Charity Afghan Raffle

(Please note that if you donate now you do not have a chance of winning the afghan as the raffle has been drawn.  Thank you.)

My Mum and some of the knitters at the December session of Knitting SOS at Look Mum No Hands! drew the winner and runners up of the Afghan Raffle. 

The lucky winner is Henrietta...she was so excited to win that she insisted on wrapping herself up in her afghan straight away. : )

Henrietta says:

"I LOVE your blanket and want to let you know that it is used every day, either by me or one of my three children - our dog is NOT allowed anywhere near it!!
I attach a couple of photos - as you can see it blends in beautifully with my sitting room!  It keeps me toasty every evening while I sit and crochet my new blanket project (I am alternating between knitting and crocheting at the moment!) - all your different stitches are so inspiring and I absolutely adore the natural feel of the pure wool - it has a lovely weight and is incredibly warm. 

Huge thanks for your entrusting me your beautiful blanket - it is much loved and will never be shoved away into the back of a cupboard somewhere - it is far too precious and needs to be seen and touched!"

Runner Up 1: Tracy (see her beautiful daughter on page 127 of Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps)
Runner Up 2: Karen (see Karen and her lovely daughters modelling in Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps)
Runner Up 3: Kate (one of my amazing test knitters who knitted the loopy gloves on the front cover of Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps)
Runner Up 4: Peter (the talented (and very patient!) photographer for both my books
Runner Up 5: Mr Jones (more interested in bicycles than knitting so I'll have to find a good prize for him)

It's touching for me to see how well I know many of the people who've donated to this raffle.  Yet more proof of how people are so kind and supportive.  I'm so grateful for this.

*********** 

Win a hand-knitted Afghan as seen in Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps

About the Afghan
The Afghan is approx. 160cm by 130cm, used about £200-worth of Rowan Sheep Breeds natural wool and took 300+ hours to knit! Here's a photo of it fully laid out. It is sure to keep you snug as well as stylish.

The Afghan Story
As some of you know, I've recently finished writing my second book, Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps which will be out in August 2012.

This was a huge labour of love (I do mean blood, sweat and many many tears) for me and I wanted the project to culminate with something special.

Out of all the thousands of hours of knitting I and my amazing test-knitters did, one of the most painful projects for me was the Stitch Library Afghan knitted to show the use of several different knitting stitches in one Afghan.

Ok...to share something comic/tragic...during the writing of this book, I became allergic to wool! Yes, yes please take a minute to laugh...you couldn't make it up, a knitting teacher allergic to wool! Hmph : S Basically any very naturally woven fibre makes me sneeze uncontrollably and makes my eyes stream and turn red.

I didn't keep this in mind when I started on the Afghan and ended up knitting most of it wrapped up to keep warm but with all the doors and windows open to give me the most ventilation.

The Afghan is knitted using the gorgeous, but very natural Rowan Sheep Breeds. Lovely yarn but my poor allergies did not agree!

I kept at it as I could see the beautiful Afghan growing into something special. And as the project drew to a close, I knew I could never keep the Afghan for myself. As lovely as it looks and feels, it's completely impractical in the home of a sneezer!

About £200 worth of yarn. 300+ hours of work. What to do?

So I decided to raffle off this Afghan for the good work done by the researchers at Genesis Research Trust. I hope that through my work, tears and sneezes some good will come...with your help of course.

If you can please enter your donation on this Just Giving page. When I reach my target goal of £1001, or when Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps is released (Aug/Sept 2012) I will have a raffle draw and the winner gets the Afghan!

Don't forget to put your contact details or email me direct once you've donated or I won't know to add you to the draw (if you donate anonymously). Also please click the Gift Aid box if you are a UK tax payer so we get an extra 25p per £1 on your donation.

Oh and there will be some runners-up prizes (yet to be decided on).

Any questions I'm happy to answer. For the information to knit your own Afghan you'll have to wait and buy a copy of Knitty Gritty - The Next Steps : )

Please feel free to forward this onto anyone you think might be interested.

Thank you very much,

Aneeta
aneeta@knittingsos.co.uk
07940 850 458

Just Giving information
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it's the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.