"The Big Knit" with Innocent Smoothies & Sainsburys

I'm a relatively new knitter and I'm more than 3/4 the way through a stripey scarf (started in April!)... hopefully it will be finished by the time winter sets in properly, although it's cold enough for a scarf now on the school run at 8.15 in the morning!  But, I may be scuppered in this plan as my daughter has already claimed it (or so she thinks!).

Anyway, the other day I came across this great idea from Innocent Smoothies - The Big Knit 2012.  Innocent Smoothies are appealing for knitters from across the UK to send in their hats between now and October.  These are then put onto the smoothie bottles by hand and send them off to store. Then, they're available to buy in Sainsbury's stores for three weeks from the 21st November, and for every hatted bottle sold, 25p is donated to Age UK.

Over the years there have been loads of weird and wonderful hats from all over the world. Of all the hats that are received, around 80% of them come from the people who directly benefit from Age UK's services. Over 100 Age UK/Age Concerns get behind the campaign, running knitting groups in their centres.

All of the money raised through the hats knitted by local Age UK/Age Concerns centres goes directly back to allow them to continue providing support to older people in their local community.

Proceeds from the hats will fund a range of winter initiatives including home visits, befriending and lunch clubs giving older people new skills to cope in the cold weather.

So, I thought I would have a go!  I have to finish the epic scarf as I only have 1 set of needles(!) but if I get a move on it WILL be finished soon and I can get a couple of hats knitted for the campaign in time for the closing date, to arrive by Monday 1st October 2012.

Very handily, if you follow this link, at the bottom of the page there are 2 pdf documents with knitting patterns ranging in skill level from beginners to expert and here's the address to send your knitted hats to...

So any avid knitters out there - whatever the skill level,  have a go!  Your attempts cannot look any worse than mine so good luck and share the pictures when you're done!