Zombie and Woolly Hugs. OVER HERE!! Come and find out about her legacy of Candy’s Hugs, newcomers and old hands, all very welcome

[KnottyAndPistey]

Welcome to the most beautiful corner of Mumsnet, here the love and support is boundless, these are the folk you need to be around, come and join us, you'll not regret it :) Our inspiration comes from the wonderful Zombie, a true legend who continues to inspire us.

We knew her time left with us was short, but the news of Zombie’s death on January 30th was still a shock, we send so much love to her family and her many, many friends who love and will miss her greatly, we hold our happy memories of her very dear. Bless her.

Just before Christmas, Zombie donated funds to Woolly Hugs and together we hatched a plan to develop an ongoing project with her, which she loved, 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.

So glad we could establish Candy's Hugs with her and thanks to you wonderful people achieve her ambition of seeing it all well underway before her death. Her legacy of Candy's Hugs will be one of love and strength, of friendship, learning and developing crafting skills, of creativity, of coming together to show compassion, support and give and receive comfort, Such a beautiful inspirational woman. How lucky we were to know her. X

So many blankets with beautiful women going through treatment now because of your love and support. Thank you doesn't even come close. xx

Raising a glass or two to the fabulous Zombie, we go on together

Anyone seeing this project for the first time, wondering about joining in, maybe a bit unsure, make this the day you do! This project is ongoing, and a friendlier more supportive bunch of folk you couldn’t wish to meet. 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.

Our previous threads are the first one here and the second one here..

[[https://www.facebook.com/pg/Woolly-Hugs-349028448480855/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1339798112737212
We are keeping a photo album on our Facebook page.]] All welcome to join us over there too.

Zombie was a bright and beautiful woman so we chose a palette to reflect this which we call Vibrant Riot; it is inspired too by a blanket that was made for her to give hugs and comfort as she went through treatment. She had it with her at the end, we were so glad to know it still gave her love, big woolly hugs and comfort.

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 all on this thread are on hand to help talk you through as well. YouTube has lots of tutorials, you WILL find one that suits! :)

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 next collection date is March 11th, then April 22nd. 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. All welcome over there.

Thank you so much xx

Hello everyone!

Having got my hands working again, I've been doing this with the two (complete, untouched) balls of wool I have left. It is 12" in diameter now and I'm bored wth it (and I don't like the colours much either); it's just treble treble treble treble forever.

I can't see how it can be used by WH so I'll give it to a charity shop, I think - no idea how to turn it into a square!

Lookng at all the pics, and reading your posts has been a tonic. I have remembered how pretty the willow square is, aand so many others too. I am lookng at something by Priscilla Hewit thanks to book too.

Oops! Forgot pic ( probably because I really don't like it!)

Jux I really like that. Could it be a little hug if you carried on?

I brought my crochet on holiday but it has been too hot. I've managed a 3" square.

Thanks, Okki, I must say the colours are much nicer onscreen than in rl! I could carry on and see how big it gets, but I still have no idea how to turn it into a blanket shape, unless you were thinking it could be a round blanket?

A round blanket would be fine for a little hug I think - they've certainly had hexagonal ones up on Facebook.

I was thinking of a round one Jux. As Spin says there have been quite a few non square little hugs. Some for Billie's Blankets too.

Evening!
Raptor - a knitting loom ? I ill now have to go and google!
Hello Jux - good to hear the hands are behaving themselves .:) That is quite impressive I think. I suppose the only problem you may have is in knowing if you have enough of the wool to make a big enough blanket - there have certainly been enough round/hexagonal ones on FB.
I have started a Priscilla Hewitt pattern. She does write them nice and clearly ( for me anyway) - I am now so used to the US terms, that I tend to forget to swap when doing the UK ones !

How big do you think would be minimum for a round one? I think I'll maybe have enough wool left for one more complete round, maybe two, but I can then do two other colours (which might tone it down a bit if chosen wisely - suggestions very welcome).

They are Patons Extrafine Merino dk, Cyclamen and Violet (138 and 147).

I haven't done a Billys blanket Jux
Might it be good to keep the colours you are using for the most outside last round, and maybe use others next - erm , useless on colour co- ordination - what colours do you have?
link to info here
www.woollyhugs.org/2017/02/05/billies-blankets-for-world-child-cancer/

I think Billie's blankets need to be acrylic? Little hugs can be anything machine washable though

oooh, does say that Spin - didn't read through
shame as the merino would be lovely and is washable . Maybe message K&P Jux ? and see what they think?

Apologies for the tangent, but I'm chuffed with how this is turning out! I reckon I've got enough wool for eight rows of daisies, but the way it's constructed means that I can make daisy chains away from the blanket, and it only takes an hour or so to 'zip' them together.

Oops photo

Wow Spin, that's ^amazing! I thought they were real for a minute and had to zoom in to be sure

book thanks, checking it out. Good idea about keeping the last of the wool for final rounds, I can see that would tie it up nicely.

oh Spin - that is beautiful - you are clever, and all the while feeding babySpin !

Jux - trouble is , guessing how far round it will go!

It's nice, isn't it? It's from the 100 Afghans book - DD picked it as the one she wanted. I've got three projects on the go at the moment - this one, my Caron cake, and my construction - one in each of the places where I sit feeding. BabySpin's weight gain hasn't exactly been great, so I spend a lot of time sitting feeding!

ah, Limpet living up to his name , :)
this is the Priscilla Hewitt I have just finished ( Kinship colours)
I am just about to start a Little Hug - I try to choose a simple repeat pattern for those, a I sit and volunteer for a couple of hours a month, -it helps to have something to do as it can be very quiet and boring ...

Spin Is that crochet? Gorgeous. Can SpinBaby crochet yet?
Bookbook that is lovely - Priscilla Hewitt - is that a book or web pattern?
Jux I would keep going - lovely as a Little Hug
Raptor a loom? off to Amazon.... - can you link which one please.

Looking at the moment through Pinterest for some one colour crochet or knitting 6" squares

Spin that is absolutely beautiful! I'm in awe!

claire - I found her via ravelry - and I went and looked for more - I did one called Irish Rose which I thought was lovely .
At the moment the one I have just done is in her free afghan square pattern bit - its called Velvet and Lace www.priscillascrochet.net/freepatterns.html#afghans

book that's really pretty.

claire yes, it is crochet. It's not very complicated - you just need to do a lot of daisies! I think babySpin is learning how to hold yarn. At least that's what I assume the yarn draped over him to be...

Thanks book, awesome link

Spin that is awesome!
Book lovely square I'm sticking to basic grannies right now

It's this one Claire knitting loom
The pom pom makers are actually rather good (bit flimsy - but do turn out a good pom pom) although DD is very good at taking yarn and handing it back to me in a big knotted mess

Loom! Does it work a bit like those dolls with 4 pins in their heads and a hole right through? I had one of those when dd was small and made an incredibly long tube. When we went for walks I'd sometimes tie it round her waist so she didn't get lost but colud run about a bit. I expect I'll be flamed for ieing my child up, and have probably done her ireeparable psychological damage - she would ask for the 'belt' though, and always seemed more confident with it on. She's nearly 18 now and doesn't seem to need it now

book, another lovely square! I bet your house is just full of gorgeous!