Marie Curie Cancer Care

Can you knit a giant tea cosy?

Last year we got you to design tea cosies in support of Marie Curie Cancer Care's Blooming Great Tea Party. Well, they're thinking REALLY BIG for this year's event. They want knitters to get together for their own tea parties and knit a cosy to fit the Blooming Great Tea Party pot. The pot's dimensions are: 34.6in high and 30in wide, with a spout hole measuring 19in and a handle hole measuring 21in, so you'll certainly need a few friends to help you out.

There's a prize of £300 in John Lewis vouchers for the winning entry – just in case you need a reason to get people together for a tea-fuelled knitalong!

To enter you need to:
1: Register to hold your tea party.

2: Gather people together, drink tea, knit your giant cosy.

3: Bank your fundraising.

4: Send your cosy OR a picture of your knitters with the cosy to Marie Curie Cancer Care, Simply Knitting competition, 89 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall, London, SE1 7TP. If you'd prefer to do things electronically, email a picture of your knitters with the giant cosy to simplyknittingcomp@mariecurie.org.uk by 31 August 2011.

Whichever entry method you choose, you need to include the following details in the email or on a piece of paper with your entry: first name; surname; address; postcode; daytime or evening telephone number; email address (if you have one). If you do not wish to receive further information from Marie Curie Cancer Care, Future Publishing Limited or related third parties, please include the following sentence: ‘I do NOT wish to receive further information from Marie Curie Cancer Care, Future Publishing Limited or related third parties.' Your entry will be invalid if you do not include these details.

Marie Curie will pick their favourite, and the winners will receive £300 worth of John Lewis vouchers for their group.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1.This competition is open to UK-based entrants only. 2. All designs must be original and must not infringe copyright. 3. Entries must be knitted or crocheted pieces, although using other craft methods to embellish, for example embroidery, is permitted. 4. You may enter more than once but all entries must be accompanied by the following details: first name; surname; address; postcode; daytime or evening telephone number; email address. 5. Entries cannot be returned. 6. By entering into the competition you: a.Grant Marie Curie Cancer Care and Future Publishing Limited the right to use your personal information to send you information about their respective products and services which may be of interest to you unless you notify us otherwise b. Accept that all entries will become property of Marie Curie Cancer Care and grant them and Future Publishing Limited the right free of charge to publish photographs of your entry and that your entry may be sold or used for other fundraising activities in the future to benefit Marie Curie Cancer Care. 6. The judging panel’s decision is final. 7. Winners will be announced on the Simply Knitting website and contacted in person. 8. Marie Curie Cancer Care and Simply Knitting reserve the right in their sole discretion to substitute any prize with a prize of comparable value. 9. The CLOSING DATE for the competition is 31st August 2011. Any entries received after this date will not be entered into the competition. Only those who have registered and banked their money by August 31st 2011 will be eligible to win. The promoter of the competition is Marie Curie Cancer Care a registered charity in England and Wales (company number 507597)) whose registered office is at 89 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TP.

great knitting ideas

I just thought I would share some great things that are going on in the knitting world:

Innocent's Big Knit starts this Saturday!

Innocent, makers of smoothies and fruit juices, have been running the Big Knit in support of charities for elderly people for some years now. This year they're aming to raise £160,000 for Age UK (which was formed last year when Help the Aged and Age Concern merged) by selling 650,000 little hats on top of smoothie bottles this November – and for that, they need all those little hats. If you can use up your oddments knitting mini hats and get your friends together for a hat knitalong, Innocent can certainly make use of your tiny titfers.

This year the patterns will be going up on Ravelry as well as Innocent's website. (The patterns are due to go up soon.)

Knit one purl one for Battersea's homeless cats

Cat Knit is the perfect way to show your support for Battersea by purr-ling for cats that need something to keep them occupied while they wait for a new home.

Battersea’s cattery is preparing to be inundated with cats and kittens this summer, the charity is calling upon knitters and crafters across the UK to make knitted catnip mice to help keep Battersea’s whiskered residents entertained while they wait for new homes. 

http://www.battersea.org.uk/about_us/whats_new/cat_knitting.html 

Knit a solar system with the Science Museum

Stitching an entire solar system seems like a tall order, but with your help that’s exactly what the Science Museum in London is hoping to do!

As part of their Stitch Science weekend (25-26 June 2011), the museum is teaming up with Stitch London to host a range of workshops, showcase an exhibition of knitted and sewn science-y objects ranging from skulls to stethoscopes to an 8-metre knitted giant squid, and offer the opportunity to make your knitterly mark on the stars.