People are helping premature babies by crocheting tiny octopuses. The tentacles are thought to mimic the feel of an umbilical cord, and babies who cuddle an octo are less likely to pull out their monitors and tubes. 

When hospitals that participate in the Octo Project noted an increase in the overall health of their preemies, volunteers around the world began flooding them with donations.

(My fav of these pics:)

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Honestly if you’ve never tried apple jam you are missing out, it is my favourite thing ever and it is so so easy, here’s how:

You will need:

Cooking apples (I used Bramley apples but any type of cooking apples should work)

Jam sugar (this contains pectin which is what sets the jam)

Water

Method:

Peel, core and chop your apples then weigh them

Measure out water that is ¼ of the weight of your apples (so for example if you had 1kg of apple then you would add 250g/ml of water)

Add the apples and water to a large pan and stew on a low heat for approx. 20 mins stirring occasionally or until an applesauce texture is reached

Once the apples are fully cooked, remove from heat and mash with a potato masher to remove any large lumps (if you want a super smooth jam then purée)

Once the desired consistency has been reached return to the heat and add jam sugar that is equal in weight to the uncooked apples (so for example if you had 1kg of apples you would add 1kg of jam sugar)

Bring jam mixture to the boil, stirring constantly. Once the mix begins to boil reduce the heat and stir occasionally.

Place a small amount of jam (about half a teaspoon) onto a plate. After waiting a few moments, so as to not burn yourself, push your finger through the jam, if the surface wrinkles then the jam is ready, remove it from the heat. However if the jam does not wrinkle, then continue to heat, testing every minute or so until it passes the wrinkle test

Fill sterilised jars until 1/2cm from the top and cover with greaseproof paper ensuring that the lids are added while the jam is still hot as this vacuums the lid to the jar keeping it fresher for longer

For reference 1kg of apples, 250ml of water and 1kg of sugar will make approx. 5 standard size jars of jam or 3 larger jars

An awesome pattern I cross stitched made by @shitpostsampler

My second finished project + pattern

Finally finished!!! My third cross stitch project and the biggest I’ve done. I love the way it turned out. def needs cleaned up and ironed lmao