A new SIBOL and gorgeous Squares!

Good Afternoon!
I am very pleased to be showing you a new SIBOL blanket.  I would like to thank everyone for sending these Squares in to me and I would also like to thank 'jean nock' for assembling this blanket for me! I think the blanket has turned out really well. It's great fun putting the squares together and I'm sure you will love this one!

'jean nock' also sent in some Squares which I feel have a 'Jubilee' theme. They are lovely, red, white and blue with gold stars! Simply gorgeous!

They really are lovely, thank you for sending them in to me!

I would also like to thank Tina (UK) for the Squares she sent to me today. A great selection for our next 'Think Pink' Blanket and some lovely ones which will go in to the SIBOL Stash!  They have been made beautifully Tina, thank you very much!

Created with flickr slideshow.

She also sent me a cute little Owl, did you spot him? Tina makes these to raise money for charities. We are all doing our bit for charities and it's nice to see what everyone makes! The Squares are so pretty and I am most grateful to you thank you!

Both Ladies have worked extremely hard for 'SIBOL' I am most grateful to you both thank you!

x Sue xc

'Going For Gold'

Hi Ladies,

Our 'Going For Gold' Blanket is shown in the header picture.  I''m so proud of what we have achieved. Squares came in from as far as the States and Europe with Scotland, Wales and England too. Each and every Square has been made lovingly by members of our 'SIBOL' group and I would like to thank each and everyone of you!

We had such fun making this Blanket, it gave us the chance to design a Square, put our thinking caps on and rise to the Challenge. So whatever happens to our Blanket I know we did our very best with it. Fingers crossed we will have a successful outcome.



Just my way of saying 'Thank you!'

Update - Lunchtime 30th May.

I have had two Squares arrive at lunchtime from 'beang' over on RAVELRY.  Thank you so much for these two Challenges Squares.

One is for 'One Heart Around The World'



 and the other the 'Faces' Challenge.



 If anyone is interested please follow the link to Challenges.

These two Squares have been made beautifully, great colours too. Thank you so much beang! I'm very grateful to you!

x Sue x

Your chance to own SIBOL Blankets!

Hi Ladies,

Time is running out to own these beautiful Blankets.  Why not pop over to our EBAY Links!

This lovely blanket was knitted by a member of the ‘Sunshine International Blankets of Love’ group, who make blankets for the Elderly. Members of this world-wide group make blankets and then the co-ordinator then distributes the finished blankets to Nursing Homes. This particular piece was made by a Lady here in the UK. All proceeds from this auction (excluding P & P costs) will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting around 496,000 people in the UK.



Each of the 24 squares on this special blanket has been lovingly made by an Elderly lady in her 80’s who’s own mother suffered with Alzheimer’s. It is named after her mother ‘Mae’. The blanket measures 34” x 27” and is decorated beautifully with a red ribbon and has two gorgeous butterflies to represent ‘SIBOL’. The Blanket is made in Acrylic yarn and is machine washable.


Alzheimer’s is a cause very dear to her heart.

This Blanket would be ideal for an Elderly person, or why not buy it for a souvenir of The Diamond Jubilee for your child's pram/or car seat?


We have chosen to open the bidding at £20.00 to reflect the work that has gone into this blanket called 'Mae'. Your Link to EBAY


We also have 'Rule Britannia' please follow this link to EBAY

Each of the 25 squares on this special blanket, lovingly nicknamed  'Rule Britannia' are  in red, white and blue and all the squares have a Diamond Jubilee  in mind. The blanket has a red, white and blue border,  decorated  with a red ribbon and has three beautiful butterflies attached representing ‘SIBOL’.  The blanket is 34 inches square, making it a typical ‘lapghan’ size. It is made in Acrylic yarn and is machine washable.

We have chosen to open the bidding at £50.00 to reflect the work that has gone into this Blanket.

Finally our third Blanket called 'Jubilation' follow the Link to EBAY

Each of the 49 squares on this special blanket, lovingly nicknamed ‘Jubilation’ are in red, white and blue and all the squares have a Diamond Jubilee in mind. The blanket has a red, white and blue border, decorated with a blue ribbon and has two beautiful butterflies attached representing ‘SIBOL’. The blanket is 49 inches square, making it a comfortable size to snuggle under. It is made in Acrylic yarn and is machine washable. It will arrive specially presented in the style of all SIBOL items and includes a card detailing the names and nationalities of all contributors.

