Little Love Project

Working for a large company has it's advantages - each year they allow us one working day to do something charitable (whilst still paying us) and usually it involves something like gardening for a local hospice, repainting a childrens club, digging at the local National Trust place or some other similarly energetic endeavour.

This year for us it was different, a clever knitty friend, Denise, who you can find over at ToadRockStreet thought of the wonderful idea of having a charity knitting day! I mean, what could be better than spending all day knitting and being paid for it!
She discovered that the Little Love Project, a local charity providing items for Special Care Baby Units, were having problems finding people to knit for them and set about organising our day (and a brilliant job she did too). I was asked to help on the technical side as she seems to be under the impression that I am a little bit obsessed with knitting, now where did that idea come from I wonder ;0) and Susie our department secretary (well that's what she calls herself but it is a considerable understatement of her abilities) joined us to share her administrative skills, and on 12th June the big day arrived.

I had knitted several samples


as had Denise and Susie and we laid them out with the patterns


We had some donations of yarn (doesn't it look great displayed in those baskets?)

there was a table of food (well if you knew the office I work in that wouldn't suprise you at all) and music in the background, hostesses (the non-knitters in our office who came to welcome people and provide us with tea and coffee) in fact, everything you could need.

Over the course of the day no less than 37 people came to join us, some for the day, some for a morning or afternoon, and few who couldn't get time away from their jobs dropped in during their lunch hours and we had a marvelous sewer who made the cutest baby gowns (for those little angels who don't make it). The local press came and took photos, the psychologist founder of the Little Love Project, Tanya Wright, joined us and at the end of the day there were almost 130 items ready or almost ready to be given to the charity.

An amazing result from an amazing day.

The response was so good that we are now starting a charity knitting club at work, continuing to support Little Love but adding in some different challenges from time to time for variety.

I wish I had taken more pictures, and/or had a better eye for them, "tries hard could do better springs to mind", I really don't think I have done the day justice but it really was the best day at work I have had, ever!