Crochet For Kidneys Part II – the hexagons is a go

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, Part 2

Tags

charity, crochet along, crochet4kidneys, hexagon

♫♪Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-a-Dee-Dee-Ay, Oh what a lovely bunch of people you are!♪♪

I received a great response on my post from Sunday launching Crochet For Kidneys Part II! Most of you who attended the event on 9 November have said that you will take part in Part II and I even have a promise of one whole hexagon blanket from Tammy!

You also voted for your favourite colour for the last round of the hexagons. Our (very clear) winner with 55.88% of the votes is: WHITE. I’m really glad most of you went for white. I was secretly hoping for this result. White will form a lovely frame around our brightly coloured hexagons and it’s a universal colour. You guys have good taste!!!

So here is all you need to know to take part in Crochet for Kidneys Part II – the hexagons.

If you’re stuck for crochet hexagon patterns, here are a few helpful links:

Ten free hexagon patterns

Lionbrand’s hexagon market bag

Attic 24’s Hexagon (I used Lucy’s pattern to make a scarf – the close-up of which you see in the photo above)

Step by step photo tutorial for making a hexagon

The deadline is 7 February 2014 because John and I plan to go to the Royal London Hospital on the 28th of February to hand over the blankets. We have two months to crochet the hexagons, will get together on the 7th of February somewhere in the Surrey area (details to follow once I’ve decided on a venue) for a 2 hour joining session, and then we have three weeks to finish as many blankets as we can.

Please join our Ravelry group here, Tweet and Instagram using #crochet4kidneys and most importantly get hexagoning people!! Wouldn’t it be great if we can make more than seven blankets this time? Tell your crocheting buddies and spread the word please. You can even use Pinterest to pin the picture in this post.

I seriously can’t wait for the first hexagons to fall through my front door! If you need my address, please use the Contact Me form.

I will start making hexagons as soon as I’ve finished joining the last two of the purple-and-white square blankets from Part I. I’m going to buckle down and get those to blankets done asap so that it can be delivered to the dialysis unit of the Royal London Hospital before Christmas. I’ll keep you posted.

Happy Hexagoning everyone! Brace yourselves – you’re going to see that phrase a lot running up to 7 February!

Crochet for Kidneys Part II

01 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, My ramblings, Part 2

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

charity, crochet along, hexagon

That’s right peoples, this blogpost heralds the start of Crochet For Kidneys Part II.

Our purple and white blankets were such a huge success – in terms of the numbers of crocheters who took part and the number of squares I received from you all, but most of all it was a huge success because it lifted the spirits of seven dialysis patients at the Royal London Hospital. Our blankets meant such a lot to them, doing it all again is a no-brainer. We have to keep going. Agreed?

This time however we’re doing it a bit differently. There won’t be a fund raising aspect – this time it’s all about making blankets. I think we should still get together one day to join up the crochet pieces to form the blankets, but there won’t be a crochet quiz or raffles or talks by John and Pieter – just a bunch of charitable hookers making blankets. The date and the venue of our get together is yet to be decided. For now, I just want to ge the (yarn)ball rolling to get us all crocheting.

So what are we making?

Not squares, we’re making hexagons!!! As with the squares, they should measure 15 cm across and be in acrylic or cotton double knit yarn.

What hexagon pattern should you use? Well, I found a list of the top 10 free crochet hexagon patterns over on the Moogly blog. All we need is right there in one place! Just click here to go straight to the list of hexagon patterns. You may just have to add a few rows of (UK) treble / (US) double crochet to some of the patterns in order to reach 15 cm across. On this page there’s a step by step photo tutorial to make a basic hexagon which would be perfect for our blankets. Then there’s this Lionbrand hexagon pattern which is 15 cm across, so it’s perfect. Of course you can use any hexagon pattern – the pattern you choose is totally up to you – as long as your hexagon is 15 cm across.

As for the colour, we’re not sticking to purple and white like we did for the squares – you can make your hexagons any colour, or combination of colours, except for the very last round of your hexagon. If everyone uses the same colour for their last round, we will use that colour to join the hexagons and the overall effect will be uniform and very, very, pretty.

I can’t decide what that last round of colour should be, so I’m putting it to a vote. YOU decide.

Voting will close midnight Tuesday 5 December.

I will recap everything in a follow-up blogpost and also create a new Ravelry group.

