Knit a square photos

Some of these have been posted before, and some of these are new. Many of these have the patterns written for them as part of the Knit A Square A Day project. If the idea of getting your needles clicking to help others sounds good, then get started! Knitting for charity can be wonderful in so many ways. For more information visit here or www.knit-a-square.com .

KASAD31: Finito

Well, what a ride! Here were are at the end of the month. There are now 31 patterns to make 20 cm (8 inch) squares. You can use these to make scarfs, blankets or as knitting for charity. Remember that Knit-a-square is desperate for squares to help orphaned and vulnerable children, as are many other charities.

I know that I did fall behind in the supposed-to-be-every-day posts, my apologies. Whilst I like to keep the blog current, I do not want to make it a priority over other things which are more important to my family and me at this time. This blog was supposed to be something fun for me to share ideas and interact with others, not a source of stress and late nights. I have kept it as such. I've backdated the posts so that they will make sense in the future.

Thank you one and all for sharing this journey with me. May brought 2613 page views for this blog. That's 2613 opportunities to craft for one's own sanity and enjoyment, to knit for loved ones or for charity and to connect with others.

Please let me know what you thought about the KASAD project in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks again for coming along for the ride!

KASAD31: Finito

Materials

- 8 ply yarn in three colours.
- 6 mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner - intermediate knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch- increasing
- changing colour at the end of row
- knitting a mitre square
- carrying unused yarn up the side

Colours
In this example, C1 is pink, C2 is purple and C3 is yellow

Procedure

1. Using C1, cast on 3 stitches
2. Knit two stitches, then place the stitch marker on the 'used' needle.
3.Yarn over (wrap the yarn around the needle so that you can knit into it on the next row which increases 1.) You should now have 2 stitches either sides of the stitch marker.
4. Knit until the stitch marker then move the stitch marker to the next needle.
5.Yarn over to increase 1, then knit until the end of the row.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until there are 20 ridges (40 rows). End C1.
7. Change to C2. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for 2 ridges (4 rows). End C2.
8. Change to C3. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for 8 ridges (16 rows) or until square is 19 cm (just less than8 inches)
8. Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.
9. Weave in beginning end and butterfly the tail.

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Pick it from the garden KASAD12: Flora

I'm someone who likes sharing her ideas, discussing things and connecting. Have you noticed ;) ? You probably won't be suprised to learn that there are several internet forums which I frequent, well, frequently.

One of them is the Knit-a-Square forum. As well as being a place to chat with other charity knitters and crocheters, share ideas and trouble shoot, it's a place where we can share photos of our squares and particpate in monthly challenges. The challenges are totally optional and usually revolve around a theme which is very loosely applied. It's just something fun to do to keep things interesting and to act as inspiration.

Previous themes include Flags of the World, January Jewels, and Africa in August. This month's challenge is Pick it from the Garden in May. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, critters - anything really! Some squares are beautiful pictures, some are just loosely inspired and what is always needed in huge amounts - brightly coloured Plain Janes. Check out the beautiful creations here.

So with that in mind, here's KASAD12: Flora (tutorial)

This square is made by stitching a felt flower onto a knitted square.

Materials

- 8 ply yarn in two colours. Approximately 30g of each colour.

- small piece of felt

- yellow button

- 5mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn and felt

- sewing needle and thread.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch
- making and sewing flower

- carrying unused yarn up the side

Colours
In this example, C1 is green/ yellow/ orange/ purple varigated yarn, C2 is pale apricot.

Procedure
To make square:

1. Using C1, cast on 36 stitches. Work in garter stitch.
2. Knit in C1 for 2 rows (1 ridge).
3. Knit in C2 for 2 rows ( 1 ridge).
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until work measures 20 cm (8 inches) - this should be about 32 rows.

5. Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.

6. Weave in beginning end and butterfly the tail.

To make flower:

1. Draw around a cup, jar or similar to make a circle on the felt. Cut out circle.

2. Fold the circle in half and press down the 'crease' hard.

3. Concertina (zig zag) fold the semi circle into three or four. Again, press down the creases hard, it needs to be as flat as possible.

4. Cut a curved top off the edge of the circle to form the petals. Make it rounded, not pointy or you will end up with a star instead of petals. If you're anything like me then you will need to do several of these to get one that looks vaguely like a flower.

