Big Knit - Little Hats

Today I'm showing off my mam's knitting skills for a change. In between the baby knits (for her soon-to-be-arriving second great grandaughter) she's been beavering away, knitting little hats for smoothie bottles. Last week she sent off 30 little hats for the Innocent Big Knit campaign which, in a collaboration with Sainsbury’s, aims to raise thousands of pounds for charity. Each little hat is place on a smoothie bottle, and for each one sold Innocent and Sainsbury’s will give 35p to Age Concern and Help the Aged.

(Here's a selection of the hats that my mam made. She knitted 30 in total, all with little bobbles on top!)

Every year the deadline date for donated hats creeps up on me and I manage to make only a few; this year, with making items for my shop and craft fairs, I completely forgot. Luckily mam was on the ball. I must remember to put it in my diary for next year and start knitting early!

In the UK, 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 are malnourished. So this year the money raised from the campaign is going to be used to fund projects offering advice on healthy eating, cookery clubs and social events where older people can enjoy a meal together and a good old chat.

The Big Knit campaign started in 2003 when 20,000 hats were knitted, raising £10,000 for Age Concern. Things have gone from strength to strength and last year 506,738 hats were donated and £253,384 was raised. This year, so far, the total stands at 437,509 hats; but due to the postal strike the closing date has been extended to 30 October so they still have a chance to beat last year's total. Have a look at The Big Knit website and see if the Hatometer has increased this final week - also check out the weird and wonderful designs that people have knitted - and read about the people that the campaign has helped in previous years.

However much money is raised, it's going to a fantastic cause, and the advice, concern and companionship will mean so much to thousands of older people this winter.