Can you find the 'knitted' bear?

TV comedian Harry Hill has had an influence on an upcoming village fair.

As well as all the usual fun of the fair, the Crowthorne May Fair will feature a prize for someone who can spot the ‘knitted’ bear which will be hidden somewhere around the event at the Morgan Recreation Ground in Lower Broadmoor Road on Monday, May 3.

The annual event is being organised by a committee from St John’s CE Church in Church Road which came up with the idea of hiding a fluffy toy somewhere around the fair.

Harry Hill in his TV Burp show challenges viewers to spot the knitted character hidden in other TV programmes.

Brian Turner, spokesman for the committee, said: “We’re using a teddy bear but it’s inspired by Harry Hill’s knitted character.

“If people give a contribution they get a map and if they find the bear they can mark the position on the map and then all the correct maps will go into a prize draw.”

As well as that there will be bric-a-brac, a beer tent, cakes, food, bouncy castles, song and dance and more.
Last year the event raised £10,000 and the Mr Turner is hoping to raise the same amount this year.
He added: “We raise money and some of it goes towards the church’s missions all over the world and locally and the rest of it goes back into the church’s funds.”

The fair will be opened by Bracknell Forest Mayor Councillor Bob Wade at 2pm on Monday, May 3, and will carry on until 4.30pm.


Joseph Turner, 10, Holly Turner, 6, and Callum Sutherland, 9, with the 'knitted' bear you’ll be seeking out at Crowthorne May Fayre

(Knitted) Hats off to our soldiers

THE TORY parliamentary candidate for Burton has been putting his knitting skills to the test to raise money for British soldiers in Afghanistan.
Andrew Griffiths joined members of the East Staffordshire Conservatives’ women’s branch, who are knitting ‘Hats for Heroes’ — woollen inserts provided to troops to fit under their helmets, making them more comfortable and providing warmth at night.

Beatrice Hall, who is leading the knitting drive, said : “Our troops in Afghanistan can feel reassured by all the hard work being undertaken by the knitting circle. It helps our brave lads know how much we are thinking of them back home.” Mr Griffiths said: “Knitting is one of my lesser-known skills.

“However, despite being a little rusty, I am proud to have a go for our troops.

“It is important that our serving troops know they are being supported back home. While they are putting their lives on the line we need to support them 100 per cent.”

The group is one of many across the country knitting for the troops. Anyone who would like the knitting patterns and details of where to send the woollen inserts is asked to telephone the Conservatives’ Burton headquarters on 01283 568894.

April's news

Phew! It's been busy here at the K&S offices in Swansea this month. We're constantly adding new items to our stores, both online and in our real store in the city centre, adding to existing ranges and bringing in new ones.

To keep it brief, here's a list of what is new:

• SALE needlework kits are now available online at http://www.needle-work.co.uk/
• Popcorn the Bear and friends range comntinues to expand, now available as cushion & rug kits http://www.needle-work.co.uk/Popcorn_Bear.htm
• We continue to expand our online networking with pages on Twitter and Facebook. Do find us and follow us! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159279&id=83939721313&saved#!/pages/Swansea-United-Kingdom/Knit-and-Sew/83939721313?ref=nf and http://twitter.com/KnitandSewcouk
• Our original site http://www.knitandsew.co.uk/index.html has had a slight facelift with an easy to navigate front page and links to the needlework site.
• We have introduced a testimonial page, so you can log in and leave comments about the service you have received http://knitandsew.co.uk/comments/gbook.php
• We continue to modernise our storage solutions, with new knitting and sewing bags and boxes being added regularly.

Do call soon and see for yourselves!

NEW items update

Here at Knit and Sew we're always looking for new and exciting items to add to our online stores...

We have new wool ranges available from Sirdar, Stylecraft and Wendy...
Check out Sirdar's Baby Snowball, a gorgeous pompom yarn in yummy colours for little ones with a range of patterns to choose from.

Stylecraft has introduced new colours in their Life range, including Clover, Zing, Melon and Aqua.

New from Wendy is Sorrento - a 45% cotton yarn with the perfect range of shades for spring & summer.Colours include Vanilla Sauce, Sheer Lilac, Cobble Stone, Wet Slate, Jersey Cream, Blue Sky, Reef Waters, Scuba Dive, Cornflower Blue, Pale Pink, Soft Whisper and Snow White.

We also have a range of exciting cross stitch kits - Popcorn the bear and friends. With kits for every occasion including, love, birth, marriage and more, Popcorn and friends offer the perfect solution as a gift or to enhance the rooms of your own home. Meet Souffle the Duck, Biscuit the Dog, Blueberry Bear, Coconut Bear and more! The character alphabet letters are a perfect way to personalise a nursery for a new baby.

New Storage Solutions

For the avid knitter and crafter we have introduced some modern storage solutions...

Knit a donkey and help out the Donkey Sanctuary

The Donkey Sanctuary is appealing for keen knitters to come forward to help create a herd of hand-knitted woolly donkeys to raise funds for the centre.

The knitted donkeys, which are individually made by supporters of the sanctuary, are sold both in the visitors centre in Sidmouth and online at www.donkeyworld.org.uk.

"We are thrilled that these little characters have been so successful," Marian Gumbrell, community fundraising manager, told H&H.

"We've been selling them for about a year, but this is the first time we've promoted them outside of our newsletter. We need more knitters just to keep up with the demand!"

For anyone wanting to test out their knitting skills, the sanctuary provides a knitting pattern, which originally came from a 1954 edition of Women's Weekly magazine, and additional instructions.

The sanctuary, which has taken more than 13,600 donkeys in the UK, Ireland and other areas of Europe into its care, is also looking for volunteer guides to run walks during the summer.

"We are a very popular tourist attraction as we are dog friendly and don't charge for parking or entry," explained Marian.

"We think a guided walk, where visitors can learn more about the history of the donkeys and the different breeds, will be very popular."

Volunteer guides will be given full training, including background information about the donkeys and the sanctuary.

For further information about the Donkey Sanctuary, visit www.thedonkeysanctuary.org

And to receive a free copy of the knitting pattern, contact Ruth in the community fundraising department on 01395 578222 or email Sarah at Knit and Sew: sarah@knitandsew.co.uk

Lottie Butler, Horse and Hound newsdesk

22 February, 2010

Peter the Duck of 'K Factor' fame

If you fancy having a go knitting your own 'Peter the Duck' from Harry Hill's K factor, then you can buy the Jean Greenhowe pattern book from us:

http://www.knitandsew.co.uk/Jean_Greenhowe's_Knitted_Animals.htm