Age Morgannwg

So I meant to post about these a long while back-as usual I've had so little energy that crocheting has been a struggle and I'm so out of practise with blogging!

These are the first five blankets I've completed for my stash-busting!  They are small 'lapghan' style blankets, ideal for just keeping cosy while seated and inspired by the amazing SIBOL project.  I was originally hoping to donate these directly to SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets Of Love donated blankets to elderly care homes all across the UK) but the founder has retired it and as I only had five to donate, I didn't feel that donating those to a care facility would work!  Maybe in future...

So most of these blankets were made with squares that I'd already made for other projects that never worked out-I had a couple of bags full so it was the best place to start!  Truth is, I keep trying to design and make a blanket for my mum, I get most of the way through making the squares and arranging it all before putting it together before I realise that it doesn't work at all!  I still haven't cracked it but at least I've managed to make some blankets that I think others will like.

I'd made a few phone calls to the local council about possible donation places and they directed me to Age Morgannwg https://www.ageconnectsmorgannwg.org.uk/ which is a local charity that supports the elders of our community in their independence and safety.  I gave them a call and spoke to a lovely lady who was delighted to accept the blankets I'd made so a few days later I was able to pop in with them!
They have assured me that they'll be given to loving homes :-D

HELLO!

And it's been an age!  I have completely disappeared up my own backside these past few years blog-wise.  Life is good, mostly, same old same old and there's a proper update in the near future I promise.  I did transfer within Greggs to a shop closer to me and it has its ups and downs-I'm often so tired that I have very little energy left for crochet and while my crochet group does still meet up, I can't make it down very often and we haven't really had a joint project for a while.  The last few projects we've done have been for Woolly Hugs, who are a fantastic group and well worth supporting as they do a lot of different blanket charity ventures to get involved with.  My issue is that they only accept blankets made with Stylecraft Special DK and they have a very specific palette for each project.  Whilst I understand the reasons for this, it does mean that when I'm trying to de-stash, I want to be able to use up what I've got and in whatever colours I have-Woolly Hugs is something I tend to have to buy yarn for...

So here's the point of this post!  I am attempting to have a declutter and actually get rid of a lot of the yarn I have before I allow myself to buy any more.  I have a lot of bags in the spare room of yarn that was meant to be for certain projects that never worked out (case in point to follow), I have two large bags of pastel/pinks that a friend passed along to me as she was moving house and needed rid of it and I've had a lot of squares kicking about that were meant for blanket projects that again never really worked out.

So over this past week, I have gone through the bags and pulled out all the squares (and there were quite a few!) and so far I have made THREE decent sized lapghans with them!  I also dug out a project a friend asked me to undertake a year or two ago and turn a whole bunch of sample/scrap/practise crochet and knitted pieces of all different sizes (these were made by a dear friend of hers that passed away from cancer) into a blanket-this has been my nemesis for a while but these past 7 days has seen me tackling that too and today it was finished!  Just need to weave some ends in and then it's ready for her....

Sorry!  I digress...back to the point!

My plan is to work through this yarn and make 30 blankets for 6 different charities.  So far, I haven't decided which charities specifically but I want to donate 5 to a nursing home; 5 to a neonatal ward; 5 to hospice care; 5 to foster kids/ kids in shelter; 5 to cancer patients and 5 to bereaved parents (for this, I'm thinking of Cwtch of Comfort of course)  So here's the thing.  I'm positive I've got enough yarn here to do this so please, please, I'm NOT asking for squares or yarn or even for donations from other people as this is a personal goal.  But I would like your recommendations/suggestions of places in the UK (preferably South Wales) to donate to.  And if you like this idea, please feel free to bust that stash and set a goal!  I'll cheer you on all the way :-D

I have three blankets so far to start off with-I'll take photos to share with you as soon as I can!

Cwtch of Comfort Big Blanket Handover!

One of my cats needed an operation a little while back so I've been a bit distracted with her.  She's absolutely fine-she had a sebaceous cyst on the back of her neck and she needed two teeth extracting so they did it all at once.  Only trouble is trying to stop her scratching the stitches-a cone collar would rub on them and I haven't been able to get a soft one-so currently, when I'm out or at nighttime when she's downstairs, she has a light dressing and a cat jumper which seems to be protecting them.  She hates it though so I'm covered in a pretty array of scratches....

