Red Nose Day Dolls

There has been an extremely exciting project doing the rounds in blogland lately, the Red Nose Day Dolls, being made to auction on ebay for Red Nose Day.  Not only do Maisie, Mac, Blossom and Poppy have outfits, they also have blankets, teddies, books, pets, jewellery, picnic baskets, bags, capes and of course red noses.  They truly are the toys of every child's dreams.

The project was thought up by Emma Mitchell of Silver Pebble and Ros Badger and has now grown to include bloggers from all over the globe.  It's a fantastic fundraiser but it's also a great celebration of the hand made and of craft in general.

There is more information on the Red Nose Day Dolls' blog or on facebook and you can sponsor the project here

P.S. also check out this sweet video of Mac going camping:

St Mungo's Simple Hat - free pattern

I made the prototype of this hat for St Mungo's Woolly Hat day and having wrestled with the crown decreases for a considerable period of time thought that the pattern might be worth sharing.  At some point I intend trying out a larger size for those of us (myself included) who do not fit in the "one size fits all" sizing favoured by high street shops.



St Mungo's Simple Hat
125m/137yd heavy sportweight or light double-knit yarn.  I used King Cole Mirage
4mm 40cm circular needle, 4mm double pointed needles, or your favoured method for knitting in the round

24sts/4 inches

To fit medium adult head, c.20 inches

C/O 100sts and join to knit in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.

Knit for 4 inches in K2 P2 rib (or less if you do not wish to have a turn up in the brim)

Then change to stockingette stitch (knit every stitch) for 5 inches.  If you wish to have a slouchier beanie make this section longer, but bear in mind that it will require more yarn.

Crown decreases: (when the stitches become too few for the circular needle transfer stitches to the double pointed needles)
*K8 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K7 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K6 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K5 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K4 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K3 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K2 K2tog* around
Knit 1 round
*K1 K2tog* around
*K2tog* around

Cut yarn, thread it through the stitches remaining on the needle, pull tight and fasten off.

St Mungo's Woolly Hat Day

St Mungo's, a London homeless charity, are having a big fund-raising day on 26th October 2012 and they're looking for people to knit orange woolly hats for them to use to highlight the problem of homelessness and then to sell to raise funds.  They're hoping to collect 5,678 hats, one for each of the people who slept on the streets of London in the last year, a 43% increase on 2010/11.

I'm getting involved because I remember seeing homeless people on the streets as a child and how sad it made me feel, that early experience has meant that homelessness has always been a cause close to my heart. Anyhow the point of this post is to say: get knitting!  Join in!  There are free patterns on St Mungo's website and on ravelry.  Have fun knitting and make the world a better place while you do it!



My first hat