My goodness, what a week!  I’ve just galloped in from manning the tea urn at the Angels and Light Festival and switched hats so I can tell you all about the exciting time I had last Thursday meeting Debbie Bliss and the Save the Children crew at the launch of Christmas Jumper Day.  I could almost say I was blown in, it’s sooo windy, I hope those of you who live in the west are not flooded out, as a Somerset girl I’m thinking of you…

My adventure began with hopping on the train in Norwich, I’m almost  blasé about it now having done the same journey not all that long ago for the Buttonbag launch.  No panics about the possibility of getting lost on the tube this time!   I met my daughter in London and was able to have a peek at where she is currently studying, the Central School of Speech and Drama. Maybe  I  trod in the hallowed footsteps of Judi Dench and Jennifer Saunders, Lynn Redgrave and Virginia McKenna? Or touched the same door handle?  Who knows…!

After a bite to eat we set off at a brisk walk to Primrose Hill where the evening was planned at the Mary Portas’ Living and Giving shop.

A completely different concept for a charity shop,  I could quite happily move in, it’s beautiful…

But I wasn’t there to admire the scenery.  I, and a group of other knitting bloggers  had jumpers to make!

We were given a warm welcome by the Save the Children ladies, and by Debbie Bliss herself who was sporting a sling having broken her wrist after an argument with a wobbly chair(don’t ask!)

Once we had been plied with yummy Christmas nibbles and a glass of something nice we were ready for Debbie to introduce our task for the evening, mini jumpers, for egg cosies!

We were all given a bag of yarn and the patterns and set to work.  It’s not easy chatting,  eating drinking, working out the pattern and knitting but we had a good stab at it…

without too much unpicking or dropped stitches!

It was a fabulous evening, and so lovely to meet not only Debbie and so many other like minded bloggers, but also the Editor in Chief of Vogue Knitting magazine, Trisha Malcom, who was over from New York.  All very exciting for someone who lives at the corner of a field in rural Norfolk!

But I need to tell you what it was all about don’t I?

“On 14th December, more than 250,000 people (and counting!) will be wearing a festive woolly to school, offices and workplaces all across the UK, with everyone taking part donating £1 to Save the Children.

Think fluffy nosed reindeer and cross-stitched snowmen! Anyone can take part – you can decorate an everyday jumper with tinsel and baubles, rescue an old one bought in a moment of festive joy, or even knit one if you’ve got the skills – it’s completely up to you.

Money raised from Christmas Jumper Day will help bring life-saving care to some of the world’s most vulnerable children. In the world’s poorest countries almost 7 million children die every year from easily preventable causes like diarrhoea and malnutrition. Simple solutions, like vaccines and mosquito nets, save lives – so your knitted jolly jumper could make a real difference.

We want to spread the word far and wide to get as many people as possible involved in a day of jumper joy on 14th December. “

Do follow the links, there’s so much going on and I’ll be wearing my Christmas Jumper on the 14th, will you?

If you want to knit the jumpers, the patterns are available here and if you want something a little more manageable in size the egg cosy patterns are here

I had the needles out on the train home the next day, and have now finished all three of the patterns…

We thought these would also be lovely hanging on the Christmas tree, strung together as a little garland for the fireplace or even to decorate a bottle!

If you’d like to visit all the other bloggers  and find out their take on the evening, you’ll find them here, do call in and say hello…

• Damn, Knit and Blast It
• Angharad
• Bee and Buzz
• Chichidee
• Shoreditch Sisters
• Misadventures in Craft
• I Heart Teaching Art
• The Knitter
• Simply Knitting
• My Life in Knitwear
• Fraggle Knits and Stitches
• Nest
• Dorothy Does

And now it’s time to leave you with another link, this time for Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour where you’ll find lots has been going on as usual!

I’ll see you again soon…x