Today is International Day of Charity so I thought it might be a good day to share my Pick of the Lots of our Knitting for Galgos Charity Auction to raise money for the dogs and amazing people at Galgos del Sol.
Just in case you didn’t know about my ‘little project’ that grew into a massive project, here’s a bit of background.
Back in February I had an idea to recruit a couple of Knitters to knit some greyhound sized jumpers - from my pattern - with a view to auction them off to raise money for a sighthound Charity. I put a shout out on Facebook & I didn’t get two offers of help, no, I got over 50!
That same day, the plight of Terrance popped up on my feed. A Galgo so badly treated his ear was half cut off when he was discarded & left to fend for himself. That story did for me. I registered online to donate monthly to Galgos del Sol & decided that was the charity I wanted to help.
So, with a bit of organisation & a few spread sheets I mobilised my Army of Knitters with yarn & patterns - in fairness many offered to supply their own yarn, generous ladies my Knitters.
With so many ladies to manage I set up a Facebook page & updated with daily posts of tips & techniques via videos & images. ‘Twas hard work but I have loved every minute of it. I have connected with so many wonderful knitters, helped some new knitters and been shown a thing or two by some more experienced. They have inspired me to knit again and to love knitting again, having lost my knitting mojo when Bruno died.
So, onto my top 10 - in no particular order.
I love these two, lots 101 & 102 - will both fit a medium Whippet, George’s size. The use of grey, lime & yellow in my Scruples Charity Jumper pattern is genius! The yarn is super soft & washable too.
We’ve had lots & lots of blankets but these two are my favourites. Both knitted by ladies new to knitting. They followed my weekly knit along and produced beautiful blankets. The choice of yarns are exquisite, either would be loved by any dog whose owner wins the final bid.
Greyhound sizes, there aren’t as many as whippets, I only have one pattern & it requires a high level of skill to knit, so, it was only a handful of knitters who chose to knit this size. These two stood out for me. Lot 47 for its vibrant colour & Lot 93 because I’m a sucker for a chunky knit! Both will fit a smaller lady greyhound, lurcher or small Galgo.
When it was obvious that we had lots of ladies knitting whippet sizes jumpers I decided to ask if anyone fancied making a smaller size & I recruited more Knitters! Lot 120 is my pick of the small ones. It will fit an Iggy & what I love is the Knitters choice of colours & textures. Now, I know it happened because that lovely knitter ran out of yarn & improvised! But the result is a great little jumper.
Snoods. There are so many snoods! It’s another pattern I did as a Knit Along & my of my Army of Knitters embraced it. They are relatively simple & can be knitted in a fraction of the time. It was hard to choose but this one I loved. Lot 58 is well worth a bid if you have a whippet with a need to keep warm this winter.
And so to conclude my Pick of the Lots I have selected 2 of my favourite whippet sizes. Lot 57 because it’s in colours I utterly adore & Lot 145, well for very similar reasons, but mostly because the legs are knitted in different colours, not something my OCD would ever allow me to do but I love it! Both will fit medium sized whippets.
This is just a taste of what will be on offer in our massive fundraising auction on the weekend of 15-16th September 2018. I hoped to raise £1000 but if we sell all 160 lots we will raise over £2000 for those dear mistreated Galgos in Spain.
The auction will be hosted on Facebook via our good friends at Whippet Up, who have a dedicated page for the auction. Each item has a starting bid price, snoods from £7, jumpers from £15 and blankets from £20 all very affordable and each and every penny will go to Galgos del Sol.
Debbie - one exhausted knitter!!
