Our SIBOL TOTAL IS 1376! Thank You!

Slideshow of Sunshine Blankets (Click on Left/Right Arrows).

Challenge Blankets
I'm Sue and can be contacted on
sueatpigsty@virginmedia.com

It is so important that email addresses and names are enclosed with your donations of Sunshine Blankets, Shawls and Butterflies please. Thank you!

Butterflies LINK


'Crochet keeps our hands busy so our minds can rest. It is a gift to help quiet the world around us, if even for a moment. To create -- and think of those we create for --is a quiet prayer of hope, love and dreams all wrapped up in a hook, a book and a ball of yarn. Author Anonymous. Thanks Cynthia.
SIBOL Blog
I NO LONGER ACCEPT KNITTED OR CROCHETED SQUARES. I DO HOWEVER ACCEPT MADE UP BLANKETS FOR THE ELDERLY IN CARE HOMES. I'D BE VERY HAPPY TO RECEIVE YOURS! THANK YOU! 'SIBOL' is a charitable outlet for your Crocheting and Knitting Skills why not join us? Together we are 'Sending a ray of Sunshine into the Lives of the Elderly.' All enquiries please contact Sue on sueatpigsty@virginmedia.com Thank you!
Please Note

Please may I remind you to enclose your email address with parcels delivered to my home. If I don't acknowledge receipt it's because I can't find your address. Thank you.


Total 1384 Thank you!




Tuesday 31 January 2012

'Your Chance to Win a SIBOL Blanket! 'Spread the Word on your Blogs!



'THINK PINK' BLANKET



Ta - Dah! Introducing SIBOL 125


Hello Everyone!

Thank you very much for popping in to 'SIBOL' today!

Towards the end of last year one of our 'SIBOLETTES' dear Lotti over on Ravelry made a suggestion to our Group. She suggested making a Blanket in aid of 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month'.  She thought it would be a really nice idea if we made a 'Think Pink' Blanket. What are we good at as a Group? Making Squares and of course Blankets! Our 'SIBOLETTES' were thrilled with this idea and soon after Squares started arriving at Lotti's home.


The Squares had to be made with 'Breast Cancer Awareness' in mind, so pink Squares of course were ideal. They came in all shades of pink and they all had the most wonderful designs. When the Squares were collected, Lotti set about assembling the Blanket.  Several days ago the Blanket arrived back at SIBOL HQ and then I added our famous 'SIBOL' trademark, 'our Butterflies!'.

Today I am very happy to be showcasing this beautiful Blanket and I'm sure you will agree Lotti has made a most wonderful job of it. Each Square has been lovingly made by our 'SIBOLETTES' and it has been an absolute joy to see these gorgeous Squares arrive. I'm absolutely thrilled with this Blanket.

Now the exciting part!  Today we are announcing that this beautiful 'Think Pink'  Blanket will be auctioned over on  EBAY.  This will be 'YOUR CHANCE TO WIN' this stunning Blanket by placing a bid! All proceeds will be sent off to this worthy cause which affects so many women all over the World. I'm sure everyone will agree this is a wonderful idea, but we need your help!

I'm sure you are eager to see the Blanket now.

A Ta - Dah for you! Our SIBOL 'Think Pink' Blanket made by SIBOLETTES from all over the World!


Thank you to Lotti on RAV for co-ordinating this special Challenge.


'Think Pink' Breast Awareness Blanket.


This is a stunning Blanket and I'm very proud of you all! Thank you Lotti!



I would be most happy to answer our questions you have. If you would like to mail me on
sueatpigsty@talktalk.net

Would you like to help our Group? Please spread the World on your Blogs! You are most welcome to take a photo of our 'Think Pink' Blanket off our 'SIBOL' web site and give the EBAY link too.  Hopefully, between us all this Blanket can really raise a substantial amount of money. 

Once again may I thank Lotti for organising and assembling this Blanket. Also thanks to each 'SIBOLETTE' that has donated 'PINK' Squares for this particular Challenge. I am really most grateful to each and everyone of you!

So please now pop over to EBAY and place your bids!

