Woolly Hugs. Making a true celebration of the wonderful WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo, can you help?

[KnottyAndPistey]

WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo (Chrissie) touched the lives of so many, ours included, and it is incredibly sad to think she is gone. Leslie was an extraordinary generous, compassionate soul and we were lucky to know her, she was inspirational and gave unstinting support to many people on this site and elsewhere too. She was just 28 when she died, only 21 when she was diagnosed with a genetic colon cancer. Life has been very cruel, absolutely tragic.

Leslie was an absolute rock to those folk on the Mumsnet cancer support threads, she organised them for years, always making time for others even when she was so ill herself, many handholds offered, gently encouraging, wise beyond her years, and the threads that still run are a legacy, a truly loving, giving, supportive safe place.

She was an absolute stalwart on the Woolly Hug threads, always ready to join in, ready to help someone else. She and her parents have made so many gorgeous things over the years, super snuggly scarves and mittens for refugees, Billie's Blankets for children with cancer. Extraordinary. So many children and adults feeling their love and support, both at home in the UK and much further afield.

There aren’t enough words to explain how highly we thought of her, how much she was loved on here. We can all learn from her, anyone who came into contact with her did.

We have written to her wonderful folks and we are so glad they have accepted our offer of a Woolly Hug, so glad we can do this for her. Her wonderful friend @TwitterQueen has been fabulous in helping with ideas, colours etc and this has been great. We see this blanket as a tribute to Chrissie a celebration of her and we hope you will be able to help us.

We have some ideas from TQ, but different folk knew her differently, so please do make what is right for your own tribute.

Chrissie was a lifelong veggie with a huge love of cheese!

She also loved pizza, ice cream and cake!

She had two big bunny rabbits called Marigold and Juniper!

She loved the pusheen character and had some very jaunty PJs.

She loved knitting and crochet and had wonderfully impressive skills.

She loved her shoes! Glitzy and glam ideally with sparkles, she saved her best pairs for the chemo ward.

Her name WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo comes form the NBC comedy Parks and Rec - find it, give it a go, we love it too.

Lots of beautiful ideas for squares, but please don’t feel daunted, simple squares are needed too.

The Yarn we are Using….
Artesano Superwash Merino DK
Debbie Bliss Rialto DK
Drops Merino Extra Fine DK
Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK
Katia Merino 100% DK
King Cole Luxury Merino DK (new this time)
Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK
Patons Merino Extrafine DK

Colourwise…
Limes to mid green. not dark please.
Mid to light blues
Oranges
Plum type purple
Teals
Then for accents and embellishments (not whole squares)
Pinks
Red, but one of these two please, Drops Merino Extra Fine 11 Red, or Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK WM6 ‘Ruby’ please
Cream but please one of the following - Debbie Bliss Rialto DK 02 ecru, Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK WM4 cream, or Drops Merino 01 off white
Taupe - Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK WM7 Taupe
Stone - Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK WM9 Beige, Debbie Bliss Rialto 06 Stone
Yellow please Drops merino extra fine DK no 24 ‘light yellow’

It would be lovely to have some sparkle in this blanket, so any sparkly thread is fine but just for embellishments please, we need to know the blanket can still be machine washable. We will certainly add some into the border too.

Simple or complex, made by beginner or expert, we genuinely welcome them all. It really is the love and thought that counts.*

Squares to be six inches, using 4mm needles or hook. Please knot off VERY carefully when finishing or changing colour and sew your ends in, thank you! Previous blankets can be seen on our website

When ready for posting, it will be the Teddington address, if you would like to include a card for Chrissie’s family, please do, we will pass it on.

She looked after so many here on Mumsnet, time to do something for her now

Sending so much love

Ahhhh. Here we are

Lots of parcels have been arriving, will be opening onMonday morn. Really looking forward to getting on with this beautiful blanket.

Bunnies from TQ (her idea, I just made it because her hands were too shaky) for Leslie’s Blanket. My regret and sadness is that TQ never saw the square. But she knew it was being made.

Made and sent from her with so much love.

I'm a bit behind sending mine (and for Willowkins(?) blanket) - hoping to get to the PO on Tuesday.

Those bunnies are beautiful K&P!
It’s so sad that we’ve lost both Leslie and TQ

Finally posted my squares yesterday - disorganised, moi?

@SpiralArchitect - obviously not quite as disorganised as me. Mine were posted today.

Purple - love that pizza!

I am off to do 100 lines:
I will remember to check posting dates
I will remember to check posting dates
I will remember to check posting dates...

Is it too late now or shall I quickly whip up some squares? Sorry to have been rubbish about this 😭

Oh shushhhhhh

Not too late at all @jetSTAR

Beautiful beautiful squares thank you so much

Posting these tomorrow x

Knotty, is there any news of squares arriving please?

So so much treasure has been arriving! I am not working in the morn, so promise to be on it then, thank you everyone, so sorry it is taking so long xxxxx

Beautiful woolly treasure has been arriving. Huge thanks to you lovely crafters for everything you do, just amazing.

