If you'd like to knit, sew or crochet for charity, come and join us at Woolly Hugs. All levels of experience and ability are welcome here.

Category: Latest

  • For the Early Birds…. Chernobyl 2018!

    For the Early Birds…. Chernobyl 2018!

    We are already having wonderful folk asking about next year’s Chernobyl project and yes we are both DELIGHTED to say it will be going ahead!

    This year we look like we are aiming for approx 115 blankets in 2018, but this may change. It is a good place to start with!

    The last posting date for squares and blankets made by individuals for our Chernobyl 2018 project will be Saturday 7th April! 

    Here is a link to last year’s project if you wonder what this is about….

    And pictures of the children here….

    So early birds, this is the crafting info…

    • Yarn is Stylecraft Special DK – just this please, inc for any embellishments. 
    • Squares to be 12 inch ideally, or 6 inch if that is too much.
    • Knit and crochet equally welcome. Beginner or more experienced crafters also equally welcomed.
    • Please use a 4mm hook or needles. No blocking please, and please ensure you are knotting off very thoroughly when colour changing or finishing, leave a 6cm end and use a needle to sew it in.
    • We are asking folk to avoid using a magic ring (crochet) to start as find that these don’t seem to always stand up to the pressures of wash and wear.
    • Squares to be single colour, multi colour, textured, whatever you like, they will be wonderful, thank you.
    • Please no posting from the early birds until January!
    • If you’d like to make a whole blanket, please use these colours too, makes thing easier at the giving stage! Whole blankets need to be 48 inches by 60 inches with some kind of border please.

    The Palette

    • Aspen
    • Aster
    • Bluebell
    • Blush
    • Boysenberry
    • Bright pink
    • Burgundy
    • Candy floss
    • Citron
    • Claret
    • Cloud blue
    • Cypress
    • Denim
    • Duck egg
    • Emperor
    • Empire
    • Fondant
    • Fuchsia pink
    • Grape
    • Grass green
    • Kelly green
    • Lapis
    • Lavender
    • Lime
    • Lincoln
    • Lipstick
    • Lobelia
    • Magenta
    • Meadow
    • Mustard
    • Pale Rose
    • Parchment
    • Petrol
    • Pistachio
    • Plum
    • Pomegranate
    • Raspberry
    • Saffron
    • Sage
    • Sherbert
    • Shrimp
    • Spice
    • Storm blue
    • Teal
    • Tomato
    • Turquoise
    • Violet

    Or if you prefer to see them like this…

    Purples and pinks

    • Blush
    • Boysenberry
    • Bright pink
    • Candy floss
    • Emperor
    • Fondant
    • Fuchsia pink
    • Grape
    • Lavender
    • Magenta
    • Pale Rose
    • Plum
    • Pomegranate
    • Raspberry
    • Violet

    Reds and oranges

    • Burgundy
    • Claret
    • Lipstick
    • Shrimp
    • Spice
    • Tomato

    Yellows and cream

    • Citron
    • Mustard
    • Parchment
    • Saffron

    Greens and blues

    • Aspen
    • Aster
    • Bluebell
    • Cypress
    • Cloud blue
    • Denim
    • Duck egg
    • Empire
    • Grass green
    • Kelly green
    • Lapis
    • Lime
    • Lincoln
    • Lobelia
    • Meadow
    • Petrol
    • Pistachio
    • Sage
    • Sherbert
    • Storm blue
    • Teal
    • Turquoise
    • Violet

     

    From the Isle of Wight, 2017

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  • December 2017. Billie’s Butterfly Blankets for a London Children’s Hospice

    December 2017. Billie’s Butterfly Blankets for a London Children’s Hospice

    December 14th. Our four beautiful Billie’s Butterfly blankets are now with the wonderful staff at the children’s hospice in London. It was such a privilege to be able to deliver them this morning. Thank you so much to everyone who helped in anyway. The blankets truly have love and compassion in every stitch and are ready in place now for their post bereavement room, together we will be helping families in the bleakest darkest times feel loved and looked after.  Really thank you doesn’t come close.

