Think Pink blanket raising money for Breast Cancer Care.

Good morning everyone!

As you know 'SIBOL' is an on-line Crocheting and Knitting group based here in the UK. Throughout the year with the help of my on-line friends we make 'Sunshine blankets' for the Elderly.  These are given out to Elderly people in Nursing homes and sheltered accommodation.

Apart from this work we also make 'Charity blankets' raising money for various charities. We have made blankets for Alzheimer's, Mencap, Prince William & Kate Middleton's Charity Gift Fund and Breast Cancer Care. 

As you know we have already raised £102.00 for Breast Cancer Care here in the UK with our very first 'Think Pink' blanket which was assembled by Lotti here in the UK.

Well I'm very pleased to be telling you that Joanna one of our 'SIBOLETTES' has been collecting squares from all over the World  for our 2nd 'Think Pink' blanket and yesterday I received the finished blanket in the post.  I'm sorry I have kept you waiting but I did want to make a special feature of her blanket.

The squares came in from the UK, USA, Holland, Scotland and Belgium and I am very grateful to everyone that took part.  Joanna was very nervous at first at the thought of making such a special blanket but I'm sure you will agree she has made a  fantastic job of assembling the squares and making such a wonderful border too.

Let's take a look at the blanket now.

Isn't it wonderful?  Joanna went to a lot of trouble making a  laminated card too with the names and countries of the Ladies who took part in this special Challenge

Such pretty Butterflies too adorn this gorgeous blanket.

Individual squares have been made by Ladies all over the World and I am truly grateful to everyone that sent the squares in to her.

Such a pretty border too Joanna, I am so happy that this blanket has turned out so well. I know that this blanket has meant a lot to you personally too and I really would like to thank you on behalf of our Group for making such a wonderful blanket.

The question was when to auction it, we have decided to wait until October 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month'. which we think is better than right now. A lot of people are away on holiday and have the children at home and we really want to get as many people bidding as we can.

So I do hope that nearer the time everyone will write about our special blanket on their Blogs, Facebook pages or whatever.  Let's see if between us we can raise more than what we did for the first one which was £102.00.

This truly is another remarkable 'SIBOL' blanket and between us we are working so hard for our Elderly folk but we are also raising money for various charities and so far we have raised in total  £1,559.00 as a Group. So thanks to everyone involved.

A special thanks to Joanna x

x Sue x

Three Knitted Blankets arrive today and Challenge squares!

Good afternoon everyone!

Today I received a bumper delivery from the Postman. I received three blankets from Sally and a very special 'pink' one!  Yes you've guessed it our 2nd Think Pink blanket has arrived from Joanna here in the UK who has very kindly collected squares for the special Breast Cancer Care blanket and assembled them in to a most  gorgeous blanket but ......you will 'unfortunately' have to wait until tomorrow, sorry about that! I do want to write a special post and as I have a lot to show you today I have decided it's too much today to show you 'four' blankets!

I really want to concentrate on the Knitted ones I have received back from Sally. Sally very kindly offered to make up some Knitted squares for me, so along with Joyce they are helping me get through my Stash here.  These squares have arrived from Caroline in Belgium and mainly two Craft Groups here in the UK. Sally has made a wonderful job of all the blankets by assembling the squares so well and also adding great borders on all three blankets.

Let's take a look at them now.

First we have 'Daydreamer'.

Secondly we have 'Sweet Dreams'

Thirdly we have 'On a Cloud'

Such beautiful squares thanks to everyone that sent them in and also to Sally who very kindly is giving me a hand make them up. I'm sure you will agree they have come out beautifully!  Let's take a look at the Slide Show now. Sit back and enjoy!