We have chosen to open the bidding at £50.00 to reflect the huge amount of work that has gone into this Blanket.
The auction ends in 2 days 8 hours, so place your bids!


I would also like to thank Ann here in the UK for sending me some beautiful Grannies today! Peach and Cream how gorgeous are these Squares! Along with Squares Ann also sent me some 'Open Stars', 'Flowers' and 'SIBOL Butterflies!' Simply gorgeous Ann I have made a Slide Show for you, thank you so....much!




Created with flickr slideshow.


Thanks for visiting 'SIBOL' today, let's hope we can raise some money for Alzheimer's here in the UK.

x Sue x

I love a good story and some pretty Squares!

Good evening everyone!

Thank you for visiting 'SIBOL' today. I do apologise I am very late posting on SIBOL. I have had a very busy few days with one thing and another and time has been very limited for me.

I would like to thank Violet at my Husband's office for the yarn she donated it is very nice of you and I know it will be terribly useful for our SIBOL project. Many thanks to you.

I would also like to thank Marilyn here in the UK for the gorgeous Flower Squares today. A wonderful selection of yarn make these Squares look so different. I am grateful to you Marilyn.

Now yesterday I had a surprise in the post. I received a parcel from Joanna here in the UK. Inside was a very pretty Granny Blanket and I would like to tell you the story behind the Blanket.

Joanna has a friend at work called Louise.  Louise always takes such an interest in Joanna's Knitting and Crocheting and in particular the Crocheted Squares she receives in the SIBOL Swaps.  Joanna has worked with Louise for over 15 years and she is a very close friend. Earlier this year Louise's Grandma sadly passed away and as her Grandma used to love to Knit and Crochet Joanna decided that her next blanket for SIBOL would be in memory of her. Her Grandma was called Bess.  Joanna asked Louise what her Grandma's favourite colours were and she set off making the blanket. 

Joanna has now finished the blanket and she took it into work to show Louise. As we love names for our blankets Joanna asked Louise if she would name the blanket. She decided to call it 'Spring Day's' as the colours reminded her of spring flowers and the green the new leaves unfurling on the trees.  She took it home to show her Mum  and they  both agreed that Grandma Bess would have loved it.

The name is absolutely perfect Joanna thank you. Louise's Grandma herself always Knitted for Charities like ourselves and Joanna tells me that Louise's Grandma would have loved the work that SIBOL is doing. When her eyesight got bad she continued Knitting but if she dropped a stitch she would put it to one side until Louise's Mum could go and pick the stitch up for her. She would then continue Knitting away! Amazing Lady!

Joanna also made two Butterflies for the blanket thank you and also some for our basket. Joanna tells me she has enjoyed making the Butterflies and it's a great idea for using those odd bits of yarn up!

Would you please thank Louise for naming our Blanket and I love the fact that you have made it in her favourite colours. This Blanket will certainly give a lot of comfort to an Elderly person and how nice of you to make this in Memory of Bess. Thank you so very much to all of you!

I am very pleased you are enjoying the SIBOL Swaps too Joanna. Thank you for taking part.

Well I think that's it for now.
Thank you for popping in to SIBOL today!

x Sue x

Pretty Crocheted Squares arrive today!

Hi Everyone!

Before we start. The Blanket at the top of the Blog is called 'Dorothy' and it was made and donated by Sara (UK). Beautiful isn't it? It's one of the 'mile-a-minute' Blankets and is found on 'You Tube!'.

I am very happy to be showing you these gorgeous Crocheted Squares which have arrived today!

Susanne here in the UK, has very kindly made them and sent them to SIBOL. Just take a look at these Squares I am sure you will love them. They are made beautifully in the most wonderful colour combinations and patterns! I am terribly grateful to you Susanne, thank you.

A closer look in the Slide Show now!




Created with flickr slideshow.

Wonderful aren't they? I love them. Thank you Susanna.

We seemed to have started a SIBOL Butterly Club over on RAVELRY, why not join us? There is a great video tutorial from Nettie in Australia and we also have a lovely pdf we would like to share!

We also seemed to have gone batty for 'yarnbombing'. Well it's getting us outside isn't it?  I went to Hatton Locks, nr Warwick on Monday and I left some SIBOL Butterflies hanging on the rail there. Can't think of the word. To my amazement this morning a Lady left a message on RAVELRY saying she had 'googled me!'. She found out who had left them. See you can't keep anything secret can you? What fun! Join us on SIBOL 'yarnbombing!'.  We're yarnbombing for the Diamond Jubilee!

