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!!

Featured in Yarnwise magazine

Remember me sharing a pic of my chick around Christmas time?

Well this is what it was for.

I had the above piece featured in Yarnwise Magazine.

The full piece can be seen here

Love Knitting

No this is not me announcing my love of knitting, although love knitting I do.  But more a little shout out to a lovely website Loveknitting.com where you can shop for all things knitty in one place.

It's was set up by a group of peeps in London (oh how I miss you London) last April.  I know it's taken me this long to tell you all about it !!

It's a lovely site, so clean and easy to use (well I think it is). But not only that the feel of the company is nice too.   Take a look at their values listed on their site.

I have to say each time I receive an email from them I certainly do have a smile on my face so high five guys (not sure where that came from!?) you are certainly sticking to your values.

So I digress (you should be used to me by now).  The site.   Not only is it packed full of yarns and needles but there ares ome lovely buttons too.  I just LOVE these wooden heart buttons, oh sew cute!

On the subject of buttons I love how there are different options to search on the site.  See ... you can search by type, material, size and (ooooh smiling !!) colour.  I just love the cute little button graphics. Come on your smiling too ... aren't you?

Can you feel a theme coming on here?  Maybe I should have kept this post for Valentines.  OMG LoveKnitting guys you can do up Valentine Knitting kits - so much better than a bunch of roses - a bunch of red heart knitting needles swit swoooooooo what better way to say I love you. Am I brilliant or am I brilliant?

 As with the buttons I love the search options.  Here for patterns you can search by designer, yarn weight etc etc

and the same for yarn - including ... oh yeah here comes another smile .... cute little balls of yarn graphics ...

Ok I get that your cheeks are sore from smiling but if they are not and you feel like smiling some more get yourself over the loveknitting.com.  No I don't work for them and nor am I getting paid to write this I just think when you find somewhere nice to shop it's nice to share that info :O)

Keeeeep smiling and Keeeeeeeep Stitching!

M x

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

Wooly Crafts

I'm busy as a bee

crafting late at night 

and early in the morning

getting ready for the

Wool Craft Village

I'm organising at this years

Roscommon Lamb Festival 

If you fancy trying your hand at any wool related crafts

I've organised lots of fabulous workshops

The Yarn Room

12.30 – 1.30 pm – Spinning with Nancy Devlin using a spindle and a wheel

1.45 pm – 2.15 pm – Beginners crochet with Patricia Kearney

2.30 – 3.30 pm – Feltmaking with Maggie Dolan

3.45 – 4.45pm – Loom & Tapestry Weaving with Fran Crowe

The Wool Shed

12.30 – 1.30 pm – Weaving a mat on a peg loom with Caroline Walshe

1.45 – 2.15 pm – Spinning Introduction with Gerardine Murphy

2.30 – 3.30 pm – Needle Felting for kids with Carmel Creaner

3.45 – 4.45 pm – Crochet– making crochet flowers & butterflies with Carmen Heffernan

To book your place on one of the workshops above please emailmichelle@michellemadethis or call Michelle on 085 1111984

I'm really looking forward to crochet flowers with Carmen Heffernan.  Carmen was featured in Mollie Makes magazine and has a beautiful shop on Etsy selling her crochet creations. 

In fact I want to do all of the workshops!

I've got lots planned for the day including a Knit'n Natter Cafe, a Spinning Area for people to join in and have a go and an interactive Knitting Circle.

Keeeeeep Stitching!

Mx

Daffodil Day

It's Daffodil Day today in Ireland and it's their 25th birthday

The idea of Daffodil Day is that everyone wears a daffodil pin or buys a bunch of daffodils (being sold all over the country by volunteers) to raise awareness and more importantly raise funds for cancer.

You can find more information on the Irish Cancer Society web page.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig / Happy St Patricks Day

I'm wearing my shamrock today, are you?

For those of you who've missed it, today is 

Saint Patricks' Day.  

Saint Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland. 

