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Woolly hugs

Woolly Hugs is a charity established by a group of Mumsnet users. They knit / crochet handmade blankets and other items for families experiencing difficult times.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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

977 replies

KnottyAndPistey · 15/01/2017 09:33

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

Thanks
Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
OP posts:
Thread gallery
162
MrsHathaway · 27/01/2017 16:55

Can't help - my Tunisian (for Tunnocks) is basically a tube. It does hook together nicely, though, and I just love the texture.

scalliondays · 27/01/2017 18:26

What beautiful squares in the last few pages - and so many of them - I'm just about to start my fourth 6 incher. I have however subcontracted to my 10 year old dd who now wants to knit one. I didn't think I had spare needles so we traipsed around a few charity shops after school . I only realized when I got home that 4mm is a uk size 8 and not only had we turned down some but I have a spare pair- doh....
purpledaisies - I think to get started you just order wool from the stylecraft special dk range in any of the colours specified at the start of the thread and get knitting or hooking 6 or 12 inch squares. If you need wool sent you can message knotteyandpistey and ask if you can be matched with a donor and when you're ready to post them they'll pm an adddress. Thankfully there is no mimimum standard as I'm knitting mine with love rather than skill. Saying that, as well as loving being part of a communal stern look at cancer and the lovely idea of being a tiny part of a woolly hug, I'm hoping my skills will improve over time.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 27/01/2017 18:31

Welcome back pop you have been missed

We had a phone call from a concerned army wife from over the road about Zombielamb who was being beaten up by the big boys, seems like zombielamb has a bit of an attitude and wanted to play with the big boys but they were telling him off

PicardsCombOver · 27/01/2017 18:46

I like Zombielambs style Grin
purpledaisies I unpicked my first attempt!
mrshathaway mine is also a tube! I agree that the texture is wonderful, it feels thicker somehow?

MrsHathaway · 27/01/2017 18:57

I also like the wrong side.

My 12" Tunisian needles are due to be delivered next week. I think a 12" square in Tunisian would be quite an achievement for me if I can chill out enough to keep the tension loose.

BigApple11 · 27/01/2017 20:22

Tunisian crochet terrifies me! It looks amazing but I'm too scared to try it Grin

Spindelina · 27/01/2017 20:29

Glad you're OK, pop.

This is my second 6" square. I don't do volume, but make up for it in complexity I hope.

Now I am going to attempt to wield a crochet hook for the first time in my life. Wish me luck!

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
Ohb0llocks · 27/01/2017 20:32

Pop Grin

'You're never too old mcdonald' is definitely a thing now!

PopGoesTheFuckingWeasel · 27/01/2017 21:17

Picards whatTunisian stitchy thing would that be? 😁

PopGoesTheFuckingWeasel · 27/01/2017 21:21

Anyhoo...my small weekwns peoject is all laid out and the cats are now banned from the lounge

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
PopGoesTheFuckingWeasel · 27/01/2017 21:22

STUPID PHONE!!! Sorry guys...I have a brand spankinf gs7 and no eyes...perfect combination as you can tell!

startingtheengine · 27/01/2017 21:22

Welcome back Pop, you are very useful and I'm in awe of your skills. I'm still struggling

Anyone else not able to see all the pictures? I can see some like Spindelina's but I can't see Bigapples's (but can tell they are there) I'm wondering if it's something to do with update as never happened before. I'm on the mobile site.

Coffeeandcrochet · 27/01/2017 22:20

Could someone please PM me the posting address for the squares? I have one address but I'm not sure if it's the right one... thanks! Smile

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs · 27/01/2017 22:44

Coffee&Crochet. Best thing to do is PM K&P. I don't know how they do it, but they keep on top of PM's.

(Just in case anyone isn't sure how to do that, go to one of their posts, go to their name bar & go to the right where you'll find 'message poster')

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs · 27/01/2017 22:47

POP is that the 'kit'? Do K&P give you the order of the squares or do you get to lay it out however you like? They look fabulous don't they 😁

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs · 27/01/2017 22:51

Tunisian crochet. Very 'ordered' & lovely, looks like knitting, so surely it's easier to KNIT than do that?!

Hmm

You lot are mad!!

😬

PicardsCombOver · 27/01/2017 22:59

Pop it's my sad 6" bit of knitting done with a crochet hook (it can be done!) those squares look lovely :D
Tried learning the star stitch via several videos but lost my temper and gave up Sad will try again tomorrow.

PurpleDaisies · 27/01/2017 23:05

I found star stitch really tricky picard. Have I got it right that you're a novice hooker? There might be others that could be better to start with. It does look lovely when you've got it though.

PurpleDaisies · 27/01/2017 23:06

Here's the video/instructions I used..,
www.scheepjes.com/en/cals/scheepjes-cals/scheepjes-cal-2016/week-2/#title

PicardsCombOver · 27/01/2017 23:53

Extremely novice hooker Purple but I'm good with single/double/half double/treble/front+back post double crochet so I'm getting somewhere :) ooh I'll try that link. I've just bought more wool - whats wrong with me?!?!?! Shock

chur · 28/01/2017 07:03

Bugger, does anyone have any wise words for a complete novice? I seem to be either adding stitches or dropping them on each row. My square looks seasick and I don't know how I'm managing to bloody do it.

Think this first one is going to be a practice run!

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs · 28/01/2017 07:08

Picards. I have wool. I have quite a bit of wool. I bought 12 different colours of stylecraft the other day (I like to have a choice 🤔😖😂). ...I am impatiently waiting for them to call me re the Fusia they didn't have in stock & have several others I plan to buy when I go to collect the Fusia. So I can safely say, whatever you have, I have too 😳😂. Not to mention that I'm knitting, not crocheting, and so I probably have enough yarn to last me 10 years this year 😖😂.

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs · 28/01/2017 07:11

chur. Pop me an e ticket & I'll come and show you 😁

You're knitting?

ChippingInLovesWoollyHugs · 28/01/2017 07:16
  • Take it slowly, like tortoise slow!
  • Make sure each stitch, once made onto the second needle is pushed off the first needle. It's easy to knit into the same stitch twice.
  • Watch you're not wrapping the wool around the needle between stitches creating a dummy stitch.
  • Obviously be careful not to push a stitch off the needle that hasn't been knit into.

It's so hard without watching what you are doing. Good luck. We were all beginners once, you'll get there 💐

PicardsCombOver · 28/01/2017 07:31

Chur My first five attempts at just doing a simple knit stitch resulted in frilly collars ... was supposed to be square. Perseverance Grin

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