 inch or 6 inch, crochet or knitted equally welcome, please use 4mm hook or needles. No blocking necessary and please sew in ends, and make sure any colour changes are firmly knotted.

All crafting abilities genuinely welcome, squares made by beginner or expert will be equally cherished. Simple, complex, single colour, mixed colour. It really is the love and thought that counts.

If you would like to learn how to knit or crochet in 2017, let's do it! We have help for the complete beginner here…. And are on hand to help talk you through as well. YouTube has lots of tutorials, you WILL find one that suits! smile

If you feel ambitious and would like to make a whole blanket, then that is wonderful, we are aiming for blankets approx 48 inches by 60 inches, certainly no smaller.

Candy’s Hugs will be an ongoing project, our first posting date is to be January 28th. Do message for posting info when ready.

We are on Facebook - Woolly Hugs and Twitter too @Woolly_Hugs both are good ways to keep in touch.

Thank you so much xx

Afternoon!
MrsH has it - they always roll when doing stocking stitch , so you can rib, or garter stitch to help that. It's never worried me, as it sorts itself out when I press it. I do always try to cast off with the right side facing , so the cast off loops are at the back of the work.
Spindelina , that sounds like a very complicated way , and time consuming. I cast on with two needles, and the cable way. So once I have 2 stitches on the needle, I make a new stitch by going through the gap between the two stitches. IYSWIM. Its a matter of relaxation in the wool holding hand I think . I try not to have too much tension in the trailing wool, and you can always tighten the stitch just a tweak if necessary when you have already made the stitch.
user56895 - ah, but doing it that way slows you down! ( Not that I have the speed my dear Mum had - her hands were a blur :) ).
Off on my hols tomorrow, going to do some more knitting tonight before I go, so keep hooking and knitting folks, will be looking at pics while I am away , and ready to click when I am back :)

Am a very novice knitter, I only started learning last week. I have cast on 30 stitches so far and that comes to 3.5", does knitting tend to get much bigger than the initial cast on? Just a bit concerned as I see that most people above that have said how many they cast on have been around the 30 mark but my 30 stitches would be way too short.

Don't panic Pastamancer - your stitches are all close together, not evenly spaced at the moment. ( but it may be you do need 32 /33 stitches on). I am a bit of a loose knitter, but just to show you, I have just cast on ready for the next square, so 2 pics - 30 stitches cast on, then 2 rows of garter stitch. It's magic.I am a bit of a loose knitter :)

This is my last square for this batch - posting tomorrow, and then I'll be concentrating on doing my bit for the 70 Chernobyl blankets.

Love in every stitch, as ever...

Enjoy your hols bookbook

Angel heart for Zombie tonight. x

Evening
Been upstaged by DD ^^
Just showing the square I have done tonight while thinking of Zombie.

forgot!
Thank you Marcipex :)

Can I ask for some advice please? I recently (last week) finally managed a basic knit and perl/purl but I cast on 30 and seem to keep adding more?!?! I ended up with 42 before I stopped. Any advice on my ineptitude please?

Oh dear Picard but also

My guess is you're catching the yarn between the needles and knitting it as if it's a stitch.
Or you're winding the wool around the needles and creating extra stitches that way.
Maybe if you could take a pic, someone could identify the problem.

So many lovely squares!

Have a great holiday book

Picard I think the same as Marcipex, you're probably picking up yarn and knitting it as stitches, it's so easily done.

TRAITOR - you know who you are 😱

FId. I can knit, pretty complex patterns even, but if I cock up, I'm fucked. I cannot pick up the stitches & make them look half decent I suspect your mind, if it's anything like mine, really isn't on the task at hand tonight 😢 I'm was doing very basic stripes today, I figured I couldn't go too far wrong with that. Ahem. I chopped the thread off a row too early! :sigh:

Spindelina. That's wayyyy too complicated a way to cast on. I do what bookbook said she does. Tie a slip knot, knit into that, then knit between those two, creating a third, then knit between 2 & 3 etc. It's certainly loose/flexible enough for squares.

