Knit a Daffodil for Irish Cancer Society

Last year my mum, myself and lots of lovely local ladies knit up lots of lovely daffodils which we then sold on Daffodil Day for the Irish Cancer Society (full details here)   It was a huge success, so much so that this year the Irish Cancer Society have asked me to make the pattern available for more people to get involved.

Daffodil Day is a yearly event in Ireland whereby daffodils are sold in order to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society.  You can find out lots more information here on their official website and how you can get involved in fundraising.    This year's Daffodil Day is on 28th March and we would love you to get involved, by stitching some lovely daffodils that will then be sold to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society.

How do you get involved?  

Simple.  Use the pattern below to knit the daffodils.  (There's a pdf version at the end of this post with step by step pictures and instructions).  Then when you have your daffodils knit up you can liaise with your local community fundraiser as to where you drop off the daffodils for selling on Daffodil Day.  You can find your local fundraiser by calling the free phone number 185060660

In Roscommon (Ireland) we are asking you to knit and make up your daffodils, then place them in a plastic bag (ideally with your name and the amount of daffodils you knit written on a piece of paper in the bag) and drop them off to the Coffee Morning on 14th March in JJ Harlows Bar, The Square, Roscommon.   They will then be sold on Daffodil Day (28th March).   If you are outside Ireland and wish to take part that would be fantastic, simply comment below with your email or email me direct at michlle AT michellemadethis DOT com and I can give you my address to post the daffodils to).

If you have any questions at all please feel free to comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  In the meantime let's get stitching!!

All you need to get started is:

Green DK (double knit) wool

Yellow DK (double knit) wool

Knitting Needles (4mm)

Safety pins 

Darning Needle

The pattern is as follows:

To make the daffodil

*Cast on 2 stitches (Yarn A)

Inc1 (by knitting into the front and back of the stitch) at beginning of each row until you have

11 stitches

Break yarn* and place on spare needle or holder.

Repeat from * to * 4 more times until you have 5 petals.

Knit across all 5 points

You should have 55 stitches in total

Knit 2 rows

K2tog, K1 (28)

K2tog (14)

K2tgo (7)

Cut thread and use tail to thread a darning needle.  Insert the needle through the stitches and secure. This forms the flower.

You will need to sew a few stitches to join the last petal with the first.

Then weave in all the end.  It is essential that you weave the ends in and do not simply snip them off as it will not look as neat and is likely to unravel.

This pattern is an original, copyrighted design. Please do not reproduce or distribute without

first obtaining permission. I am happy for items knitted from this pattern to be sold for charity

fund-raising but please do not knit up for commercial purposes (ie to sell for personal gain).

© copyright michellemadethis 2013 All rights reserved 

To make the trumpet

Cast on 14 stitches (YA)

Knit 4 rows

Cast off tightly (the cast off edge will be the bottom part of the trumpet that you will stitch to the daffodil)

Join short sides together to form trumpet and sew in centre of petals

To make the stem

Cast on 20 stitches (Yarn B)

K 3 rows

Cast Off

Sew long sides together. 

To make up

Attach the trumpet to the centre of the petals  

At the same time you can attach the stem to the back of the petals and then stitch a safety pin in place so it can be worn as a brooch. 

This pattern is an original, copyrighted design. Please do not reproduce or distribute without

first obtaining permission. I am happy for items knitted from this pattern to be sold for charity

fund-raising but please do not knit up for commercial purposes (ie to sell for personal gain).

© copyright michellemadethis 2013 All rights reserved 

A few tips and tricks on making the daffodils

• Kniting a complete daffodil and sewing it together takes approximately 45 minutes and I wouldn't say I am a very fast knitter. 
• I find knitting as many petals as I can on circular needles makes the process a little quicker. 
• If you are in a knitting group why not share it out.  1 person could knit stalks, 1 person could knit petals, 1 person could knit the trumpets and another person sew them up?
• We used small safety pins as the brooch part and they are just fine.  You can buy them very cheaply in discount stores or 2 euro shops. 

If you have any other comments, tips or tricks feel free to comment below.

DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION OF DAFFODIL PATTERN

Please make sure you have an up to date version of Adobe.  You can download it for free here 

Alternatively you can download the file from ravelry (no need to be a member)  HERE 

KEEEEEEEEP STITCHING  :O) 

**** addition to origial blog post 24th Feb 2014 *****

I am thrilled to say that since posting this I have had lots of people getting in touch saying they are going to knit the daffodils which is fantastic.  I have also had people asking for a crochet pattern.  I am delighted to say that I have one for you.

The lovely Lucy from the beautiful blog Attic24 has given permission for her crochet daffodil pattern to be used for the purpose of selling along with our knitted daffodils on Daffodil Day.

You can find the pattern and step by step instructions on how to crochet the daffodil here.

Thank you to everyone for taking part in this :O)

Worldwide Knit in Public Day 2013

Better late than never right?

Sorry peeps but the cottage has been busy busy busy and with all my decluttering for a recent photo shoot I managed to lose the cable for my camera and despite having two drawer fulls of random cables not one of them would fit !  Eventually I found it so I have lots to catch up on ...

Every year I've organised a PicKnit in the park for WWKIPD but it's always been too cold so this year I prepared for something where it didn't matter much if it rained and of course the sun shone!!

Here we are meeting up at Gleesons before heading off on our river cruise to Carrick on Shannon with Moonriver Cruises.

It was a beautiful day and if you haven't ever gone on one of the cruises I definitely recommend it.  It's only 45 minutes but a lovely trip and gorgeous scenery.  There are two guys on the boat singing for entertainment too.  Not really my cup of tea personally and especially as they spent the entire cruise making ridiculous jokes about knitting ... all of which I have heard a million times before "will ya knit me a pair of socks"  "will ya knit me a wooly jumper".  

What did everyone else get up to for WWKIPD?  It seems to be getting bigger each year.  I love that everyone around the world takes part.

It's strange talking about knitting when we are in the middle of a heatwave here in Ireland.  I haven't touched it since that day!  Needless to say all my knitting Nights and groups have finished up for the Summer, we'll be back in September though.

Until then Keeeeeeep Stitching !!

Thank you to all the Daffodil Knitters

Just a quickie to say a gargantuan 

T H A N K   Y O U 

to all the fabulous ladies who joined me and my mum in a marathon knitting session to knit up daffodils for Daffodil Day. 

Thank you to the ladies in my Thursday night & Friday morning Knitting groups - Mum, Phil, Kathleen, Mar, Maura, Christiana and Florence especially who knit bags of daffodils!  All the ladies who came to my Knit a Daffodil Night including Kathleen, Brid, Theresa and Phil from Kilteevan ICA who knit bunches of daffodils!!

You're all amazing because without your help and effort we wouldn't have raised so much.

The plan was to knit 100 daffodils and sell them for 5 euro each, all of which would go to Irish Cancer Society.

I am totally thrilled to say that we raised a whopping

730.00 euro

Not bad considering we did this in a matter of weeks.  

We're still knitting them at the cottage on Knit Night so next year we hope to double, maybe treble that amount!

Thank you again to everyone who knit and donated daffodils and wool and to all the people who sold the daffodils, especially my mum who really did most of the selling.

Unfortunately due to the terrible weather on Daffodil Day funds were very low so you can donate directly to the Irish Cancer Society via their website. 

I am still selling the pattern on my site which you can purchase and knit your own daffodils.  1 euro from each sale will go to Irish Cancer Society.  If knitting isn't your thing you can buy a completed Daffodil for 10 euro, again 1 euro from each one sold will go to the Irish Cancer Society. 

Keeeeep Stitching!!

WWKIPD (Worldwide Knit in Public Day)

It's that time of year again!

Worldwide Knit In Public Day (WWKIPD) has started and there are knitters getting together all over the world to celebrate.

I'll be in our local park this Saturday, 16th June from 12pm Knitting and Nattering with the record breaking Knitting Circle,  The Cast Offs.  We'd love for you to come along and join us in this worldwide knitathon.

It's a free event.  Just come along to Loughnaneane Park (in Roscommon town), we'll be by the lake.  I'd suggest you bring a rug or chair and a picnic (fingers crossed the sun will be shining for us) and of course your knitting or crochet.