If you’re on Twitter or Instagram you can keep on using #crochetforkidneys to share your hexagons with us.

I can’t wait to get started! I can already “see” our brightly coloured hexagon blankets cheering up the dialysis patients!

It was all worth it

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, Part 1

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

blanket, charity, Kidney Research UK event

What a blessed afternoon we had! John is back from his yearly check-up at the Royal London Hospital and has dropped off the five blankets. He took the blankets to the dialysis unit where two of the nurses helped him give the blankets to two of the poorly folk who needed it most. The nurses will give the remaining three blankets, and the other two that I will be sending by post, to the other patients when they are in the dialysis unit again.

John and I are both so happy that the blankets would be used where it is most needed – right there in the very cold dialysis unit of the hospital where John & Pieter’s kidney transplant took place. We were told that blankets couldn’t be given out to people in the dialysis unit of a hospital due to the health & safety issues and hygiene. The plan was that the blankets would go to those who go through dialysis at home, but this way is so much better. The patients who receive our crocheted blankets would keep their blankets at home and only bring it in to the unit when they come for their dialysis sessions. No hygiene or health & safety issues! Yeah!

I am now even more fired up to start Crochet for Kidneys Part 2! Today we saw what a difference those loving made blankets have made, and that’s what counts. In total seven people will receive something useful and tangible that will bring them comfort and hope.

To quote what John wrote on the twoguysonekidney blog:

I had the pleasure of personally handing over two of the blankets to two very happy and amazed people. They were so pleasantly surprised that a complete stranger would come and hand over such a lovely gift to them. And that’s exactly why we decided to do it. We’re all connected, and we’re all a part of God (not apart from God) so what we do for others, we also do for ourselves.

Read all about our day of crochet for Kidney Research UK

10 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, Part 1

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

charity, crochet, crochet4kidneys, kidney research UK, Kidney Research UK event

Crochet for Kidney Research UK has come and gone. It feels surreal that the blogging about the event since September, the tweeting, newspaper articles, photographing hundreds of your lovingly made crocheted squares, shopping for coffee, tea, milk and anything purple, planning, decorating the Vera Fletcher Hall, writing speeches and so much more, was for a 3 hour event on a Saturday afternoon. But you know what, it was all worth it!

I think the day was a success. There were a few empty tables, but so what. Those that were there helped to make blankets for dialysis patients, we made new friends, we crocheted, we learned more about the work that Kidney Research UK does and by buying raffle tickets, hot drinks and cakes, we raised £254.10. But that’s not all. The law firm where I’m a PA, will give £250 for the charity if an employee raises at least £250, so that means I will be sending £504.10 to Kidney Research UK! (We JUST made the £250 minimum, so whoever spent £4.10 on cake and coffee – God bless you!).

You know what got me the most exited about yesterday?: seeing all the crocheters together and knowing that you all have such good hearts and compassion for others. I know I’m supposed to say that it’s good to have raised the money, but for me, it’s more about being able to give – at the last count – 7 blankets to 7 people on dialysis and showing them that there are people out there who care about them. Care enough to have gone through the trouble of finding a pattern, buying yarn and taken the time to crochet them a blanket. That’s what it’s all about for me.

Here’s how the day went:

I did my welcome speech,

followed by Jan Czaja who demonstrated the slip stitch method for crocheting squares together. John connected our camcorder to the projector so that Jane would be displayed nice and big for all to see.

Jane did a great job of showing us the method and explaining what to do when you have to join two donated squares made by two different people, using different yarn, with different tension and different patterns. The answer: wiggle your squares. Thanks again Jane for being there and doing such a great job.

After Jane’s demonstration I introduced John and Pieter and they then shared their stories with everyone. It was very touching to hear their emotional stories. (If you want to read their story, visit twoguysonekidney.blogspot.com)

Now that everyone knew why we wanted to raise awareness and money for Kidney Research UK, it was time to start crocheting. My favourite part of the whole day.

Ian, Liz, Mary, Brenda and Lesley

Ian, Liz, Mary, Brenda and Lesley

Tammy, me and Cecilia

Jane, Alissa and Sara with her beautiful daughter

As you can see we were all hard at work and there were so many squares! I will do a separate blog post about the squares and the lovely ladies who offered to take squares home to make up the blankets.

While we were crocheting, Pieter and John sold the raffle tickets.