Thank you

Love and Best Wishes
x Sue x

The Last Landscape Square arives from Scotland!

Hi Everyone!

Golly isn't it cold? It's freezing in my part of the world but I'm pleased to say it's dry without any snow at the moment. Fingers crossed we don't have any!

I am extremely happy to be showing you the very last Square to arrive now for our Landscape Challenge. I am very eager now to get this Blanket finished and sent off to Jersey.  I would like to thank jenniferanne very much indeed for all of her help in this Blanket and indeed everyone else who has taken part.

I plan to do a very simple border and I hope it won't be too long before I can show it to you.

Let's have a look at jenniferannes' Square now.  She has made a Square 'from happy childhood memories!'. The Square shows the tide comng in at 'Rest Bay' Porthcawl on a lovely sunny afternoon.  jenniferanne you have made it beautfully thank you so much for coming to my rescue with the very last Square I needed.

'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.


It's gorgeous.  Now for the second Square jenniferanne has sent in. This one is 'American Beauty' and jenniferanne has suggested we put this one in the centre for our 'Irish Rose' Blanket when he come to do that one. This is a pretty Square too. I think that's an excellent idea. Thank you very much!

'American Beauty'


I've just had to drive to the camera shop in the village because for a moment I thought that the cup of tea I had spilt on the kitchen table  last night had gone inside the camera, but thankgoodness everything was fine. Stupid me ...I hadn't quite got the shutter fully open! Oh golly Mr.Twins would have gone mad at me, he only gave it to me a couple of months ago when he bought himself a new camera!  These photos were taken on my iphone before the light went down on me. It's been quite a dull day today.

Well there you are beautiful Squares from Scotland and now I shall get down to finishing the Landscape Blanket.

Thank you very much jenniferanne!

x Sue x

Monday 30 January 2012

Challenge Squares from the UK and progress on our special Blankets!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I am very pleased to be showing you these gorgeous Squares that have come in from Anne (UK). Anne has made a really nice 'Wiggles' Square in beautiful colours and also a 'One Heart From Around The World' Square.

Let's have a look at the 'Wiggles' Square first. We did say use any colour for this Challenge and Anne has put together great colour combinations in this one.

'Wiggles Square' for our Challenge.


What could be better than these three colours! Lilac, pink and white, 'my favourites'. I absolutely love the Squares that have been coming in for this Challenge and I am very grateful to Debi Y over in the States for submitting this Square. If you would like to have a go at these Squares then please pop over to SIBOL CHALLENGES for details.

The other Square that Anne has made is the Heart Square. This is for the 'One Heart From Around The World' Challenge. With thanks to Luna over in the States, this too is a very succesful Challenge. All details are once again over on SIBOL CHALLENGES!

'One Heart From Around The World' Challenge.



Thank you to Anne for making a great job of these Squares

I am very happy to be telling you that the last Landscape Square is on it's way to me from jenniferanne in SCOTLAND. I have assembled all the other Squares for this Blanket and I'm now going to give you a sneaky view!

'Your Local Landscape' WIP!


You can't see much I know that was the intention! :)

I have also started working on the Olympic Squares. Our Challenge for Olympic Squares ends at the very end of March, but I have started edging each Square with a row of double crochet ready for assembling together. I have had over 100 Squares already and I am due to receive another 100 from our very good SIBOLETTE 'akarapacha' over in the States. I'm trying to give myself a head start with this Challenge because we are due to decorate the house from top to bottom March time, and I want to be sure I've got enough time to complete this Blanket.

The Royal Wedding Blanket held 56 Squares, the Olympic one to date will be over 200. Question is..... Do we make one massive one or smaller one's?  I did intend initially to make  a 'ginormous' one.  Your feedback would be appreciated.

sueatpigsty@talktalk.net

Here's my W.I.P.!

Olympic Squares WIP!


My usual Elderly Blankets made by myself are on hold for a short while until I can get these Squares edged. My friend jean nock is very kindly helping me assemble our 'usuals' and for her help I am extremely grateful. Thank you jean nock!

