We are delighted to be working at this fabulous summer festival in West Sussex (20th and 21st July 2024) and will be introducing more crafters to our wonderful charity. There are still tickets to be had,  click on this link if you think you might like to come to the festival, and if you do,  please pop in to see us! It would be awesome to see familiar faces and Huggers, do let us know if you are coming!

From the Carry on Crafting team….

After the great success of our first two festivals, we are doing it all again! We are pleased to announce we are staying at the South of England Showground, which is set in 150 acres in Ardingly, West Sussex, with easy access by road, train or plane.

We are going to be packing in even more this year! So expect more crafts, more craft classes, more craft demos, more raw materials to buy, a fabulous craft market, fabulous food, shopping and of course you don’t have to leave as you can camp, and this year you get to stay for THREE nights! (19th, 20th and 21st) The festival is open to the public 9:30am to 5:00pm on Saturday and 10:00 am to 4:30 pm on Sunday. Don’t forget we are dog friendly so you can bring your furry four legged friend with you as long as they remain on a lead.

 

We plan to run Hugathon type workshop sessions throughout the weekend, focusing on our Snug project,  getting folk to make 6 inch squares.  We will be providing yarn. There is no booking needed for this, it will be a drop in activity.  Hopefully it will be busy and great fun.

Here’s how we’d love some preparation help from you, if possible please! (1)

We’d love your help in two areas if at all possible please. Firstly we’d love to create a gorgeous super long summer festival pompom garland to decorate our event tents. ( And we plan to then to use for Hugathons after)  So we are asking for folk to make and send as many pompoms as they can manage. We have chosen the palette below to keep a theme. It is SSDK,  Whatever size pompoms you’d like to make, that’s what we’d love to receive! Thank you!

Here’s how we’d love some preparation help from you, if possible please! (2)

Secondly, we’d love to have some small items for sale. We will be seeking donations from crafters for our Hugathon workshops, but any fundraising we can do at the festival will be great,  Given the nature of the festival, which is much more adult than say Camp Bestival which focusses on the whole family, we have spent some time thinking about what to ask for, and we have some ideas, you may well have others.

• Bunting – everyone LOVES bunting. This could be sewn, knitted, crocheted etc.
• Pocket friends, no bigger than palm size. Would suggest cute.
• Book marks
• Covered tape measures
• Sewing type needle cases
• Mini wreaths
• Hanging decs – birds, hearts etc
• Bracelets
• Bangles
• Coasters
• Cards
• Lavender bags
• Pencil/ hook cases
• Hair accessories
• Brooches
• Keyring/bag rtags
• Pin cushions]face scrubbies
• Covered notebooks
• Animal headbands

Any help would be so gratefully received, we can’t thank you enough!

Last posting please to be July 1st, the address will be Teddington. please message us if you need this. THANK YOU!

The Great Woolly Hugs’ Hugathon in Edinburgh takes place on Saturday 28th September 2024, between 11.00am and 3.30pm, at St Columba’s by the Castle Church Hall in central Edinburgh, just off the Royal Mile, close to Edinburgh Castle.

Our Venue is fully accessible. Access to the venue is via a gentle and wheelchair-friendly ramp from the street pavement and there is a lift to the level of the hall and garden area downstairs. There are accessible bathroom facilities.

Tickets cost £20 each. On Sale from 7pm from June 1st 2024.

Click here for the Eventbrite link.

Our Hugathons are a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow Woolly Huggers who share a love of crafting.They are very friendly and inclusive. It is a great time for chatting with your fellow Woolly crew and sharing ideas. If Tortie behaves we will let him come too! We’ve included some testimonials from folk who have been to one before, which might be useful if this is your first time.

During the Hugathon we will attempt to get as many 6 inch squares made. In Edinburgh we are focussing on our Snug Project 2024.   We will provide all SSDK, but please remember to bring your 4mm hooks/knitting needles, you will need them! If you have any squares already made for THIS project ONLY, please bring them, it may be that we can get some kits out for construction.

We will also be running a rather fabulous Lucky Dip (£1 a go) and our legendary Gin Raffle (£1 a ticket)  We will also be running a DeStash table. If you have crafting items to donate to our DeStash table please do bring, remember one person’s destash is another person’s treasure!

And finally we will play our Yarn Bingo game, you will not want to miss this!

We have use of the kitchen area, and will provide the wherewithal for making tea and coffee for a donation. Bring a packed lunch, snacks and drinks, we won’t judge if that is alcohol!

We will be flying to Edinburgh so will be unable to take any completed treasure home, apologies for this, we have limited luggage allowance.

Do join us, we’d love to meet you or see you again. And if you are worried about not knowing anyone, let us know and we can get you seated and chatting as quick as a flash.

Some of you will remember our Panda Picnic back in 2021, making bonding squares for the tiniest babies at the Rosie in Cambridge and for their PaNDR ( Paediatric and Neonatal Decision Support and Retrieval Service).

We are delighted to have been approached by another neonatal transport team, this time in the North West – Connect NW (www.connectnw.baby) who cover the 21 neonatal units of the NW Operational Delivery Network (NWNODN) – made up of Greater Manchester, Lancashire & S.Cumbria and Cheshire & Mersey Neonatal Networks.

They are consistently one of the busiest neonatal transport teams year on year carrying out in the region of 150+ transfers a month and an average of 2000 a year!

This fabulous team have heard of our work with the (equally fabulous) Cambridge team and would like something very similar. Their team ‘colour’ is purple so they are thinking along the lines of some purple themed bonding squares, and also some purple hearts for them to leave with mums when they transfer their babies. You can see how comforting that would be. Very special at a time of incredible anxiety.

