Epping Library Knitters

The BLOG is MOVING!

2012-03-03T12:19:00.003+11:00

For a whole lot of reasons, including my inability to remember too many passwords, the blog is moving to:

http://eppinglibraryknitters.wordpress.com

Click on the new address and you will be taken there!

It may take me a while to sort out the changes so I beg your indulgence - but you will still be able to read what we are up to, and look at our photos.

More Blankets & UFO Update!

2012-02-18T16:24:00.000+11:00

What a surprise! Anyone would think this was a blanket blog ....

Just wait until the blankets hiding in the Square Dancer's camera are downloaded to the blog - I can't wait to see them.

This wrap doesn't photograph well - it is quite stunning in the flesh, but the stripes make me feel a bit dizzy in the photo - anyone remember those optical illusions in Coles Funny Picture Book?

Above and below, two smaller wraps knitted for Mahboba's Promise. Unless we find another aid group that takes knitted items to Afghanistan, they will probably go to direct to WWL who will find a home for them I'm sure.

The top wrap was a mishmash of small and large squares which had to be somehow made into a whole.
The one below was sewn together by Mary, a very productive knitter and sewer. Thank you, Mary.

Below a wrap put together with crochet - a quick and effective method.

UFO UPDATE

The UFO we inherited, dried and was unravelled and here it is - the yarn from the unravelling mixed with odds and ends from a huge bag of tiny leftovers. As a lot of the original yarn is quite thin, I'm mixing it with the leftovers, often knitting two yarns together to give the rug more stability and warmth.

It is being made in strips the width of the wrap - I'll keep going until it's the right length. This will be no work of art - I'm already ~~embarrassed~~ - er, sorry - that I had started to post about it (( : { ! But, once started on the road less travelled, there's no turning back!

Knitting for Afghanistan

2012-02-17T13:11:00.003+11:00

Does anyone know if there is another organisation that accepts knitted items to send to Afghanistan? We usually send our things through Mahboba's Promise, but she is again unable to accept them because of the cost of freight.

I have a large number of beanies, scarves, jumpers and smaller sized rugs that the group have knitted for that purpose.

Hope you can help!

More Rugs - What a Surprise!

2012-01-29T17:51:00.000+11:00

More rugs, again demonstrating the types of squares and rugs that are donated. We always have a large number of "odd" squares - sometimes from one person, more often from a number of different people. Various group members will take home a "matching" set - i.e. a set where the size of the squares is similar and where the colours seem to blend in reasonably well (note the italics!!). That person then arranges the squares to the best of their ability (and believe me, it can be HARD!), sews them together and either edges them with a crocheted or knitted finish, or returns the rug to be given to an "edger".

WWL always appreciates edged rugs, as it gives the squares stability and better lasting power, so we try to make sure that any rug from our group, whether knitted by us, or donated, is sent off with an edge.

Wing and Penny, above and below, with rugs made from odd squares.

Wing and Penny again, showing the variety of ways that squares are put together.
The crocheted rug below is an exercise using small balls of "leftovers" to make a warm,
serviceable and attractive rug.

Two more rugs - the darker colours in the rug above are lifted
by the squares of red and turquoise.

Penny shows a rug knitted by Jen - always a work of art and NEVER needing
any sewing to complete. We are constantly amazed at Jen's planning, colour
coordination and knitting skills. This rug is smaller, so will go to
Mahboba's Promise for a child in need in Afghanistan.

UFOs at Epping Library!!

2012-01-28T15:55:00.001+11:00

That's right, folks - believe it or not we get UFOs at the Library!! For those who are disbelievers, sceptics or otherwise unimpressed, you obviously are not knitters (or quilters or ...). UFO is an acronym for "UnFinished Object" - not the other sort that flies ;o)

UFOs often land in our laps from donations of knitting that has been started and abandoned - a not unknown happening. Sometimes we all lose interest in things, especially if they are not going well; sometimes other things take priority. There are times when we receive knitting because of downsizing, illness and sadly when a loved one passes away. We are always grateful for these donations and thank all of you who have donated to the group. We rely on the generosity of others for a lot of the yarn in our rugs.

Sometimes we can use the UFO as is - incorporating it into a rug with additional knitted squares; sometimes we need to start from scratch - undo the UFO and reknit the yarn into a rug, with or without additional yarn. If the UFO is a partially knitted garment, we do our best to complete it and it then goes to Mahboba's Promise for women and children in need in Afghanistan. Our member, Doreen, is a whizz at this.

I thought you might be interested to see the process of making a rug from one such UFO. We received a partially completed rug recently, along with some squares of varying sizes. The yarn used was quite light and had been knitted on largish needles so the squares were stretching out of shape causing a number of problems including reducing the warmth of the rug and making it hard to piece together.

The first task was to wash the knitting - it had been in a plastic bag for some time and was a little bit musty - and dry it.

I'll keep you up to date at each stage of the rug making process - watch this space!

TIP: When washing yarn that has in storage for some time and smells a little musty, add bicarbonate of soda to the rinse water - I use a couple of tablespoons. When it dries, the yarn will smell fresh again. This also works for clothing etc that has been in storage, and when wet washing has become smelly waiting for a sunny day.

Two posts in one day? (have to make up for 2011!)

2012-01-26T16:20:00.000+11:00

We have been very busy at the library since the knitting year began last September - I keep finding more photos that haven't been blogged, so here we go again:

Two scarves for Mahboba's Promise (Atholie)

A scarf for Mahboba's Promise (Atholie)

Two plaited scarves for Mahboba's Promise, made by Sandi -
an amazing woman who knits by feel only. We all admire her skill.

The use of multicoloured wool for the
edging is very effective.

Two more colourful rugs showing what can be done with mismatched oddments of wool - very effective.

An eye-catching rug.

And another two

A beautiful crocheted rug made Emma who manages to use

up small oddments of wool in the centres of her squares.

You can see that we're a busy lot at Epping!

Rugs & ...More Rugs :)

2012-01-26T14:24:00.001+11:00

Shakundlah with the rug she made and edged using a two piece construction -
this reduces the sewing needed in a way that avoids the weight of a whole rug
on your lap and needles as the rug gets bigger.

Baiba with the stepped colours of her rug being admired by Atholie.

Another interesting rug - it's amazing how small amounts of yarns in different
colours can end up looking this good!

Obviously made by the same person as the previous rug - and equally charming.

Another rug pieced together from different squares in the box - crocheting the squares
together with the same yarn as used for the edging is very effective in pulling the
a collection of different colours and patterns together.