Marcipex. I do the same as bookbook. It's not scary because you can see it's in place over the other stitch.

MrsH 😬

LEM. DDog is a delight x. I loved your ''Buy the fucking bag. Life's too short' 😂

Poor Dixi though, a bit scary to think someone online is reading your mind!! Have a calming 🥃 Dixi

FiveGMID. Exam & outlaws. Life is cruel. Pop in for a sanity check x

CraftyGirl. I'm sure your Grandmother would love you joining us 💐

Spiral. Lovely square! What colour is the light one?

User568945. Hereby known as 945 until you namechange! I'm not surprised it drove your Granny nuts, what I am surprised at is that she didn't beat it out of you! 😬 Cease & desist - your life will improve immeasurably!

PurpleDaisies. Welcome 💐

SecretSix. You'll be fine! It doesn't matter if it's a little wonky or otherwise imperfect, as long as it's knit with love and swearing.

bookbook. Holiday? Holiday? You've no time for a holiday, there's KNITTING to be done woman!

😁 Have a fab time x

FrenchDucks. Parallelogram...well done 😁

Picard. As the others have said, it's easily done when you are learning. Why not just knit, forget the purl, for a few rows - it still looks good & less chance of getting extra stitches. Then purl a few rows, then mix it up.

Pastamancer. I need 35 stitches in this wool. 30 only gave me 5.5". It's tiny when you first cast on as there's nothing to bulk it out. I would imagine that 32 would be a good starting point. You need to knit at least an inch to have any idea of whether the size is good or not. But bear in mind, K&P are pretty forgiving size wise 😊

Hugs, 🍷💐🥃🍺 to one & all.

I think I might just be doing that. I'll unravel and head back to the YouTube 'knitting for eejits' tutorials

OOoops - that's what happens when I don't post all evening

KnottyAndPistey

MiniZing is not well so that's tomorrow's plan to sew in peskies just gone down the drain.
I'm aware that posting date is this Sat, but would it be too late if I drop it off (& other bits) on Monday morning?
You don't have to be in - although if you are it would be nice to see you😊

Anyway, let me know x

How lovely. I wish I could knit.

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs

OKOKOK, will change my name. Been meaning to do it for ages, and inspiration has yet to appear ... think think think. On the subject of the wool round needle thing, my finger just won't!!! must practice more...

945. Excellent! You can keep changing it, if you want to, so you don't have to be too fussy about it being perfect 😊 I only ever used to post under ChippingIn, but since MN was hacked and the Dayly Twatting Male lift so many threads, I post under a few different namechanges now. I hate doing it, but the twatting pillocks wont leave us alone.

Zing how is MIniZing this morning? We need a magic pesky-be-gone wand!

945. Hmmm. It was a few years ago when I learnt to knit, and I think pretty much all learners put the their other needle down, but I think the only way to learn not to do it, is just to resolve not to do it & battle on until you do,it without thinking. You can do it!

User - when I'm looking for a nc I use a username generator (just Google).

For example, my Ravelry username, which I also have in reserve here, is SilverOlive. Unique but recognisable. I don't have the wit to come up with something brilliant on my own.

I am MrsH because DI Hathaway is my guilty crush.

DumpedAbroad You can! Squares can be very basic, the only stipulation is that they're knitted with love and swearing. Oh & Knotty&Pistey live in hope of them being 6"x6" and knitted in the listed yarn. They'll send you some if needs be. Would you like me to find you a good beginners tutorial?

Thanks Chipping ... have name changed, drunk two large mugs of tea in honour of Zombie, and must now pretend to be "working". Knitting needles made the most enormous racket when you're trying to hide them from the boss.... Must invest in bamboo, they might be more discreet.

Good nc! How would you like to be addressed? Seven?

MrsHathaway
I guess I answer to most things! Seven is fine - thanks!

SevenTillFour

Congratulations! 💐😬

Bamboo needles are the 🐝'S knees! I'd never go back to the old ones now. They are definitely quieter, but still, you might need to take up crochet for sneaky Woolly Hug making at work!