Hurrah for Winifred Judy Rose- swaddled in Shuktara florals from u-ni-k!

One of my closest friends has just had a little baby girl. Two weeks and a few days old today, called Winifred Judy Rose Neeve. She is beautiful and so is her mummy Lucy. I bought Lucy, aka Miss Marple, two beautiful Shuktara blankets as a gift, ready and waiting for the arrival of her bump a while back. I cherished mine so much that I wanted to share the gorgeous products with another Mummy to be. I met the maker, David Earp, founder of the Shuktara charity, through my previous job at egg in Knightsbridge. On the last day before I left to have my baby, a parcel arrived and inside were 4 gorgeous blankets that totally blew me away. Two plain white and two very beautiful floral blankets all kantha (hand) stitched. And all extremely gorgeous. I love them all and have used them with love throughout the first year of my daughter’s life. As a picnic blanket, cot blanket, burp blanket (in emergencies!), buggy blanket, bath towel, a cool summer sun shade- the list goes on. I wouldn’t be without them and have had so many gorgeous compliments about how lovely they are.

Lucy was very cunning- or so I have since realised! They, Luce and Gregor, Winnie’s Mum and Dad decided to keep the sex of their baby a surprise. A thing that I was contemplating when Ida was still in my tummy, but actually when it came down to it I really wanted to know. Plus I had a feeling the naughty pickle in my tummy was a little girl!! Anyway, so I was left with the deliberation of what do I ask David to make her. A blanket for a girl or a blanket for a boy? Both David and I have a love of pretty florals so I knew which ever I picked would be floral of some type. In the end I decided that Lucy would love all the blankets from Shuktara so I decided to ask for two, so that I could cover all bases. Very lucky Lucy! I explained that she is a crazy Art teacher, who looked like Penny Crayon most of the time with a 1940’s/1950’s twist. She is very much a hippy at heart. Her partner, Gregor, is a handsome chappy who likes to chop wood and tend to nature while studying wild mushrooms, his chickens and foraging in open woodland.  I know David has a fantastic instinct when it comes to choosing the perfect pattern on a sari for a certain person as the blankets he gave me as a gift for Ida’s birth are so very Ida. So I decided to let him decide what the blankets should be. When they arrived they were beautiful…one very Lucy, hippy yellow blanket in bright colours and one very Gregor natural floral in sage green. Perfect!

As I had my daily visit to face book today, they both sprang to my mind today as I saw the beautiful pictures of Winnie wrapped in her gorgeous yellow blanket. It suits her perfectly! Yay! Well done for David. And Well done to Mummy Lucy and Daddy Gregor on their beautiful Winifred.

We have a beautiful collection of Shuktara blankets ready to find their perfect happy homes just like Ida and Winnie’s. We can even make something even more special just for you if you have something specific in mind.  As I said, David has the knack of knowing what will fit!!

In the meantime- please look at the Shuktara website. The making of these gorgeous blankets not only pays the wages of the amazing women who hand stitch them all, but also helps house disabled street children in India who have been abandoned because of their disabilities. Without Shuktara, society would have written them off as incapable of learning, developing social skills and integrating with society. The recycled Sari’s David collects are made into blankets, sold by Shuktara creating a profit that then buys the children a home to live in for life, helping to educate them, get jobs and to grow in every sense. Shuktara's philosophy is to provide care in a home environment, not an institution.

Please please see http://www.shuktara.net to read more about David’s wonderful charity and the gorgeous children he works with.  As not all children can be as lucky as Ida, Kathryn and the new little Winifred.