Useful Books

2012-01-24T14:25:00.000+11:00

From time to time we come across books that we find especially useful for our rug making. This particular book was given to me, and I use it a lot for edgings. Unlike the Nicky Epstein book that serves a similar purpose, it is very compact and easy to use and carry around - and somehow, the edgings seem to be more useful. As well as 129 edgings it has 21 "Additions" - flowers, leaves etc. It is photographed well, and the layout and contents are useful for new and experienced knitters:

The librarians at Epping are very helpful and always endeavour to purchase books for the library that might be useful to a number of people - and we have lots of knitters in Hornsby Shire. I'll be asking them to put this one on the list :)

Details of the book are:
Title: Knitted Trims. 150 designs for beautiful decorative edgings, from beaded braids to cables, bobbles and fringes.
Author: Lesley Stanfield
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
Year: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7318-1328-5

While we're on the subject of statistics ...

2012-01-19T21:03:00.002+11:00

The annual newsletter from Wrap With Love for 2011 had a list of the previous year's wraps - I thought you might be interested to see how many were made and their destinations:

NB Table scanned from the WWL Annual Bulletin 2011

Of the 33,615 wraps distributed in 2010, our group contributed 107 plus enough squares for another 20 wraps. Our effort, at less than 0.4% of the total*** was just a drop in the bucket, but that gives you an idea of how many people must be involved in producing such a great total.

Mary, from our group, bought a DVD, the "Wrap With Love Story", and she was kind enough to lend it to me. If you are interested in the work of Wrap With Love, the hundreds of volunteer helpers, and the people who receive the wraps, it is well worth seeing. The DVDs are available for a $5.00 donation from :

Wrap With Love Inc,
PO Box 10,
Rosebery, NSW 1445
Australia.

*** When looking at this percentage, please bear in mind that my maths ability is VERY BAD. So, apologies if the figure is wrong :-)

Is it really so long?

2012-01-17T22:30:00.001+11:00

I can't believe it's months, not weeks, since I updated the blog. We finished 2011 with our usual end-of-year party - all sorts of goodies to eat from many different cultures, a choice of teas and coffee and lots of talk and laughter. As usual, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take any photos! Next time I think we'll need a designated "photo monitor"!

The group has had its fair share of operations and illnesses over the last twelve months and our thoughts are with Brigid who has been very ill, and Gina, whose husband is recovering from major surgery. We hope to see them both back later in the year.

We seem to have a bit of steam up in the knitting of rugs and children's clothing - I've updated the figures in the side column for Mahboba's Promise, and will give a tally of the number of completed wraps in the next post - hopefully that will be in weeks, not months this time.

Do you ever check out the flag counter on the side? It monitors the visits to this blog. In the last 17 months, we have had 1,101 unique visitors to our page, from 32 different countries!

	Country		Unique Visitors	Last New Visitor
1.		Australia	867	January 17, 2012
2.		United States	111	January 16, 2012
3.		United Kingdom	36	January 8, 2012
4.		Taiwan	34	January 7, 2012
5.		Russia	8	November 26, 2011
6.		Japan	6	January 23, 2011
7.		Germany	4	January 4, 2012
8.		Canada	4	August 22, 2011
9.		New Zealand	3	March 31, 2011
10.		Belgium	2	January 14, 2012
11.		Netherlands	2	January 4, 2012
12.		South Africa	2	October 10, 2011
13.		Romania	2	February 10, 2011
14.		Jordan	1	December 5, 2011
15.		Mexico	1	November 24, 2011
16.		Spain	1	November 8, 2011
17.		Serbia	1	October 23, 2011
18.		Poland	1	October 4, 2011
19.		Austria	1	September 9, 2011
20.		Argentina	1	August 14, 2011
21.		Israel	1	July 31, 2011
22.		Portugal	1	June 29, 2011
23.		Hong Kong	1	June 2, 2011
24.		Brazil	1	April 10, 2011
25.		Malaysia	1	February 14, 2011
26.		Italy	1	December 26, 2010
27.		Croatia	1	December 21, 2010
28.		Iceland	1	December 16, 2010
29.		Northern Mariana Islands	1	November 14, 2010
30.		Sweden	1	October 21, 2010
31.		Lithuania	1	August 19, 2010
32.		Switzerland	1	August 19, 2010

No doubt a number found their way here by mistake! But we hope that everyone enjoyed their visit. If you do visit, we'd love you to leave a comment and tell us where you are from, and what sort of knitting you do.

We returned to the Library on January 12 after a short break over Christmas and New Year and will be meeting each Thursday as usual. We welcome new members and can always teach you to knit or crochet if you would like to join us.

As usual, donations of knitting wool/yarn are always welcome and can be dropped in at the library any time, or contact us on our email address and we can arrange to collect it.

Happy New Year to everyone - may much knitting be done!

Thank You North Epping, Bendigo Community Bank!

2011-09-30T18:05:00.001+10:00

Over the last two years we have been very fortunate to receive two grants from the North Epping Bendigo Community Bank as part of their community program. These grants have enabled us to buy warm, pure wool to knit our blankets for Wrap With Love.

Our group hasn't applied for a grant in the current funding round, but we are continually appreciative of the support that North Epping Bendigo Bank has given us.

Some of the group choosing colours for their next rugs from the last consignment of grant wool.

THANK YOU NORTH EPPING, BENDIGO BANK from the Epping Library Knitters.

Some rugs ...

2011-09-28T17:07:00.001+10:00

You will notice that some of the rugs are smaller than others. Some of the group have been involved with knitting smaller rugs for Save the Children Fund -these rugs go to babies in countries where they are needed. Click on the link for see further information. We label these rugs with "Wrap With Love" labels, and advise WWL of the numbers.

Another masterpiece from Antonia (left), knitted and completed in what seems like no time!

We're into the new knitting year .... and "thank you"s are due to so many people.

2011-09-28T16:55:00.000+10:00

I still haven't finished updating the blog from the last knitting year, so please accept my apologies - it's been one of those years with lots of personal things happening including several trips in Australia and one to Japan, visitors from New Zealand, three operations to different family members and many visits to doctors, physiotherapists, radiologists etc. Sometimes other things just have to slide and it seems to have been my knitting and the blog.

The knitting year finished with the big Knit-In at Hornsby Library in August. Epping was represented by a large group and lots of fun was had. We contested the fastest knitter, blindfold knitting, and the two-handed knitting contests, the knit-lit competition and the "guess the length of the knitting needles" competition. It is always good fun, but even better fun when someone from our group wins a prize as was the case this year.

