In comparison to most businesses, Ripples Crafts is tiny.  Just a speck of dust that can only be seen under the microscope of business.  I doubt I even qualify as that current favourite with politicians, the SME (small to medium enterprise).  But I have always believed that if everyone did something, anything, for the charity of their choice, then it will make a small difference.  And all the small differences add up to quite a large difference.  And the same applies to business, no matter now small.

It was with this in mind that I began to think about Ripples Crafts adopting a charity.  Many of you will know the story about how I came to choose the name Ripples Crafts for the business, so I'm sorry to roll it out again, but it is important here.   When I started the business I really struggled with what to call it.  Chatting it over with Stevan he reminded me of how often I had told him stories about knitters and other crafts people who didn't really know one another, helped each other out with problems.  Problems could range from something as simple as needing a small bit of yarn to finish a project to (as happened in my case) a knitter I'd never met contacting me via an online forum offering help from her medic husband who worked in the hospital in Rome where my Mum was rushed to when she fell and injured herself a few years back.  That last message of help came to me via another knitter who rang me while I was on my way to Rome to give me the message as she knew I would not have seen it on the forum.  People taking trouble to help others whom they've never met and didn't really know other than through the link of craft.  I have seen so many instances of news about someone's situation rippling out and solutions and help being found.  And so Ripples Crafts was borne.

Initially I thought that deciding on which charity to adopt would be really difficult.  There are so many.  How do you choose?  But in the end it was really simple.

[caption id="attachment_5081" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Lochinver RNLI"][/caption]

Time and time again I have witnessed the work of the RNLI.   We used to do quite a bit of sailing ourselves, and it was always a comforting insurance to know that the RNLI were there if you ever got yourself into trouble.  Fortunately we never did and we've never needed their services, but many have.  They do an incredible job.  But I wanted to support our local Lochinver crew, so I was very pleased to discover that I could adopt a particular station.    All the volunteers live locally and because they are a 24hour station they have to be prepared to go out in all weathers and situations.  The RNLI receive no government funds and rely entirely on public donations.  This enables them to remain apolitical and independent.

So here is what I've decided to do.   I have come up with a new colour which I showed you a few days ago,



and for every hank of yarn sold in this colourway I will put £5 into a pot for the RNLI.   I know this will not raise a huge amount, but I plan on measuring progress in pairs of yellow wellies.  Each set of wellies costs the RNLI £42, so if we can aim to get at least one pair of Wellies for the Lochinver crew then we'll be on our way to doing something practical and helpful.   You can see more about how the RNLI spend their donations here.

Here is my first sock in this colour in the Bluefaced Leicester / nylon 4ply:



It is a blend of turquoise and blue, and I hope to have this colour in every single base that I do, but for the moment it is only available in the new 100% silk 4ply  and the BFL/Nylon 4ply and I've put it up on the website for pre-order.  Because of the method of dyeing used for this colourway every single hank will be slightly different.  I will be adding more bases as we go and I'll let you know whey they're up in the shop.  In the meantime if you want this colour in a particular base do get in touch.

But I was left with a problem ...... what was I to calll this colourway?  Stevan came up with the answer - "Brave Lads and Lasses" - for that is what they are.

NEWS UPDATE!!  We have already raised sufficient for one pair of yellow wellies.  Well done everyone.