Created with flickr slideshow.     Tomorrow I will be showcasing the special 'Think Pink' blanket. This will be auctioned on EBAY to raise money for 'Breast Cancer Care'.   So please stop by!!   It's absolutely gorgeous ..........     The 'SIBOL' Blog moves along very quickly indeed because whenever any new squares come in or there are any new blankets to show you I post them on here. The reason for that is because quite simply I have to keep up to date with it all.  So please......take the time to go back posts and see what's been happening.   Yesterday I showcased 'Camouflage' and 'Black Magic' and I wouldn't want you to miss them!   I am in the process of de-cluttering upstairs. I have a mountain of magazines and old pattern books that I have decided to try and sell. The reason being I'm running out of room and I seriously need to sort myself out up there. Rather than throw them away I am selling them at low prices to raise money for my 'SIBOL' project. There are lots of hidden costs in my 'SIBOL' project as you will appreciate with  stationery, ribbons, yarn, petrol, Ebay fees etc., and all the proceeds will be going towards that.   If you are interested please pop over to RAVELRY.   I think that's about all for today. I'm off to buy some pink ribbon now!   x Sue x     Well I did sign off for the day but I'M BACK!   I had a lunchtime post today and I'm very happy to be showing you some Challenge squares that have arrived from 'Happy Spice' Tina here in the UK.   Talking about 'Think Pink' Tina has just sent me some 'Think Pink' squares for our next blanket and they are beautiful. Fiona will be making the next Think Pink blanket so I will send these squares on to her after her holidays.     

    Tina also sent me a really pretty 200th square with a tiny Daffodil set on a green and cream background. It really is so delicate looking I love it. Of course it's very special to me because my Grandmother loved Daffodils. I remember as I looked out from her window I would see loads and loads of Daffodils planted amongst the grass and my Mother would also buy her Daffodils, so yes I love this square Tina. Thank you very much. It will be very interesting to see the finished blanket gathering inspiration from my Grandmother.    

    Two other squares for our Heart Challenge. These are really lovely too, set on a simple white background these red Hearts really stand out. Thank you so much!     Our 'Irish Rose' Challenge became very popular too and I'm extremely happy to be showing you this square from Tina.  

  Made in wonderful colours actually my favourite pink and green combinations. Such a pretty design thank you very much!   A really pretty selection of squares Tina thank you for taking part. I am off to do a count now and I shall be updating over on RAVELRY. So if you want to take part please do.  

   Well I've just been out to buy the ribbon for Joanna's 'Think Pink' blanket so tomorrow I will show you so please stop by!   Thank you for visiting,   x Sue x

'Camouflage' and 'Black Magic'

Hi everyone!

I have two new SIBOL's to show you and I would like to thank everyone that sent me in squares for these blankets. I have to admit I've had these squares for 'quite a while' so if you see your square I'm sorry I have kept you waiting. I am trying to make up the bags of squares I have here now before I accept any more 'Stash Squares'.

Let's take a look at 'Camouflage'.

Great squares yes they do have an Army feel to them. I think this one will definitely go to a Man!

Then we have 'Black Magic'.

I think these two blankets are quite different from our usual ones. I had fun making them thank you.



Created with flickr slideshow.

x Sue x

What are 'you' doing while the Olympics are on?

Good afternoon  everyone!





Thanks for popping in to SIBOL today! It's the start of the Olympics today and I thought it appropriate to show our beautiful Olympic blanket  that we made.  I am really happy too because 'Crochet Today' over in the States have printed my letter to them thanking our American friends for sending in squares for our Challenge.  Here's the link. Thanks so much 'Crochet Today' for printing my letter.

As you know we make these special Charity blankets but all year round we are busy making blankets for the Elderly in various homes local to me here in Birmingham.

Well the question is what will you be doing while the Olympics are  on? Are you the sort of person who likes to sit Crocheting or Knitting while the TV is on? I know I am.  Well  why not spare a thought for SIBOL and if you have any spare yarn you would like to use up why not make a Large Granny Square blanket or a blanket made up of 25 squares?  We have a few homes to visit during the next few months and I am inviting you to help us.  All details are over on the Challenge Blog.