You should now have a flower and a knitted square.

To finish:

1. Blanket stitch the flower to the square.

2. Sew a yellow button SECURELY to the centre of the flower.

Voila - a beautiful flower to brighten up a blanket

Variations
- You could add several flowers, or stitch any other shape to a plain square.
- A crocheted flower or other embelishment could be used instead of a felt one
- A Plain Jane square could be used instead of the stripey one
- A crocheted square could be used instead of a knitted one.

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Mondays in May and KASAD7: Green beans

We had a mixed weekend. Lots of trips to the park, dinner with some pregnant friends to wish them well and I even did some housework. Try not to be too shocked people! Unfortunately Chubs is still sick which is really making life miserable for her, poor little girl.

The other big news of the week - the Knit A Square A Day series - is off to a great start! Thank you to everyone who visited my blog last week. I really hope that you find some patterns which you can try to makes some squares to help the orphaned and vulnerable children of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Now, for the menu plan.
Last week's wrap up:
Monday: Steak and veggies All good :)
Tuesday: Freezer Bolognese We had the BBQ chicken here insteah of Thursday. It was ok, but I didn't love it. We have one more batch in the freezer (I made a double lot) but I don't think I'll make it again.
Wednesday: Steak and veggies I can't remember what we had - my brain is just moosh!
Thursday: BBQ chicken in the slow cooker Same, I can't remember, sorry!
Friday: Beef stir fry - I forgot I was going out this night, so Dear Husband cooked himself steak.
Saturday: Hot chook from the shop - We actually ate something on our menu plan! It was a total accident though, Dear Husband wanted to make some chicken soup for Chubs. We wanted to get it into her asap so we bought a hot chook, saved the meat for dinner and then used the carcass to make soup.
Sunday: Slow cooker chicken curry We scavenged and had omelettes with whatever we could find in the fridge.

Confession time: I love stockinette stitch much more than garter stitch. I love the way that the little arrows fit into each other. The biggest drawback of stockinette stitch is, of course, the face that it rolls - both at the top and bottom and at the edges. This makes stockinette stitch (where you knit one row the purl the next) very useful when making a roll brim beanie (where you want a rolled bottom, and there are no side edges ot top edge to worry about) but decidedly un-helpful when you are knitting a square which you want to be, well, square - not a rolled up curl.

The reason that I created this free pattern is that it allows some stockinette interspersed with a bit of garter to stop the square from rolling.

Stockinette does take up less yarn than garter stitch. This means that it knits up faster, but also that the square will not be as warm. As a general rule, the more intricate the pattern, the more wool it will use (and therefore the warmer it will be.) This is one of the reasons why fisherman's jumpers usually have lots of intricate stitches, cables and the like. This is something to keep in mind when knitting for charity.

KASAD7: Green beans

Materials
- 8 ply yarn in two colours, approximately 30g of each
- 6mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch
- purl stitch
- changing colour at the end of row
- carrying unused yarn up the side

Colours
In this example
- C1 is dark green
- C2 is pale green

Procedure
1. Cast on 32 stitches in C1
2. Knit every row (work in garter stitch) for 6 rows (3 ridges).
3. Change to C2. Knit 1 row. Purl 1 row.
4. Return to C1. Knit 2 rows (1 ridge)
5. Return to C2. Knit 1 row. Purl 1 row.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 8 more times. (This should leave you with 10 stripes of C2.) End C2.
7. Return to C1. Knit every row for 6 rows (3 ridges).
8. Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.
9. Weave in ends and butterfly the tail.

Return to all the KASAD posts

KASAD5: Ocean and knitting in colour groups

Today's square completes a colour group. Something which I often do is to grab three or four colours of yarn, and to make some squares up as I go using that set of colours. It means that a whole set of squares can be created which match, without necessarily having a plan in your head which lets you be creative and 'play' with your squares and techniques.

I'm certainly no designer, but practically every colour set that I pick ends up looking great, even when I just pick random colours. It can also be a good way of using up dull colours, if you team them with brights.

I'm having trouble getting the photos of the colour groups here. I'll keep trying to get it to work...