A very big "thank you" to the Hornsby Library and the many librarians from across the Shire for making it such an enjoyable day.

And special big "thank you" to the wonderful librarians at Epping Library, our "home". Sue shares her office with our wool and rugs - we often wonder how she fits herself in - and is unfailingly cheerful and encouraging about it ( even the noise level of the group). Mani is similarly encouraging and helpful to us, as she tries to keep track of our membership and activities and my rather disorganised organisation! I'm sure we give them both headaches some days :) Then we have Deeni, Susan and Catherine who have been quietly supportive behind the scenes. Thank you from us all.

Time is marching on ....

2011-05-27T17:53:00.002+10:00

and I'm still behind with the rug photos:

More rugs:

A rug sewn together and crochet edged by Mary (right) from squares made by her friend Molly.

A work of art from our film star Shakundla (left). Watch for her in a children's movie trailer later in the year. This time Shakundla knited her rug in strips to eliminate some of the sewing up - and she crocheted around the edge to add stability.

Squares and Rugs ...

2011-05-14T20:19:00.000+10:00

are continuing to roll into the Library - how is this one for a masterpiece? Made by Jen , it's an amazing piece of work, knitted to eliminate the need for sewing up, and clearly designed with colour and pattern in mind. We are all in awe of her skills.

We've also received an other parcel of squares from Val and her patchwork friends and a bag of squares from Geok. Thank you all for your hard work. The cold weather at the moment certainly highlights for us the need for warmth for those who receive the Wrap With Love blankets.

Thank You Bendigo Community Bank at North Epping....

2011-04-21T17:52:00.001+10:00

Some little time ago, a large box and a large bag of wool arrived from Wangaratta Woollen Mills, purchased with some of the money from our grant from Bendigo Community Bank at North Epping:

Much hard work was in store for us, as we had bought "tangled" wool which sells for $10 a kilo, rather than the $100 a kilo it would cost us otherwise.

PomPom (ravelry name) and Jen from our group came to our aid with the loan of three ball-winders. Two full days of untangling and winding later, we had this to show for our efforts:

Already rugs are coming in that have been knitted with this wool and it's almost time to order some more.

Catch-Up!

2011-02-27T17:39:00.002+11:00

So much happens, so quickly and sometimes life gets in the way of good intentions. I have a backlog of photos to show you, and by now have probably forgotten and/or lost my little bits of paper with names on - so bear with me - all will be revealed in time - I hope! Please contact me if you made or sewed together any of the squares in these rugs, or if you made any of the completed rug or edged any of them, and I will put an acknowledgement up.

Val (left) and Vaida with a donated rug.

Next , a rug made by Virginia with some of the wool purchased with the 2009 - 2010 grant from North Epping Bendigo Bank - it is beautiful with the soft colours enlivened by the flowers embroidered around the edge. Well done, Virginia.

Virginia (left) and Brigid display Virginia's rug.

Details of the flower embroidery on Virginia's rug.

elow, a rug made by Mary, a new member of our group - Mary has been knitting all her life and has incorporated some intarsia into her rug:

Rebecca and Mary (right) display Mary's creative rug

Some detail of the intarsia - it looks good.

Antonia (left) and Val display a rug:

Joyce and Genevieve (right) with a rug knitted by Genenevieve:

Genevieve's rugs are always creative in her use of pattern and colour.

Genevieve has added some interesting detail to this rug, adapted from a man's scarf pattern

Kris (left) is the crocheter in our group. She completed this rug using wool bought with the 2009 - 2010 grant from North Epping Bendigo Bank. A few of us would have liked to have taken this one home!

It's raining rugs!

2011-01-27T00:15:00.000+11:00

Each week when we arrive for the knitting group, the rugs seem to have multiplied in our absence. This year we're trying to keep track of the numbers knitted by the group; put together and edged by the group; or just edged by the group. This will allow us to make a more meaningful report to the North Epping Bendigo Community Bank on our use of the grant we've received.

But it's a bit difficult - some rugs are like elusive ancestors - they arrive fully formed with no evidence of their parentage; others have a note pinned to them with the maker's name; and others are brought in by group members, either made from scratch by the member, or put together and edged from donated squares. Still, we'll do our best. If you recognise any rugs in this blog with the wrong, or no attribution, please let me know so that I can correct it.

We haven't gone away .....

2011-01-27T00:00:00.001+11:00

I've just been a bit too caught up in other things to keep the blog updated. This of course creates some problems, as all the little notes I keep to let me acknowledge donations, rug and square makers suddenly have no meaning after a couple of months - which name went with which photo? So please contact me if I haven't acknowledged your contribution and I'll do so.

After a busy year, the end of year party was suddenly apon us, and I was so busy I forgot to take any photos! Never mind, there was lots of food from many different countries, recipe swapping, knitting, chatting and laughter. And lucky door prizes, of course.

Lots of rugs have been finished or left at the library by generous knitters - a few photos for your enjoyment:

A bright checkerboard pattern - it looks great!

This one reminds me of modern art.

Another rug made from squares donated by Raveler, Cecilia1.

Did you make this rug? Let me know.

This is a pretty, lined rug made by Margaret Harrison.

Stripes are popular and always look bright and cheerful.

Thank you to everyone who made these warm, wonderful rugs. Please let me know if I haven't acknowledged your contribution and I'll do so:)

Great excitement ....

2010-11-18T23:36:00.000+11:00

Everyone is very excited to have received another grant from the North Epping Branch of Bendigo Community Bank, and everyone is waiting with twitching fingers and bated breath for the first purchases of new wool as we have run very low.

Other excitement today as we learnt that Kris - our young crochet guru who topped the year in Interior Design in her final exams at TAFE has now found employment after an enforced stay at home because of health problems. The even more exciting news is that she won't be working Thursdays! so she will still be able to come to the group. Congratulations, Kris!!

Two of our group will be sorely missed during their absences on visits to their home countries. Indrani is a longstanding member of the group and and Kanwal a relatively new one, but both are "fixtures" whom we always look forward to seeing. We all hope you each have a wonderful visit to catch up with family and friends and we look forward to your safe returns.

And we were very pleased to welcome Beatriz back after an extended absence, and a new member, Wendy. Wendy is here for a few months from China, visiting her family. She is a fast and skilled knitter and will enjoy the friendship of the group and practise her English while she is here.

Another couple of rugs have been completed - and the makings of some donated:

Squares donated by Val and her patchwork group; sewn together and edged by the Epping Library Group.