We do have a 'Square Stop' on at the moment apart from  accepting Challenge squares but I am accepting made up blankets. I have quite a few bags of squares here at home which I am determined to get finished before the end of the year and then we can start our Challenges again. Sending a made up blanket will really help keep our numbers up thank you.

You might also like to make some Butterflies for our blankets, flower embellishments or whatever you think would be nice to hang on our blankets. If you would like a link for the Butterflies please pop over to Netties Blog in Australia where she has a great video tuturial.

I do need squares for our Challenges still if you would like to make any for

Owl Challenge
Irish Rose
Music
Snowman
Faces
Nursery Rhyme
Heart Challenge (Any Heart Design)
Please pop over to our Challenge Blog.

To give you ideas we've just had some Challenge squares arrive from hieke in the Netherlands. Let's take a look at them.

hieke has sent in squares for our Music, Heart, and 200th SIBOL Challenges. Thank you very much!  Such wonderful ideas I love them all. I especially like the 200th SIBOL squares. Inspiration for our 200th blanket has come from my Grandmother. She loved the colour green and red roses and every day she would eat a British Traditional meal of potatotes, meat and vegetables and I think hieke has captured this so.....well! Great Musical squares guitars and a CD or Record too. You've made them really well hieke thank you!

I would also like to show you a blanket that I have just finished, this one is called 'Greensleeves'. Thanks to everyone that sent in squares for this blanket. I had such fun making it up, another one for our homes.

 
So there is plenty to do on the 'SIBOL' project. I hope I have inspired you to pick up your Knitting Needles or Crocheting Hook. 
 
I would like to thank everyone for your help as a  Group we have raised £1,250.00 for Alzheimer's here in the UK. Enjoy the Olympics everyone!
 
x Sue x

Challenge Squares arrive!

Good morning and thanks for visiting 'SIBOL' today!

I am very happy to be showing you some squares which have arrived from Beang (RAV) here in the UK. As you know we sometimes have themes for our blankets and I am collecting at the moment squares for our Nursery Rhyme blanket and an Owl blanket. Beang has very kindly made two squares and I would love you to have a look at them.

Great ideas Beang.
Beang has also  made some Butterlies for our Butterly Club too. If you would like to make a Butterly and send to 'SIBOL' here's the link for RAVELRY 'our Butterfly Club' and here's the link for the brilliant Butterly video tutorial in Australia on Nettie's Blog.

We use Butterlies to decorate our blankets along with ribbons and they really do finish them off beautifully. They are talking points in the homes too! It's nice to have lots in my Stash so I can pick the appropriate colour out when finishing the blankets off. So if you have odd bits of yarn lying about please feel free to send me some.

I am continuing to make blankets up at home and I would like to thank everyone who has taken part in 'take a bag' over on RAVELRY. Ladies have offered to make a bag up for me, this way we can assemble more for the homes. All help is very much appreciated.

Thank you Beang, and thanks everyone for popping in to see what's new today!

x Sue x

Colourful Wednesday!

Good morning and thanks for visiting 'SIBOL' today.

I am very pleased to be showing you some squares and blankets  which actually arrived yesterday. My poor lap top decided to give up on me yesterday, Mr. Twins thinks it was the heat that got to it and the constant work produced  on it! I'm very happy to say today it's working fine so I shall carry on up-dating 'SIBOL'.

First of all I would like to show you some Challenge squares.  joyce28 has very kindly sent these in to me along with her friend Kathy.

Let's take a look at Kathy's Heart square first. A great Knitted square with a Heart, wonderful thank you so much Kathy.

A square made in a lovely shade of lilac thank you!

We move on to the Heart square that joyce28 sent in to me......

Really unusual design Joyce, but very nice indeed. We also have a very colourful 'Nursery Rhyme' square.

'There was an old woman who lived in a shoe........'
Do you remember this one? I certainly do. A great square thank you Joyce.

I think this one is so...comical too for our 'Faces Challenge'.

I'm very happy to be receiving your squares Joyce and Kathy thank you very much.

