My warmest wishes to you and yours this holiday season!
And look what Santa brought for Christmas! A whole pile of blanket squares for the Phoenix youth shelter project! And if you didn’t believe in Santa, the real story is no less mysterious.
When I called Gaspereau Valley Fibres in Wolfville, NS to ask for their participation in the project, the owner told me that there were squares sitting in the store waiting to be picked up by a charity group. I explained that it’s just a coincidence and I wasn’t looking for them, but if those squares are not being used — and they have been there for over a year — I have a project where they would fit squarely. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Thanks to the anonymous knitter(s) in the Valley, we have a great start for the blankets project. Other Santa’s helpers included a member of my knitting group who brought them from Wolfville to Halifax, and LK Yarns, our local drop off/pick up location. After I brought home a large box filled with colourful little squares, I sorted them by fiber content and was happy to discover that most of them are machine washable, as the project requires. To make sure and to freshen them up (a year in a plastic bag doesn’t make anything smell better), I gave them a good wash followed by a normal drying cycle. I misjudged only one or two little guys and they felted to the smaller size but these large beautiful squares that seemed to be made with washable wool or maybe a fiber blend didn’t like the bath at all. I wonder if they would behave the same way in a blanket and scrunch it up? The lesson learned is that the yarn should be machine washable and dryable.
(My apologies for exposing you to such graphic images, especially to those knitters who made the lovely squares. Fear not, they have been saved by wet blocking and will have a great future together with other natural fiber squares that need hand washing and drying flat. I will update you on that later).
After washing, there was a Big Sorting Party that resulted in a colourful display in a 3D column chart style.
There are about 10 sizes, and I wish I did the counting to impress you with the number but it occurred to me only later when the squares were stacked up neatly in the box.
I still did a little math and figured that 64 smallest (4″ x 4″) pieces will make seven 12″ x 12″ squares. There are different recommendations for a twin size blanket but it seems that 24 (4 x 6) twelve-inch squares is a good start.
Now do you see what I see? That’s a whole lot of stitching up. I realize that many knitters might want to take a break after Christmas knitting but what about a friendly get-together for a ‘stitching-up party’? Please leave a comment or send a message if you are interested and we will take it from there.
Thanks everybody for your replies. I am really thrilled to have you on board! As soon as I hear from a yarn store where we can get together, I will let you know about approximate dates and time. Alternatively, we could look into other locations.
I have your emails that you used to register here and I will contact you soon. If you have any questions in the meantime, send me a message through the Contact Us form, it goes right to my email.
Thanks again!
Hi Olha, I will help out too if you need more people.
Please advise about the ‘stitching party’ and I will try to attend, if possible!
Joanne
jsnoye@eastlink.ca
I’d love to work with others on this project!
Evelyn Noble
It is too bad I am 6 hours away, I am a pretty good stitcher thanks to your tutorial on garter stitch seaming. Looks like a wonderful start for the blankets.
Amazing!! I would love to get together for some stitching. I didn’t do any Christmas knitting so I’m all ready to go. When are you thinking?
I’d love to help!