Appealing...

Okay, so you may remember the little characters from yesterday...

Fido and friends.

Well, the gang has now doubled in size, in spite of being at work, because they are really quick to make.

Here are the newcomers, who seem to have taken up residence in Miss U-t-B's old dollshouse...

Fido (who turned out to be Fido-ette) and her husband have been lazing on the chaise-longue on the landing...

Foxy has been languishing in the master bedroom...

...new friend Rabbity has been enjoying the splendours of the parlour...

...whilst Bert has been baking in the kitchen (no doubt inspired by The Great British Bake-Off)...

He's still a bit miffed that he got knitted in wool so dark that no-one can see his handsome features!

There's Bunnykins too (you can see her in the top right-hand window) but I think she rushed away from the window as her bath was overflowing!

Silliness aside, I promised I'd let you know where you can find the pattern, and tell you why I am knitting these up in such a frenzy.

First of all the reason.

No, I am not sending them out on pansy patrol to deter the marauding bugs!

I am making them for a very good cause - Link Romania.

Link Romania is a UK based charity that supports families living in real poverty in Eastern Europe.  Their annual shoebox appeal is just a part of the work they do, and it's the bit that the children in my school have supported for the last few years.  A friend and I co-ordinate it in school, and it is something we both enjoy doing.  The shoeboxes for Link Romania are aimed at families, so don't just include toys, games and sweets, but something for everyone.  Last year they sent an amazing 45,379 boxes - impressive for a charity run almost entirely by volunteers.  Here's the charity's most recent video. 

When we put together the shoeboxes,  we often wish we had a few tiny gifts for the children, to squeeze in the spaces between the shower gel, the razors, the notebooks, biros and toy cars.  


Something sweet and squashable.  


Something to bring a smile to a small face.  


So when I saw Frankie Brown's finger puppets on Ravelry, I knew the needles needed to get a-clacking!

Frankie creates lots of great patterns which she shares on Ravelry.  
Have a look at her knitted eggs and baskets,
her clever 'Bath Bundle' and her gingerbread man, just for a start.


She generously shares her patterns for nothing, but is raising money for The Children's Liver Disease Foundation through her JustGiving page. 


Now, we normally manage to put together somewhere between 80 and 100 boxes. And what I so want to do this year is put a little finger puppet pal into each one we send.


But I'm not sure if I'll quite make it by myself.  
So that is why I'm putting out a cheeky appeal - would you or anyone you know be able to rustle up one or two to send to me to put in our shoeboxes?  We put the boxes together in half-term week (at the end of October) so they are ready for collection from November 6th, or for me to drive down to Link Romania's inspirational headquarters in Worthing as soon as they're all wrapped.


In return, I will put the names of any donators (is that a word?) into a hat and send a token of my appreciation to at least one of the kind people who have helped me out.

I will let you know how it's going - I feel in need of a Blue Peter style totaliser now!