Very soon I will be announcing our SIBOL EBAY AUCTION!  I am so excited about this auction because we will be showcasing our 'Think Pink' Blanket which was assembled by dear Lotti over on RAV, and Squares were sent in by our SIBOLETTES all over the World. The Blanket is truly a beauty and if you would all like to put a note up on your blogs when you see it announced here on SIBOL I would be extremely grateful to you.  All monies raised from the sale of this Blanket will go to 'Breast Cancer Care'. I am so excited!  So please stay tuned, you won't have much longer to wait. It will be 'your' chance to get hold of an official 'SIBOL!' which will be so unique!

I think that's it for now, thanks very much for visiting my Blog today!

x Sue x

Saturday 28 January 2012

The making of a SIBOL Square for our 'Landscape Challenge'

Hi Everyone!

No Squares to show you today, no Blankets to show you either today, but.........a great Blog post to read. It's not a SIBOL post either! The Blog post belongs to Gemma who very kindly sent me a Square recently for our 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.

You know I am extremely grateful to everyone that sends me Squares for our SIBOL Blankets, but for me this post is extra-special. Gemma has very kindly written a post explaining how she made her special Landscape Square. You really want to fly over to Gemma's Blog because this post is wonderful.  She not only shows us the making of the Square but she tells us how she uses Excel to create her stitch diagram! This really is very interesting indeed. From my point of view it's nice for me to see how our SIBOLETTES work!

So here's the link please go and have a look at how Gemma makes this.....

Gemma - you have made a gorgeous 'Landscape Square' Thank you so much!


from this beautiful photo!

Gemma (UK) 'Your Local Landscape' Square has arrived today! Thank you!


Well done Gemma!

x Sue x

Friday 27 January 2012

'Ta - Dah! 'One for The Guys!'


Ta - Dah! Introducing SIBOL 124. 'One for the Guys!'


Hello Everyone!

Thank you very much for visiting SIBOL today! 

I'm very happy to be showcasing a beautiful Blanket which was donated to SIBOL yesterday. It has been made by Craftymizz (Steph) and it's absolutely gorgeous!  This really is a wonderful pattern and the colours co-ordinate so well together.

I have made some of our usual Butterflies to go with the Blanket and I have added some ribbon too.  I'm very grateful to you Steph.

If you would like to have a go at the Butterflies then please follow the link to Netties' Blog over in Australia!

It's really very kind of you to donate this Blanket to SIBOL and I know for a fact that it will give someone a lot of warmth and comfort knowing that someone has lovingly made it.

Let's have a look at Stephs' Blanket now!

This Blanket has very kindly been made and donated by Craftymizz (Steph) (UK)




Created with flickr slideshow.



I hope you have enjoyed looking at Steph's Blanket!Thank you Steph.

Thanks to everyone that has donated Squares to the 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge, I am in the process of finishing the Blanket off now.

I do hope everyone has a great weekend and please stay tuned to SIBOL, our 'Think Pink' Blanket will have it's Ta - Dah! very soon indeed! You will have a chance to bid for the Blanket on EBAY! This will raise money for 'Breast Awareness'.

Bye for now!

x Sue x

Thursday 26 January 2012

A bumper delivery at SIBOL HQ today!

Hi Everyone!

Well the Postman certainly had a lot of work this morning delivering to SIBOL HQ!

I am very pleased to be telling you that jean nock very kindly sent a great selection of Challenge Squares. Amongst them two I think I may be able to fit into the Landscape Blanket. I had got enough but I'm intending to add a row at the bottom of the Blanket.  A beautiful 'By the Sea' Square and jean nocks 'Garden'. I'm going to do my best to fit these Squares in for her.

'Your Local Landscape'. Challenge 'By the Sea'.


'By the Sea'

'Your Local Landscape' Challenge 'My Garden'.


'My Garden'

I have also received an 'Owl' Square for our Challenge, a 'Wiggles' Square, 'Jan Eaton' which is No. 84. a spare Jan Eaton for our Stash along with some Teddy's and a beautiful Lion Square. Maybe 'the Nursery Rhyme' Challenge? I'm over the moon with these gorgeous Squares jean thank you very much indeed.  Let's have a look at these beautiful Squares now!

jean nock (UK) Your Squares arrived today! Thank you!










