More Blankets & UFO Update!

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!

UFOs at Epping Library!!

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.