NOTE FROM ELAINE:
Even if you are not in a position to help with our Christmas project by crafting – please post a link to the post on your Facebook page, other Forums and Social Networks …… helping us spread the word IS JUST AS IMPORTANT if not more so than picking up your knitting pins.
Just take a few minutes and help us connect with the crafty ladies who can help.
I know you lovelies will rise to the challenge.
So we are steaming into STOP-tober ……………. a money diet for 31 days and this is day … what? Jeepers its only DAY FOUR!! Well so far at MFin3 HQ we are doing OK ………….. OK in that I haven’t had to dip my hand into my pocket and spend anything …… Yet!!
Although we did manage to fill one bag for the local Food Bank – it looks like it may be a week or two before we can do that again.
I wish we could do more – but as I say, you do what you can with the resources you have.
Which is why I am going to beg a favour of our “Nifty Knitters” as we putter through our STOP-tober. Now – no clicking off just cause I mentioned knitting – there will be plenty of opportunities for our non-crafters as well later in the post so just be patient and read through to the end. LOL
Do you remember a couple of years back when the Matrixettes collected second hand football strips for Jessica out in South Africa? – where she took them into the Township and gifted then to the kids in a few local projects there ……………….. well, same Lady, different country this time.
This time our intrepid adventurer is supporting a group of schools in Hlekweni in Zimbabwe.
SEE HERE FOR THE FULL PROJECT
Jessica wants to provide a bag of “basics” for the 200 children starting school in January 2014 – “Basics” because these children have absolutely nothing. The thing is – most of these things we can make ourselves by “Shopping From Home”
Jessica is in the UK over Christmas and will take everything back to Africa with her in January – and her family are already geared up to help her sort and pack all the collected goodies…… that’s going to be a busy holiday for them all I hope.
What she would dearly love it to collect 200 strong, practical and beautiful bags ………………. just like the ones we made in the summer. These are a cinch for anyone with a basic sewing machine – takes about 20 minutes per bag and I can rattle them out on a rainy Saturday Afternoon whilst I sip a pot of tea and glory in a Hollywood Musical.
BAG TUTORIAL HERE
There are thousands of readers on here – I am sure that between us all we can sew up at least 200 bags for these kids!! Why not get up now and have a rummage through your linen cupboard and see how many old pillowcase you could spare?
I have found five pillowcases – but I am sure I can lay my hands on some more fabric and start a little production line this Saturday.
So what is going in these bags? – well here is where the fun starts – really making a difference to some young kids lives.
A TOY!! – well it is kind of a Christmas gift after all LOL
In their own words:
“Last year Julia Richardson organised the creation of 350 small teddies and pencil cases for Samathonga School, Hleweni, Zimbabwe. She sent enough for one for each child in the school. For many children, particularly from the rural villages, the teddy may be their only personal toy”
Lee Taylor, of Friends of Hlekweni reports.
“When I was there in March 2011, I asked about the teddies. the next day, the children brought them in for me to photograph. It is clear that they are much loved, much handled companions.
The pencil cases are in daily use by pupils at the school”
How could I resist?? So I didn’t – I whipped out the pins and rattled off this wee one this afternoon – took me a couple of hours on and off – but seriously ……………. these are so simple you can knit one up in an evening whilst watching the telly.
These use hardly any double knitting wool …………….. and I promise you is a brilliant Stash Busting project.
I am so up for this as this is a project I can get behind that is not after my monthly financial donation, filtered through layers of the organisation and very little ending up in Zimbabwe. I know that every teddy will be a loved toy for a little one – and with the stash I have I am pretty confident that I can commit to a good dozen of these Ted’s between now and Christmas.
The brilliant news is that these Teds are really simple to knit up – in fact everything except the head is done in plain knit (garter stitch) and there is no increasing, decreasing or fancy shaping.
Of course – stripes are always cool on a jersey for a Ted – and Ted NEVER EVER looks fat in horizontals!!!
So the instructions are:
TEDDY KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS
You need double knitting wool and size 10 needles
Main colour for head and paws
Different colours for trousers, jumper and scarf
Cast on 10 stitches main colour and knit 10 rows
Change to trouser colour and knit 30 rows
Make another leg the same.
Knit across all 20 stitches and work 16 rows
Change to jumper colour and knit 24 rows
Change to main colour for head and stocking stitch
Work for 14 centimetres
Change to jumper colour and continue in reverse order to match first side. Cast off
Stitch down sides of head
With jumper colour pick up eight stitches either side of neck join and knit 20 rows.
Change to main colour and knit 10 rows for paws
Sew up teddy, leaving an opening in crotch
Please stuff with healthy stuffing
Sew a thread round neck and diagonal corners for ears
Sew a happy face on teddy
Scarf- Cast on 75 stitches knit 4 rows and cast off.
Sew to back of neck, but leave loose at front for play
Sorry – but there is no crochet pattern for the bears – just a knitting one as the plan is to give each child something the same but at the same time very unique…… so make each one you can knit a little different in any way you can.
ATTENTION NON KNITTERS!!!
For those Non Crafty inclined amongst you ……………………. can you also keep an eagle eye on your travels for:
Good condition second hand kids books – not highly commercialised / branded ones please …. remember the kids don’t have TV so are not likely to know who Hannah Montana or One Direction are. If they are books you would be happy reading to your kids – then I’m sure they would be perfect. DS2 has been through his bookshelves and found 6 ready to go already.
A school jotter, pencil and rubber would be brilliant – as you can imagine these are in very short supply and beyond the budget of the families in this project.
And I know the last request is a really big ask ……………… but these kids are desperate for underwear …………. how awful would I feel knowing a daughter of mine was heading off to school with no underwear because I had no money to spare? If you can stretch to a packet of kids underwear from the poundshop there are kids who really would love a pack for a special gift from the Matrixettes. All sizes – Jessica will share them out for us.
So your mission – should you choose to accept it ……………….. is to help me spread the word to as many people in your network as possible and get them to leave a comment below saying they will help. Please hop on to MSE, Netmums, Tots 100, Facebook, Twitter – wherever you can think of and see if you can find a knitter with a heart that can help.
Everyone who leaves a comment will get an email back from me with the address label of where the Teds have to go (obviously I didn’t want to put Jessica’s address on the internet for all to see LOL) ………… and of course photos of the day when the kids receive their “off to school” present from our lovely Matrixettes.
I do so hope you guys can help me get 200 bags packed and ready to go by Christmas……………. all I want for Christmas is a phone call from Jessica saying she has more teddies than she can handle….. wouldn’t that be FAB!!!!
Please help (crosses her fingers and presses “Post”)
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