Marisa became so fond of our little hats during the Big Knit that she decided she wanted to see even more of them. Not content with just popping them on top of the cat ornaments on her mantlepiece or her hard boiled eggs, she made them into a very special advent calendar by embroidering numbers on each one. Apparently her friends are already putting their orders in for next year.

It sure beats the usual cardboard chocolate offerings and is a lovely way to make use of the hats when the drinks they once sat upon are nothing but a distant memory.

There's only a few days left to get your entries and votes into this year's big knit hat tag competition, and the chance to win £500 of Amazon vouchers. For each photo submitted we'll donate 10p to Age UK, and for each vote accumulated we'll donate an extra 5p. The top 3 crowning pictures will be announced this Friday at 11am. Just go here to submit your pictures. Look, even Kate's been getting in to the swing of it.

You'll still be able to submit photos and vote until Friday 9th December, raising money for Age UK each time you do, but there won't be another prize draw. Good luck, happy hat tagging, and thanks for supporting the Big Knit.


A pirate, a black and white movie film star, and a Russian doll all walk into a bar. What happens next? Please go to our facebook and give us some suggestions, and whilst you're at it vote for this week's hat of the week. Up for the eponymous title this week is Captain Jack Sparrow, Charlie Chaplin, and Babushka the Russian doll.

You can also bid for these three treasures over on ebay now, along with the modest mouse, and Mario and Luigi hats, as below. Every penny raised on ebay will go direct to Age UK, making winter warmer for older people. Last week we raised over £100, thank you so much for bidding.

Mario and Luigi inspired.



Does the name Susan Smith ring a bell? We've mentioned her once or twice before. Why? Because she's an absolutely genius knitter. What this woman can't knit, we just don't know (and nor do we want to know about it). Here she is with a Florence Nightingale smoothie cover.

Her needlework first caught our attention with the Unicorn big knit hat last year, along with a little Robin and a kicking-heeled Santa. This year she sent us some absolute gems, including this one of Mary, Joseph, and a tiny Baby Jesus.

Susan popped by the towers for tea and cake last week, and happened to bring along some of her other knitting work. We were amazed, and just had to share some of them with you. Such as her garden gnomes.

Finger puppets of Sooty and Sweep.

And a caveman, cavewoman, and their pet monster.

A big thank you to Susan for brightening up our Friday afternoon, and showing us how much more there is to knitting than we'd ever imagined.

You may remember this little gem of a big knit hat as knitted by Hazel Baker, a cranky owl. Would you like to own him? Would you also like to raise more money for Age UK? Well you can do both of these things, by placing a bid on him on ebay. Good luck.

In other news, here are this week's hat tag winners. Counting down from third place, we have Claire Watson's sheep.

In second place Leanne Lunn and her cat.

And in prime position Karen Green's angry bird.

There's still another two weeks left of the competition, so please do get involved. To check the rules for entry, go here.

As the wintry weather* creeps in, our Clover's decided to adopt a 'big knit' style wardrobe

Clover, we're sure you'd make our Nan(s) proud
*We've no idea how she survived 'up north'

So what is this hat tagging all about? Hat tagging is when you take a picture of a friend, colleague, pet, landmark (well, pretty much anything as long as it isn't rude) but with one of our big knit hats between your camera and your subject, so it looks like they're wearing it. Here's a set of helpful instructions on how to hat tag.

1 - buy an innocent smoothie with a hat on it. 2 - get a camera (old school or nu skool will do). 3 - hold the hat between your camera and your subject (in this case, little Jimmy) then take the snap. Do not put the hat on to your subject, or we won't be able to accept it into the competition (note, you can submit pictures of your animals, as long as they fit this rule). 4 - keep it real, these can look a little messy, and you can leave your fingers in the picture. 5 - go to our big knit tab on facebook and upload your masterpiece.
Remember, if the picture does not fit these rules, we will remove it from the competition. Happy snapping and tagging.


Congratulations to Lisa Killick for her prize winning hatted and bearded dragon. Silver goes to Jennifer Waterhouse and bronze to Cathey Dorain. The smoothies are their way to each of you. We've got £500 worth of Amazon vouchers for the 3 most voted for pictures across the campaign and for each photo entered we'll donate an additional 10p to Age UK so do please get involved (by going here with your pictures).
Just a reminder that for pictures to be accepted in the competition, you must take a picture with the hat held between you and your subject, not just putting the hat onto something / someone / sending us a picture of yourself without a hat in sight. Cheers.
Lisa Killick's dragon

Jennier Waterhouse's gerbil

Cathey Dorain's comfy cosy Queen

Happy hat tagging.


This week's hat of the week takes us on a journey to the weird and wonderful. First up in the carb corner is the man of many faces (but one head), Mr Potato Head. In the white and fluffy corner we have Alfred the Squib. Yes, we have confirmation, he's definitely a squib, and he's got a cracking 'tache.
Go to our facebook album here, and "like" which photo you prefer to cast your vote.
The classic Mr Potato Head.

Alfred the Squib.

Last week saw the owls grabbing a landslide victory over the jumpers. Congratulations to Hazel & Pippa.


Now that the big knit is in store, our facebook hat tag game is also live. Go here to get involved.
Don't feel limited to tag just friends, family, kids or pets, why not tag a masterpiece?

We're sure Leonardo would have preferred it to Duchamp's reversion of Mona Lisa, even if it is rather fitting with Movember.
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