Created with flickr slideshow.


Thank you jean nock! I'm very grateful to you.

I am also very pleased to be showing you this amazing Jan Eaton Square called 'Kingcup'. No. 95. This Square has been made by Stichee-Erika of the Netherlands. I am so pleased you took part in our Jan Eaton Challenge. The Square is so pretty and I love the colours you have used in this one. Please pop over and have a look at Erika's Blog.

Erika (Netherlands) Your Jan Eaton 'Kingcup' No. 95 has arrived today! Thank you!


I also had a parcel containing two Blankets which have been donated to SIBOL today. They have come from Craftymizz here in the UK.  Now the first Blanket is an unfinished one. Quite a sad story really. Craftymizz (Steph) has a friend and recently the friends' Grandmother passed away. While sorting through her belongings which is never a pleasant job she came across a beautiful Blue Granny Square Blanket. The Blanket is unfinished but he very kindly thought of passing it on to SIBOL 'via Steph'. How kind is this? I am going to finish the Blanket for his Grandmother and I'm absolutely sure that the Elderly Lady would  be thrilled to know that it is going to a worthy cause. I am extremely grateful to Steph and her friend and of course the Lady who started the Blanket.

Craftymizz sent this unfinished Blanket to me today.


The Blanket is made in a gorgeous Blue colour and I shall show you a photo when it is finished.

The second Blanket is one which Craftymizz has made herself for SIBOL. I am going to show you a sneaky view because I am going to make some Butterflies and do an official 'Ta - Dah!'.  Thank you once again Steph I am very grateful to you! Craftymizz is calling this Blanket 'One for the Guys!'.

Craftymizz (UK) Has donated a Blanket for SIBOL. I will be doing a proper Ta - dah! When I have made the Butterflies for it!


I am very pleased to be telling you that the 'Think Pink' Blanket has arrived at SIBOL HQ this morning.  Now if you remember Lotti over on Ravelry has very kindly being organising a special Blanket to raise money for Breast Awareness.  Ladies have sent in Pink Squares to Lotti and she has assembled the Blanket now and it's all finished.  I still have the name list to compile for this Blanket and I have to make the Butterflies before I can Ta - Dah! it! But....here is a sneaky view... I will try and get this finished with the Butterflies as soon as possible now.

'Think Pink' Breast Awareness special Challenge has been sent back to SIBOL HQ now.


This Blanket will be put on EBAY and auctioned off. More details to follow. Let's hope we can raise some money for this worthy cause.

I'm very grateful to jean nock, Erika, Lotti and Steph.

I do hope you have enjoyed looking at our SIBOL beauties!

x Sue x

Wednesday 25 January 2012

The last Landscape Square arrives today!

Hi Everyone!

I'm very pleased to be showing you  a gorgeous Landscape Square which has just arrived from Mia here in the UK. 

Mia has very kindly Knitted this beautiful Square of  'The Seven Sisters'. What a stunning Square!  She has made it beautifully. I'm so...grateful to you Mia for making the very last Square for this very special
Blanket.






The Seven Sisters...   If you want to read more please follow the link.

If you are new to SIBOL I would just like to tell you that we are making a special one-off Blanket which will be sent off to the Jersey Textile Showcase event which will be taking place in March in Jersey itself. It will hopefully be exhibited and then afterwards the Blanket will be sold to raise money for Mencap.  When I first of all saw this event advertised I thought wow this would be a great Challenge for our SIBOL Group. I announced it and at first the Squares were slow to come in but I'm very happy to say that we have now got enough to make a Blanket.  With this last Square arriving today I shall just add this Square in now and add the border.  I will send it off straight away once I have taken photos for you all.

I'm extremely happy that we have had enough Squares to make a Blanket, and I just hope it will raise a reasonable amount of money for this worthy cause.  In our SIBOL Group we like to help out certain charities from time to time.  Last year we took part in a special competition in which we won first prize. We made the Royal Wedding Blanket shown over on the right hand side bar.  On Ebay this Blanket made £112.00 which was sent off to Prince William and Kate Middleton's Charity Gift Fund. 