     

    We have left the crafting info from this project at the bottom of the page, if anyone is keen to revisit it, but here are the photos of all four blankets. The most enormous thanks particularly to Wendy, Kim and Mhairi for their wonderful construction skills. xxx

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Our original crafting info….

     

     

    This is a very special project to help support bereaved families at a London children’s hospice. We have been approached by lovely MrsDV who works here asking if we can make special blankets for the bed in their Butterfly Suite (post bereavement room) so these will be used to to dress the bed with. We are so glad she did. At an intensely bleak and dark time there is still something very positive and personal that together we can do for the child and their family.

    Our blankets are always handmade with love and compassion and so are perfect. We can help care for the whole family at this time by covering the child in bed so they look comfortable and cosy whilst sending love and a hug to their bereaved parents. Loved and looked after.

    The hospice would like to have these blankets in hand for time to come so that they can be ready.

    We need your help to achieve this for them, we always say love in every stitch and it will be true again this time, thank you so much if you feel you can help. Our aim is to make four single bed sized blankets, two suitable for younger children and two for older. The hospice have asked for soft colours and with a butterfly theme

    If you’d like to donate funds to help us achieve this, please message us, or if you need resources to take part then do let us know. We don’t want anyone unable to take part due to cost.

     

    Crafting info

    We will be using Stylecraft Special DK as blankets will need to be very practical, six inch squares made using 4mm hook or needles. Knit or crochet equally welcome.

    The colours…

    Duck egg, grape, sage, storm, parchment, pale rose, raspberry, cloud blue, sherbert.

    NB – Just these please, no blocking of squares and please knot off sturdily when changing colours or finishing, leave a good end and use a needle to sew in the peskies.

     

    Simple squares are very welcome, but if looking for an idea for theme, these are their suggestions…

    • Butterflies/Hearts
    • Teddies, cars, toys, cats etc
    • Stars, leaves, feathers etc

     

     

     

    Last posting please to be Saturday 14th October.

    Thank you doesn’t seem enough, but the most enormous thank you. xxx

     

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  • Drawing competition!

    Drawing competition!

    It’s competition time!
    Please, we’d love ❤️ a WINTER THEMED design, can you help us? Designs to be A4, portrait view, in black on white only, theme um winter! And do include ‘Woolly Hugs’ on it somewhere. Please scan to PDF and email to admin@woollyhugs.com, or post the original to us.
    ** Deadline is September 30th **
    Thank you so much!!!
  • Starting Christmas in July. The woolly craft sale way!

    Starting Christmas in July. The woolly craft sale way!

    Welcome to the start of 2017’s Christmas Craft sale! Yes we know it is only July, but folk have been asking and we know these things take TIME! 

    So pleased to announce that this year’s Christmas craft sale will be supporting the much needed charity Meningitis Now.

    Meningitis Now is a fabulous charity supporting individuals and families, undertaking critical research and campaigns, and promoting increased awareness of meningitis. A link to their website is in comments. Have a look. xxx

    THANK YOU! xxx

    Crafting info…

    We are aiming to make and sell small/lightweight Christmas craft items, and to keep postage costs to a minimum we ask that ideally anything made can be sent on to a buyer in a large envelope. We are open to larger items too obviously, that is just a guide.

    Some suggestions for you, but we are very open to others too…

    • Stocking fillers, although obviously Father Christmas is REAL, this is just to help.
    • Christmas tree decorations, bunting, garlands, general decorations. Always very popular, as are totally bonkers quirky things, yes we are thinking woolly slugs and sock pigs, who knew??!  😀
    • Stockings
    • Small gifts – Little bags, purses, brooches, hair accessories, key rings, gift bags, tags,
    • Clothing items such as gloves, hats, scarves, shawls – if making clothing PLEASE inc the ball band or let us know so we can pass this info on to those who buy. xxx
    • Lovely lovely things!

     

    *** Woolly, fabric, embroidered, beaded, all crafty crafts welcome!!***

    Items from last year can be seen in our Christmas albums on our Facebook page, Woolly Hugs.

    Last posting for crafts to be Monday 31st October please. It takes so long to get ready for a sale! Please PM for the posting information.

