addicted to my knitting

Bathsheba that's a lovely blanket! So many variations.

Thanks Grannyknot, yours too - gorgeous!

Love knitting and cross stitch. I've just found the Linus Project which is a very satisfying charity to knit/crochet and/or make patchwork blankets for. It's for prem babies, young children and teenagers who are in hospital, so I'm mainly knitting at the moment.

I.ve always knitted baby clothes for the charity shop I worked in, they sold really well and raised much needed funds for our local hospice- then last summer we moved house and non of the local charity shops would accept them as they did not carry the approved safety marks. I was desperate to have something to knit and by chance met a lady who had contact with the Linus project which I had never heard of before. I downloaded the patterns from the website and am now happily knitting blankets and baby hats to pass on to what is a very worthwhile cause.

Thorntrees

Thorntrees. I am intrigued. What is an approved safety mark on children's clothes? I am aware of the CE and Lion Mark on toys but was unaware of anything similar relating to clothes.

I love knitting and recently started knitting blankets there's always a baby on the way at work. I love time on my own telly on and me knitting. I feel as though it's like liquid Prozac. Ha ha!!!

Indeed Harris27. The therapeutic benefits of knitting, crocheting and sewing have been well documented. I think it's especially important in this age of mass produced goods, buying almost everything we need, to be able to sit quietly and make something unique. Baby blankets are often treasured or at least dragged around by a toddler as a favoured "blankie" which amounts to the same thing.

I’m intrigued too, FountainPen. I’m knitting matinee jackets for our local hospitals’ premature baby units, for an appeal coordinated by our nearest Tesco. They accept any style, any pattern, as long as it is in soft baby wool, close knit and with no buttons or other fasteners.

There are strict regulations governing the sale of children's clothing, one of the many reasons I have never been tempted to sew items to sell. The Charity Retail Association has produced this document for their members explaining these regulations.

Textile labelling is required by law, and the document states :

The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012 require all textile products to carry a label indicating the fibre content, either on the item or the packaging. If a product consists of two or more components with different fibre contents, the content of each must be shown.
Only certain names can be used for textile fibres and these are listed in the Regulations along with a list of products that are not required to bear fibre content.
All items must carry a label indicating the fibre content, either on the item or the packaging. The label should be durable, easily legible, visible and accessible.
It is an offence to supply, or offer to supply, textile products that do not comply with the above requirements. The maximum penalty is a fine. Therefore, a charity shop selling a home-made item must ensure that a clear label - indicating that it was knitted from a certain type of wool, for example - must be included.

I know many people knit for charity, donating items directly to hospitals and so on, but certainly if they are being sold, then the regulations apply. Although, having said that, I do know our local hospital has a charity run shop selling donated hand-knitted baby clothes and I'm almost certain they aren't labelled as required! Equally, I have given hand made clothing, that my GD has outgrown, to a local charity shop and they have been delighted with it - no labels on them at all!

Thank you Bathsheba. I have only every knitted charity items that will be gifted e.g. for Knit for Peace so this is new to me. You could lift the content and care details of the fibre from the ball band and have some labels made like these:

www.wovenlabelsuk.com/garment-labels/wl-05a.html

Every time I go to a nearby town, I go around the charity shops looking for knitting yarns (or any other craft item that might take my fancy).
Sometimes, the part-balls of yarn are way overpriced, but I have managed to find one or two bargains. The trouble is, as they are rarely labelled, I don't really know what fibre(s) I am knitting with.

Right now, I am knitting a cardigan for baby GD from a part-ball of 3-ply that cost me less than a pound. I think it is wool or at least a wool/synthetic mix. I will have to give DiL some washing instructions when I finish it, and just hope that it doesnt shrink!

A month ago I finished another cardigan for her. It was the second cardigan I made from one cone of yarn (the first was for my other GD, using a different pattern) that I think I paid £1 for.

I am usually thinking about the next thing that I want to knit before I even finish the last ?

I’m not really sure about the rules regarding selling hand knitted baby clothes,it was never a problem in the charity shop I worked in prior to moving. From what I was told when I asked at a local charity shop was that it related to warnings about fire risks etc. Perhaps it is to do with selling to the public rather than donating to a registered charity. I’m quite happy knitting for Linus for now.

I’m definitely hooked on knitting and a yarn addict, I always have two or three things on the go. I have knitting for when I’m reading, another lot for when watching tv and then some for when it’s quiet and I need to concentrate.