Squares donated by Mrs Valario, along with a "plan" for how they should be sewn together - a great help!

A rug completed by Vida from bits and pieces of yarn - it looks good!

Thank you North Epping Bendigo Community Bank!

2010-11-16T23:56:00.001+11:00

Once again the North Epping Branch - Bendigo Community Bank has awarded our group a grant of $500 to purchase wool for the rugs we knit for Wrap With Love. The awards night was tonight and three of the group's members attended - it is a condition of the awards that a representative of the group must be present at the announcement of the successful applicants or the award will lapse, and we didn't want to take any chances !!

It is always nerve wracking waiting for the announcements, hoping that you'll be successful, but very conscious that there are always more applicants than awards. This year the number of applicants was less than last year, so we didn't have to wait as long to learn our fate!

The concept of community banking is innovative and exciting - as Sharyn Hubert, the manager of the North Epping bank said tonight, it provides a strong model for the wider banking community. The shareholders are, in the main, from the local community. Dividends are capped at a certain percentage of the profits and the extra profits are channeled back into the local community through grants and sponsorships. The big banks often have foundations which distribute money through a grant process, but those grants are of a higher financial level and usually go to universities and other large organisations. Yet, a relatively small amount of money can go a long way in the community to maintain, improve and create services - the local sporting groups, the scout and guide troops, services for seniors and similar. Our group is both proud and lucky to be among the recipients.

Thank you again North Epping Branch - Bendigo Community Bank.

Raising money for Wrap With Love

2010-11-16T13:28:00.001+11:00

Wrap With Love receives a lot of community support, especially from the Sydney City Council which, through their Accommodation Grants Program, provides office and warehouse premises valued at $30,000, at Alexandria - the centre of all things WWL. But as always, extra funds are needed for all sorts of other expenses. One of our local community groups "Wheel 'n' Weft" has a twice yearly exhibition and sale of beautiful handmade articles - everything from knitted garments to jewellery and paintings.

A few weeks ago, the proceeds of the door entry and their raffle were to be donated to WWL. Along with many others, a couple of us from the Epping Library Knitting Group volunteered to do a shift in the foyer at the Thornleigh Community Centre , keeping an eye on the WWL rugs on display, and answering questions about WWL's activities. I received a phone call yesterday from the exhibition organiser to thank us and to say that they were able to donate $1,000 to WWL. What a tremendous donation from the local community! And a big thank you to our members who helped out.

Diamond's are a girl's best friend ....

2010-11-11T16:34:00.000+11:00

- or at least they are at Epping Library! A lot of rugs which were started earlier this year are being completed - and many feature diamonds. I take my hat off to people who have the spatial ability to plan rugs in this way.

First, Virginia (on the left) with a rug knitted from donated yarn and some of the yarn bought with our grant from the North Epping Community Bank. Well done, Virginia!

Then a rug knitted by Brigid from bits and pieces of yarn she had collected - again, a clever use of stripes has produced a diamond effect - what an effort!

Joyce (left) has also finished the rug she has been working on. I love the use of textured yarn to join and edge the blanket - it's different and fun - I think a few of us will be copying this idea:

Valarie (left) has also been bitten by the diamond bug resulting in another stunning blanket:

This rug was knitted with wool purchased with the grant from North Epping Community Bendigo Bank.

Last year the girls from Meriden School presented us with a beautiful rug for WWL, and this year they have finished two! That is a great effort girls - thank you for your donation.

Rug made by Meriden School.

Another rug from Meriden.

A friend of Beatriz donated a rug's worth of squares and Brigid joined these together and edged them - cute and colourful - thank you to Beatriz's friend and to Brigid:

Last but not least, some baby jackets knitted by Leslie for the street stalls run by The Friends of the Shack, the local youth outreach centre which is dependent on grants, donations and fund raising for its continued existence. Thank you Leslie - you are a beautiful knitter:

And some more squares ...

2010-11-05T20:47:00.000+11:00

Regular supporters of WWL, Val and her patchwork group have again donated a pile of squares - 71 in total this time. That is nearly enough for 3 rugs!

On Thursday, we welcomed Caroline back after a month's holiday. She came bearing a gift - the rug she has knitted from some of the wool bought with our Bendigo Community Bank grant. This is a beautiful rug - knitted all in one piece with Caroline's characteristic creative use of colour.:

Caroline (R) and Joyce (L( displaying Caroline's beautiful rug.
As always, the photo doesn't do justice to the depth of the colours in the rug.

Caroline used a clever technique to join the changes of colour - we talked about it in "the tip of the day" an earlier post. With this method, the front and the back of the rug are equally beautiful - in effect there is no "wrong" side.

Which side do you prefer?

We also had a regular supporter of WWL, Dr Noelene Cappe, call into the group with two rugs she had completed. Noelene's rugs are always bright and cheerful and everyone loves them!

Noelene (L) and Lesley (R) displaying Noelene's rug.

Noelene and Vaida with the second rug.

Thank you Noelene - and we look forward to seeing you at the end of year party!

Knitting, knitting, knitting ....

2010-11-04T22:33:00.002+11:00

We have had a number of completed rugs come in over the last couple of months. Thank you to everyone who has knitted rugs, squares or put them together and edged them.

Antonia with the beautiful rug she knitted. Antonia is a skilled knitter and crocheter.

A rug made from scraps, knitted in strips.

This rug was joined together and edged with a multicoloured, textured yarn - it looks great!

We have also received some garments knitted for Mahboba's Promise. As Mahboba can no longer accept knitted clothing other than beanies and blankets, unsuitable items will be donated to another charity.

The name of the stitch is ....

2010-11-04T18:15:00.000+11:00

.... entrelac Tunisian crochet. Entrelac is a technique used in both knitting and crochet and the rug is done in entrelac Tunisian crochet.

Thank you to Anonymous and Vintage Grrl who left comments on this post, and thank you to the many Ravelers who identified not only the Tunisian crochet but narrowed it down to entrelac. The links from Ravelry are here for those who would like to learn more:

http://www.freepatterns.com/content/content.html?content_id=58

http://www.hookyarnandneedles.com/oldstuff/node/38

Can you name this stitch?

2010-11-02T16:52:00.000+11:00

Last Saturday, a craft group called Wheel & Weft held an exhibition and sale at Thornleigh Community Centre. Proceeds from the entry fee and raffle went to Wrap With Love and a couple of us from the Epping Library Group took a turn in the foyer "minding" the wraps that were on display.