Hope to see you there

Keeeeeeeeeeeeeep Stitching!!

Michelle x

It's official

After all that work we did it!  I got the certificate in the post today :O) 

We broke the record for the largest group of knitters in one place!  Wooooo Hooooo!!!

Thank You, Thank You,

Thank You

to everyone who took part! 

The Roscommon Lamb Festival Committee,

my family and friends,

my AMAZING boyfriend (who even came and knitted on the day),

my fantabuloso knitting group The Cast Offs,

the people of Roscommon town,

all the people who came and helped on the day with registering people, organising car parking, food  etc,

Anne Van Dyke for travelling all the way from New Zealand to take part,

and all the people who travelled from nearly every county in Ireland to take part. 

You did it!

Each and everyone of you helped break the record!

And for those amongst you who thought I was mad and that I'd never make it happen - sausages to you !

Keeeeeeeeppp Stitching everyone

We might need you to win it back the year after next because rumour has it there's plans to take it from us already. 

Bring it on!

Thank you for the fabulous bouquet of flowers and bottle of bubbly xx 

Culture Night

Tonight is Culture Night in Ireland

My contribution to the night is

 a free Knit'n Wine event

being held in JJ Harlows Bar @ 9pm tonight

(The Square, Roscommon, Ireland)

All are welcome to come along.  I'll be bringing lots of wool and needles and will hopefully be getting you all to knit little hats for the Innocent Smoothie Big Knit campaign.

Right ... better get back to my bunting for tonight 

The Cast Offs is my knitting group - you can find out more about us here.

I was going to knit some bunting but then I remembered there were a few squares leftover from the knitted car we did for the Easter Parade. 

The only problem was where ? 

After a good rummage,

I found them and did some very quick

(and not very neat tut! tut!) stitching. 

Finally I sewed them onto a bit of ribbon

and just have a few more finishing touches to add before tonight

Have a great weekend everyone!

Any plans?  I have a few more commisions to work on but apart from that I'm looking forward to a lazy Sunday in front of the fire with a basket of knitting.

Another Knitting World Record

Not content with one knitting world record, I'm going for another!

You can join in too.

Just click here for the details and pattern.

Womans Weekly are celebrating their centenary this year and as part of the celebrations they are attempting to set the world record for the longest line of knitted bunting and are looking for people to take part.

Click here for further details and a pdf pattern for the bunting to download.  It's super easy and quick to knit up and the perfect stash buster !

All bunting must be sent in by 19th Septemner 2011.  Me and my knitting group, The Cast Offs, have already started on ours :O)

Keeeeeeep stitching !!!

Yes I can!

I've been hit with a bug

well actually two

One I'm not happy with

The other woooo hoooo!

My nose is all blocked

I've not tasted food for 6 days :o(

but my head is just buzzing

in so many ways

I've been sketching and sewing

and knitting too

the ideas are just overflowing

wooooo hooooo hoooo hoooo!!

I've had meetings and talks

about all of my plans

I'm repeating my mantra daily 

YES I CAN !

Because of this I'm way behind on my blogposts.  I have so many pics from the Wool Craft Village from the Roscommon Lamb Festival and Kilkenny Sheep Shearing.  I promise to upload them soon!  In the meantime here are some of the applique canvases I've been working on which, as of this morning, are now on sale in the lovely Comfy Cafe in Roscommon.

It's my birthday tomorrow and I've got lunches, drinks and a day at the races planned so I'll catch up with you next week.  Have a fab weekend, I hope the sun shines !!!

In the meantime if you're in Roscommon on Saturday me and the ladies in my knitting group, The Cast Offs, will be meeting up for our annual PicKnit in the grounds of Roscommon Castle to celebrate World Wide Knit In Public Day. We'd love to see you there :O) We'll be there from 11.30 am and if for some reason the sun isn't shining (but I'm sure it will be) we'll meet in Gleesons Townhouse in the Square.

Happy weekend everyone!!

Health benefits of Knitting

I am currently knitting obsessed!

I eat, sleep and breathe it at the minute.