It's funny, now that I'm back in Ireland it's not such a big day but when I lived in London and New York it was a huge day for me!  My favourite Saint Patrick's Day has to have been when I worked in a law firm in London and I was asked to organise a party for the whole office.  I cooked bacon and cabbage for them all and got to order in Irish cheese and taytos and even kegs of guinness.  Yeah I'm wondering too ... why I left that job too ? 

Ok  I digress - surely you're used to me by now?  :O)

Right, shamrocks ...  do you like my corsage?

Well, because i'm feeling so proud to be Irish and as we are known for our generosity and friendliness and all the rest I'm sharing my pattern with you, hot off the press!

 

I say 'hot of the press' as I only just came up with this this morning!

Here goes ...

Grab yourself some green wool/yarn

I used double knit (DK) in a lovely mossy green colour

I used size 12 needles but if you don't have them use whatever you have - bearing in mind the bigger the needle, the bigger the shamrock!

Are you ready?
Cast on 16 stitches

Row 1  - K 

(for each knit row, knit into the back of the first and last stitch to make it neater)

Row 2 - K6, SSK, K2tog, K6

Row 3, 5 - K

Row 4 - K5, SSK, K2tog, K5

Row 6 - Cast off

This makes one leaf of the shamrock, you need three for the corsage (or four if you're feeling like you need some luck!)

For the stem I just cast on 12 stitches and knit 3 rows.  Then cast off, thread the end of the yarn into a darning needle and sew the long edges together. 

 

Once you have sewed all the leaves together you can sew on a brooch pin and wear with pride :O)

I don't know about you but I'd much rather see people wearing these as opposed to tacky "Kiss me I'm Irish" t-shirts and leprachaun hats.

And for the record .... I don't know anybody in Ireland that has EVER said "top of the morning to ya".   

Have a lovely St Patrick's Day

M x

The little lost lamb

Once upon a time ....

On a cold spring morning two twin lambs were born, George and Mildred.  

From the moment they were born they were inseparable.  Everywhere that George went, Mildred wasn't far behind.  

After a few days in the lambing shed under their mother's watchful eye, Farmer Sam thought it time to let them out in the fields.   George and Mildred were giddy with excitement as they had heard lots of stories from their aunts and cousins about their adventures in the fields and especially up the hill.  They couldn't wait to go exploring. 

George was a little too eager.  The second the gate opened he went hopping off up the hill in search of adventure.  Little Mildred struggled to keep up. 

A short while later George realised that Mildred wasn't behind him and as he looked around him he realised his mum was nowhere in sight also.  

He looked all over but couldn't see any of them anywhere, just green fields and stone walls.  Then just as he was starting to panic "baaaa" came a voice behind him.  He turned round and there was Mildred.

 Being a typical boy George wasn't into big displays of affection but at this moment in time he was so happy to see his sister Mildred he gave her a big hug and promised to never leave her side again. 

The end x

Spring time !

Happy St Davids' Day to all my Welsh followers!

I'd love to say I designed this brooch just for you but it would be a bit of a fib if I said that.

I've been inspired by my morning walks and designed it for a new knitting workshop but thought it apt to post about it today :O) 

Hope you're all having a lovely Thursday - not long until the weekend !!!  

M x

Spring Lamb

Spring is here!

The lambs are jumping about in the fields and the daffodils are in bloom. 

Isn't life just great :O)

It's a little gloomy today in the West of Ireland but yesterday the sun shone. 

Every window in the cottage was open and the big spring clean continues. 

Don't you just  love it?

Feeling all inspired, I've been doing a bit of spring time knitting in preparation for some knitting workshops.  I started this guy at my Knit Night at the cottage on Thursday. 

What do you think?

 

I'm working on a new one with some tweaks to the pattern. 

I've been in the lambing shed a lot lately and taking note of all the little personalities so I'm going to try and recreate them.  Try!

 I think he looks a little lonely and needs a companion don't you?

Hope you're all having a fun filled fabulous weekend !