All the wraps on display were works of art - specially chosen for the day, but this particular wrap excited a large amount of interest - everyone wanted to know how it was made. Mention was made of "continental crochet" but we were as clueless as everyone else. I volunteered to try to identify the stitch by calling on the vast knowledge of Ravelers all over the world. But chances are that someone who reads this blog may be able to identify it. Can you help?

More stocktaking ...

2010-10-13T23:10:00.000+11:00

... not of the balls of wool! but of the group's activities and achievements over the knitting year.

We have had a lot of fun and shared a lot of laughter. And we've also shared sadness. Two of our members have died in the last couple of months - Jean and Shirley - and we have grieved over their loss. Another of our group, another Jean, is no longer to come because of ill health - we miss her at our meetings and hope that her health improves. Some of our group have lost loved family members too, and our hearts have gone out to them.

We have also been busy. Since August last year we have:

had a successful end-of-year party in 2009 sharing fun over food from many cultures.
In conjunction with the Epping Library Staff organised an education session by Kris Howard of the Knitters Guild on Internet resources for knitters - Welcome to the Knitternet. This was well attended by group members and people from the community.
Participated in the annual Knit In at Hornsby Library in August 2010.
Hosted a World Wide Knit In Public event at Epping Library with over 40 participants. As the “main” event in the city attracted just over 90 participants, we were very pleased with the outcome.
Conducted a Knitterbugs, learn to knit class for 7 – 12 year olds during the July school holidays. The class was booked out and was great fun for the group members who volunteered as well as the children. One of the 12 year olds, who could not attend because the class was full, came to the knitting group’s meetings in the holidays and learnt to knit with the assistance of group members. She has started to knit squares for Wrap With Love as a result.
Started this blog to record the activities of the group – http://eppinglibraryknitters.wordpress.com
Assisted Pennant Hills Library Knitting Group to establish a blog too.

So what will the coming year hold for us? More knitting of course! But the rest will be revealed as the year progresses - it's pretty safe to say, though, that an end of year party will be on the agenda. :)

Time to take stock ...

2010-10-12T21:56:00.000+11:00

The Knit In at Hornsby Library in August each year marks the end of our knitting year. Not that we stop meeting or knitting! It's just the time when we tally up our achievements for the year and thank those people who have helped us along the way.

This year we presented Wrap With Love (WWL) with 107 competed wraps and 577 loose squares. We didn't produce all this by ourselves - many of the wraps and squares were donated by members of the public - most anonymous. We try to sew all the squares we receive in to wraps with crocheted edges and WWL labels sewn on the underside, but this year we had no hope of keeping up with the volume. Fortunately, WWL has a band of dedicated sewers who collect bundles of squares and return completed wraps to the warehouse.

Additionally, we completed 165 items of knitted children's clothing for the Winter Warm Project and Mahboba's Promise.

We have had help from many generous people along the way:

Bendigo Community Bank, North Epping - a grant of $500 to purchase yarn.
Cherryhills, the knitting shop at Pennant Hills - donation of yarn for wraps and prizes for the 2009 end-of-year party.
Yarn & Gifts, the knitting shop at Beecroft - donation of yarn for wraps and prizes for the 2009 end-of-year party.
Ravelry members who donated knitting yarn for wraps:

Mary-Helen and Sandra
Janette
Celia (Celia1)
Sally (Pompom)
Jennifer (m1k1)

Those who donated prizes for World Wide Knit in Public Day:

Sally (Pompom) -yarn and WWKIP bags
Jennifer (m1k1 - books and yarn
Celia's Basket - (an online knitting store) - hand dyed wool and stitch markers
Note to Self - an Epping home wares/gift shop - gift pack of soap and lotions
Yarn Magazine - 2 magazines

Donors of completed wraps and squares

Val and her sewing group
Year 7 Meriden School for Girls
Dr Cappe
Denise Inch
Christine Shea & friends
Elaine Gallen
the many anonymous donors

Our heartfelt thanks go to each and everyone of you.

Vale Shirley McCann

2010-10-02T12:47:00.001+10:00

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Shirley McCann. Shirley died in July - her death was very sudden - at her car as she was about to go shopping one Saturday morning. None of us could be sad at the manner of her death, but we mourn her loss. Shirley's family is in shock at her sudden death - her daughter Roslyn said that she had felt her mother was not as well as she had been, but whenever she asked after her health, Shirley, being Shirley and fiercely independent, would reply that she was well.

It is only when someone dies, that you realise how very little you really know about them. Shirley often talked of her daughter and son and the families' doings; she had talked a little of her working life - in engineering - and when I asked her if she had ever written the story of her life as it sounded so interesting and ahead of her time, she said the family were always asking her to write it down. I hope she did.

Shirley had been with our group since its formation. She was unfailingly cheerful, bright, talkative and happy. She was very down to earth and had a great, often cheeky, sense of humour - a person my mother would have described as a "wag"! Everyone misses her enormously and will continue to do so.

Our hearts go out to her family.

Knit In tomorrow!

2010-08-05T18:17:00.003+10:00

So, we'll see you there! We have had more wraps and squares come in from the group members and generous members of the public. This brings Epping Library's total to: 577 loose squares and 107 completed wraps which have been sent to Wrap With Love and 165 items of clothing sent to Mahobas's Promise for the year August 2009 - August 2010. Not a bad effort and an increase over the totals for last year.

A great result - thank you to every one who has knitted wraps and squares.

We still have about 15 wraps at Epping Library to show Sharyn, the manager of Bendigo Community Bank at North Epping. These will be sent on to WWL after Sharyn visits us next week to see what we do. We wanted her to see some of the wraps we have produced with our grant money.

More squares! Thank you Val and your sewing group.

2010-08-03T22:27:00.001+10:00

Today we received another 44 squares from Laraine's friend Val, and Val's sewing group. That makes a total of 279 squares that these ladies have knitted and donated. Well done - that means another 10 wraps will be made from these squares and will keep someone warm.

Thank you so much - sorry I can't put a photo up at present, but I'm camera-less for the time being.

Vale Jean Bennett

2010-08-02T19:55:00.000+10:00

On Saturday, in accordance with her wishes, Jean's ashes were scattered at Bilgola beach, and a large group of family and friends gathered to farewell her. Unwell for some time, Jean was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer only a week before she died.

