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.

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

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 :)

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.

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

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?

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!