Dark purple, beige and hot pink

Pink, purple and yellow

 

KASAD5: Ocean

Materials
- 8 ply yarn. Small amount only of C1, C2 and C3, approximately 20 - 30g of each.

- 6mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch
- changing colour at the end of row

- carry unused colour up

Colours
In this example
- C1 is dark green
- C2 is pale blue
- C3 is bright yellow

Procedure
1. Cast on 32 stitches in C1
2. Knit every row (work in garter stitch) for 12 rows (6 ridges). End C1
3. Change to C2. Knit every row (work in garter stitch) for 6 rows (3 ridges).

4. Start C1 again. Knit 2 rows (1 ridge). Carry unused yarn up.

5. Knit 2 rows C2 (1 ridge). Carry unused yarn up.

6. Knit 2 rows C1 (1 ridge). End C1.

7. Knit 20 rows C2 (10 ridges). End C2.

8. Start C3. Knit 12 rows (6 ridges).

9. Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.
10. Weave in beginning end and butterfly the tail.

Return to all the KASAD posts

KASAD2 Plain Jane - Knitting for charity

KASAD2: Plain Jane

The Plain Jane is the staple of knitting for charity blankets. They are quick and easy and great for beginners. You can use them to try out new yarn and once you get going you don't need to pay much attention. Patterned and 'feature' squares are great - and we'll certainly get to many of those this month - but the Plain Janes are needed to space them out so it's not a clash of patterns. Plain Janes can also be used as the starting point to add some embroidery or emblishments to later.

To be honest, I actually love the boring, repetitiveness of plain knitting. For me knitting is a very important de-stress. I rarely knit in complicated stitches, I need the stitch, stitch, stitch, repeat of knitting to just keep going along. That said, I rarely do Plain Janes (a square of all one colour) as I get bored quickly, so I tend to change the colours and do stripes or blocks of colour.

Square 2

Materials- 8 ply yarn. Small amount only - approximately 50 - 60g
- 6mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch

Colours
In this example, light blue yarn is used.

Procedure
1. Cast on 32 stitches
2. Knit every row (work in garter stitch) for 56 rows (28 ridges).
3. Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.
4. Weave in beginning end and butterfly the tail.

Variations
If you would like to use smaller needles to make a denser square, then cast on the following number of stitches and continue until the square is as long as it is wide (ie, a square).

4mm:    40 stitches
4.5mm: 38 stitches
5mm:    35 stitches
5.5mm: 34 stitches
6mm:    32 stitches

Return to all the KASAD posts
Linked

KASAD1: Beach

KASAD May 1: Beach

Square 1
This yellow, blue and green square is perfect for beginners.

Materials
- 8 ply yarn in three colours. Small amounts only, scrap amount of colour three.
- 6mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch
- changing colours at the end of a row

Colours
In this example, C1 is yellow, C2 is pale blue and C3 is dark green.

Procedure
1. Cast on 32 stitches in C1
2. Knit every row (work in garter stitch) for 26 rows (13 ridges). End of C1.
3. Knit two rows (one ridge garter stitch) of C3. End of C3.
4. Knit every row for 26 rows in C2 (13 ridges). Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.
5. Weave in ends and butterfly the tail.

Return to all the KASAD posts

KASAD: Knit a square a day: Launch

It's here! The blog project that I've been hinting at has arrived. For the month of May, I will be posting a knitting pattern for a 20 cm (8 inch) square. The squares can be used to make sweaters, blankets, scarfs and a host of other items for your loved ones or to give to charity.

As well as the patterns themselves, I will be posting hints and tips for knitting for charity, stories and photos of charity knitting in action.

I'm by no means a pattern expert. These are patterns I've developed myself and written so that I can understand them - normal patterns confuse me! Hopefully you will be able to follow along easily. I will list what's required both in terms of skill and equipment for each square. Please let me know if you need me to clarify anything.

Without any further ado, here is the square for May 1: Beach.
May 2: Plain Jane
May 3: Sandwich
May 4: Retreat
May 5: Ocean
May 6: Mint coconut ice
May 7: Green beans
May 8: Sunset
May 9: Sunburn
May 10: Harvest
May 11: Blocks
May 12: Flora
May 13: Snow and grass

Saturday Snippets: Knit-a-Square

Remember KAS? I've blogged about this wonderful charity before.