Jean was a relatively new member of our group at Epping Library, but she brought a lot to our meetings apart from her knitting - her friendly smile; her cheeky sense of humour; her film reviews; her "tell it as it is" attitude to life. Some of the group had the privilege of meeting her extended family at her farewell - although she was an only child, and had never married, it was very apparent to us that Jean was part of a large, loving family. It's so often the case that we learn more about people at their farewells, than when they were alive - and we learnt from her family and friends of the full, active life that Jean had lived - always a member of many and varied community groups; swimming weekly with a large active group of friends at Bilgola; bushwalking; backpacking, alone, around the world at 60 after her retirement - it seems there is so much we still had to learn of Jean's life.

Jean's presence will be greatly missed at our weekly get-togethers.

WRAP WITH LOVE 2010 KNIT IN @ HORNSBY LIBRARY !

2010-07-30T11:08:00.002+10:00

Hornsby Library is again hosting the annual Knit In for Wrap With Love:

"Community groups and individuals are invited to attend. On this day our donations of knitted squares and wraps are given to Wrap With Love representatives for distribution to national and international people in need. In 2009 our efforts achieved an amazing 669 wraps, with a further 3403 squares.

The Hornsby Library Knit In receives the support of many local schools. Already we have had it confirmed that Epping West Primary, Mt Colah Primary and Class 1/2 Y from Thornleigh
West have their needles in action and are busy knitting squares. Congratulations to all these schools

The 2010 Knit In is a free event and will include knitting races and activities, displays of fabulous wraps and light refreshments."

The "Master of Ceremonies" is great fun and it is a day of great friendship and warmth. Even if you can't knit, please come along - bring a pair of 4mm knitting needles and we will show you how!!

WHEN
Friday 6 August; 9.00am - 12.00 noon

COST
FREE!

WHERE
HORNSBY CENTRAL LIBRARY
28-44 George St (entrance in Hunter Lane), Hornsby NSW 2077
Tel: (02) 9847 6813

GETTING THERE
400 metres from Hornsby railway station, over the footbridge towards Westfield.
CityRail Timetables - www.cityrail.info/timetable
Bus Transport Infoline - www.131500.com.au

PARKING
3-hour and 1-hour free parking behind the library off Burdett Street, 3-hour free parking at Westfield Hornsby.

See you there!!!

Rugs and more rugs ....

2010-07-26T22:20:00.005+10:00

I'm behind again in posting - too busy sorting rugs at the library! The number of rugs completed by the group and by generous people in the community - we are up to 100 at the last count (give or take a rug or too - it changes everyday). I'm no longer able to cope with taking photos of individual rugs - mainly because I've left my camera at Temora - and lost the battery charger for the other one! So a few more photos:

I'm constantly amazed at the variety of rugs that are made - some are knitted, some crocheted; some so colourful that you need sunglasses! and some pastel soft; some plain, some fancy - every person has an individual style. Then there are the rugs that we put together from squares that have been donated. These are miracles of design and engineering, given the variety of colours, materials and sizes of squares that end up with our square dancers!
And some more:

There are plenty more to come - all now being packed up for transport to Hornsby Library for the Knit-In.

The next generation of knitters ....

2010-07-12T23:51:00.003+10:00

It's school holidays in NSW and Epping library - and the others in Hornsby Shire - have some school holidays activities. Two of my grandchildren are booked in to learn balloon twisting, and magic and juggling. Last holidays we went to "Backyard Bugs" and it was a joy to behold children from 7 to 12 with enormous praying mantis' and stick insects crawling up their arms, legs, faces and hair. The Parks and Wildlife person who ran this session really enthused these little ones.

So, it was with great excitement and some trepidation, that the librarians suggested we might like to do a session on learning to knit for 7 to 12 year olds. The session booked out very quickly and 12 little people - all girls - turned up, some looking rather scared, to see what we had to offer. The session was called Knitterbugs after the Victorian schools program of the same name. Details of the book of the same name can be found here. I can thoroughly recommend this book.

We talked a little bit about knitting - the knit and the purl stitch - and what you can make from garter stitch and just a simple piece of knitting - bookmarks, wristbands, wristwarmers, fingerless gloves, and the origami rabbit. Of course we had a number of samples to pass around for everyone to try on.

Then it was time to start with the knit stitch rhyme - "In through the front door, run around the back, out through the window, off jumps Jack! " - each child was given a laminated sheet with illustrations of how to do the knit stitch on one side and how to cast off on the other with the cast off rhyme - "Knit yourself over, invite a friend too; leap frog over, lie down Sue". Much excitement as each child was given their kit - short 4.5mm Birch needles like these: [Photo from Birch site]

More to come - check back later in the week ....

WWKIP

2010-07-01T21:34:00.020+10:00

Well, WWKIP has been and gone and I have been very behind in posting - life gets in the way, sometimes. We had a great day at Epping Library on 17th June - 41 people turned up - some from the knitting groups at Epping and Hornsby and some from people who had seen the signs in the libraries.

The level of interaction was a joy to behold:

Thanks to the wonderful librarians we were able to have the library for an hour before the normal opening time and so could have the use of the staff room for our morning tea - with so much food brought by the Epping group that we were able to leave the staff room supplied with goodies for the next few days. The library was decorated with balloons, knitted flowers and rugs courtsey of Sue, Mani and Deni of the library staff, and Kris and Vida from the Epping group.

Above: Sue and Mani
The library display case had a suitably woolly display, arranged by Deni - thank you Deni!

And we always like to recognise the local North Epping Bendigo Community Bank who provided us with a generous grant in the last funding round, to buy wool for our charity knitting:

Our lucky door prize was donated by Nicola and Linda of "Note to Self", a beautiful, local gift shop in Epping, and the lucky winner was delighted with her beautiful pamper pack :

There was only one competition - to guess the number of tightly wound balls of yarn in a large glass container - the lucky, or perhaps I should say clever winner - guessed 280 (the exact number was 282!). An incredible achievement as some of those balls were VERY tiny. Here's a phot of our librarian, Sue, reading out the number of balls - with the container of balls in the background:

The generosity of a number of other businesses and people meant that a large number of people went home with a goodie bag. On behalf of the lucky prizewinners. I'd like to thank also, Celia from Ravelry who donated two beautiful, soft skeins of hand-dyed yarn and some stitch markers from her online shop Celia's Basket; Sally, Pompom on Ravelry, who donated three WWKIP bags and a luscious skein of Ms Gusset sock wool; Jen who attends our group for the two books from her library - there were a few disappointed winners who were too late to grab these!. I have a feeling that Jen donated some yarn too, but these were donated on the day and in the rush I didn't note it down - apologies, Jen, if this is the case :-). Yarn magazine very kindly donated a copy of Embellish and Felt - I was so impressed with Embellish that I went and bought myself a copy at the Craft Fair! Thank you to the girls from Yarn. There were also some hand-knitted facecloths each tied up with a cake of yummy smelling soap; some Patonyle sock yarn and a scarf kit of Victoria ribbon and Adriafil Brio Fantasy yarn. Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to our generous donors!