I also have a Blanket coming in from Lotti over on Ravelry who very kindly organised a 'Think Pink' Blanket to raise money for Breast Awareness. So I do hope you will look out for this one too. It will be with me over the next few days. So it's all exciting here on SIBOL!

I would also like to say a Big Thank you to Tracy who has very kindly sent in a donation of yarn today for our Group. I'm very grateful to you Tracy.  If you remember we recently sent some Blankets off to Dorset C.C. to help Elderly in need. Thank you very much.


So I'll crack on with this special Blanket now.  Thank you very much to Mia and to Tracy, and thank you for visiting SIBOL today!

x Sue x

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Two sets of Squares from the States fly in together!

Hi Everyone!

I am extremely pleased to be showing you two sets of Squares which have arrived just now. Both sets have flown in together from the States!

First of all I have akarapachas' Square. She lives in Fort Myers, Florida and she has made this very pretty Square for our 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.  It really is very pretty as  I'm sure you will agree! Colourful Flowers, a beautiful tree and everything about this Square is amazing! You have made a marvellous job of it thank you akarapacha! I am extremely grateful to you for sending this Square in to me for this particular Challenge.

akarapacha says, "The view is from my brothers house, in Christie Gardens, Essex, UK, in 1987. "

It's a great view thank you akarapacha!


akarapacha (USA) Your Landscape Square has arrived today! Thank you!



Next we have Kays' Square. Kay lives in Conyers, GA, USA and once again she has captured her Local Landscape beautifully! This Square is of Stone Mountain, Georgia.  Now if you visit Kay's Blog I'll give you the link you can read all about it.  Kay loves the open air and the photos on her Blog are just so interesting. If you pop over she tells us about her recent visit to the Mountain with her family. What wonderful scenery you have over there Kay! There's also another link here if you would like more information. It really is an interesting read!





'Stone Mountain' Georgia. For 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.



Kay has also sent in another Square for the Landscape Challenge, unfortunately I wasn't expecting two Squares and I have given the space over to another Lady here in the UK. So if it's okay with you Kay I shall put it in the SIBOL Stash! It's a beautiful Granny Square with colours representing the grass and pine trees from her window!

This Square resembles grass and pine trees from Kay's window! Thank you so much for these Squares! I love them.


I'm over the moon with both Squares and I am so pleased you also Kay have taken part in this special Challenge. Thank you both very much indeed.

Now I shall work on these Squares and then I am just waiting for one more Square to finish the 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge. 

I'm so pleased with the Squares that have been coming in for this particular Challenge. When I first  of all announced this Challenge I wondered if we would be successful in making a Blanket up. The Squares came in pretty slow at first but over the last few weeks we have worked terribly hard between us and I'm pleased to say I only have one more to come in now. This Blanket will end up being 30 6" x 6", which is lovely. Thank you to everyone that has made a Square for this Challenge.

May I welcome new Ladies visiting our SIBOL Blog!  We have had a very good response from the latest 'Knit Today' magazine and I am so pleased you are taking an interest in our SIBOL project! 

x Sue x

Friday 20 January 2012

We're in Knit Today Ladies! / Magical Square for our Landscape Challenge!

Good Evening Everyone!

Good News SIBOLETTES!  Today I am very pleased to be telling you that SIBOL is in 'Knit Today!'.  I'm very proud of our Group and I'm very grateful to 'Knit Today' for featuring our 'Olympic project for 2012!'.


Click on the image, it will take you to Flickr.
Click on image again
Then go to 'actions'
Then go to 'view all sizes'.

'SIBOLETTES' - We're in 'KNIT TODAY!'

 


'KNIT TODAY' - Olympic Squares!



Everyone has worked so......hard for this Challenge and I do hope I can get even more Squares to arrive so that we can make a massive Blanket!  This Blanket hopefully will raise some money for the Alzheimers Society here in the UK.  I chose this cause because we do such a lot of work for the Elderly I thought it was appropriate.

