We were delighted when the staff at the Great North Children’s Hospital contacted us last year and asked for help. The pictures here are from our 2019 project, and we are delighted they would like us to make for the children again. They would like some very special Little Hugs making to use in the run up to Christmas for very sick children inhospital over this period. This project will again help children and their families at very difficult times.
For the Woollies…
We are looking for six and twelve inch squares in the SSDK colours below. Christmas designs/themes/embellishments warmly welcomed. Fill your boots! Just this yarn in these colours please so we can match up squares and the blankets will be consistent for wash and wear.
The Christmas Cwtch palette (all SSDK yarn)
Claret
Cream
Grass green
Green
Kelly green
Lipstick
For the Sewing Folk…
Christmas cwtches could also be made in these sort of colours in cotton Christmassy prints, lightweight quilts. These must be machine washable and tumble dry possible only please.
If making a whole cotton quilt or blanket..
Size wise we are aiming to send a mix of sizes from baby sized (24 inch squares) up to single bed sized.
Please no posting before September 13th, then whole blankets/quilts and separate squares please to Teddington.
We hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. This is not an easy time for any of us and we are all having to adjust to a new normal/ different way of living. The easing of the lockdown will bring its own challenges for sure. Nothing much has changed, all our family are at home full-time, our husbands working from home, home education for our children continues, we obviously have limited storage for wool in our houses. We are beginning to think how we can access our storage unit.
We genuinely worry about being overwhelmed! Additionally both our local post office/delivery staff are over stretched as it is. We are both only receiving post once, maximum twice a week as it is.
We have chatted this through and feel a staged return to posting is the way forward.
Please do read carefully.
From tomorrow (June 1st until June 30th)
We are open for posting as below. Please post
Chernobs squares to SOUTHSEA
Whole Chernobs to TEDDINGTON
Any whole Candy’s Hug blankets to TEDDINGTON
Christmas Stockings to TEDDINGTON pls, absolutely no later than mid June. Any probs with these and we do understand, but please message us
Any squares for the two latest MN blankest to TEDDINGTON pls
Then during July (July 1st -31st)
Any remaining Refugee project squares and items to SOUTHSEA
Billies Blankets to TEDDINGTON
Candy’s Squares, Kinship Squares to TEDDINGTON
Little Hugs/Angel Hugs/Angel Teds to TEDDINGTON
Chernobyl extras and Hugs for Heads to TEDDINGTON
We both obviously have to be very careful with post arriving into our homes, especially with the lack of knowledge about how long the virus lasts on surfaces like plastic. So it maybe that post arrives and we leave it a good while before opening. With all the restrictions of family around, us being spread very thinly we will photograph and upload as best we can. We absolutely appreciate everything everyone is doing and are so grateful and thankful.
Please keep a hold of Snugs (whole blankets and squares) and any Christmas blankets until September.
Our summer break this year will be between August 1st and September 12th, please no posting during that time, we will need to catch up.
From September 12th our posting resumes as normal.
We hope this makes sense, please do message us if you are in any doubt! Please do message us if you have any questions, and as always the most enormous love and thanks to everyone xxxx
We received our beautiful Woolly Hug today and thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. I have knitted for a few blankets and it is surreal getting one and a position I wish we weren’t in. You skills are incredible and every square means something personal to us that we can cherish DH and talk and remember him by. You are all truly wonderful
The beautiful, soft, warm, woolly hug arrived safely yesterday (I armed myself with a glass of wine when I opened it in case I was a bit wobbly). Thank you so much for the love, skill and dedication that you and the WH crew have shown me and my family. The Norwegian Blue and related squares are inspired but there are so many squares that will provide comfort and remembrance in the months and years to come – especially the anniversary of his death which is just a few weeks away now. This is so precious and I know that money can’t buy this but I would like to make a donation to help get the wool to the knitters so you can all keep going. When I get a chance, I will take a photo and send that to you too. Thank you. Willowkins
We hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. This is not an easy time for any of us and we are all having to adjust to a new normal/ different way of living.
There is still a lot of uncertainty with the Coronavirus pandemic and we thought an update would be helpful. We don’t have all the answers you will appreciate, but what thoughts we have we can share.
The main priority for us is without question the health and safety of our crafters and after our initial suspension of posting to us, have decided to extend this until June 1st.
Nothing is going to happen before this date, in terms of us sending on and we would MUCH rather folk avoided unnecessary post office queues etc. We still can’t access our storage and still fear being overwhelmed which with the lockdown and all family members at home would be very difficult!
Our Chernobyl project continues, although at the moment we don’t know of any more groups who will be coming over to the UK this year, some groups may possibly host in the Autumn/Winter. Some other groups are looking to go to visit children at home. Where possible, our blankets will go to our ‘Chernob’ children this year. Any that we have left will be held on to for next year. Ultimately, they will all have a child. Thank you so much for understanding, this the hardest hit project. Deadline for squares and blankets then please is June 6th.
The Christmas Stocking project for those taking part. We have spoken with Elizabeth and she is still going to be taking them. Remember they go to the children for Orthodox Christmas which is next January. The early deadline was to help them get everything over in advance. But it will all still happen. Deadline for stockings please is June 6th.
There are still plans in place for our Billie’s Blankets for the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Minsk to travel over, but if this has to change, it will rearranged at a later date. Deadline for Billie’s Blankets please is June 6th.
Our Refugee Project posting window would have closed at Easter, so please send items that you have to us, soon after June 1st. We are having to rethink this project, long before the current health climate we were finding it increasingly difficult to get our items out to folk who needed it most, as fewer agencies are travelling or are now supporting folk in different ways. We have talked long and hard about this, it is very difficult to accept but it may be we have to change our focus. What we ask is that no one makes anything new for this project until we have had a chance to finalise our decision. Thank you xxx
We both fully acknowledge that we are very behind on photographing woolly treasure which arrived into the run up the the Spring Craft Sale and at the very beginning of the pandemic. We are TRULY apologetic! We are going to endeavour to catch up. It has been very challenging with children and husbands suddenly all at home.
We hope this helps, sorry we don’t have all the answers. Please do message us if you have any questions, and as always the most enormous love and thanks to everyone xxxx