The day ended with a catchy, happy performance on the harmonica, by one of our Hornsby group visitors:

Thank you everyone who attended, everyone who contributed to the running of the day and everyone who donated prizes, for making it such a great day - let's hope we see you all again next year on WWKIP day - provided, of course, that our wonderful librarians and the other library users don't object!!!!
Here are some more photos of some of our lucky winners:

More Rugs ...

2010-05-21T18:11:00.011+10:00

Now, some of the rugs here may have appeared in the blog before - I haven't kept up with the photography and so many look alike in my files! The numbers are correct though - so apologies if you've seen them before (I'd appreciate a comment to that effect so I can remove the duplicates) - enjoy the amazing way colours and patterns are put together - some are planned by the knitter, many are sewn together by the group making the best we can of a mixed bag of loose squares that have been donated or knitted by the group. Often, an amazing use is made of odd fragments of knitting or crochet that have been included in donated wool.

Some time ago Cecilia (Cecilia1 on Ravelry) gave the group a lot of yarn and needles as she packed up her ho me to go overseas to work. We have been very grateful for that donation - these needles have become used more over the last six weeks or so as knitting skills improve and people have been keen to try new techniques and thicker yarns. Thank you again, Cecilia.

Most of the yarn we use has been donated or bought with the grant we received from the North Epping Bendigo Community Bank. With some of our grant money were very fortunate to be able to purchase a lot of yarn at a very reduced price from Janette (Janette on Ravelry) as she destashed the yarn from her online business (styk.com.au).

Thank you again to all those people and businesses who support our knitting efforts either by donations of yarn, needles or knitted items, grants or discounts, or donations for our functions - we are very grateful to all of you.

Busy fingers but not on the keyboard ...

2010-05-18T21:35:00.009+10:00

Although I haven't updated our blog for a while, the fingers at Epping have been very busy. We continue to meet weekly with a core group of 12 - 16 each week. We seem to grow noisier each week but no one complains (at least not to us!). For a while we seemed to be making inroads into the squares that we have knitted and been donated, and completed rugs have appeared out of them, but suddenly we seem to have a huge number waiting to be sewn together again!

One of the biggest problems we have when creating rugs from assorted squares, is finding 28 squares that co-ordinate colourwise, and that are all the same size! I don't know why it is so hard to knit two squares that are identical in size - I have trouble too - but some of it must be due to the variety of yarns we use, as well as the different tensions of the many knitters. We seem to manage though, and as you can see from the photos, we go to great lengths to not waste anything.

Here is a magnificent crocheted rug and it's clever maker, Kris:

Another rug put together by Kris, who has a very good eye for colour. The variegated crocheted edging looks particularly good with the colours of the rug:

What have we been doing?

2010-04-26T17:33:00.012+10:00

After a bit of lull in posting our progress, I'm glad to report that we've had a number of new rugs finished over the last couple of weeks. We've also had another donation of squares from a very busy group of women - they were responsible for the last donation of over 200 squares some time ago! Thank you very much to these generous women. I'll have photos of the other rugs next week. Thank you also (and again) to our team of "square dancers", two of whom are busy at work in this photo:
Today I'm going to post some photos of our knits for Afghanistan. This photo features one of our little visitors who graciously agreed to model one of the hats for us. Then we have some other hats and a long sleeved jumper based on the pattern that is used for babies in Africa.

Just a reminder - when knitting for Afghanistan, it's really important to use wool, not acrylic. The temperatures get down to minus 20C in winter, and wool is much warmer. That said, nothing goes astray - a few layers of any fibre must help to keep children warm who might otherwise have nothing.

As you can see, we have some very talented knitters in our group. :o)

Labours of love ...

2010-03-18T14:44:00.012+11:00

Another busy, happy group at the Library, today. We were very pleased to see Gina and Lesley back with us today, looking very well. And JEN! It was good to see you.

Another two beautiful rugs were finished for Wrap With Love:
The first was made by Indrani - this is Indrani's second rug and a major achievement as she only learnt to knit in the group, and to complete this rug, learnt to crochet. Congratulations, Indrani - it looks great, and the green you chose for the crocheted joins looks really good.

The second is a wonderful example of how nothing is wasted. Amongst the wool donated by Cecilia was a large piece of knitting. Rather than frogging this to reuse the wool, Genni who has an amazing eye for colour, took it home and knitted coordinating squares and strips of knitting to make a complete rug. It looks amazing: And the third - knitted by Jen for Winter Warm. We all want to get some lesons on the construction of this rug - made from "leftovers", the squares are knitted together into strips - the strips are grafted together, and the rug is finished with a knitted border done on a circular needle, with mitred corners - not to mention the way the colours go together so well. In the first photo, the rug is displayed by Elizabeth, the voluntary JP who is available on a Thursday morning at the Library. The second photo is a closer view of the detail:

We also today, passed a number of knitted items over to Brigid for delivery to Mahboba at West Ryde. A container is going to Afghanistan shortly, and these will be warmly welcomed by the mothers and children. A feature of Mahboba's work is helping women to establish their own cottage industries to help lift them out of poverty. This help is conditional on the attendance of children at school - education being the key to breaking the poverty cycle and to economic independence. Some of the items:

That's all for today - more photos to come!

Busy fingers .... and Tip of the Day

2010-03-13T14:58:00.008+11:00

Busy fingers are visible all around our table at the moment. It is really interesting to see how the different members of the group develop their knitting skills. Each week we seem to learn something from each other, regardless of whether we are experienced knitters or beginners.

Tip of the Day
Caroline has been frustrated by the "wrong" side of rugs looking like a "wrong side" when new colours are added. Searching through the books on the library she came across an ingenoius solution. When joining a new colour in a garter stitch rug, the first row in the new colour should be knitted in k1p1 rib. The rug then continues in the new colour and garter stitch. This leaves a a very subtle, neat pattern on both sides of the rug. The first two photos below show the" front" and "back" of the rug using this method. The last photo shows how the colours meld together as the rug grows. Genevieve is using a similar method in a slightly different way - I'll try to post photos next week.