Distrubition day

The Knit-a-Square forum is a treasure trove of ideas for knitting for charity, patterns, photos and companionship. The photo section has over 4500 picture of knitted and crocheted goodies. I find it very heartwarming to see what others have done and to get ideas. The patterns section gives detailed instructions on how to make squares, beanies, slipover vests, 'Go-Over' simple jumpers, toys and many other items. There's friendship and fellowship too, as people are linked across the oceans - stitch by stitch.

The gift of a blanket

The Knit-a-Square website give the history of KAS, information about the children, postage information and heaps more. To warm your heart, have a look through the ezines which are truly magical.

Babies at one of the creches receiving beanies

This beautiful post reminds us that a blanket provides more than just shelter from the cold, but comfort too.

Well loved comfort blankies

Knit-a-Square creche distributions

This video shows some of the precious children at the Humble Little Achievers creche in an informal settlement in South Africa. The information I have been given says that

56 Children between the ages of 0 and 6 are looked after in two small converted shipping containers. This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement - for 3 months. They have been there for over a year, with an estimate of having to wait a further 2 years before they can be relocated.

Ronda from Knit-a-Square handed out blankets, toys, beanies, vests (slipovers) and jumpers (go overs) to these children, who have little else. This informal creche is in need of nappies, plastic cups and bowls, more blankets, books and toys. To help with these items contact SLICE. To contribute crochet or knit squares for blankets, beanies or vests please visit KAS.

Girls and Women Change our World: What are the issues?

Series introduction

The issues which I have listed below are by no means exhaustive, and there’s a very strong baby/ pregnancy bias, which is indicative of my current stage in life. The issues below are things which I would point out to people who make statements like ‘women have equality now, get over it and stop playing the victim’ and ‘maternity leave is sexist’.

Access to paid maternity leave is crucially important, for mother and baby as well as for the family and society at large. It is healthy for both mother and baby to be together during the newborn months. This is crucial to establishing the breastfeeding relationship, and to provide security to both mother and child.

Being close to one’s baby and not returning to work too early is also important to a woman’s recovery from pregnancy and childbirth (aside from the benefits to baby). Some women have very easy pregnancies and births and are ready to go very soon after, but many are not. Breastfeeding (more than pumping) ensures that a woman sits still and rests for large portions of the day, and feeding helps to contract the uterus and therefore aids in recovery.

Of course, this is not always possible even aside from the paid work and maternity leave considerations, particularly for very ill babies who are hospitalised or for babies who have sadly lost their mothers. Paid maternity leave allows the mother, baby and the rest of the family to decide when they are ready to separate if the mother chooses to return to work, rather than being forced into it for financial or industrial reasons.

Paid maternity leave is not only for mother and baby. Paid maternity leave is good for the economy. Generally, it is not a money leech where women can scam the system and get free leave. It is usually cheaper for the business/ industry if women are paid maternity leave that it is for them to resign. If a woman (or anyone for that matter) leaves the paid workforce, then she takes all of her professional skills and training with her. By staying engaged in the workforce, then these skills are not lost. The Productivity Commission supported this view in 2009, which was followed by the introduction of Paid Parental Leave. I will discuss this more later in the week.

Access to affordable and competent prenatal, birth and postnatal care

Me at 32 Weeks

Medical complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for females aged 15 – 19 worldwide. (United Nations Children’s Fund, Equality, Development and Peace, www.unicef.org/publications/files/pub_equality_en.pdf [New York: UNICEF, 2000], 19.) That’s more than car accidents, cancer or infectious diseases.

Medical care needs to be competent and affordable, both in developing and developed countries. I was very sick in my pregnancy with hyperemesis gravadrium. The medication which I needed to take daily or twice daily from Week 7 to Week 41 was about $15 a dose, so I spent over $5000 on that medication. This medication is not listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for HG. However, all of my other pregnancy and postnatal care was very affordable. The gap fee of a few GP visits, and parking at the hospital – which came to about $300 – were the only other costs to me. The Medicare portion of my GP visits, all my prenatal midwife and obstetrician appointments, prenatal classes, four ultrasounds, anti D injections, five visits to Emergency for intravenous antiemetics and fluid, eight days hospital accommodation and food for me, midwife care for two days of labour and six days postnatal, an epidural, a Caesarean, IV antibiotics, anticoagulants, post surgery painkillers, oxygen treatment and a visit from the physiotherapist were all ‘free’. For Chubs we received time in the Special Care Nursery, IV antibiotics, six days of neonatal care, numerous paediatrician visits, midwife care for six days, a renal ultrasound, a midwife home visit, two echocardiograms and a cardiologist consultation. All of this was ‘free’ too.

