Who says treating yourself can’t do some good too? By buying the PDF pattern for this pretty cable clutch you’ll be raising funds for WORK+SHELTER, a foundation that helps women from the slums of New Delhi. 

Thanks to the foundation, the women are able to earn their living by hand knitting goods to be sold around the world. 

There are lots more fabulous patterns on the Sweatshop of Love website too.

Find out more at www.thesweatshopoflove.com 

We’ve been utterly amazed by the efforts of a group of knitters in Bristol to honour their friend Christine Walsh by creating a life-sized ‘Knitivity’!

A founding member of the Knutty Knitters, Christine died of bowel cancer at St Peter’s Hospice last December and the group are now raising money for the charity which cared for her by taking their creation on tour.

Oxfordshire SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity) are asking for knitters to handmake baby blankets to be placed in memory boxes.

The memory boxes will be given to bereaved parents at hospitals around the UK in a bid to try and bring a little comfort through providing a way to create some memories to treasure when their baby is stillborn or dies shortly after birth.

The Memory Boxes also contain a camera, two teddy bears, and a keepsake bag to hold a lock of hair.

Sue Hale, who works with the charity’s 100 support groups across the country, says, “These handmade blankets form a very special part of the box we provide bereaved parents, and we have been told how much comfort they bring parents at such a difficult time.”

Have you started a Refuge Comfort Blanket? I was finally able to crack on with mine over last weekend, and it turns out making blankets is harder than it seems!

The lovely folks at innocent have been in touch to remind us that they’re seeking your knitting talents to help them reach their target of 650,000 smoothie hats, so why not get involved?

This year the campaign has got celebrities such as Sienna Miller, Betty Jackson, Heston Blumenthal, Eliza Doolittle and Sophie Ellis Bextor involved, so any creations you come up with could end up sharing shelf-space with true designer smoothie wear!

The hats will begin appearing on smoothie bottles stocked by Sainbury’s and Boots this November, and for each one sold, 25p will go straight to Age UK.
The hats are only weeny too, so are ideal for stashbusting, and so quick to do that there’s really no need to stop at just one.

Not-for-profit, voluntary organisation Made4Aid sell handcrafted items through online craft emporium Etsy, and are seeking your knitting talent to help them raise money for aid and relief work.

Previously the organisation has made donations to the World Food Programme, and are currently working to raise funds for Médicins Sans Frontiéres (aka Doctors without Borders).

Between June 2009 and March 2010, they raised nearly £2000 through selling quality handmade items on the made4aid blog, then in late 2010 the made4aid Etsy shop was launched.

Can you believe it’s almost been a year since the launch of the Campaign for Wool? The five-year movement is already having an impact on the way we view and use British Wool, but far from easing off efforts are being increased as we head for Wool Week 2011.

As part of the week, a new initiative called Love Wool UK has been launched as a way we can all get involved, from individual knitters to big businesses.

Science and knitting seem to be becoming increasingly linked, with the MS big knit and the Science Museums knitted solar system attracting huge numbers of knitters and science fans alike! The latest interstellar science project to catch our eye is Lisa Bentman’s knitted nebula.


Located in the Indian Ocean just off the Southern tip of India, Sri Lanka endured almost 30 years of brutal conflict before peace was finally declared in May 2009. The civil war’s 70,000+ fatalities have left many families without a bread-winner, and countless widows are now seeking a way to make an income.

With handicrafts such as knitting providing these women with a way to earn money, build self-esteem and move forwards from the decades of tragedy, University College Falmouth is collaborating with the Academy of Design in Colombo, one of the hardest hit areas, to launch a project called ‘The Peace Collection.'

Sandra Sell and Beverley Marshall of The Wool Cabin, Clacton-on-Sea, are holding a 24 hour Knit-a-thon from midday on Saturday 2nd July until to midday Sunday 3rd July, and you’re invited to join in.

We think it’s the perfect excuse to spend two entire days knitting – in fact it sounds like the ideal weekend! You just need to pay a £5 registration fee, which will go to Cancer Research UK. Even the knitting you produce can go to charity if you’re up for that - Sandra and Beverly will be knitting hats and gloves for their local Salvation Army Homeless Charity, and there’s no reason why you can’t too, making this a double-whammy of good deeds!

You don’t need to go to Clacton-on-Sea to take part though. Providing you’re registered you can get knitting at home. Just make sure your family know not to expect you to make their Sunday dinner that weekend. We vote for settling somewhere comfy and arranging to have a steady stream of volunteers preparing you cups of tea and snacks! Get your friends and family to sponsor you to raise even more funds for the worthy cause.

Ring the Wool Cabin on 01255 428352 or send an email to  sandra_woolcabin@hotmail.com to register or to find out further details.