The idea for this came some time during 2007. During the year following the sad death of Dougie's father we realised that his mother, Dolly MacLean had a huge range of skills (and a little more time than previously) and co-opted her into this new way of raising some awareness of and funds for our Perthshire Amber charity projects. The first "Harvest Blanket" (pictured) which was made up of coloured squares knitted by festival-goers during the 10 days, these were then sorted, sewn together and edged by Dolly. The "Big Knit" was born and has proved a great success ..and lots of fun for all!

In 2007 the blanket was auctioned for over £300 which was donated to the Cyrenians. In 2008 we expanded the idea and created a sitting area in the foyer of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre where 'knitters' gathered (often with Dolly) to collect their wool and needles and exchange ideas and tips. We decided that the festival would support a second charity and Shelter Scotland was chosen. The blanket while being knitted began to be referred to as the Shelter Blanket...which seemed a great thing to be involved in contributing to! The wonderful blanket was that resulted from everyones efforts was auctioned at the Friends Concert on the final night and raised over £800. Edradour Distillery are now the proud owners and have the 2008 Shelter Blanket on display in Pitlochry in their visitor's centre. To have a look at Shelter Scotland's coverage of the Big Knit...and to see where the money goes...click here

In 2009 we raised over £2,000 for Shelter Scotland...through the Shelter Blanket auction and a 'silent' auction of beautiful articles knitted by Dolly MacLean as well as a batik and an original painting donated for the cause!

The Big Knit 2010!! - GET INVOLVED...

same wool and info as for last year but let's get going earlier!!

3rd August 2009- We've had a lovely surprise here in our Butterstone Office. A gentleman, Tom Coomber from Artesano Yarns phoned to offer beautiful shades of superfine alpaca wool for this years blanket free of charge! A colleague who has a company called Brittany making wonderful wooden knitting needles had been in touch with Tom... having seen the festival website and the efforts we're making to creatively raise funds for (and awareness of) Shelter Scotland. She suggested that she would supply the knitting needles if Tom contacted us and supplied the wool. So we're thrilled to be able to say that, thanks to Artesano and Brittany, there will be lots of wool and needles available for those wishing to knit during this year's festival.

So... a huge thanks to both Brittany and Artesano.

Now we've realised that there may be enthusiastic knitters out there, some who are unable to come to the festival this year, who may want to join our efforts and knit squares to contribute to this year's blanket. You would need to buy a ball of wool (the exact same wool in one of the specified colours) and pay for the postage... but it would all be in a good cause!! You'd also need to make sure your square was to the exact dimension that Dolly specifies (she's pretty picky!!) and have a photo taken of yourself either knitting in your home or standing with your square somewhere typical of where you come from. Send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to let us know what colour you are knitting and keep an eye on the website in case we have a need for particular colours.

The squares will be incorporated into the blanket... or if we get lots we'll have multi blankets to auction! Nothing will be wasted.

We are all quite excited about the idea of people knitting all over the world to contribute to our blanket...so have a go, and let us know!

Where to order wool.
www.crafty-yarn.co.uk or www.cucumberpatch.co.uk  or any stockists of Artesano yarn.

**** 30th August 2009- We've just had another lovely surprise!! Abby Evely from Crafty Yarn (web link above) has just emailed to say that she would like to contribute to the 'Big Knit cause' by refunding postage on any wool orders that come from Perthshire Amber Big Knit customers. After you order wool from her website drop her an email and she will refund the cost of postage to your account. Every little bit helps...Thanks Abby!!

What wool to order.
ARTESANO DK 100% Pure Superfine Alpaca 50gr

What colours to choose from.
1. C743- Fern
2. 0178- Peru
3. 8774- Ecuador
4. 5340- Brazil
5. 1532- Chile
6. 4345- Venezuela
7. SFN33- Cocoa
8. SFN24- Demerera

Dimension of square.
6 inch square.

Size of needles.
4mm (UK 8 or USA 6)

Dolly says that her square is 58 rows x 30 stitches, but that could vary according to your tension. It's the final size that counts... 6 inches x 6 inches!!

Type of Knitting
Garter stitch ('knit' every row).

"Garter stitch is another name for plain knitting stitch. Knitting something in
garter stitch also means to knit every row in plain knitting (i.e. no purl knitting).
It forms ridges on alternate rows."

Where to send your squares.
The Big Knit
attn. Dolly MacLean
The Old Schoolhouse
Butterstone
Perthshire
PH8 0HA
SCOTLAND

A Nice Story!

In one of the Perthshire Amber Newsletters we asked Big Knit contributors to send in their squares with photos of the 'knitter' and the place that they were knitting in! We did receive lots of squares from near and far, many of which were incorporated into the wonderful 2009 blanket and some (which arrived too late) being safely stored for the 2010 effort!

Here's a wee story we received with some photos as an example of the lovely contributors out there!
"Hi.
As we can't get to this year's Perthshire Amber Festival Anna and I have had our own little knit-in here in Maldon Essex.
You may be able to see from the photos that we did our knitting with Dougie's DVD playing in the background to get us in the mood.  We have enclosed a couple of photos taken in Maldon on the Quay with Thames Barges moored on the River Blackwater in the background.
We have knitted some squares in Fern, Brazil, Venezuela, Cocoa and Demerera and I will be posting them to you tomorrow.  Hopefully they'll be with you next week - postal strikes allowing!!!
It has been great fun joining in the Big Knit this year.  Abby from Crafty Yarns gave a great service with the wool, refunding the post charges and even including a couple of chocolates for sustenance whilst we were knitting!  The past two years we were able to participate in person and it's been great being able to "join in" from afar this year.
Hope the Festival goes as well as in previous years if not better.  We will be with you in spirit (and online if possible) if not in person.
Very Best Wishes
 Linda and Anna."