We got Meg from The Border Collie Trust when she was two, having not cut it as a working sheepdog on a Welsh farm.

Meg was very shy, timid and submissive when we first took her home and it took a lot of time and an abundance of patience to gain her trust but ultimately she became the beating heart of our family.

Sadly, her health had been failing over the last few months. She had developed masts on her abdomen that couldn’t be operated on due to her age and arthritis in her hind legs.

Where once we used to hike up hills and mountains, short, leisurely strolls with plenty of time for sniffs became more Meg’s cup of tea.

Then one evening we were eating dinner when we heard a crash and found Meg splayed at the bottom of the stairs. We think she had attempted to go upstairs but hadn’t managed to get very far before her legs gave way.

From that point on, Meg didn’t get up again and the following morning, the vet came. Our gorgeous gently girl passed away peacefully surrounded by her family.

Meg’s favourite place to sit used to be in a patch of wildflowers in the garden. We plan to plant a pink cherry blossom tree in the middle of the flowers and scatter her ashes there.

To say thank you to The Border Collie Trust for placing their faith in us nine years ago and entrusting Meg to our care, we have launched a new Charity Yarn, ‘In Memory Of Meg‘.

The limited edition yarn is a 100g skein of Chunky Roving hand dyed 100% Bluefaced Kerry Hill yarn and £5 from every skein sold will be donated to The Border Collie Trust to support the fabulous work they do with Border Collies and Collie cross breeds throughout the UK.

RIP lovely Meg.

Recently, someone that I care very dearly for, was made the subject of a campaign of hatred, lies and intimidation, due in no small part to a lack of understanding, compassion  and empathy by those old enough to know better.

Perhaps if they had received a more inclusive education which celebrates diversity and undoubtedly leads to emotional maturity, they may have stopped to think twice before attempting a character assassination which could have potentially destroyed a young person’s life.

So, in the wake of the inaugural Trans History Week, at the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week and as we rapidly approach Pride Month, it gives me great pleasure to launch our new yarn which will hopefully help to challenge unacceptable thoughts and behaviours towards a marginalised group of society that wishes for nothing more than peace and equality.

Baa Baa Brighouse will not turn a profit from this yarn and £5 from every skein sold will be donated to the charity.

The yarn itself, Karma Not Drama, is a 100g skein of hand dyed 4 ply yarn comprising 80% Falkland Wool and 20% Mulberry Silk. It combines pale pink, blue and white tones with gentle bright pink and blue speckling in each skein, giving you 400m of woolly loveliness to craft with.

However, as a proud member of a ‘rainbow family’, I had reason to contact Mermaids recently, which lit a fire in me to create a yarn in aid of its work.

Mermaids is a charity that supports transgender, non-binary and gender diverse children, young people and their families – they are skilled, knowledgeable and provide a vital resource and support service for many.

I thanked them on Twitter for the advice they gave me but was absolutely appalled by the level of abuse their social media accounts attract.

It is no big secret that homophobia is on the rise and the trans community is under attack. According to a recent report by Vice World News, homophobic hate crime is up 32% on last year in the UK and transphobic hate crime is up by 59%.

It is perhaps unsurprising when certain celebrities with huge followings seek to dehumanise trans people and our own government fails to protect them.

The populist nonsense spouted by the two Conservative leadership contenders in recent weeks with regards to trans rights simply compounds matters.

So, we have released ‘Trans Rights Are Human Rights‘, a new charity yarn in aid of Mermaids. A total of £5 from each sale will be donated to the charity.

The yarn itself is made up of three 50g skeins – one each in blue, pink and white – giving you 150g or 390m of woolly loveliness to craft with. ‘Trans Rights Are Human Rights‘ is a DK yarn comprising 60% cotton and 40% wool. There is a limited supply of this yarn, so once it’s gone, it’s gone!

As we reflect on 2019’s Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we are reminded of how far the fight for LGBTQ+ rights has come but also how much more work there is left to do.