Not only is it my chosen theme in my painting assignment at college and the bulk of my Communications aassignment but I'm also organising an attempt to break a world record for the largest group of knitters in one place!  I think there should be a full stop in there somewhere but I'll leave it out because reading it without a full stop gives you more of an idea of how I'm thinking at the minute.  I'm thinking fast and quite frantically!

So you will forgive me (I hope) for the break in blogging. 

I'm working on my report for college at the mo. Ok I'm taking a break and catching up on blog land for a few minutes, ok it's been half an hour and I haven't even made my lunch yet but you know what it's like :O)  

My report is about the health benefits of knitting, something I feel strongly about.  I'm always saying "knitting is the new yoga" whenever people ask me about knitting or when I get interviewed and I think people think it's just some sort of slogan I use.  It's not.  I genuinely believe knitting (actually any craft) is extremely beneficial to your health.  I have always been creative and if I'm not knitting I'm sewing or drawing or baking or doing something with my hands and I can't imagine my life without that.  I once applied to be on Big Brother, I think it was the second series.  I always think how lucky I am that I wasn't chosen as I'm pretty sure I would have ended up having a Vanessa-like melt down because it really would be my idea of hell to be locked in a house with no way of being creative whatsoever, apart from cooking that is.  (Yes, I wonder why I applied too but that's a whole other post).

In my search online I have found so much information from the US and UK supporting the health benefits of Knitting but not much on Ireland so I think I might start my own search.  In the meantime have a look at this video of Ann Hood, author of the Knitting Circle, reading an extract from the book which she wrote after the death of her daughter.

So what do you think? 

Do you think there  are health benefits to knitting?

Did you learn to knit at school?


Do you know if any of your local schools teach knitting?

Let me know what your thoughts are.  I'd love to hear from you.

On a lighter note check out this super cute knitting vid on youtube - Love it !

Smiling

First of all, thank you so much for all the lovely emails and comments regarding my last post.  I didn't feel much like smiling after the weekend but various things have happened since to put a smile on my face, all of which I know Bridie would have loved too.

First of all I won a giveaway.  I won this gorgeous print by Janet. I can't wait for her to arrive, I think she's gorgeous.   Thank you so much Janet xx

  

I also finished knitting this little lady.

 

She was so quick to knit.  I only started her on Tuesday at the knitting group, and finished her Saturday night.  

 

She was knit up based on a few different patterns including this one by Amy Gaines.

Finally ... I think I'm saving the best for last. 

My kitchen has been fitted !!!  

This is a sneak peak as I'm afraid it was left in a heap this week and I only got round to tidying it this evening.  As you can see from the drawer on the left I've already started to paint it. 

I've decided to go for grey like the doors.  However, after the test patch below I've decided to go for a much lighter colour as the one for the doors is just a bit too dark.  I hope it comes out ok.  

Hopefully it will all be done tomorrow and I can show it to you all finished.  

Hopefully :o)

Workshop Schedule for 2010

My website is being worked on so I'm having to do my advertising for my upcoming workshops here.

I'm starting them next week so if you're in the area and wanting to start a new hobby or brush up on an old one I'll be running card making, knitting and sewing workshops.    If you do a search for workshops on the blog you'll see a few photos from previous ones.  I run them from my country cottage at the kitchen table.  They are very informal yet informative :o) There are more details on my Facebook page.

The knitting group will also be recommencing next week.  We'll still meet on Tuesday mornings at 9.30am upstairs in Harrisons Coffee Shop.  Just cast on and come along for a knit'n'natter morning.   Hope to see you there.

As always if you have any questions just email me at michelle at michellemadethis dot com

K1, P1, PSLO ....

Since my appearance in Prudence magazine I've been getting lots of enquiries about my knitting group and this week we had two lovely new members, Dolci & Maureen (I hope I've spelt the names right!). In fact since I last posted about the group we have had several new members including some of the ladies daughters who are on school holidays. I took these pics two weeks ago but completely forgot to post them.

I've promised the girls that as soon as they finish their bags and neck warmers we will have a mini fashion show showing off all their makes.

And here's my latest project ... yes ... another bag!

If you'd like to join us, we meet every Tuesday morning at 10.00 am upstairs in Harrisons Coffe Shop, near Tescos in Roscommon town.

Just cast on and come along!