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

That's beautiful Raptor, I like the edge even if it is frilly.

Morning!
Jux - no sleep at all ? I would be on my knees...
Crafty - that does sound like a nasty break - I hope all goes well with the op, but as you say, its a perfect excuse to sit and crotchet

Thanks book, barely feel it when the morphine kicks in. Its in between doses that it hurts . Getting bits done bur keep getting interrupted by one thing or another xx

Raptor I love the little hug! The borders went frilly on mine too. I was kind of making them up as I went along though.

Crafty hope you get your ankle sorted soon so you feel more comfortable I'll join the ranks of those feeling slightly envious of all the crochet time you'll get while recovering!

Evening!
well just finished a fourth square in Saffron/Spice/Tomato .
Think I may start on a Little Hug next - I have a little stash of Candys ready to send in :)

Crafty, ds your hospital have a Pain Clinic? It sounds like your morphine isn't quite enough, and they will be able to tell you what you could take between doses to keep the pain under control. They won't want to up the dose if they can avoid it as it's a delicate balancing act between providing pain relief and having you constantly just zonked out. And you couldn't crochet, then, could you? Heaven forfend!

book, yes I should have spent all day with matchsticks in my eyes, but no! That might be the result of 3/4 days with no food at all? I do like the way you combine colours; you have a great eye!

I do like the way I can look at all the squares and blankets here and on fb, and am suddenly hit by a colour combination or a texture or stitch that grabs my attention and gives me something to try to work towards, or sends me off to WW to look at colours. I have not had any more shopping accidents, so far, thank goodness!

just collected my little parcel of wool from the PO today !
thanks @KnottyAndPistey

Morning

I do love those colours Book It's really fun to see all the different colour combos that other people pick

I've been practising my flower squares in preparation for Juan's blanket and realised I haven't taken many photos recently so here's some recent ones

Colours are (I think): Empire, Turquoise and Saffron and then Spice, Saffron and Pistachio (although one rouge square has meadow in it by accident )

LOL there's also some rogue Meadow in the blue ones....... and possibly some Sherbert I really wasn't paying attention. (I'm also struggling to spell this morning)

Jux they're giving me paracetamol in between morphine doses so that seems to be working. Its just the itching and apart from antihistamines there's not a lot they can do for that! Xx

Thanks for the advice up thread re: colours - tried again, and it's almost impossible

I have borrowed yet more library books, including Color (sic) Knitting the Easy Way, and 250 Knitting Stitches. DH is concerned I am addicted!

Raptor I did exactly the same - although I think mine is Spice, Saffron and Meadow! My tension is clearly very different to Jan Eaton's though, my squares came up at about 5".

Raptor
diamante - my JE squares tend to come out a bit big- I often leave the last one or two rounds off! -
But lovely flowers both
sitting - have you a local knit and stitch group who could help?

Sitting addicted? I have not idea what your DH could possibly be talking about.

This is my latest progress - I've just finished stitching the edge of the lace. I've got this and a mitre-corner knit on the go at the moment, then I'm onto the roses too.

Would anyone like to help with some questions we've been asked, it is to help someone's MA but they are interesting, this is one....

What advice would you give to someone that wanted to take up knitting/crochet?

Apart from do it! Know lots of lovely folk on here started to help with Candy's Hugs

book I think mine is too tight - you can see the squares are pulled slightly at the corner (I naively assume that once they get joined it will get pulled flat).

I did try a looser tension but I just can't do it consistently. Which is a bit annoying as I did it on one the first couple of rows of my ripple blanket and now my perfectionist eyes can see that it looks different to all the other rows that I inadvertently did as per normal. Oh well, you live and learn. Fortunately the cat's already adopted it in its incomplete state and seems less fussy than I am!

What advice would you give to someone that wanted to take up knitting/crochet?
Find a community (irl or virtual) of people doing the same, and join it.

What advice would you give to someone that wanted to take up knitting/crochet?

Start with YouTube videos - budding hookers should search for "Bella Coco beginners crochet tutorials"! Otherwise a search for "beginners knitting/crochet tutorial" will give you lots to choose from, and you settle on a YouTuber you like.

Once you've got started, look for a group to join in real life. Local independent wool shops sometimes run them, but even if they don't, they tend to know where the groups are. Some are run through churches or pubs. It's really useful to have someone who can watch your hands and look at your work and advise on your tension and so on.

Have something to knit/crochet for. Maybe you're having a baby, or your daughter is, or you want to make octopuses for the local NICU, or knit gloves for refugees. Maybe you just want to keep your hands busy in the evening so you don't reach for the custard creams. It doesn't matter why you knit/crochet, so long as you know why.

thank you so much! Thinking going to add something to the website in our crafting guide on this too, very useful xxx

What about this one...

Why do you think that hand-made blankets etc provide such comfort to those going through difficult times?

I would definitely say you need a driving factor.
Mine for knitting was many years ago , making cardigans and coats for my DC ( my DM was a manic knitter - so I had a role model)
Now its to do just a little bit to spread some kindness, and be part of a community who all pull together to make something special.
I think the handmade blankets show a compassion and care that seems to be imbued in it. It makes the recipient feel not 'special' but cared for and supported by good wishes ( and virtual hugs)

Why do you think that hand-made blankets etc provide such comfort to those going through difficult times?
Because making a blanket by hand is, objectively, a ridiculous thing to do. A machine could do it so much more quickly / cheaply / consistently. But people want to spend time and effort making a thing for those going through a rough time, and that is evident in its imperfections and inconsistencies aka character.
And why a blanket? Because they are snugly / huggable.

Advice - buy decent yarn rather than cheap stuff off Amazon. I tried and failed several times because the wool kept splitting - amazing what difference it makes. I'd also recommend starting with something simple - I've picked it up quite quickly but you need to master things like a granny square before attempting anything too complex, otherwise you just get discouraged.

And why blankets? I like to think that the time and effort that goes into it shows the recipient how much people care. Plus it's a bit of a comforting treat that you would never buy for yourself.

What advice would give to someone that wanted to take up knitting/crochet

Start with crochet as it's quicker.

Get involved in a project - actually, specifically come here or to WH! When starting you need small successes quickly and a lot of encouragement.

Make squares. They're small and quick and once you've done lots, you can make them into other things (like blankets, but also mats, dishcloths, decorative bits......). Keep the first one to compare with, say, your 10th, you'll see a massive difference.

Advice - don't start. Yarn purchasing is a recognised addiction. However, if you insist, try small quick projects that show speedy results to boost confidence.

Why are blankets better this way? They're entire unique and made just for you - nobody else will ever have the same one and ever stitch of it was done with care by people who thought you were important.

Plus it's a bit of a comforting treat that you would never buy for yourself.

I think I worked out the value of a blanket once - in ssdk not wool - as being in the region of £800 based on paying minimum wage and averaging an hour for a 6" square. Will do my sums again and see if I've remembered right.