Why not make a SIBOL Butterfly and leave it in a really unusual location? Thanks jenn1feranne for this idea! It's great. Maybe you could pack one or two in your holiday bag? Let's have some photos in Ladies!

Thanks for visiting 'SIBOL' this afternoon and thank you Susanne for your pretty Squares!

x Sue x

New Squares/Flying The Flag/Going For Gold!

Good evening everyone!

Thank you very much for popping in to 'SIBOL' this evening.

Today I had four squares arrive from micha  (RAV)  here in the UK. She has made some Knitted Squares for our Blankets and I would like to thank her very much indeed. The colours of the squares are lovely and you have made them beautifully. Thank you!

You will be very pleased to know that three of our Olympic Blankets are now on EBAY.

We have 'Rule Britannia'

ON EBAY NOW!



'Jubilation'

ON EBAY NOW!



'Mae'

ON EBAY NOW!



We have been working very hard over the last year collecting squares for our Olympic Challenge, these three Blankets are being auctioned now with the run up to the Diamond Jubilee. The large two Blankets will be auctioned nearer to the Olympics. Thanks everyone for supporting me with this project.

I'll leave you with some photos of 'Flying The Flag' and 'Going For Gold'. As you see they fit nicely on a single bed.

'Going For Gold'

Thanks everyone!

x Sue x

It's all go this weekend!

Hi Everyone!

I haven't stopped all weekend doing our SIBOL work. First of all we had the SIBOL Giveaway which was very successful and Congratulations to all of the Winners! For details of who won please go back a couple of posts.

Then we had our Olympic Ta - Dah's. I'm so pleased you liked the Blankets once again please go back to the previous post. Your kind comments are very much appreciated. I am terribly grateful to you all for sending in such wonderful Squares. It was a joy to make the Blankets up to raise money for Alzheimer's here in the UK. I am in the process of organising EBAY for 'Rule Britannia', 'Jubilation', and 'Mae'. The large Blankets 'Going For Gold' and also 'Flying The Flag' will be auctioned nearer to the Olympics. I thought with the Diamond Jubilee coming up shortly it might be a good time to try and auction these Red, White and Blue Blankets more or less straight away. I'll keep you posted.

Then on Saturday morning I had three Blankets arrive from Sara H here on RAV. I am so grateful to Sara she has crocheted three amazing Blankets and she is donating them all to SIBOL!

The first one is called 'Joyce' This is such a pretty Blanket and I really think it has a 'vintage' feel to it. I love the colours she has used in this Blanket. Actually the yarn was donated to Sara by her aunt and Sara was telling me that her aunt's mother' recently passed away so she would like to name the Blanket 'Joyce' in her aunts' mother's memory. I will be most happy to do this for you Sara thank you very much.

Beautiful isn't it? Let's take a look at the next Blanket that Sara donated. This one is a Large Granny Square and it's been named 'Fred'.

I love the colour combinations Sara!

Then finally, I love them all but this Blanket is my favourite. It's called 'Dorothy' and it's a 'mile-a-minute' afghan. Don't you just love this one?

I have seen video tutorials on You Tube of someone making one of these. I'll put this on my 'to-do list!'.

Sara, you have been so busy. You are so very kind donating these beautiful Blankets of yours to SIBOL. Thank you so much! Let's take a look at your Slide Show now!






Created with flickr slideshow.


Wow! That's all I can say! Thank you very much!

Have you ever thought of joining our SIBOL RAV GROUP? We welcome new Members. We have monthly Swaps of Squares and small gifts, a SIBOL Butterfly Club, and we are also going to do some Diamond Jubilee 'yarnbombing'. Why not pop over!

Finally, there is always such a lot going on in our Group, I wouldn't want you to miss anything so please read previous posts!

 Thanks to everyone for your support.

x Sue x

Our Olympic Challenge is finished!

Hello Everyone!

We have been working extremely hard over the last year making and collecting Squares for the Olympic Challenge. My aim was to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society here in the UK. I invited you all to send in Squares to celebrate the Olympic Games coming to London 2012. You certainly put your thinking caps on because we've had over 300 Squares. Some in red, white and blue, and others showing Athletes, Flags, Olympic flame, Olympic rings etc.,  I can never thank you all enough for the wonderful work you have put into these Squares. You certainly have used your imagination.

I want to first of all show you a Blanket which shows 100 Flags, crocheted by 'akarapacha' (Santha) in Fort Myers, USA. Such a lot of work went into these Squares and I can never thank Santha enough for her dedication to our SIBOL Olympic Challenge!