So if anyone has seen the article in 'Knit Today' and this is the first time you have visted SIBOL then please pop over to our SIBOL CHALLENGE web site for all information. My address to send Squares is not on the web site, it is available from sueatpigsty@talktalk.net   May I say welcome to you all too!

I thought maybe we were in a magazine today because I have been getting a good response so I popped out to my local Supermarket to pick up a copy! Not only are we in the magazine we are also featured on the Knit Today web site. which is amazing!  Thank you Marie and Staff!




I would like to thank Gemma from the UK for her beautiful Square received today! Gemma has very kindly taken part in our 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge. Now for anyone new to SIBOL, and I know for a fact there are some new Ladies popping in I would just like to tell you about this particular Challenge.

Jersery Textile Showcase 2012 are holding an event in Jersey in March and our SIBOL Group have been busy collecting Squares for a special Blanket which will be exhibited. After the event the Blanket will be sold to raise funds for Jersey Mencap.  This was quite a hard Challenge and at first the Squares were very slow coming in.  But I'm very pleased to say that I have nearly got 30 Squares now for this particular Challenge. Our usual Blankets take 25 6" x 6" Squares either Knitted or Crocheted, so we have extra ones in this Blanket.  If you'd like to go back posts you will see the gorgeous Squares that have been coming in.

The idea is to make a Square either Crocheted or Knitted  showing your Local Landscape. As you can see from the Squares already received we are collecting some great Squares and they are showing views from around the Country. We also have some coming in from the States.  So hopefully this Blanket will raise some money for Mencap. I have now had to end the Challenge over on the Challenge web site as I have enough Squares (well apart from one!)  As the title suggests 'Your Local Landscape' the idea is to make what you see! It could even be a view from your Window!

All through the year we work very hard making Squares which go into Blankets for the Elderly, but from time to time we make 'Charity Blankets'.  Last April we made a great Royal Wedding Blanket which raised £112 for Prince William and Kate Middletons' Charity Gift Fund.  This year we are making a 'Think Pink' Blanket to raise money for 'Breast Awareness' and apart from the Mencap one we are making a massive one for the Olympics London 2012. This will hopefully raise money for Alzheimers in the UK. 

I must show you Gemmas' Square.  She has Crocheted a beautiful Square in great shades of Green. This is called 'Woodland Walk' and if you look at the photograph which inspired her I'm sure you will agree it looks pretty magical! I can just imagine fairies flying around!

Gemma tells me about her Square!

"Rocks East Woodland, Ashwicke near Bath. (http://www.rockseast.org.uk/)
There's sculpture trails, grottos and many other strange things in the woods,
including a sort of folly in the form of a pond in the middle of a sunken ruin."







Hasn't she made a great job! I absolutely love it and I am over the moon Gemma! Great shades of Green and I love the arches!  Only a few more to arrive now and I can start assembling this Blanket.

We have been very successful with our work for the Elderly. We have now made 123 Blankets since January 2010.  Of course while I'm working on these Charity Blankets they will be a little slow appearing.

I will be posting the Squares from the USA as soon as they arrive and I do hope you will pop back again.
If you would also like to pop over to our SIBOL RAV Group we also have fun over there with our Monthly Square Swaps which you may be interested in.

UPDATE SATURDAY.

I am very pleased to be showing you some Squares which have arrived this morning from Liz here in the UK. I am very grateful to you Liz for making them for our SIBOL project. The Squares are lovely. There is nothing like the traditional Granny Square and they are so useful for keeping in our SIBOL Stash.

Liz (UK) Your Squares have arrived! Thank you!


There are a lot of Squares to look at so I have made a Slide Show! Sit back and enjoy now.



Created with flickr slideshow.


Great Squares Liz thank you very much!

The other Square is from Joanna. Joanna has made 'Granny Stripe' for our Jan Eaton Challenge. This is a lovely Square too! Once again wonderful colours have been used.  Thank you very much Joanna.

Joanna (UK) Your Jan Eaton Square has arrived thank you!



Thank you for visiting SIBOL today and have a good weekend!

x Sue x

Wednesday 18 January 2012

You must pop in to see these beautiful SIBOL Squares!