By this time it was around 12:45, which meant time to do the crochet quiz and draw the raffle prize winners. I tried to read out the quiz questions, but my voice just wasn’t loud enough, so John took over. He was a great quiz master. Congratulations to team Crochet Queens – Tammy, Cecilia, Dave (Cecilia’s carer and husband) and Jane – who got 10 out of the 12 questions correct and won the Sublime Baby Cotton Kapok yarn and gift vouchers from Black Sheep Wools. I hope you all enjoy using the super soft yarn and spending your gift vouchers! Dave very kindly gave his wooly winnings and gift vouchers to Cecilia. Nice guy, that Dave.

The raffle prizes were drawn by John, Pieter, Jane and myself. Handing out the prizes was the second best part of the day for me. I loved seeing the winners faces!

The prizes were sponsored by Jane Czaja who donated a crocheted basket and a place in one of her crochet workshops, I gave one of my crochet clocks, Stylecraft Yarns gave two prizes, The Crochet Chain from Waltham Abbey in Essex gave, amongst other things, three balls of Noro yarn, three books, three bamboo crochet needles and loads more yarn (!), two books were donated by Cico Books and a Sharp Crochet Hook. Thank you to each and every one of you for being so generous, it really means a lot to us. We also received a last minute raffle prize donation from Loveknitting.com. I was so surprised when Helen arrived at 10:30 with the bag of three balls of purple yarn – thank you so much Loveknitting.com! That last minute prize was won by Cecilia.

Throughout the day an old school friend of mine, Helena, and Pieter’s lovely wife Lizelle, sold hot drinks and the cakes that everyone had brought. They did an amazing job and I was really glad they were there to help out.

Lizelle and Helena

I would like to mention that Nice Buns Bakery from 48 High Street Thames Ditton, donated a dozen cupcakes for us. Not only did they do it for free, they delivered it to us at the Vera Fletcher Hall and even said that if we ran out of coffee, tea etc. to just call the shop and they’ll bring us more. Aren’t they lovely?! Their blueberry and lavender cupcakes were really something special – so special that I didn’t even get a chance to take a proper photo.

I would also like to thank Tammy, who works for Kidney Research UK, who drove all the way from Peterborough to attend our event and brought with her pamphlets and Kidney Research UK merchandise. Tammy has been a great help and support to me.

Thank you to each and every one of you who sent me a square and to those of you who travelled all the way to Thames Ditton yesterday to attend the event. It means so, so, so, much to John and I.

In case you’re wondering, yes, there will be more of these type of crochet events. I learned what worked and what didn’t, so the next one will be bigger and better.

For now, I’m going to take a break from organising crochet events and finish all the blankets so that we can give them to the dialysis patients before Christmas. I’m really excited about this part of the project – can’t wait to start arranging the squares, crocheting the borders and then giving those blankets away! You can expect a lot of purple and white blanket photographs in the coming weeks 🙂

Crochet for Kidney Research UK – an update

01 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, Part 1

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

charity, crochet, crochet event, crochet4kidneys, kidney research UK

It’s the first of November. Can you believe it? It’s crazy how quickly time goes by. 53 Days to Christmas and, more importantly, eight days to the crochet event I’m arranging *she says swallowing ~~two~~ three Kalms tablets*

With eight days to go, I think I actually have done everything I can:

The Vera Fletcher Hall deposit is paid and I had a chance to have a look around earlier this week. It’s a great space.
Wednesday evening John and I bought instant coffee, tea, sugar, milk and instant hot chocolate, purple paper cups, napkins and plastic teaspoons
We have purple washi tape (you always need washi tape!)
We have purple place cards for the Master Bakers/Buyers to write on the prices of their baked goods
I made six purple and white mandalas for the tables and have 10 vases and 10 purple artificial daisies
John and Pieter’s speeches are written
My speeches are written
Lizelle (Pieter’s wife) and Helmien (an old school friend) have been appointed as baristas
John and Pieter are in charge of the audio visual equipment
Jane Czaya is demonstrating how to crochet squares together
I received six of the eight raffle prizes
The crochet quiz prizes, supplied by Black Sheep Wools, are wrapped
I thought up the 12 crochet questions and one tie breaker for crochet quiz
The answer sheets for the quiz are made
Kidney Research UK has sent me a fundraising pack with cool things
NHS Organ Donation has sent me pamphlets
We have a programme and timetable
About Thames Ditton magazine and the Thames Ditton Residence Association have been tweeting about the event, raising interest in the local area
My contribution to the baked goods will be baked and donated (!) by Nice Buns Bakery in Thames Ditton High Street
I received 144 squares so far, which is enough for three blankets
One and Two Company designed a Kidney Granny Square pattern especially for this charity project! Find the pattern here.
There’s a Ravelry group here
We even have our own hashtag for Twitter: #crochet4kidneys