Another rug has been completed. Amanda took the squares from our pile of ready-to-be-sewn-together wraps and brought the completed wrap today. She has used a very pretty join on these squares - taught to her by Chris. At first glance it looks like a feather stitch. There's no close-up but here's the completed rug - it looks really good:

More news soon.

Feral wool on the loose ....

2010-03-05T16:47:00.009+11:00

Today we extend a big welcome to Chris, another new member. We are looking forward to getting to know her and to hearing about her homeland, Korea, as we knit.

It was business as usual this week - knitting and chatting. However, once again, the librarian's office had become over-run by rugs and bags of wool. Genny and Kris decided to tidy it up, and as I left I could barely see them for feral balls of wool and rampaging rugs. I hope they lived to tell the tale! :-)

Today I spent a few hours with Patricia of the knitting group at Pennant Hills Library, helping her to set up a blog for that group. I'm not the best teacher, as I've learnt through trial and error - but I discovered today how much of what I do is automatic now, as I couldn't think without the mouse in my hand! This group has very good links with others in the local community, and Patricia told me they have taken 144 rugs to Wrap With Love this year! So go over to their blog and check them out.

I'll be posting some photos of our knitteds for children in Afghanistan, as soon as the camera batteries recharge - stand by.

Testing ...

2010-02-26T13:55:00.001+11:00

Just testing that the problems I've been having with formatting have been fixed ....

Rugs and more rugs ....

2010-02-25T15:51:00.005+11:00

Three bright new rugs were added to our pile today. First, 2 beautiful "rainbow rugs" knitted and delivered by Dr Cappe:

Then, a pink rug, pink enough, we hope, to satisfy some little girl who might receive it. Kris and Amanda put this one together from the mountain of squares in the office:

Later in the morning, we had a visit from Penny, seeApenny on Ravelry who was delivering some blocking wires. An impromptu lesson on blocking followed! Thank you, Penny.

I will post some photos of our WinterWarm garments soon. Until then - keep on knitting!

The Sisterhood is coming .....

2010-02-19T12:47:00.013+11:00

The Sisterhood of Knitters is alive and well! The Pennant Hills Library Group has been in contact with us about starting a blog - if a few more Hornsby Shire Library groups do the same thing, we can make a bid to take over the world wide web!

Today we welcomed a new member - Anne - and fifteen others of our regulars. We spent a lot of the morning trying to solve a conundrum facing Joyce, who is knitting a beautiful rug from wool oddments - but she is short of ten squares and there is no yarn in our stash that blends with the existing squares, despite trying just about every colour that we have and despite our great new stash! It's Murphy's Law.

Because we now have such beautiful wool to choose from, people are able to plan their rugs and the Librarian's office now has bags of wool containing rug size amounts, labelled with the knitter's names.

Another rug, recently completed, has been labelled and photographed, along with a couple more little beanies for WinterWarm:

The group members have pointed out to me that I never say who "I" is - they are not happy about this! So, I'm Atholie, otherwise known as GrandmaFlea on Ravelry.

Rat Race or Rug Race?

2010-02-13T16:18:00.002+11:00

While the rest of the world battles the traffic and hustle and bustle of work, a happy group of knitters engage in a rug race - to complete more rugs this year, than last - but unlike the rat race, we share laughter and fun as we knit.

Some of our knitters like to make squares, others like to complete a full rug, taking great pleasure from using the odds and ends to mix and match so the finished product is a joy to behold. Genevieve has just completed a rug based on one in the book Mason-Dixon Knitting: A Curious Knitter's Guide:

This rug was made from a pile of odd balls of wool, chosen and matched to coordinate. The photo doesn't do it justice. As well as being very attractive, the grey/beige wool appears to be a hand spun fibre made from wool that still has a slight smell of lanolin - beautiful - Genevieve probably had very soft hands by the time she'd finished making it!

Also inspired by the Mason-Dixon Knitting: A Curious Knitter's Guide, is a rug made by Caroline:

Again, made from oddments of wool that were donated, the planning that has gone into this rug, like Genevieve's, is inspiring.

Congratulations to both!

For those who are interested, Mason-Dixon Knitting: A Curious Knitter's Guide is a great book. I first borrowed it on inter-library loan, then, because I liked it so much (like the guy in the shaver ad), I bought it! Then, because I really liked it so much, I asked the library to buy a copy, which they did - what would we do without our wonderful librarians? The knitting group also loved it, and it seems to have been on loan constantly since its arrival.

Lost ... and Found ...

2010-02-05T15:49:00.000+11:00

Lost ...
One of our group has lost a small tin with her 'tools of trade in it' - scissors etc - if anyone has seen it would you please see me at the next meeting - thanks.

And Found ....
Two new people joined us at our meeting this week - Brigid and Amanda. Amanda has visited us before with her beautiful baby - and we hope to see her again when time and schedules allow .Brigid found us through the local paper (thank you Northern District Times!) and this blog! Brigid volunteers with a local charity offering aid to women and children in Afghanistan - more about this next week, and in the meantime, some of the group will knit beanies for these children for the cruel winter weather they experience.

And Finished ...
Some more of our knitting for your viewing pleasure!

This is a rug that was made using squares that Cecilia (from Ravelry) donated when she transferred overseas. In my wisdom, I thought I could make two rugs for Wrap With Love out of them by doing a black border around each block to extend the length - but I should have remembered how bad my maths is! So Winter Warm is the recipient of a colourful, warm blanket for a child!

Some little cardigans, vest and a jumper for Winter Warm.

Two more wraps for Wrap With Love.

Square dancing in the library ...

2010-01-28T18:28:00.005+11:00

That's right, but not the musical kind! Today Genny, Shirley, and Val, our square wranglers, made a valiant effort to sort, match and make up into rug lots, the more than 300 squares which have accumulated in the librarian's office. This involves much spreading out on the library floor, getting down on hands and knees and moving squares hither and thither amid calls of - "the yellow one looks wrong!" or 'how about we put this group with that". It is a very thankless task - no two people knit their squares to the exact same measurement - some are knitted lengthways, some mitred, some sideways and some any which way. The end result was 8 piles of squares tied together in rug lots with a few extras included to play with, and a pile marked "challenges" - somehow, somewhere, sometime, other squares will turn up which "go" with this pile of lonely squares.

Out of respect for the ungainly nature of this "dancing" there is no photo of the wranglers in action! Instead, a few more photos of rugs that have been made up:

And some of the items that have gone to Winter Warm - beanies and more beanies:

And again ...

2010-01-23T19:33:00.001+11:00