Discussion within the knitting community has been raging for some time about the need for inclusivity and this was heightened during Pride and then again with Ravelry’s recent announcement that they have banned posts in support of President Trump and his administration in a stand against white supremacy.

When I created ‘Knit A Rainbow’, both of these events and discussion around them were occupying my mind and I think the dyed result reflects that.

There has been a lot of ugliness directed at those of us in support of Pride and Ravelry’s move with some opposition camps even citing their faith as a reason to disagree.

I don’t propose to get into a big theological debate here but I have always been under the impression that faith of any kind should be peaceful, loving, kind, understanding, tolerant and supportive. It is so sad that for some, that isn’t the case.

On the other hand, there are those who have stayed silent throughout this debate and I think perhaps I have a bigger issue with these people. At least with overt homophobes and white supremacists, you know where you stand. Those that sit on the fence, look the other and way and say nothing fail to see that they are complicit in the problem.

I know there are those who will say they don’t like confrontation, they’re quiet and shy and feel uncomfortable speaking out. I understand that – I have acute social anxiety but if a marginalised group are being targeted, you have a moral duty to speak out in their defence. You know it.

This past month I have often been reminded of Naomi Shulman’s words: “Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics”. They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbours were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.”

So no, here at Baa Baa Brighouse we won’t just stick to the knitting thanks.

Meet Florence. My daughter. She is feisty, opinionated, strong willed, stubborn and Hell would freeze over before she would ever do anything she didn’t want to do. One day she will grow into a feisty, opinionated, strong willed, stubborn woman. I wouldn’t want her to be any other way.

But for some girls and women their ability to make up their own mind is being curtailed and their ability to choose is being removed. I of course refer to Roe v Wade and the 1973 landmark decision of the US Supreme Court to protect a woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion.

That precedent is now being eroded by the right-wing religious Republicanism sweeping the US under the presidency of Donald Trump with so-called ‘heartbeat bills’.

So far, as many as seven states have enacted a ban on all or most abortions with a further nine states considering anti-abortion legislation. Women are being told what to do with their bodies, predominantly by angry old white men. The new legislation could see women, who are victims of rape or incest, imprisoned if they attempt to proceed with an abortion.

It is quite frankly the stuff of dystopian nightmares.

Yet in a week’s time the UK will be rolling out the red carpet for Trump during his official state visit. The Stop Trump Coalition will once again be voicing their disgust at the leader of the so-called ‘free world’ by organising a ‘Together Against Trump’ national demonstration on June 4th.

Baa Baa Brighouse will also be launching its own woolly protest with a new yarn called ‘Female Bodily Autonomy’. £3 of every skein sold will go to the American Civil Liberties Union, an organisation that is seeking to challenge the abortion bans in the US.

Last year we raised $126 for the ACLU with the sale of our ‘Carnival of Resistance’ yarn.

However, this year, with the sudden rise of The Brexit Party and their gains in the recent European Parliament elections, we feel this yarny protest ought to be an opportunity to take a long hard look at America. You don’t have to scratch the surface of The Brexit Party to see that its members too hold some shockingly extreme views that could very easily lead us down a similar path at some point in the future.

While we’re all preoccupied by Brexit negotiations, has anyone been paying attention to these dangerous right-wing ideologies that may at some point wind their way into UK domestic politics if the electorate continue to give power to such people?

I don’t want my daughter growing up in a world where angry old white men can tell her what to do with her body. If you’re a reasonably balanced individual, I’m pretty sure you don’t either.

Therefore, Baa Baa Brighouse also plans to launch a sister yarn to ‘Female Bodily Autonomy’ called ‘Lactose Intolerant’. Now, I’m not advocating the throwing of milkshakes (and certainly not yarn), but it seems like an appropriate name given the intolerance of The Brexit Party and its members.

£3 of every skein of ‘Lactose Intolerant’ sold will be going to Hope Not Hate, a charity which aims to combat fascism in all its varying forms.

