More Rugs - What a Surprise!

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.

Useful Books

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

Busy fingers but not on the keyboard ...

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:

Our last day for 2009 ....

Hasn't the year gone quickly - a flurry of yarn and knitting needles, a mountain of wraps and children's clothing, the ABC Knit-In  -  and it's Christmas!

Today was the last day on our knitting calendar until Thursday, January 14th 2010. Time to say thank you to all those people who have supported us during the year -

• first, the wonderful librarians at Epping Library who tolerate our laughter and noise ("no, it's not a problem - we need some livening up!"), reserve our tables for us each Thursday, use some of their valuable photocopying budget to copy information sheets for us, and generally help us by carrying boxes of wool and wraps in and out of the office. A special thank you to Mani who is the official Knitting Group librarian, and to the Senior Librarian Sue, whose office is disappearing under the myriad wraps, clothes and yarn that our busy knitters keep churning out.

• Thank you also to those many unknown people who drop squares, wraps and wool donations into us. 

• Many thanks  to the Ravelers, Janette, Witty Knitter, Sandrah, and Cecilia1 who have very generously donated large amounts of yarn from their stashes, or from other sources, to the group. Their donations  always seemed to arrive just as we'd reach desperation point.

• More thanks to the owners of our two local yarn stores - Sue of Cherryhills at Pennant Hills and Ra of Yarns and Gifts at Beecroft - who donated wonderful lucky door prizes for our end-of-year party - your gifts were greatly appreciated by the lucky winners.

• A very special  thanks to the North Epping Bendigo Community Bank -  who awarded us a grant of $500 to supplement our yarn purchases. We have yet to use the grant, but you will hear more about it when we have  photos of our "booty" to show you. It will make a huge difference to our  group.

• Thank you also to Hornsby Shire Council who gave all the members of the group a basket of chocolates for Christmas  - an unexpected surprise for us all - with much happy munching ensuing. 

• Last, but not least, many thanks to the wonderful members of our group who knit, chat,  teach each other knitting and crochet techniques, share stories and wisdom, translate for group members and interested library members who don't speak English, and offer support during those moments of life that happen to all of us from time to time - you are a great group. My life is enriched for knowing you all. 

So, the Epping Library Knitters  wish you all a very happy and peaceful end of year break and a very happy New Year.


We hope to see you in the New Year!

Anyone for a sewing bee?

We can all look forward to a giant sewing bee, as yesterday I received a donation of 220 squares from one of the women who lives in my unit complex. Thank you Laraine and the many people you know who have knitted this enormous pile of squares! How generous people are with their time and labour.

These squares will make  8 wraps once we add a few squares from  the stockpile we have knitted ourselves.

The story so far ....

As part of its community outreach programme, each of the libraries in the Hornsby Shire started a “Wrap with Love” knitting group to provide a meeting place during the winter months for people wanting to knit for this charity.

Our group at Epping Library first met in May 2008 with 6 women.  By the end of August 2008 when the groups participated in the handover of wraps at the ABC Knit-In at Hornsby Library, we had 14 -18 participants, and had completed 28 wraps.  Instead of going into recess over the summer months we decided to continue meeting weekly, with only a short break over Christmas/New Year, as everyone enjoyed themselves so much. When the 2009 Knit-In was  held in August this year, we were be able to hand over 70 completed wraps to Wrap With Love.

Since August 2008, our numbers have grown – the Library has provided a larger space for us, and on any week there will be anywhere from 12 to 26 people in attendance. We have 40 members with a core group of people who attend each week, a number who knit at home and attend when their family commitments allow and some, from overseas, who will attend for a period of 3 or 4 months while they are in Australia visiting their families.

What started as a charity knitting group has become a focus for women from many of the nations represented in the Hornsby Shire, to come together for friendship, the sharing of skills and knowledge, and language practice.  The places of birth represented in our group include Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany, Sri Lanka, India, Italy, England, Argentina, Singapore, Turkey and China.

Isolation can be a major problem for non-English speaking members of the community, particularly older women and women at home with small children.  For these women, the group provides language practice and an opportunity to mix with native English speaker. We are able to provide information on English language classes at TAFE, community colleges and the TAFE Home Tutor Scheme to those who wish to expand their language skills. We often have women with little or no English looking at what we are doing. We approach these women and ask  – by a mixture of sign language and the help of others in the group who speak the same language, if they would like to join us. A number have, both older and younger women. Many cannot knit or crochet but are helped by other group members to learn.

In 2008 and again this year, we had an end of year celebration where everyone brought dishes from their homeland to share. The group enjoyed this and there was much discussion and sharing of recipes.

Winter Warm

As the group’s knitting skills have grown, we have added the “Winter Warm” project to our charity knitting. This gives our members the opportunity to increase their knitting skills from those required for simple squares to the more complex skills required to knit warm items of clothing for the many babies, and homeless children in Afghanistan who have to survive winters where the temperatures fall to -15C in the winter.

In the 2009 collection, the group gave the Winter Warm Project  49 items of clothing for babies and young children.