The kindness of Knitters

I don't visit Twitter much these days* but today I took a quick peek and my eye was immediately caught by a story from the BBC and Medicins Sans Frontiers, a touching human story of a baby being born on a rescue ship in the middle of the Mediterranean.  And the baby was wearing a hand-knitted hat - oh how I love the world wide sorority of knitters!  Little acts of kindness contributing to the huge effort put in by charities such as MSF and (some) governments.  There are so many examples of knitterly generosity but this one, today, touched  my heart

At the weekend I joined in another lovely example of knitters kindness, not to mention enthusiasm and stash enhancement. Saturday was the day of the annual Great London Yarn Crawl, a charity fundraising event organised by the clever partnership which is Yarn in the City.

Team Intarsia assembles for coffee and cake before our first shop visit

Each Year teams of up to twelve participants travel around London on Bus, tube, and train, with a little walking thrown in, visiting three or four yarn shops.  I was one of the guides for Team Intarsia.  This year there were more shops and included fabric and haberdashery shops; because we are crafters are we not? many of us crochet, embroider, and make our own clothes as well as knit.

Inside Fringe in Muswell Hill, Team Intarsia's first stop

All this excitement is in aid of the charity Refuge, this year raising more than £800 (the final count has not been done yet).  The work of this charity is specially relevant to those who, like me, listen to The Archers on BBC Radio 4. The program has a long running story line, which came to a (temporary) conclusion this week with a jury finding a woman not guilty of attempted murder after she stabbed her abusive husband as she attempted to leave him.

Second stop Ray-Stitch in Islington where I treated myself to a metre or so of some lovely Liberty Tana Lawn

Our third shop was Fabrications, situated on Broadway market.  Added bonus, the market is foodie heaven.  Three of us hardly noticed Saturday's rain as we sheltered under a market stall awning eating, Ravioli, a scallop and bacon sandwich, a (this was me) pulled pork and apple sauce

Barley Massey, Fabrication's creator, makes wonderful things by up cycling clothing, these cushions made of shirts & ties

And there is another charity supported by the knitters of the Yarn Crawl, Knit for Peace.  Each year we participants bring knitted items, hats, gloves, scarves, and baby clothes to the after party (where we drop footsore into a suitably located pub for liquid refreshment, pub food, and to ooh and aah over each others purchases of the day). And I was wondering did this tiny baby hat come from Knit for Peace? And will someone in the future be kept warm by an item donated by one of the yarn crawlers?

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself and forgetting our last stop at Stag & Bow in Forrest Hill, a shop that sells all sorts of loveliness, vintage clothes, trimmings, yarn...

It's hard to encapsulate Stag & Bow in one photograph, there is so much to see (and buy) this is my best effort, art, craft and decoration all in one

... and this

maybe it was impossible to describe Stag & Bow in one photo!

Would you like to join next years yarn crawl?  Save the date, it will be announced on the Yarn in the City website soon.

xx

c

* if you have just clicked over from Twitter you may be puzzled, my apologies I have taken the lazy way of posting there - from Instagram