Get Involved

Knitted Animals or other Kids Toys, Hats, Scarves, Headbands, Baby Clothes...anything goes this year!  

In the run up to Perthshire Amber Festival one of the best ways to get involved is to knit knit knit! We have a knitting lounge called the Big Knit Lounge right at Amber Central (in the Royal Hotel, Dunkeld) where we sell knitted items that are done during the year and then available for purchase throughout the festival. People began by sending us knitted hats (and now items like wristlets, headbands, key rings, cuddly animal characters and much more) from all over the world. Every penny made from the sale of the knitted goods goes to our chosen charity...this year it is The Cyrenians who work with homeless or vulnerable people, providing support on a variety of challenging issues.

During the festival we welcome people to come to the knitting lounge and join in!  You are likely to run into many other knitters and have a wee chat with some lovely people from around the world... and it just might even include Dougie's mum. You can bring your own knitting projects or grab some wool and needles (available to anyone who wants a go) and knit squares for the next charity blanket...or cot blanket...or cushion cover...or whatever! Every click of every knitting needle helps support our charity. 

Knit some Big Knit Squares!

Though we are not assembling a Big Knit Blanket this year (time for a change!) we are happy to accept knitted squares (that can be turned into cot blankets, cushion covers, body warmers etc) at any time throughout the year ... as long as they are knitted with Double Knit wool in autumnal colours. We always used Artesano DK 100% Alpaca in the past for our annual blanket as Artesano (Tom and Jenny Coomber) was a valued sponsor. Unfortunately their companty went into liquidation ... so their beautiful yarns are now difficlt to source. 

The square knitting info we use is: with 4mm needles and DK yarn cast on 30 stitches and then knit (garter stich) until the square measures 6 inches.  The actual number of rows to be knitted can be variable, usually 54-58 but the important thing is the "squareness" which you check by folding the square diagonally and the two sides should match.

Normally squares are 'garter stitch' (knit every row) and a single colour but if you are an experienced knitter who wants to 'show off' your knitting skills by knitting fancy patterns using combinations of the colours above do feel free to!...as long as the finished square measures 6 inches.

We look forward to receiving your squares!...or any other Big Knit contributions. Post them to:
Perthshire Amber Big Knit
The Old Schoolhouse
Butterstone
Dunkeld
PH80HA
Scotland UK 

I'll try to pop photographs up of what's coming in for sale at the Big Knit Lounge 2018!

Kind Regards,
Jenny