The patience she must have had making all of these Squares. They are the Flags of some of the Countries taking part in the Olympic Games London 2012. Wonderful work Santha! Thank you so much for making them and sending them across the pond!

The Blanket comprises of 100 6" Flag Crocheted Squares.
The Blanket measures 63" Square.

The next Blanket comprises of 130 Squares, both Knitted and Crocheted. You all certainly rose to this Challenge making it so very interesting! As I said at the beginning of this post we have had everything included in this special Blanket. Athletes, Olympic Flame, Flags etc., You have sent in the most amazing Squares! I can never thank you all enough!

THIS PHOTO HAS TEMPORARILY BEEN REMOVED.

There will be lots more photos to follow I just wanted you to see the finished Blankets. 

I am very pleased also to be showing you our other smaller Blankets which have been made with the Olympic theme in mind.

First of all we have 'Rule Britannia'. 25 gorgeous Red, White and Blue Squares all in beautiful patterns. Thank you to everyone that has contributed these Squares. They really are so pretty!

Then we have 49 Squares mostly in Knitted, a few Crocheted! This one is called 'Jubilaton'.

These Blankets will be auctioned on EBAY to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society here in the UK. Let's hope we can raise a fair amount for them.

Thanks to everyone that very kindly took part in my Giveaway. If you remember we were chosen as 'Club of the Month' in the 'Knit Today' magazine.  If you would like to go back a post you will be able to read the Winners' names! Congratulations to you all!

I would also like to thank Sara for very kindly sending me in three gorgeous Blankets today. As I was taking photos of the Olympic Blankets this afternoon  I really didn't have time this afternoon to showcase her work. But please be assured I will do it as soon as possible. The Blankets that she sent in are absolutely gorgeous. She made a beautiful purple and green striped 'mile-a-minute' afghan, a Large Granny Square Blanket, and a pink, green, blue and cream squared Blanket which has a vintage feel to it, well I think so. I can't wait to show them to you so please stay tuned!

Once again thank you so very much for all your hard work with the Olympic Challenge. I have had great fun working with your Squares and I am so pleased you enjoyed this Challenge.

Thank you so much for popping in to SIBOL today! I am off to bed it's 1.55am!

Nitey nite....

Love Sue x

Giveaway Winners today!

Good Morning everyone!

I would like to thank everyone for taking part in our 'Knit Today' 'Club of the Month' Giveaway. As you remember a few months ago we were chosen to be 'Club of the Month' in their magazine and they very kindly sent me all of these books!

A great selection to share amongst our wonderful Ladies!

Not only do I have these books to share amongst you I am also adding in this one I won some months ago in one of the magazines and also another surprise gift which I'm not going to show you! The winner of that one will have to be kept in suspense till they receive it.

Let's have some fun now. Are you ready?

 I have used the Random Number Generator using the Numbers which were on the RAV Giveaway thread to find the Winner!

Wishing you all the very best of Luck!

Jennifer (jenn1feranne)   Congratulations you are the Winner of
                                      'Knitted Fairies to cherish and charm'

 Marion (jean nock)       Congratulations you are the Winner of
                                      '20 Twenty to Make' 'Knitted Baby Bootees'

Steph    (craftymizz)        Congratulations you are the Winner of
                                      'Norwegian Knitting Designs'

Marge (bennythedip)        Congratulations you are the Winner of
                                        '20 Twenty to Make 'Knitted Egg Cosies'

hieke                               Congratulations you are the Winner of
                                       '75 birds, butterflies & beautiful beasties to knit & crochet

Joyce (joyce28)               Congratulations you are the Winner of
                                        'Knitted Home'

.............and the person who has won a surprise gift worth £25.00 (which is another gift I won in one of the magazines) is.............................................................................................................................................

                                             theemuts (Tinka)!!!!!!!!
                                            
 Well done to you Tinka  you will have to tell everyone what you  have won when you receive it!

I am sorry if you were'nt lucky this time. Fingers Crossed for next time!

Please could you mail me your addresses
sueatpigsty@talktalk.net

My rooms are a little disrupted upstairs due to decorating and it will be quicker for me to have the addresses from  you than to search my boxes upstairs. I'm not that organised that I have them on the computer! Thank you everyone! 

I have had a large parcel arrive this morning from Sara H. I haven't even opened it yet, thank you Sara I think I know what's in there! I can't wait!