So, nearly three weeks ago, we had our big event!  I was at work in the morning until 2pm so when I got back, I was running around getting materials to make a big card with all the names in-I hardly had time to get changed before my friend Bonnie (and fellow happy hooker) arrived to load up with all the blankets in the van and drive us down to The Blueberry Inn (who have been most hospitable with all our needs!)

(For those who are just joining this blog, here's what it was all about...Please help Cwtch of Comfort)

Myf was in charge of photos so she spent quite a bit of time arranging the blankets on the table and taking photos :-)

We met Rhian who is the wonderful lady behind the 2Wish Upon A Star Foundation and spent quite a bit of time showing her all the blankets that had been made and introducing her to the lovely ladies in our group.  She was stunned at the outpouring of support from so many crafting people and had so many lovely things to say about our blankets :-)

A couple of our ladies brought a few blankets on the night-another baby blanket and a toddler blanket that I quickly took photos of-these brought our tally up to 39!

39 BLANKETS!!!

24 Baby Blankets
10 Toddler Blankets
4 Child Blankets
1 Teen/Young Adult Blanket

13 blankets were made with donated squares and yarn :-D

This amazing result could not have been achieved without the help and support of so many lovely people.  I'll try and name you all here :-)

A massive thank you to everyone who donated squares, blankets, yarn and their precious time towards this cause!

The ladies of the SIBOL Ravelry Group who have made blankets and squares galore with especial thanks to Sue (MrsTwins) for sharing our need with the group and being such a support :-)  We had such lovely donations from you!  Thankyou!

Squares have been made and donated by:-

Una from Great Balls Of Wool 
 Martine (SIBOL)
Claire P (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Bonnie H (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Jessiebonbon (SIBOL)
MarilynJG (SIBOL)
Joyce (SIBOL)
Liztelf (SIBOL)
Jayne (SIBOL)
Gaelle H (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Harrie P (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Lisa G (Pony Womens Collective)
Elise S (Ponty Womens Collective)
Kathleen C
Fiona
Ilona O'D
Chris (SIBOL)
Joanna
Kathy D (Sweet Memories)
Ana
Linda
Debi-Y
Clare H
 Liz J (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Fiona L-F (Sale Happy Hookers)
Shona B (Sale Happy Hookers)
Jane M (Sale Happy Hookers)
Kate H
Jessica F (Sister :-) and Sale Happy Hookers)
Suzanne
Lisa M (and Mum!)
Amanda W (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Julie C (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Susan L (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Nicola C
Thea W (Sister! :-) )
Dawn T


Blankets have been made and donated by:-

Joyce (SIBOL)
Bonnie H (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Claire P (Ponty Happy Hookers)
 Liz J (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Jen H
Ana
Jessica F (Sale Happy Hookers)
 Lisa M
Ruth B-J
Thea W
 Debbie B
Harrie P
Susan L (Ponty Happy Hookers)
Julie C (Ponty Happy Hookers)
 The Knitting Nanas (Pontypridd)
Gaelle H

Blankets put together from donated squares by

Ponty Happy Hookers!
(Bonnie H, Claire P, Harrie P, Amanda W, Liz J, Vicki B, Julie C, Susan L and Jackie P)
 
A big thankyou as well to Eleanor H and Edwina S for their kind donations of yarn for the project!  A special mention as well to Instore Upper Boat and Talbot Green for giving us a discount on yarn when they heard what it was for :-)

I know I've put their names in but I really want to give a big shout out to the ladies of my crochet group.  I'm so proud of you all for the hard work and support-our group has formed around this project and I'm so glad we're staying together!  We have such a great time and there's so many talented people here-thank you all xxxx


It's been a bittersweet journey with these blankets-I've become so aware of how lucky I am and my heart truly goes out to all the families in need of the comfort these blankets bring.  There's always a need for more-please, please, if you can, make a square or a blanket for them-your kindness means a great deal.  You can find more details here


To you all-

THANKYOU!!!!

3rd Blanket down!

I've finished another one!

This one is 40 squares (toddler size) and I tried a few different things with the border.  First, after the standard granny round to tie it all in, I tried out a 'crossed double crochet stitch' that I've read about but never tried.  So simple!  You do a normal double crochet stitch (I use american terms) and then do one in the stitch behind it so it crosses over.  It's quite a subtle effect but I think in strong colours, it would really stand out.  I finished off with a spike stitch variant for the last round-I think it looks quite lovely!  It adds quite a bit to the dimensions as well-this blanket measures 34" by 52".

