Arts & Culture
Inspire Community Open 2025: Artists Call Out!
Whether you have taken up art recently or been a creative for many years, if you live in Nottingham…
The Inspire Charity Knitting Challenge 2024
in 2024, Inspire, Your Health Notts, Newark and Sherwood District Council, Dementia Action Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and Creative Lives supported crafters to make knitted and crocheted squares into homely warm blankets for people to cherish.
Nottinghamshire knitwear designer Jane Withers created a striking blanket design to inspire everyone to get creative with wool for a good cause.
The 2024 Inspire Charity Knitting Challenge has now ended - but you can still see how we made the Care Squares!
Download the Care Squares patterns:
Why do blankets make a difference in hospitals and care settings?
We asked Karen Breese, Dementia Care Clinical Specialist and cosy blanket expert at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust for some advice, Karen told us:
- A colourful woolly blanket is a lovely individual gift that patients take home with them.
- They are comforting, interesting, cosy, homely and can really make a difference to a patient's hospital stay.
- They allow patients to identify their bed on the ward and they define the edge of the bed, so getting in and out is much easier and can help to prevent falls.
- A 90 cm (36") square blanket is the ideal size for covering a single bed, it is large enough to be cosy but not too large to become a tripping hazard.
- Most yarns are suitable for making squares, pure wool however should be avoided so blankets can be washed.
- Lacey stitches and patterns with holes can get caught on buttons and fingers.
- All ends of yarn should be securely woven in and snipped off. Check that pins or needles have not been left behind.
Thank you Karen
Find Jane’s helpful ‘How to’ videos below!
Videos for making knitted Care Squares:
Videos for joining the Care Squares, Jane's hints and tips for a neat finish:
Videos for making crochet Care Squares:
Download the Care Squares poster:
Nottinghamshire Crafters came together to create 275 stunning blankets and thousands of colourful Care Squares, wrapping the walls and shelf tops of Mansfield Library in an enormous 'woolly hug'!
The Care Squares Exhibition was on display from 14 August to 24 September 2024, celebrating the hard work of all the generous crafters who donated their time, skill and lots and lots of wool!
Why not find a regular craft group near you, then drop in to say hello - and get knitting!
There's a range of Online Leisure and Culture Courses from Learning and Skills, including creative courses to suit new and more experienced craft enthusiasts and other courses to develop a wider range of skills.