@FiveGoMadInDorset Such beautiful snugly garter knit in teal and pale. Perfect

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba Beautiful granny squares in orange, red and blues and thank you for the donation to buy the joining yarn, thats fabulous.

B Beautiful solid grannies in mixed blues and orange really fabulous.

?! A parcel of beautiful textured knits has arrived, in all the colours for Leslie, absolutely gorgeous, but can't see a name, anyone like to claim? Thank you

@jetSTAR As pictured just up there, these are stunning, so glad you got to meet her like we did too

LJ A beautiful heart design and gorgeous circle to square flower in pink, blue and yellow.

AmaDablam A wonderful ice cream design and a gorgeous circle to square, brilliant.

PiggyPlumPie Beautiful knits, gorgeous textures, fabulous hearts in apple and pale blue, wonderful.

Thank you so much, this just round one, back in two ticks! xxx

Just making a :)

More beautiful woolly treasure has arrived, thank you so much to everyone, just gorgeous.

@Spindelina Truly gorgeous squares in blues and plum, stunning 3D flowers too in red and yellow, so perfect.

@WitchDancer Absolutely gorgeous traditional granny squares, beautifully done in magenta and purple, loves.

JG Super clever stuff, J has crocheted Pusheen, and despite what she says it is fantastic! Also a slice of (veggie, natch) pizza and Chrissie's name, all so beautifully done.

MNP A wonderful Pusheen square plus Pusheen embellishment, plus gorgeous crochet in plum, orange and blue, fabulous

@SpiralArchitect Such a gorgeous willow square in orange and blues plus a super 3D flower design too, both pictured upthread. Simply marvellous

@PurpleFrog These beauties are shown up thread, and they are fabulous, wonderful pizza, plus a super spiral and circle to square too. Wonderful.

@WhenDoISleep Beautiful treasure arriving, lovely diagonal and mitred corner knits in stripes - greens and orange and red, really fabulous.

Still more treasure to come, stand by and thank you everyone!

More woolly treasure has arrived safely, all absolutely lovely

@RaptorInaPorkPieHat Really beautiful crochet, a solid granny design in orange and green plus one that makes me think of ice cream, vanilla, choc and strawberry, so gorgeous.

@Ginisatonic Super snuggly textured knits, just lovely, in purple, green and orange, beautiful.

@MadisonAvenue and @MrsMozartMkII Loving the quote embroidered (from the Parks and Rec show) "You poetic noble land mermaid!" - so brilliant, these are posted up thread, stunning crochet, flowers, bobble heart, such rich interesting textures, all so clever. Glorious

@MrsJonesAndMe Beautifully done, loving this cup cake, so clever, super squares in blues, teal, pink and green.

@Yiayoula Beautiful knits in Yiayoula's trademark heart design, gorgeous in plum, stunning.

@SDTG Beautiful flowers, her trademark in blues and green with a mixed colour granny too, stunning

Thank you so much everyone, still more to come!

Beautiful squares have been arriving - so very lovely, huge thanks to all the super crafters, you are an awesome bunch

@bookbook All pictured up thread, a wonderful ice cream cone squares, love it, plus a glamorous red shoe design too. Finally an absolutely gorgeous, beautifully textured circle to square design in plum and blue on behalf of out TQ, know she would have loved it, bless you.

KT All the way from Portugal. Beautiful solid granny cross designs, blues, and magenta pink, really fantastic.

@BlueEyeshadow These beauties are fabulous, a stunning sparkly star, pink embellishments, super 3D flowers, really glorious

No name?! Totally gorgeous - this is a diagonal granny stripe, in blue, deep pink and green, brilliant!

Thank you so much everyone who has sent cards for Leslie's folks, we will look after them until the go with the blanket.

Now there may well be more to come, we had the most enormous delivery of silver sacks with woolly treasure and we aren't at the bottom yet, so don't worry if yours are yet to come.

Thank you so much everyone, just amazing

Diagonal granny stripe sounds like me

Thank you Knotty 💕

So glad the squares are there safe and sound, this is going to be such a special blanket...it doesn't feel right to read through the recent threads and not see posts from Leslie

Beautiful treasure which arrived safely at the Hugathon, apols for the delay...

@Iwantacampervan Beautiful knits, her gorgeous heart design in blue and green, just perfect,

and yes!

@ExpletiveDelighted Totally gorgeous - a diagonal granny stripe, in blue, deep pink and green, wonderful!

Thank you so so much.

Missing Leslie too and TQ, our threads don't seem right without them :(

Just about to write to TQ's girls and see if they'd like blankets, was FB friends with TQ so hoping to get hold of her daughters that way. Did meet her lovely eldest at the funeral.

Beautiful squares have arrived, absolutely wonderful treasure, thank you so much

@TheNinjaGooseIsHooking Beautiful crochet, hearts, a wonderful ice cream, cup cakes, a super cute bunny and traditional granny, all fantastic.

Thank you so much xxxxx