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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.
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MalcolmTuckersOmniShambles · 03/02/2017 07:40

RedGrape it's just double crochet stitch, over and over again I hope because that's all I know how to do! A lovely lady up the thread directed me towards the Bella Coco tutorials on You Tube and when I've finished this, I'm going to have a go at a stripy half-treble square.

I think your flower is amazing, much nicer than mine!

Mrs H In defence of my beginner-dom, may I kindly refer Your Honour to Exhibit A further up the thread ⬆️ from yesterday morning and rest my case?!!!! Grin

RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 03/02/2017 10:11

My wool arrived yesterday so I bashed out a couple of squares just to see the colour combos Smile

I love the colours (empire is particularly yummy) it's great to work from a list as I'm rubbish normally at putting colours together.

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
FiveGoMadInDorset · 03/02/2017 10:14

Oh, a lovely surprise arrived in the post today, will get cracking.

Very sad news, Zombielamb succumbed to the crap weather we have been having Sad

SevenTillFour · 03/02/2017 10:45

FGMID sorry to hear about ZombieLamb Sad

steppemum · 03/02/2017 11:34

Lovely my yarn arrived today!
Thank you @knottyandpisty

lovely colours and can mix with the yellow I have.
I knit 6" squares as they finish quickly which is encouraging, but then you need 4 of them to match a 12 "

less mn in front of tv and more knitting.

SaladDressing · 03/02/2017 11:51

Morning!

Anyone looking to do a 'next step' from a Granny square I have just completed this one. The tutorial is relatively straightforward to follow and goes at a slow enough pace for my tiny brain!

m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLsrz34yAA5TqslaVDg_wfq9NHOPIZwmTV&v=l03jtVTxmL4

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 03/02/2017 11:56

In honour of Zombie my first ever 6" crochet square. I decided it was time I learnt.

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
PicardsCombOver · 03/02/2017 12:04

FGMID I'm awfully sorry about LambZ, utterly awful news
Salad - that's beautiful :)

Yiayoula · 03/02/2017 12:23

Wool just delivered < flexes fingers > : thank you K & P ! Let the vibrant riots commence.....

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 03/02/2017 12:33

Just noticed that this thread is at 910 posts so perhaps time for a new link K&P?

Sorry to here about ZombieLamb. Sad

Made this one last night, 6" C2C square

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
Ulysses · 03/02/2017 13:30

I'd love to join you all for what is a great cause. I've just finished an epic year long task of making Attic 24's harmony blanket. I'm rather that proud that I got to the end of it but was wondering what I would do next when I saw this.

I've got lots of yarn leftover and 7 of the colours that you've listed and I'd be delighted to put them to good use. Some of the patterns here are fantastic and it would be lovely to try my hand at something different than the granny squares I've been doing for what seems like forever. The mandela is especially beautiful Pop. I fancy doing the same as you Zing - is crochet or knitting?

My crochet age is about 30, real age 42. My great-aunt taught me when I was about 10. I've been knitting even longer but prefer to crochet since it's more forgiving and you seem to get faster results.

Hope to you have something on it's way soon.

MrsHathaway · 03/02/2017 13:46

Lovely new squares to see today!

And welcome Ulysses!

MrsHathaway · 03/02/2017 13:46

K&P asked for a tag when it was filling ...

Oh @KnottyAndPistey !

RedGrapeCornSnake · 03/02/2017 13:59

Hmm, wrote a post and it disappeared on me. Annoying. I was trying to post the flower tutorial (easier than it looks) and procrastinating over what to try next. Side to side crochet like Malc's or the circle in a square that Salad posted. C2C looks too scary for now!

bookbook · 03/02/2017 14:07

RedGrape - i used this tutorial from Bella Coco on the c2c. I am a total beginner on crotchet, and found it pretty straightforward, I had only done a granny square the day before for the first time. Honest!
I am going to try a waffle square today, and then if I have enough wool the one that Salad has posted

RedGrapeCornSnake · 03/02/2017 14:34

I'm beginning to think Bella Coco may be some sort of crochet whisperer! Her granny square tutorial was fab. I will have a look at the C2C then

MalcolmTuckersOmniShambles · 03/02/2017 15:26

Red I'm another one for Bella Coco! It was her tutorial that I used yesterday when trying to learn double stitch.

She's also got a really nice stripy square that uses a half-treble stitch, which I'm going to do next.

Really love your flower, I think I'm going to try one and maybe sew it onto my double stitch square.

Haven't been able to crochet yet today stupid children so I'm hoping to get some done tonight.

RedGrapeCornSnake · 03/02/2017 16:49

Ok, what did I do wrong? Tried Bella coco's c2c - hers came out square. Mine not so much! I'm thinking I increased where I should have decreased? Either way, it's come out somewhat unusually shaped. Just as well its a practise, it would have been a right bugger to try and get into a blanket!

Malc - I reckon a flower would look lovely attached to a square . I can do a half treble stitch. Maybe I should give that a crack and work up to the c2c

Zombie and Woolly Hugs. Our second thread! Come and find out about Candy's Hugs, all very welcome.
Pastamancer · 03/02/2017 18:39

For anyone who can crochet but would like to learn to knit, try continental knitting. I am doing this at the moment and find it easier than english knitting as it is similar to crochet in the way you hold it.

MalcolmTuckersOmniShambles · 03/02/2017 18:55

Red can't help you with what went wrong, I'm afraid, but here is the link to the half-treble stripy I'm going to do next if you wanted to give it a whirl?

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 03/02/2017 19:46

Red
Where the 'spikes' are you kept on increasing, instead of decreasing - which is funny interesting as you did it beautifully on the other side!.
When you are decreasing you have to chain through the first few stitches then chain 3 into the first chainspace - you need to do it EVERY TIME you turn your work!

Hope this helps, here to help if you're still struggling!

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 03/02/2017 19:47

Ulysess

Mine is crochet. It will only ever be crochet as I can't knit😊
It's called corner to corner (C2C)

MadisonAvenue · 03/02/2017 19:49

Following Bella Coco's granny square tutorial. I'm watching and copying closely, pausing at each stage, and nothing is coming out like the initial square. May just scream.

RedGrapeCornSnake · 03/02/2017 22:21

Thanks Zing, I was so sure I'd followed exactly but I clearly didn't. On the plus side, your explanation makes perfect sense so I guess I'm getting the hang of the language at least!

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 03/02/2017 22:32

Madison

Show me your square