The fun doesn't stop there. Do you remember on June 14th I visited 'Grey Cables Care Home' in Birmingham? An Elderly Lady there called Vera was talking to me about her own Knitting and she said that she had a bag of Knitted squares in her wardrobe. She asked one of the Staff if they would go and fetch it for her. Inside was a large quantity of squares that she had made for someone else but they hadn't collected them.  She kindly gave them to me. Here they are....

Well I must thank Joyce because along with the squares yesterday I received two blankets that she had assembled for me from Veras' squares. These blankets are so....colourful  and have been put together beautifully.  I have taken some photos and I will be sending them to Vera so she can see what we have made with her squares.  I'm very grateful to you Joyce thank you. Thank you also to Vera, I don't expect 'she's on line!'

Excellent result I think........I'm so pleased that we could put them into one of our blankets.

Decorated with our SIBOL Butterflies and ribbon too, finishing them off.

I have just had the lunch time post arrive and I'm very grateful to BrendaS2 who has very kindly sent me in these squares.

Brenda has taken part in our Musical Challenge and these notes just sing out to you don't they?

I wonder what they are singing? Beautiful square thank you!  I love it!

I also have a Heart square for our 'One Heart From Around The World' Challenge.

Thanks very much for taking part Brenda!

If anyone is interested in back issues of magazines and old crocheting books, please go back a post or visit RAVELRY. I'm having a de-clutter still!

I hope you like what you've seen today, I certainly do!

Thanks for visiting !

x Sue x

Massive de-cluttering going on at 'Two Times!'.

Thanks so much for taking an interest in my 'back issues' of magazines.

I still have magazines for sale, so if you are interested please email me
Sue on sueatpigsty@talktalk.net
or RAV mail me 'MrsTwins'

I accept Paypal, Bank Transfer if you are interested or a cheque if that's better for you
All proceeds will go towards our SIBOL costs.

I would like to thank everyone who has already bought a copy and I'm just listing now what is left.

I have quite a lot of the following magazines and I decided it was time to say goodbye to them, 'although' I love them to bits! I need the room.

**Knit Today magazines £2.00 each. Plus postage

Simply Knitting magazines £2.00 each. Plus postage

Let’s Knit magazines £2.00 each. Plus postage

Inside Crochet magazines £2.00 each. Plus postage**



Are you looking for a particular issue? Email me and ask me I'll have a look for you.

**Woman's Weekly Best of Our Knitted Toys. £5.00 plus postage (98 pages)
(Brilliant for Knitted Toys).**

My de-cluttering continues.

I have sorted out now unwanted patterns/books/magazines if anyone is interested.

**Alan Darts 'Gnomes at Home' pattern. £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd class).**

**360 Mini Messages Cross Stitch £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

**Knit Today - August 2011 (In Plastic Not Opened) £2.50 Plus Post and Packing (2nd class).**

**Rowan - Purelife home - Pattern Book (Beautiful items) £5.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd class).**

**Crocheted Gifts in a Weekend - £5.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd class).**

**The Craft Business Handbook £5.00 Plus Post and Packing. (2nd class).**

**Craftseller October 2011 (With Halloween Supplement which is brilliant) £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd class)**

**Craftseller Christmas 2011 £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

**Craftseller November 2011 £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

**Knitting Life 'August-September 2011' £2.00 Plus Postage and Packing (2nd Class)**

**Knitting Life 'December 2011/January 2012' £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

**Knitting Life 'October/November 2011' £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

**Ripples for Baby £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class)**

**Home Knits - £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

**Hand Knitted for Baby £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd class).**

**50 Quick Knits - £2.00 Plus Post and Packing (2nd Class).**

Just Rav mail me Mrs Twins
or Sue on sueatpigsty@talktalk.net

All proceeds from these magazines/patterns/books will go towards my 'hidden costs' for

my SIBOL work e.g. postage, cards, ribbons, yarn, petrol, Ebay fees etc.,

Don't you feel better for de-cluttering! :)'

Thank you.
x Sue x