Tag Archives: vanessa cabban

Remembering Vanessa Cabban

So many people have been remembering Vanessa Cabban since her tragic death last month. I am hoping to bring a positive dimension to our sadness with news of two projects which will keep Vanessa and her huge talents in our hearts and minds.

Firstly, Lisa of the blog, Bobobun is master minding the creation of a crochet blanket with a group of volunteers. Lisa and I chose Vanessa colours and Lisa is scaling up the Little Squares scarf with granny squares…

Little Square Scarf – Vanessa Cabban

…and co-ordinating the production of the squares which we then will sew together to make a blanket. This will eventually be auctioned on Ebay to raise funds for Vanessa’s family’s chosen charity, the Mental Health Foundation. You can find out much more by visiting Lisa on Instagram, or the Bobobun blog and I will have updates as things progress.

Secondly, I was contacted by Christina who runs the Ravelry group, A Knitter’s Life. Christina is remembering Vanessa by hosting a Knit-along, creating a knitted cowl inspired by her beautiful Fair Isle scarf…

Fairisle Scarf – Vanessa Cabban

Christina will be releasing the first part of the pattern on February 6th 2015 on Ravelry, and I will be joining in. If you would like to take part, Christina has listed the yarn and colours she will be using and everything else you will need on her Ravelry page. If you are in the UK you might find, as I have, that you can’t get all the colours specified. The yarn looks lovely so I’m hoping that I can swap some of the colours without losing the ‘Vanessa Cabban‘ vibe!

I’d love to know if you decide to join in, we can compare notes!

I’ll be back tomorrow evening with the Happy Friday Linky. I hope your week has been filled with happy moments so far!

See you soon…x

Do You Mind if I Knit – Vanessa Cabban

Many of you will have read my tribute to Vanessa Cabban in this post, and I was not surprised by the depth of feeling expressed by so many people on reading about her tragic death.

Fellow blogger and friend, Lisa of Bobobun has had a similar reaction after her own tribute on Instagram and we felt there must be a way for Vanessa’s online friends to mark the day of her funeral. Lisa has made the following suggestion to everyone who would like to remember Vanessa on this sad day…

Vanessa’s funeral will be at 11am on the 30th of December. As a mark of our online friendship and out of respect for her memory I will be posting a photo at 11am that day under the heading Do You Mind if I Knit? #vanessacabban. It would be wonderful if as many of you who knew or were inspired by her joined in too. Post a picture of something you’re making, it doesn’t matter if you can’t knit. Vanessa also crocheted, made clothes, created papier-mâché sculptures, brooches, painted and illustrated books. What she did do though was make sure she had time to knit a few rows every day to set the day right. Penny @planetpenny will also be hosting the same via her blog Planet Penny.

So I hope you will join us tomorrow at 11o’clock to remember Vanessa, with a picture of something you are making. If you are on Instagram you will find me @planetpenny and Lisa @bobobun68 and when you post a picture don’t forget the heading and hashtag. If you are not on Instagram you can send your photo to me at planetpenny.co.uk(at)gmail.com and I will add them to this post.

Please feel free to share this blog post to spread the word as far as you can, it would be lovely to send this tribute across cyberspace to mark the life of a talented and inspirational lady, Vanessa Cabban.

In memory of Vanessa, her family have set up a Just Giving page where you can make a donation to the Mental Health Foundation.

Photos added in tribute to Vanessa…

Celia Hart

Dotty Cookie

Jacqueline

Judith Crossley

Susan Greenhow

Koko Okamura

…and many more on Instagram…

Vanessa Cabban – a Tribute

Yesterday I was shocked and so saddened to hear of the tragic death on December 17th of Vanessa Cabban, a talented artist and illustrator who’s blog ‘Do you Mind if I Knit‘ was one of my inspirations when I first began to write here on Planet Penny.

I’m sure many of you who visit here will have come across Vanessa’s blog, where she wrote so entertainingly about her adventures with yarn, her two wire haired dachshunds, Ellie and Douglas and also about her life and the beautiful area in which she lived.

We bonded over our mutual love of dachshunds and Vanessa was a big fan of Higgins. Her colourful and funny children’s books were a big hit with my grandsons when they were small, and Vanessa’s papier mache sculptures are a joy to behold, so vibrant and full of joie de vivre.

Sadly, Vanessa’s marriage ended a couple of years ago and her work took a different direction. Still beautiful, but quiet and reflective. When we last corresponded she wrote of her determination to move on to a new era in her life, and I am so, so sad to realise that that life has now come to end.

Vanessa Cabban was hugely talented and although we never met in person she seemed a warm and lovely human being. I cannot begin to think how her family and friends are feeling, or how they will come to terms with their tragic loss, but I know they will be in the hearts of many of us in the blogging world over Christmas and beyond.

Rest in Peace, dear Vanessa x

In memory of Vanessa, her family have set up a Just Giving page where you can make a donation to the Mental Health Foundation.

Ed to add – 30/12/2014: So many people have been remembering Vanessa today, the day of her funeral. Find out about the ‘Do You Mind If I Knit?’ tributes here …

Ed – 10/05/2015: A beautiful crochet blanket made by bloggers inspired by Vanessa’s creativity has been made to raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation. Follow this link to donate and be entered in the draw.