Refuge would to thank everyone who’s already contributed to our  ‘Bears & Squares’ campaign.

The charity has received more than 100 teddies so far, as some children’s clothes and gorgeous blanket like the one pictured here, knitted by Simply Knitting reader Sue Watson.

Fundraising is also going well, too, though we still have a long way to go to meet our £10,000 target. 

We know some of you are wondering what happened about our Refuge Knitting Design competition, so we’re thrilled to finally be able to share the results with you!

What a talented lot you are! We received some truly fantastic entries, making it very hard work for our judges when it came to choosing our winner and runners up.

Our judges were completely in agreement about our winner – Mrs Christine Norton from Chaldon, Surrey. Christine’s wonderful Mouse and Christmas Tree design is playful, festive and fun, with plenty of sparkle! 

We were really excited to receive word from South Hampstead High School in London that more than 50 of their pupils teamed up to support our Refuge Comfort Blanket  campaign last year.

Altogether they knitted nine blankets and raised £280 for the domestic violence charity! We’re so impressed by their efforts, which amounted to knitting 250 (!) squares which were sewn into nine blankets, equivalent to 58,500cm2 of handiwork.

We are just loving the teddy bears you’re sending in for our Refuge ‘Bears & Squares’ campaign, such as this pair by Simply Knitting reader Wendy Sejdiu of Tamworth, Staffs.

The one on the left looks a little sad to us, but we think she probably needs a nice little boy or girl to give her some love!

We know that lots of you are knitting away furiously for our ‘Bears & Squares’ Refuge campaign, and we’re really grateful for that! We’d love it if you could help us to spread the word and enthuse others to knit for Refuge.

If you are in a knitting group we would love it if you would download and print out the special ‘knitting groups knit for Refuge' poster – either click on the link or on the image to the left.

And if you run or work in a yarn or craft shop, we love it if you would download and print out the special ‘craft shop knit for Refuge poster' – just click on the link.

If you’re wondering who you’re helping by participating in our ‘Bears & Squares’ charity campaign, wonder no more! The kind folks over at Refuge were keen to share these heartfelt stories with us to show what an impact your knitting can have.

“I had to travel over a hundred miles away in order to find safety when I escaped my abusive ex. I was fortunate to be able to bring quite a few of my things from home, but when the weather turned cold I was grateful to be given a warm, bright blanket.

Wondering which books to take with you on holiday this summer? We’ve spotted a few new releases that are ideal for your travels, whether you’ll be relaxing in the UK or overseas!

Jean Greenhowe’s Fabulous Fun-Knits

Jean Greenhowe’s new pattern book, Fabulous Fun-Knits (£3.95, PB, jeangreenhowe.com) is a collection of irresistible summer characters. Mirabelle the Mermaid frolics with Kevin the Baby Crab, Cowboy Bill and Cowgirl Kate.

There’s even a desert island (for a castaway knitter, of course!), pebbles, shells and seaweed - ideal for knitting on the beach, especially if you don't mind a bit of sand in your yarn! A mini sports car, a duo of tortoises and a pair of ladybirds (with their own lawn) complete the set.

Just two months into our Refuge ‘Bears & Squares’ campaign, and we have some very good news to share with you. With your help we’ve raised £1,000 already!

As you probably know, our aim is to raise £10,000 in total but this is a great start.

Thank you so much if you have made a donation to Refuge via our Justgiving page, and have knitting a teddy bear or blanket to be given to a child staying at the charity’s ‘safe houses’.

There’s no doubt that you can date someone by the children’s programmes they remember – repeats not withstanding (I recall episodes of The Magic Roundabout being reshown when I was a student – perfect post-club telly!).

For me it was very much The Flumps, (which resembled furry baked potatoes) Bagpuss and Willo The Wisp – whimsical viewing that fans of today’s In The Night Garden might enjoy.

Folks just slightly older than me remember whole other worlds of kooky characters, including the rather fabulous Clangers (pictured above and below, left, courtesy of Collins and Brown) - strange creatures resembling anteaters which inhabited a curious blue planet far far away.

Be inspired to knit for Refuge with our charming teddy bear pattern and our exclusive blanket square design in Simply Knitting 96.

We launched our ‘Bears & Squares’ charity campaign for Refuge last month in Simply Knitting and our sister magazine, The Knitter, and we’re delighted to be able to tell you that many readers (you may be one of them!) have already picked up their needles to start work on their cot blankets and teddy bears, to be given to the children staying in Refuge’s ‘safe houses’.

You can download our teddy knitting pattern, kindly provided by Val Pierce and Search Press, in return for a small donation to Refuge.

We’re bringing you new blanket square patterns to inspire you – you can see our latest design from Julie Ferguson in Simply Knitting issue 96 – and you can get hold of our blanket square e-book from the JustGiving page.