When we think of people raising thousands for charity, images of marathon running are likely to spring to mind. Certainly, designing knitting patterns may not be what people first think of. But Frankie Brown has raised an amazing £28K for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, now merged with British Liver Trust, doing just that! Here she explains how it all came about.
I’ve always been a keen knitter and I used to write patterns for Slip Knot, which was the magazine of the Knitting and Crochet Guild. Then, in the summer of 2008 I heard that knitters on Ravelry, (a knitting community website) were trying to find the pattern for my Ten Stitch Blanket which made me realise that perhaps there was a market for my stuff.
I was keen on my patterns being free from the start as I think it’s nice to share stuff. However, I thought I might as well combine it with some fundraising and CLDF was the obvious choice. My good friend, Chris’s young son, Alex, had been born with biliary atresia, and I knew that the information and support she’d received from the charity had been helpful. So with each pattern I published on Ravelry I asked that a donation be made to CLDF. That’s how it all began!
I started off just writing knitting patterns but soon began publishing crochet ones too. My crochet skills were very basic to start with; I kept having to look up how to do stitches I wanted to use but I’ve improved a lot over the years. Unfortunately my shop title of ‘Frankie’s Knitted Stuff’ was well – established by then (and I don’t think ‘Frankie’s Knitted and sometimes Crocheted Stuff’ is quite as catchy somehow).
I’m not a traditional designer in that I don’t design clothing. I design just about everything else though. I enjoy working on blankets because they give me a chance to play with colour and texture, as do scarves and shawls. A lot of my patterns come from me seeing something and thinking “I wonder if I could knit that?” Designing is a matter of confidence. I come from a family of creative women who didn’t have much money but made things with their hands. If you saw something you liked in a shop you’d start working out how you could make it.
My designs tend to be influenced by the time of year; there are nearly always little gift bag patterns in the Spring for Easter eggs; Christmas decoration projects are fun, if challenging to work on and if I’m knitting for a new baby then there will be baby patterns and so on.
For most of the time that I’ve been doing this, I have thought of it as my work. This means that I keep doing it, even when I’d rather be doing something else. For quite a few years I was designing pretty much full time. In recent years I’ve cut down my designing hours and managed to get a better work/life balance.
Going from a vague idea to a finished product that I’m pleased with and then publishing it and getting so many messages from people who enjoy it too gives me a great sense of achievement. Raising funds is a bonus! In the 17 years I’ve been doing this I’ve published over 600 patterns and raised over £28,000 and I’m really pleased to have done something so positive for a charity which remains very close to my heart.
We’re delighted to hear from Alex, the inspiration for Frankie’s fundraising, who is now 26.
I was born with biliary atresia and had a kasai operation at eight weeks old. My health was relatively good for the rest of my childhood but I started having recurring liver infections throughout my teenage years, which caused me to miss weeks of school each year. I found this difficult, not only from missing classes but also missing out on the social aspect of school. Eventually it reached the point where I was placed on the transplant list and I took leave from university and moved back home. I waited over a year and a half for my liver transplant. Receiving a transplant allowed me to start university again and move back in with friends. Since then I finished my Bachelors degree, completed a Masters, and am currently studying for a PhD in medical engineering. The transplant also allowed me to travel more – without the fear of being hospitalised – and have now gone on several holidays to Europe and even playing a music festival in Iceland!
During my childhood and teenage years, CLDF was incredibly important. It gave me the chance to meet people my age with similar conditions, which gave me comfort knowing that others are going through – and have been through – what I was experiencing. The away days and residentials through CLDF created a fun and relaxed place to do this, where the commanality of chronic health problems didn’t have to be the focus of the trips. It was also very important for my parents, providing valuable support and information about my condition, in difficult times, particularly as a baby.
I think it’s brilliant that my mum’s friend, Frankie, has been raising money for CLDF for almost two decades now. The continued contributions she has made through her knitting patterns is truly amazing, and I am looking forward to her hitting the £30,000 mark!
You can find out more about Frankie’s work on her Blog and her patterns can be found here Designer page on ravelry
