Southmead Hospital Charity are looking for knitters to create some unique teddies for babies who will be in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit at Southmead Hospital.

Ali Brown, our resident knitter and creator of Fresh Arts’ two year-long Knit With Me project, has been teaching knitting and crocheting to new mums and mums-to-be in Southmead’s NICU.

At the special request of NICU matron Gill Taylor and developmental nurse Lisa Ramsey, the NICU knitting group decided to create items for the Christmas stockings that the team give to every baby in NICU on Christmas Eve.

Now the race is on to knit or crochet 50 wonky-eyed teddies so that every baby and their family has a woolly present to open on Christmas Day, made by staff, volunteers and patient knitters.

Please help by making your own teddy to add to the stockings.

The pattern is very simple, a series of rectangles that are then sewn up to create the unique wonky-eyed teddy.

Fresh Arts volunteer Sue Bushell and mum-to-be Susan Petrie are pictured here knitting and crocheting their own wonky eyed teddies to join the original wonky-eyed teddy Clive.

You can download the knitting pattern here.

Knit with Me is a Fresh Arts Project, supported by Southmead Hospital Charity.

If you’d like to get involved please email Fresh Arts manager ruth.sidgwick@nbt.nhs.uk.