A friend of Bonnie's also donated these two lovely blankets for Cwtch of Comfort

This one is narrow but long, I think it'll be a good size for a premature baby.

This is a fabulous size!  I love the design.

Thank you Ruth, they are very much appreciated xxx

We've had some gorgeous blankets donated for this project-they've been a joy to receive!  I'm so impressed by the skills and talents of people and by the generosity.

Joyce, from the SIBOL ravelry group, donated a blanket early on-and this week, I received another stunning blanket from her.  She's used a heart pattern throughout that gives such a lovely textured effect.

This is absolutely beautiful Joyce, thank you so much xxx



My friend Lisa has two little ones and she has very kindly donated a blanket that was made for her when her little ones were babies.  It's a gorgeous circular blanket that will definitely bring comfort to a grieving family.

She also has been hard at work with her mum making some squares and blankets for us as well!

There are some pink squares as well that I can't use for this project but I'll keep them aside with some of the other squares I've received that I can't use here for another blanket.

We met up on Wednesday night for another crochet along-this time to put together the squares for one of the child size blankets.  I brought down 80 squares in yellow and white with lots of spare yarn and we had a great time!  I showed some ladies how to use single crochet to attach the squares together into long strips of ten-I'll put these together a little later.

We had a lovely time again and met a couple more new faces!  We also talked about staying as a crochet group after the Cwtch Of Comfort project is finished, with the plan of regularly making donation pieces for charities close to our hearts.

A little belated...

I meant to blog this the other week but I've just been so crazy busy with work, squares, my gorgeous daughter and I completely forgot that I hadn't shared this stunning blanket with you.

My sister Jess is one of the most talented crafters I know.  She (along with my other sister Thea) was the main force behind teaching me to crochet, encouraging and inspiring me.  She's been crocheting for many years, since we were kids, and she makes such beautiful things.

When I started this project to help support 'Cwtch of Comfort', I called my sisters and asked for their help.  They've both offered to make blankets as well as some squares to go into a special 'Sisters Blanket' made by the three of us.  Jess sent hers in a couple of weeks ago and it's so stunning!

It's so soft and tactile-she's worked it with bobbles in the border to match up to the squares.  Isn't it lovely?

These are the squares for our special blanket.  Just waiting on Thea now...

TWO blankets finished already!

I am so proud to be able to share these with you today.

I started the first blanket last weekend as soon as the deadline arrived-I can't tell you how excited and keen I've been to get cracking with these beautiful squares!

This is our FIRST blanket made with the donations from all you lovely people-it is a child size (80 squares) so it measures approx 46" by 62" and I think it has a beautiful balance of squares-it has a very peaceful feel.

Isn't it lovely?

The second one I started yesterday morning at 5am and finished at 10am this morning before I went to work (Myf and I spent most of the day in Cardiff as well!)  It's a toddler size (40 squares) and measures approx 42" by 46"-I think it's gorgeous!

Neither blanket has an official name-feel free to suggest one!  We're meeting up at the Blueberry in Pontypridd again on Wednesday to put together another child size blanket and I'm planning to take a list of the suggested names to put into a hat...In the meantime, the lovely Bonnie is hard at work putting together two blankets from the squares I've passed along to her and I'm on to the next blanket...
Watch this space!


A massive thank you to EVERYONE who has donated squares, wool or/and blankets.  Working together, we will be donating 20 blankets to Cwtch of Comfort for the 2 Wish Upon A Star Foundation, which works to support families going through the horrific loss of a child.  The difference YOU'RE making is incredible and inspiring xxxxxxxxxx

Squares from Manchester!

My lovely sister Jess (blog post all about her coming up) has been so supportive of this project and, despite recovering from a fractured elbow (OUCH!), has been making squares, a STUNNING blanket and getting together with her crafty friends to make squares as well.

One of these friends, Clare, has sent in 7 lovely squares in pale yellow and pale purple along with some extra yarn for joining.  She enclosed a card telling me a little about herself-she's a confident knitter but new to crochet and wanted to show her support by making some squares.  I think these are really lovely and I'd never have guessed that she hadn't been crocheting for years!

Thank you Clare-they are perfect for this project! xx

I also received a parcel from Jess yesterday with squares from her group-the Sale Happy Hookers-

So a very big THANK YOU to Fiona, Shona and Jane for these beautiful squares.  You have all done a fabulous job on them xx