Please come to our event and see what all the fuss is about. John, Pieter, Lizelle and I really hope to see you there! If you decide to come, please use the Registration form here, to tell us you’ll be there. It would be GREAT to know how many people to expect.

Lunchtime square activities

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, My crochet

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

charity, crochet

Caffe Nero tables are the perfect size to get an overview of my selection of purple and white squares. I was tempted to stand on a chair to take this photo, but the barista might not let me through the door again if I did. Restrain yourself Natasja! Not everyone gets excited about crocheted squares the way you do. (Pity. They really should. The world would be so much happier if everyone found joy in craft activities during lunch breaks.)

purple crochet squares

Crochet squares and a get together

02 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, My ramblings, Part 1

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

bake sale, charity, crochet, crochet along, crochet event, kidney research UK

Do you have any plans for Saturday 9 November 2013? Fancy getting together with a few other crocheters to crochet squares for a charity and/or make up finished squares into blankets? You can also join in a crochet quiz and try your luck with raffle prizes. How do you feel about baking and trying out other’s home bakes? Does this sound like your idea of a Saturday morning? If so, you’re reading the right blog. I’m arranging all of this, and it’s in aid of Kidney Research UK.

When: 9 November 2013 from 10:30 to 13:30

Where: The Vera Fletcher Hall 4, Embercourt Road, Thames Ditton, Surrey KT70LQ. More information on the location here. The hall is 50 yards from Thames Ditton station, which is on the South West Trains line between London Waterloo and Hampton Court. Parking is also available in the area around the hall.

Why Kidney Research UK: My husband, John, met someone who suffered from full kidney failure a year ago. Pieter had been on dialysis for 4 years and on the Organ Donor’s List. John was so moved by his suffering and story, that he decided he would donate one of his kidneys to him. Over the months of compatibility tests they became the best of friends, during which time we learnt that they were a very good match. The transplant operation was on 27 November 2012 and went extremely well. John’s donation also made history by being the first directed altruistic organ donation in the UK. It’s now 9 months later and they are both in very good health. Pieter wants to pay it forward and recently became a Board Member of the Kidney Research UK “Making EVERY Kidney Count” appeal, . Pieter has committed to raise £150,000 over three years. I want to help him in the only way I know how: crochet.

How will we help Kidney Research UK?:

1. By crocheting squares to be made into blankets for dialysis patients. Around 20,000 people receive dialysis every year. It’s an extremely unpleasant thing to go through. I’m hoping that lovingly made crochet blankets will help make the dialysis session just a little bit better.

You can start crocheting squares now. Any design of square, as long as it’s close to 15cm squared and you stick to shades of purple and white (as these are the official colours of Kidney Research UK). Please do not use wool as it may shrink or felt when the recipients wash their blankets on a too warm wash. Acrylics and cottons are best. I have purple and white 100% cotton yarn for sale in my Etsy shop that will be excellent for these squares. 25p From each ball sold also goes to Kidney Research UK. You can find the cotton yarn here.

You can make a traditional granny square, or my Granny Square in Bloom square, until it reaches 15cm squared. Step by step photo tutorials for these two patterns can be found here. The pattern has been translated into UK / Australian crochet terms on Spincushions blog here.

If you need more inspiration, Jan Eaton’s book 200 Crochet Blocks (there is a link to the book under the Books I Recommend section on the right) are filled with patterns for squares designed to be 15 cm squared.

Just remember that all squares have to be shades of purple and/or white and no wool.

On the 9th of November we will start crocheting the squares together into blankets, and crochet more squares. If you can’t attend the get together, please post your squares to me. Squares from all over the world are welcome – the more the merrier.

2. Sales of raffle tickets. On the day we will sell raffle tickets for fun prizes. This blog post gives an idea of what will be raffled and also a sneak peek at the crochet quizz prizes.

