NIFTY knitter Jo Cookson got busy with the needles to entertain her friend Jane Briggs.
But now the miniature pumpkins Jo created in wool have raised more than £400 for our patient care.
“I’d actually started knitting the pumpkins in lockdown because they were simple to make,” said Jo, who lives in Stannington.
“But then Jane saw them and really liked them and when she became a St Luke’s patient she asked me to make some for nurses and they really cheered her and everybody up in her final days.
“Throughout the night before she died even, her daughters - who were staying over- said it had helped as the nurses came in to pick a pumpkin!”
Following Jane’s death, the knitting continued – an initial campaign raised £80.
This year, though, Jo produced a whole crop of pumpkins that went on sale in two Hillsborough stores – Annie Jude’s and The Green Shop – as well as at The Little Shop at Robinson’s Corner in North Wheatley.
And the final total raised from all that creative knitting effort came to more than £400.
“I started knitting early this time, with the aim of raising £100 so I am delighted to have raised so much more,” said Jo.
“I’ll be knitting again for next year and will hopefully raise even more.”