Hello Everyone!

Wow! I'm a happy bunny today! I have had beautiful Squares arrive  and I'm absolutely over the moon!
I would like to thank joyce28 (UK), Kianie (UK), makingtracks (UK) and Fiona (Netherlands)  for the great selection of Squares they have sent in!

You know I have been desperately trying to get in Squares for the Landscape Challenge, well I am very pleased to say we are doing extremely well now. I have started working on the ones already received. Without me babbling on let's take a look at them!

First of all we have joyce 28. She has very kindly made two Squares for our Jersey Challenge. joyce wow! I love both of them. What wonderful ideas!

The first one 'Trees' simply beautiful. I love the trunks of the trees and I love the cute Flowers!

'Your Local Landscape' Trees! Brilliant!


Isn't it pretty!

The next one 'Sea, Sand and Sun'. I think this one reminds joyce of her recent holiday. It simply is such a wonderful idea! Wow!

'Your Local Landscape' Square. Thank you it's lovely!


I am really grateful to you joyce for doing these extra Squares for me, it's very kind of you. I'm sure everyone loves them. It's the colours in the Squares I think that stand out. Simply gorgeous! I am 'well chuffed!' as we say here in the UK!

The next Square is from makingtracks (UK) The idea for her Landscape Square came from this. Isn't it beautiful? A really good idea. The whole point of the Landscape Challenge is ....what would you see from your window? If it's a garden scene that's brilliant! You have made a terrific job makingtracks and thank you so much for helping me out on this Challenge.  Let's take a look at this beauty now!

making tracks (UK) 'Your Local Landscape' Square arrives! Wow!


Oh I do get excited when I see these Squares come in! I love to see where you have got your inspiration from! Simply amazing, what fun!

Kianie (UK) has very kindly made four Squares for our Challenges. One for Lunas' Challenge 'One Heart From Around The World' and the other is the Letter 'Y' for the Olympic Blanket. I am really happy too because Kianie has made two fantastic Squares for our 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.

Blackpool Tower is a famous Landmark here in the UK. If you would like to find out more about it then please follow the link. Kianie has found inspiration from this tall building and if you scroll down you will see what she has come up with.

Blackpool Tower


Wow!

Blackpool Tower 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.

Good isn't it?

The next Square is Darwen Tower here in the UK.  If you would like to find out more then please follow the link.

Darwen Tower.


Kianie has made a beautiful Crocheted Square, gathering inspiration from this monument.  Let's see what she has made now.

Darwen Tower 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge. Wow!


Amazing Kianie! In her note with the Squares she wrote,

"Just thought I would share with you the story of Darwen Tower. It is our local landmark situated on Beacon Hill overlooking the town of Darwen (Lancs).

The tower was built to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (Also known as The Jubilee Tower). From the top are fantastic views and the tower can be seen for miles around.   It is a much loved landmark with the people of Darwen.

In 1947 during gale force winds the dome was blown off and was not replaced until 1971.  This time the wooden dome  was replaced with a fibreglass one.  This dome came off during strong winds on 11th November 2010.  A sad day for the people of Darwen.  When I was making the Square for the challenge. I was undecided as to whether I should add the dome or not.  I did add the dome as I knew that a replacement was being made.  I finished the Square on Thursday 12th January 2012. I took my mum shopping into Darwen Town Centre on Friday 13th January and to my surprise and delight, we witnessed the new dome being put into place with the help of two helicopters.  A case of being in the right place at the right time as we had no idea that the dome was being replaced on Friday morning!"

If you'd like to read more follow this link to the BBC News.

I think your story is amazing Kianie! Just as you are making the Square for the Challenge. I am so pleased that making this Square for SIBOL has meant such a lot to you and no doubt you showed your Mother the Square too. I bet she loved it and I'm sure you will both always remember this special day! How fantastic!

Kianie also sent Squares in for Lunas' Challenge 'One Heart From Around The World'.  It's lovely too.

'One Heart From Around The World' Challenge. Beautiful!