Love Suex

Do you like Crocheting? Would you like to Swap Squares? Please join us!

Good Morning,

I am hoping that Ladies will see this SIBOL post this morning. This is a shout out to anyone in our SIBOL RAV GROUP, or anyone else in the World who loves Crocheting!

As you know 'SIBOL' regularly donates Sunshine Blankets to the Elderly in Nursing Homes here in the UK. We also make 'special Charity' Blankets raising money for various Charities which is really good. Apart from that we have fun in our SIBOL RAV GROUP making Crocheted Squares to 'SWAP!'.  Now the numbers of Ladies taking part has dropped and we desperately need some new Ladies to join us. So if you would like to join us why not pop over to RAVELRY and leave your name on the thread. arien 156 will contact you if you leave your name.

The Ladies swap Squares each month to make Blankets and cushion covers and always enclose a small gift too. So if you think you are interested please pop over to RAVELRY now!

It's so nice to make new friends and share the love of Crocheting!

x Sue x

Butterfly mania!

Good Afternoon!

Thanks for visiting 'SIBOL' today!

We seem to have started something over on RAVELRY, a bit of a Butterfly craze!
As you know Butterflies are rather like a 'trade mark' for our Group. Back in the early days
of SIBOL we started using a beautiful Butterfly tutorial over on Nettie's Blog in Australia. The idea
of putting Butterflies on to our Blankets for the Elderly really took off and as I mentioned the other day
to the Ladies on RAVELRY that my stock was near to the end, they very kindly started Crocheting for me!
It is so nice to have a good supply of Butterflies to hand this really saves me a lot of work.

Today I have received a really pretty selection from 'creativegranny' here in the UK. She has really got 'hooked' on making these Butterflies and so have the other Ladies. If you want to join our Butterfly Club please follow the link! These Butterflies are made in all sorts of yarn and I really love the sparkle in some of them too! Thank you so much 'creativegranny!'

Here's your Butterflies!

I am visiting a Craft Group next year and I plan to take a basket of Butterflies with me. The idea of attaching a tag on to the Butterflies labelling your name and country is brilliant and Bev (baw1812) has very kindly offered to send a file over to any one interested  for the tags. So if you are interested, pop over to the RAVELRY link and send her a pm!

We are having such fun with these Butterflies please join us!

x Sue x

Two Olympic Ta - Dah's for you!

Good Afternoon everyone!

Welcome to 'SIBOL'.

I am very pleased to be showing you two finished Olympic blankets. The first is a 25 Square one which is Crocheted and Knitted. The Squares are all of different patterns and they really are so pretty! I really enjoyed making this blanket up.

Beverley over on RAVELRY has just named this blanket 'Rule Britannia'.

The other blanket today is a 49  Square one. The Squares have come in mainly from craft groups here in the UK, mostly Knitted with a few Crocheted ones. 

There are two other blankets. One is finished the other I have the border to do. But it won't be long now before I can show you them. One is 100 Square and the other is 130!  A lot of work!

Thanks to everyone that contributed Squares for my Olympic Challenge. These blankets will be auctioned to raise money for Alzheimer's here in the UK!

I'll leave you with some more photos.



Created with flickr slideshow.

A beautiful day here in the UK, I've just been out for a drive in 'Mr T's' open roof car! We stopped at a Garden centre and had a cream tea! How lovely! I know I'm on my slimming plan but......one cream tea won't hurt will it? You won't tell will you?

Bye for now

x Sue x

We're holding a Giveaway!

Good Morning Ladies!

As you know back in March 'SIBOL' was lucky enough to be featured as 'Club of the Month' in the 'Knit Today' magazine here in the UK.

 Well I am very pleased to be telling you that our prize has arrived! Yes a great selection of books and guess what I'm giving them all to you!

To have a chance of winning one of these wonderful books, please pop over to RAVELRY and leave your name on the thread.
Also your choice of book.
Closing date Friday 18th March midnight.

To be eligible you must have sent me at least one 6" Square 'Crocheted or Knitted'.

What a great selection! You don't know which one to choose? Let's have a closer look!








Created with flickr slideshow.

THE RANDOM GENERATOR WILL BE USED TO FIND THE WINNERS!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH 'KNIT TODAY' - We love our prize and it was great to be featured as 'Club of the Month' in your magazine!

I'm popping in an extra book that I won sometime ago!



Best of Luck everyone!


Thanks for popping in to SIBOL today!

x Sue x