Both yarns will be available to purchase exclusively from Baa Baa Brighouse on Sunday June 2nd at 9:00 BST. Keep an eye on our social media for sneak peeks!

My Dad suffered a stroke in December 2017 and although he has had several health issues since, he was incredibly lucky in that his stroke did not leave him severely impaired. Things could have been very different.

The release of our limited edition hand dyed yarn, ‘Make May Purple’, coincides with the Stroke Association’s Make May Purple campaign which begins on Wednesday May 1st.

The 100% British Bluefaced Leicester 4 Ply yarn will be available from Wednesday May 1st, exclusively from Baa Baa Brighouse and can be purchased throughout the month of May.

In January, ‘Tics Don’t Define Me’, raised £45 for Tourettes Action, ‘YoungMinds’, our February charity yarn, raised £21 for YoungMinds, ‘Marie Curie’, raised £30 in March for Marie Curie UK and ‘Autism Awareness’ raised £21 in April for the National Autistic Society.

A big thank you to everyone who has bought our charity yarns so far and helped these deserving causes.

The release of our limited edition hand dyed yarn, ‘Autism Awareness’, coincides with Autism Awareness Week which begins on Monday April 1st.

The 100% British Bluefaced Leicester DK yarn is available now, exclusively from Baa Baa Brighouse and can be purchased throughout the month of April.

£3 of every skein sold will go to the National Autistic Society.

In January, ‘Tics Don’t Define Me’, raised £45 for Tourettes Action, ‘YoungMinds’, our February charity yarn, raised £21 for YoungMinds and ‘Marie Curie’, raised £30 in March for Marie Curie UK.

A big thank you to everyone who has bought our charity yarns so far and helped these deserving causes.

We shared the full extent of the conversation about our Baa Baa Brighouse Mother’s Day Yarn Box on our social media pages and it went something like this:

Tweet from @rubb3rsoul1972: @BaaBaaBrighouse @yorkshiresoap

“I’m confused ?‍ A big ball of wool? So in effect you’re giving a task as a gift! #badlythoughtout“

So, after the gentleman blocked us, we asked our customers to nominate worthy charities that could benefit from yarn created as a result.

We were inundated with a vast number of fantastic suggestions and after careful consideration, we have decided to support the organisation, Toilet Twinning, which funds projects in poor communities of developing countries, enabling families to build basic toilets, have access to clean water and learn about hygiene.

£3 of every skein of ‘IMO It’s A Shit Present’ and ‘Your Cocky Attitude‘ will be donated to Toilet Twinning – so if you buy a skein of each yarn, that’s £6 of your money that will go to charity.

Both yarns are hand dyed 100% British Bluefaced Leicester High Twist 4 Ply Sock Yarn and come in 100g skeins.

Our chosen charity for March will be Marie Curie UK, a charity which offers care and support to those suffering from a terminal illness and their families.

There seems to be very few people whose lives or loved ones have not in some way been touched by a terminal illness, in particular cancer, so we believe Marie Curie UK to be a very worthwhile cause.

‘Marie Curie’, a 100% British Bluefaced Leicester DK yarn, is available now, exclusively from Baa Baa Brighouse and can be purchased throughout March to coincide with the charity’s Great Daffodil Appeal.

£3 from every skein sold will be donated to Marie Curie UK.

YoungMinds is fighting for better mental health care for children across the UK.

Three children in every classroom are currently dealing with a mental health issue and the current provision to tackle this crisis is woefully low.

We have chosen to support YoungMinds because our daughter, Florence, suffers with acute anxiety and we have waited 15 months for her to begin having regular sessions with a health professional from our local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Just this morning we received a letter telling us her appointment has again been postponed – 15 months for an eight-year-old is unacceptable.

We will be releasing our exclusive, limited edition, hand dyed yarn this evening (Friday February 1st) at 19:00 GMT.

The yarn, a 100% British Bluefaced Leicester DK, will be available to purchase from Baa Baa Brighouse throughout the month of February and £3 of every skein sold will go to YoungMinds to support its important work.