When I say ‘free’, of course I know this is not free, but paid for by the taxpayer. This is why it is crucially important that women can contribute to the workforce and pay taxes. Just as paid maternity leave is beneficial economically, so is competent and affordable pre and post natal care. Again, I will discuss this more later in the week.

Many women in the world do not have access to competent, affordable and available care like I do. Increasing access should be a priority, and was identified as such in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 5: Improve maternal health). 2015 is rapidly approaching, and we cannot waste any more time.  

It is also important that women are given choice in their prenatal care. If women cannot access care which is suitable to them, then some choose riskier options (such as no care) if the available care choices are too hard or traumatic for them to endure. A greater variety of care options would help with this.

Legal protection of one's right to breastfeed or express milk, and protection from sexual discrimination. No woman should be discriminated against for caring for her child. This included blatant discrimination (for example, being refused service in a café) as well as less obvious discrimination (for example, not being allowed breaks to express milk during the work day, therefore preventing a woman from working). I spoke more about this previously and I will again address the economic considerations later in the week.

Flexible working arrangements which are family friendly benefit both mothers and fathers. The option of part time work, being able to bank flexi time, to alter work hours either regularly or as a one off, to work from home and many other options can help to keep parents and caregivers of both genders engaged in the work force. Different jobs and industries have varying abilities to be flexible. Schools and shops for instance are limited by their opening hours, and there are many jobs which just cannot be completed off site. If employers and employees are creative and committed however, then flexibility can be maximised where possible.

Available, affordable and flexible childcare is also essential to allowing parents and caregivers to be part of the work force. If someone has one child and works regular business hours in a large city, then generally a suitable arrangement can be found. However, shift workers, those with a rotating roster or irregular hours, those in a small town with limited options for childcare, or with many children may experience more difficulty in getting care for their children.

One of the ways in which the Knit-a-Square team distribute the hand knitted blankets is through informal crèches. These carers look after these children with barely nothing – one place was run out of an old shipping container. The children are left here so that their caregivers can look for work. This is a long way from acceptable care, however it’s the best option that these precious children have.

There are certainly many, many other issues which are facing women and girls in today’s world. This list is a starting point, however, for those who suggest that IWD is no longer relevant – it most certainly is.

Part 2: The girl child

Knitted vests

Last night I finished off this pink vest. It's been sitting there for months and months (I may have even started it while I was pregnant, I'm not sure.) It only took about ten minutes to finish off the neckband and tie off.

I also finished off this green and yellow vest.

Both of these vests are knitted with two strands of 8 ply acrylic yarn. The green and yellow was done on 8mm needles, and the pink on 10mm needles. Both are similar to this slipover, but are knitted in the round from the bottom up and then back and forward for the shoulder straps. The neck band is finished in the round.

I made a mistake on the pink vest, where the straps need to be partially stitched to the front panel. It's a bit of a tricky bit where the knitting in the round changes to the straight knitting, and I need to go back later and stitch about five stitches closed. The problem is that I forgot to leave allowance for this on one side only, which is why the straps are a little uneven.

I could have unpicked all the neckline and the straps, but I was able to get it so it looked ok (not great, but ok) and it is secure. I think that my knitting time is better spent making more good items, than less perfect ones, as I previously discussed. If it wasn't ok then I wouldn't send it, but since I was able to muddle through I will send it, and thankfully I didn't need to unpick the top section.

These slipover vests need to be very stretchy (think big needles). They need to be long in the body so that there's no revealing midrift, and the arm and neck holes need to be quite large. For a very simple pattern see here, or here for an intermediate pattern.

I will have to post off a packet to Knit- a- Square soon. I have these two vests, some beanies and some squares ready to go. If I get them in the post soon hopefully they will get there in time for winter.