Also a 'Y' for our 'Olympic Challenge'. This one has worked out beautifully! I must check sometime because I think there are some more Letters we need.

'Y' for our 'Olympic Challenge!'.


It sounds as though you have had great fun with these Challenges Kianie. I really appreciate your help on them all.

Fiona over in the Netherlands has been working extremely hard for our Challenges too. She has made three Squares for our 'Knit Today' Challenge. I am afraid this Challenge has now closed because I have got 25 Squares for it now. But if you are in the process of making any then please send them in for our SIBOL Stash!

'Knit Today' Challenge. (Which has now ended after these Squares, thank you so much Fiona! I love them all!


Aren't they lovely? Great colours in these Squares.

Fiona has also made a beautiful Square for our 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge. With her Square she told me where her inspiration came from. I would like to share it with you!

"The Fields of Flowers around the center of Haarlem, Lisse. We are calling it 'de bollenstraeek'. I saw it when I went to visit my Grandmother she lived in Haarlem. It's my point of view I saw it when I travelled with the train."

'Your Local Landscape' Challenge.


I am finding these Challenge Squares so...interesting. Not only are we getting beautiful Knitted and Crocheted Squares but I am also learning about 'your part of the world!'.  It's so lovely that we can let others know too  a little about the Square and why a certain place has inspired you!

I love how you have crocheted the sky and grass! Tiny Flowers too, I love the detail.

Fiona's last Square is a Jan Eaton Block. It's called 'Blocks &  Shells' and it's Block No. 80 in the Jan Eaton 200 Block book. This is such a delicate pattern, and I love the colour you have made it in.

'Jan Eaton Challenge' Block No. 80 'Blocks & Shells'.


Well it's taken me quite a while to write this post in between getting the evening meal and picking my 82 year old mother from work! Yes that's right! 82! She's amazing!

I have really enjoyed receiving the Squares and reading where your inspiration came from to make the Squares, and I will crack on now with getting these Squares ready to make the Blanket. The Blanket has got to arrive in Jersey by the end of February so I must get a move on. Let's hope it raises some money for Mencap.

So in closing many thanks for visiting SIBOL. I do hope you have enjoyed looking at these gorgeous Squares and if you would like to check out our Challenges then please do!

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Olympic up-date and a Jan Eaton Square arrives!

Hi Everyone!

I am very pleased to be showing you a very pretty Jan Eaton Square. This is Block no.100 'Pastel Delight'. It has been made by Big Blue over on Ravelry. Thank you so much for this lovely Square, great colours and such a pretty Square. If anyone wants to take part in this Challenge then please pop over SIBOL CHALLENGES all the details are on the web site.

Big Blue (RAV) Your 'Jan Eaton 100 Pastel Delight' arrived today! Thank you!


At the moment I am working on the 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge. The Squares are coming in now and if you have any ready and are sending soon then please let me know. This particular Blanket is going off to Jersey to take part 'hopefully' in the Jersey Textile Showcase 2012. After the event the Blanket will be sold to raise money for Jersey Mencap which is a very worthy cause.

I have also took some photographs this morning of our Olympic Squares. Now I am still collecting for these and if you want to take part then please pop over to SIBOL CHALLENGES once again. My deadline is end of March but I am going to start working on these within the next few days. I probably won't be making so many 'Sunshine Blankets' at this very moment in time because I really need to start working on the Olympic one and of course finishing the Landscape one.

Would you like to see the current Olympic Squares? Here they are now!

Olympic Squares to date.


Olympic Squares.


Olympic Squares.

I do hope you will stay tuned into SIBOL, within the next few weeks I have about a 100 Flags arriving from our friend akarapacha in the States. Her Squares are amazing too!

Now these Squares will be put into a special Charity Blanket with the Olympics in mind. When the Blanket is finished it will be sold on EBAY to raise money for the Alzheimers Society here in the UK. I thought appropriate as it is connected to the Elderly.

So if you are interested in either the 'Your Local Landscape' Challenge or the 'Olympics London 2012' Challenge then please pop over to our SIBOL CHALLENGES web site.  Thank you very much for visiting SIBOL today!

x Sue x