Sunday 31 May 2015

Jellyfish and Beyond

It's a long story...about jellyfish...and amazing swimming ladies...

I hope you like my little tale... it's not a finished tale, more like a wobbly jelly-like work in progress.

So, as conversations go, it was a good one. A lovely lady at Crochet Club just happened to mention she was swimming in the 'Ocean Walker Ladies Relay Swimming Team' from Ireland to Scotland this summer for charity. And could I make a little crocheted jellyfish pattern for her so she could offer all sponsors a gift of gratitude?

Well. I am always up for a random bit of crochet fun, especially if it involves helping fabulous people doing amazing feats of bravery for charity, so the crochet jellyfish was born.




Once word was out that this fearless lady was swimming In The Sea, The COLD COLD Sea, for hours and hours,to raise money for Parkinson's UK, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, well lots of the Crochet Clubbers offered to help make jellyfish. The pile started to wobble and grow... then other kindly crochet folk also offered to make some. The wobbling got wobblier...




And then came the idea for a 'charity crochet jellyfish kit' containing the pattern, hooks and yarn, everything needed to make the little wobbly floaty under-watery things... so I started to make kit upon kit upon kit. Hank Deluxe my super feline assistant helped, as did my 2 children. Who were infinitely more use than the cat with his head stuck in a bag...



1.5 km of yarn was wound onto cardboard spools.




... finally the day came when we had finished the kits. On sale in the lovely 'The Handmade Shop and Gallery' in beautiful Bury St Edmunds from Saturday 6th June for a modest £5, half the purchase price goes straight to the Ocean Walker Ladies Relay Swim Team to help them on their way to Ireland and beyond.



So, that's the story so far. What will happen next, I hear you cry from the very edge of your seats... well hang on to your hats, there will be a jellyfish installation to make you gasp in wonder in July!!  There will even be an UBER-JELLYFISH which I'm working on right now! How big will it be? Even I do not know the answer to that. I shall let the Crochet Gods decide...
 UPDATE! The amazing swimming ladies swam from Ireland to Scotland and raised lots of money for their charities. They are true heros! The crochet jellyfish raised £273 so I am well chuffed!