What are bonding squares? 

Bonding Squares are knitted in matching pairs. One square is placed with a premature baby and another is worn against the mum’s skin, then the squares are swapped round every 12 hours or every time mum visits. They help with the bonding of a premature baby in an incubator and the baby’s mum. Also can help with breastfeeding in time.

We know that with your love and support we can do this very easily! Please read the crafting info carefully

Part One – Bonding Squares Crafting Info

Please read carefully as only items meeting the criteria will go on to the team!

• This is only a job for knitters, so hookers, now is the time to learn if you can’t knit yet! We’d like garter knit or moss stitch only squares as the stitches are perfect, dense yet with the necessary movement to them, ie not too stiff.
• Squares to be 6 inches NO BIGGER please.
• We are using Stylecraft Special DK – Proper Purple (1855) only so it ties in with their colour theme, and we know it will be consistent in wash and use.
• No intarsia, lacy bits, holes, embroidery, loops, flaps, or appliqués.
• Squares must be able to lie flat independently. No curling
• When finished or changing colour, ends must be incredibly tightly tied off leaving a 6 inch tail, use a needle to sew this in please.
• No blocking please.
• Pairs must match, when you send please tie in pairs with a bit of wool.
• Thank you so much for helping!

Posting will be Teddington. Deadline is June 1st for our first collection, after which we will reassess what is needed and the time frame!

Part Two – Hearts’ Crafting Info

We would like to collect crochet, knitted or stitched 3D hearts (so not single sided) these to be no bigger than 20cm MAX and to have a hanging loop. They need to be 3D, so with some padding please. Other than this the style is very much up to you. If using yarn, please go for Stylecraft Special Proper Purple DK as the purple. If using fabric, please go as close as possible to a Cadbury purple, to be similar. 

Each pair of squares and each heart is another family helped. Let’s try to help as many as possible? Huge thanks lovely Woollies, as always you totally rock

G&G

All info about this event and the Link to buy tickets is here!

On Sale from Feb 25 at 7:00 PM.

Venue  The Shoot Room, Park Lodge Shaggs East Lulworth BH20 5QP

Please do not post until we are back after our Summer break next year! Last posting please November 15th 2025!

This is a wonderful project we have worked on for the last couple of years.

Care Leavers Christmas Dinners were originally set up by the poet Lemn Sissay to help communities provide a Christmas Day for young care leavers (of foster and care homes) aged 18-25, who often spend the day alone.  It aims to be a magical day to be cherished and remembered by those who attend, with care leavers being able to gather together for food, pressies, company and fun on the 25th.. Please see the link which gives more detail regarding The Dinner: http://thechristmasdinners.org.uk/

One of their organisers, Katie coordinates knitters to gift hand knitted hats and scarves to include with the presents given to the care leavers. The Care Leavers project collected around 200 hand knitted and donated hat and scarf sets last year to gift to care leavers in Leeds and Bradford and two Christmas Dinner groups in London.

The aim this year is to gift hat and scarf sets to as many Christmas Dinner groups across the UK as possible.

Here is where we come in….

If you would like to be involved with the project and knit a hat and scarf gift set for the care leavers attending the 2025 Christmas Dinners in the UK, READ ON YOU LOVELY PERSON!

The crafting info is specific and precise, so if you are keen, make sure you are meeting their criteria! This is not our own project so we have to fit in!

We will need folk to commit to a hand AND scarf set

Crafting Info

• The chosen patterns (Wheat Scarf and Barley Hat) can be downloaded for free from the Tin Can Knits website (see link below). If any knitters prefer to knit flat rather than in the round the alternative hat pattern we ask them to use is the Basic Family Knit Hat pattern which can be downloaded for free from the Yarnspirations website (see link below).
• We ask that the hat is made WITHOUT the pompom.
• We ask that the yarn used is machine washable, aran weight  in solid, gender and cheery neutral colours. Thinking about this we’d suggest reds, oranges, blues, greens, plums, purples, greys, black?
• Adult size please.
• Add a Christmas label sending Christmas wishes and letting the recipient know how best to care for their gift.

Unfortunately hookers will have to sit this one out as there is no given crochet alternative. Or maybe this is the time to learn to knit??

http://tincanknits.com/thesimplecollection.html – the wheat hat and scarf are here

https://www.yarnspirations.com/en-row/products/caron-basic-family-knit-hat?_pos=3&_psq=caron%20basic&_ss=e&_v=1.0

The NEW SCARF! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boyfriend-scarf-8

New last year

They would also greatly accept any knits for children and babies, as young care leavers attending the dinner sometimes have children of their own. The two hat patterns include sizes for babies and children, but any pattern can be used be it hats, garments, booties, etc. Any colour of yarn can be used for children and babies knits.

Please remember you are making a wonderfful Christmas gift so do take time to write a gift tag, wish them a Merry Christmas, and tie up the set together. No need to wrap, the young people get to choose a colour they would like.

Posting will be Teddington. 

Thank you SO MUCH!!

The Great Woolly Hugs’ York Hugathon takes place on Saturday 2nd March 2024 between 11am and 3.30pm. Our venue is at St Olave’s Church Hall, Marygate Lane, York, England, YO30 7DS. This is very near to the beautiful Museum Gardens, and easily accessed by public transport, The venue is accessible, with accessible facilities.  All further information is on the Eventbrite page, link below.

Please join us! And if you are worried about not knowing anyone,

Tickets will be on sale on Eventbrite from 7pm on December 1st, The link is here….