3. Sales of coffee & tea. The cake to go with the coffee & tea is up to you….

4. Sales and donation of baked goods. Think of your entry fee to the crochet along, as something baked. Anything along the lines of a cake, cupcakes, muffins or tarts. Everyone’s baked goods will be sold with the tea & coffee and all proceeds go to Kidney Research UK. You can price your slices / goods whatever you think it’s worth. If baking isn’t your thing store bought goodies are absolutely fine.

3. Raising awareness of the work that Kidney Research UK does: Kidney Research UK will show a short video and Pieter and John will talk about their experiences in receiving and donating a kidney.

Things for you to do:

Please register on this page if you intend to come to our event on 9 November, or if you need my address to post the squares. We need to know how many people to prepare for, so please only answer Yes to the first question if you know for sure that you will be there.
Start making purple and/or white squares.
Line up the village baker/mother-in-law/neighbour to bake your entry fee, check out the cake aisle of your local Tesco, or browse through your recipe books.
Tell your crochet buddies and ask them to send squares or to come along on the 9 November.

The day after the London Bridges Walk for Kidney Research UK

15 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

charity, kidney donation, kidney transplant

Yesterday was the day of the London Bridges Walk for Kidney Research UK. I told you about it in this post.

Pieter, Lizelle, Trinity, Uncle Les (a close family friend of Pieter), John and I completed the 7 mile (11.26 km) walk in 3 hours. We were kinda knackered, but it was a very scenic route and we had a lovely breeze from the Thames which made it easier. As you can see from the slideshow of photos we had a lot of laughs along the way. I’m a bit, okay a lot, stiff this morning but it’s worth it (and nothing compared to what people on dialysis have to go through every day).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I found out today that the law firm where I work will contribute £250 if any of its employees raise £250 for a charity! I mananged to raise £255 out of the £571 we have so far. £5 over the mimimum needed to get an extra £250 for Kidney Research UK. Yeah!!! Our target is £1000 and it looks like we’ll make it! I’m so grateful to everyone in the Banking and SCM departments of Baker & McKenzie who donated, and even more grateful to the M.A.D. (Making A Difference) committee for doubling my contribtutions.

Granny squares for Mencap

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in My crochet

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

charity, cotton yarn, Country Homes & Interiors magazine, crochet, granny square, magazine, Mencap

As promised in an earlier blogpost, I’ve crocheted granny squares for the Country Homes & Interiors Magazine Crochet Club. All the squares they receive will be made into accessories and auctioned in aid of Mencap.

Granny square piles

As always it was immensely enjoyable making granny squares. I just love, love, love traditional granny squares! In a 6-round granny square there are so many design options. Six rounds of colour to play with! I unashamedly indulged in colourful randomness – hooker style.

I raided my cotton DK stash for these squares. It was lovely working with cotton again after all the Stylecraft acrylics for the yarnbomb. I’m not a yarn snob, really I’m not, but man, cotton is just so much nicer to work with. Most of the yarn in these granny squares are Rowan Handknit Cotton, but there are some Stylecraft Classique Cotton and a few rounds in Gedifra Fiorista Fino too.

I like the idea that my fourteen granny squares will be incorporated into something that will raise money for a very deserving charity like Mencap. I wonder what kind of accessories the granny squares will be made into. Afghans, pot holders, cushions? I hope Country Home & Interiors Magazine keep us updated on their blog.

Have you made any granny squares for the Crochet Club? I’d love to hear from you if you have.

Krochet Kids

05 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by Natasja in Other people's crochet

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

charity, crochet, Krochet Kids

While on holiday in Santa Monica, I came across these beautiful crochet beanies in Nordstroms. You have no idea how incredibly soft these hats are. It feels like silky rabbit hair. Honestly! After closer inspection I became intrigued by the label “Krochet Kids” and the tag line “Buy a hat change a life”.

Now that I’m home, I finally got round to Google-ing “Krochet Kids”. What an amazing find!

Please do yourself the favour and read their story here. This may be a spoiler alert, but the Krochet Kids are three guys! Three men who know how to crochet, and in this case, start a non-profit organisation to teach women in Northern Uganda to crochet so that they can support themselves, really is something very special!

When you buy your hat you will see a label showing you who crocheted it. You can then go to the Krochet Kids website to find out more about the lady who crocheted your hat and then send her a message to thank her!!!

By sending her a thank you note…