    Donor info…

    If you would like to contribute funds to help others craft we would love to hear from you. Our Paypal is admin@woollyhugs.com

    The Event itself…

    Our Christmas Craft sale will take place ONLINE towards the end of November, provisionally 23rd – 27th November.  It will be organised through an Event page as we have done before. In addition we will be auctioning a broad range of items through our website which will help folk not on Facebook, or those who prefer to take part in this way.

     

    We are on Facebook as Woolly Hugs and Twitter as @Woolly_Hugs both good ways to keep in touch too.

    We are keeping it all crossed that this Sale will be a huge success, with your love and support we have every confidence, huge heartfelt thanks.   xx

  • Christmas Hug Project 2017

    Christmas Hug Project 2017

    This is a beautiful project making cuddly friends to give to Chernobyl children in Belarus.

    It is run through the charity called Friends of Chernobyl Children who as well as bringing children over, we sent blankets to the group in Peterborough this year, work with families in remote areas in Belarus experiencing extreme poverty in very challenging conditions.

     

    Yes, we know we are starting this in June! But we know how much time and energy these things take.

    Can you help us?

    • We are looking for homemade cuddly friends to go and give huge hugs to children this Christmas time.
    • Knit, crochet, sewn all very welcome indeed.
    • Teddies, rabbits, people, this bit is up to you!
    • Avoid white and very pale colours for practical reasons.
    • Size wise – approx 20 – 30cm, not much bigger please for transportation purposes.
    • We don’t know exactly the ages of the children who will receive them, so please avoid buttons and trimmings that might be dangerous for little ones.  Think safety!
    • These are for boys and girls, neutral is good, but we would love some aimed at each too.
    • Our Christmas Hugs will be given to the children around the time of the Orthodox Christmas Day in Belarus, which is January 7th 2018

    Last posting to be Saturday 28th October 2017 to the South coast address please! Message if you need it x

    Thank you so much, as always. xxx

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Sending Hugs to Manchester

    Sending Hugs to Manchester

    ⭐ Little Hugs for Manchester ⭐

    This began as an urgent appeal in the aftermath of the bombing at the Ariane Grande concert in Manchester. We had to do something and after speaking with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital about sending Little Hug blankets to children and families there which they have said they would love we decided to make and send joint Little Hug blankets  These were also to be offered where any of the Woolly Hugs crew knew families affected by the bombing. So far we have sent four of these, and three large bagfuls to RMCH.

    We’d love to continue, so please, we need 12 inch ideally or 6 inch squares in Stylecraft Special DK, in the palette below which we are calling Love and Light.

    Having spoken to RMCH, they would love to continue receiving blankets from us, so this becomes an Ongoing project and we would love to receive squares at any time. We will send blankets to Manchester along with our other two in our Little Hug project – Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle and the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, We will add in smaller Little Hugs for Manchester too.

    2020. Very much an ongoing project, collection dates to aim for are at the bottom of the Home page. Thank you x

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Love and Light palette
    Aster
    Cloud blue
    Sherbert
    Teal
    Meadow
    Turquoise
    Bluebell
    Saffron
    Claret
    Lipstick
    Violet
    Denim
    Aspen
    Petrol
    Spice
    Lime
    Storm
    Tomato
    Sage
    Duck egg
    Grass green
    Pistachio
    Cypress
    Lobelia
    Kelly green
    Empire
    Citron

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

    Please message us if you would like to donate funds or yarn to this project or if we can help you further.

    Thank you doesn’t come close xxxx

     

     

    Thank you to Ali O for the peg pics. xxxx

     

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  • Chernobyl 2017 – the second stage, delivery!

    Chernobyl 2017 – the second stage, delivery!

    Hopefully lots of photos to come as the children receive their blankets, the first goes today to the six children visiting the Isle of Wight! Next will be to Portsmouth at the end of May.  Love, love, love this stage!

    So our Chernobyl project collection for the Isle of Wight group is ready to go this morning, May 17th! Love in every stitch for the children who will receive these blankets. We hope they enjoy a fabulous and health boosting holiday. Thanks again everyone. xxx