Wool on...any day ending with a ‘y’.

From February 2016 I wrote dozens of monthly posts titled Wool on Sundays. The idea of bloggers sharing posts about fibre arts such as knitting, crocheting and stitching was the brainchild of Janine who organised the link ups through her delightful Rainbow Hare blog. 

Times and directions change, and this forum for sharing ‘yarny’ projects is no longer a formal monthly feature. And even though I’ve been a bit slack at blogging in recent times, I’ve found that I really miss chatting about projects. So here’s my version, Wool on any day of the week! Lol

In a previous post written in the last month, I showed some photos of blankets made for Knitting for Brisbane’s Needy; a combination of crocheted squares given to me and some granny squares made by me. The solid squares made by my friend Susan were perfect for a plan I’d finally come up with on how to use a big bundle of crocheted motifs that had been passed on to me a few years ago. 

Originally I thought I’d square them up by crocheting more rounds. But I went off that idea as the motifs were quite thin which I thought would not make the resultant blanket warm for the homeless. So I’ve stitched them to the solid squares; the stitches disappearing into the crocheting, so the backs of the squares are neat. 

All the squares laid out ready to be joined together...

Finished blanket ready to keep someone warm. 


A few months ago I bought some Bendigo Woollen Mill’s Classic 8 ply online. It took a while to arrive which wasn’t surprising as on the BWM Facebook page they showed a photo of huge wire bins full of parcels ready to be posted. The company had been overwhelmed with the support from knitters all around Australia. And apparently the orders are still coming in  as witnessed by this recent FB post. 

Some incredible statistics there! And this is what I’m making with my order...the variegated Shepherd yarn was in my stash...completely forgotten about for a number of years too 🙄😉

It’s lovely working with wool again. 

Oops! Where did they all come from? 😉 (Wool on Sunday)

Today I gathered together in one place all the squares that a number of lovely people have recently knitted or crocheted ready for me to join into blankets for K4BN.

Hmmm...There's a few! 😉

Just a few are my handiwork...either making little donated squares larger by a few more rounds or a few started from scratch. That's what I do at Knit and Natters. 

So I would like to 'order' some rainy days where I can sit under the fan ( or the aircon) and just turn squares into blankets...I always find it so satisfying. It will be lovely having a big bundle of blankets early next year, all ready for when the requests for warm blankets start to come in later in the year.

So many people knit or sew for K4BN and today we were given 52 Trauma Teddies that were knitted by a lovely lady called Val. My friend Helen took a photo...it is amazing! 

A big thank you to Val!
Linking with Wool on Sunday on the Rainbow Hare blog.

Wool on Sunday...

I thought I'd write about a particular blanket that I made recently out of donated squares. My part in the story of this knee rug starts quite a few months ago when a friend messaged me from an Op Shop that she was visiting. There was a bag of small crocheted squares for sale and she wondered if they could be useful for K4BN.

The squares were about 5 inches square and were probably 8 ply yarn (wool) crocheted with a 3 or 3.5 hook.

M bought the bag of squares and we organised to meet up; I would give her some brightly coloured bed sheets which had been 'victims' in my latest linen cupboard 'purge' and she would give me the bag of squares. ( M uses the fabric to line children's play capes which she makes for a charity)

Some of the squares had been joined so I decided not to try crocheting around each square to make it bigger. Instead I joined most of them into a 6x6 square. I don't have much in the browns/oranges in my yarn stash but I found enough to sew the rest of the squares up. Then I crocheted around that big square; the first few rounds, getting the tension right, ready for the rest of the rounds. 

The deep cream band is actually a big ball of lemon baby yarn mixed with a few balls of white 3 ply baby yarn. The outer border is a few balls of a fluffy yarn I bought on EBay ages ago. When I first opened that parcel of yarn, the yellow looked different to the EBay photos...to me in 'real life' it looked like what you might see in a baby's nappy! But I tried it out on this knee rug and it actually looked alright! 

And then...while I was recuperating, I found sorting through cupboards and storage boxes rather therapeutic, And the bonus was, finding 'stuff'. One thing I came across was a big ball of orange wool. So....

Another border! And this was the final version that got handed over to K4BN last week. I'm chuffed, because no money was spent...everything came from oddments in the stash. ( and of course the $10 that my friend spent on the squares put money into a local op shop charity)
I'm linking with Janine's Wool on Sunday once again. This week, Janine writes about those 'ends' as she finishes off her beautiful blanket.

It took a while but finally a finish!

Earlier this year a friend dropped over some bags of yarn and squares that had been donated to a group that she belonged to. But as this group tends to concentrate on sewing quilts etc for those in need, yarn and squares were of little use to the group, so K4BN  got them. 

There were lots and lots of these smallish granny squares and I decided to join them as is, rather than crochet more rounds to make them 25 CM as I normally do. Then I joined them into groups of four...

Then I  joined these blocks into rows.

The project just got worked on intermittently over recent months. But finally, last week, I finished! 

I used a total of 192 of the squares with some 'leftovers'; 11 blocks of 4 squares each, left to start another project sometime in the future. Whew! Lol

I'm pleased with the final result even though there were LOTS of little ends to sew in. 

I think the squares were crocheted over a fair bit of time with the unknown crocheter's technique improving as the time went by. The yarn is wool which makes the blanket a little heavy...but not too much! Because it is wool and in paler colours, it will not go to a homeless person...more likely to a DV women's refuge or somewhere similar. 

I edged the blanket with a simple shell edging, using some soft, cream  coloured wool yarn. I wonder what plans the crocheter had for all their squares???

Some 'figures' from K4BN....

Regular readers would know that when I retired I joined a knitting group called Knitting for Brisbabe's Needy. This group provides warm blankets, clothes, toiletries, dog blankets, toys etc to make life a little easier for the many needy in the community. 

I often post photos of donations on this blog. ( all the items in every photo in this post have been made by others...not me!) 

Karen, who started the group over 9 years ago released some figures the other day...these are totals of donations made by members this year to date. These figures are quite impressive! Here's what Karen wrote...

'It is with amazement and much gratitude that we announce that from January 1st 2015 until the end of the financial year, June 30th, 2015, K4BN members, friends etc have donated 18, 420 items ... knitted, crocheted, loomed, sewn, new, brought items. This does not include all the squares, all the toiletries etc.

Then for the time since we started nearly 10 years ago, the grand total so far is 227,274!!!
So far in July we have received another 224 items ...and its only the 3rd July!!
So many homeless, less fortunate people (and animals) are now that much warmer because of your generosity! 

Peter and I are so overwhelmed with the amount of donations, and can never thank everyone enough! We are so proud to be associated with so many wonderful, caring people!! ' 

Pretty impressive huh?

Here are some more photos of donations handed in this year...

My car boot is already packed up ready for tomorrow's Scarborough Knit and Natter...none of it made by me...all of the bags of donations have come from friends. I've become a bit of a gatherer! Lol. 

Zillmere Gathering...

The last Tuesday of the month there is a Knit and Natter at Zillmere Community Centre for K4BN members. I looked forward to this because my little car was jam packed with donations from friends and family. These items needed to be handed over so they could be distributed to the needy...and that would happen at Zillmere! 

Bags of goodies filled the back seat...

And the boot (trunk)...

And the front passenger seat was filled with items too! (No photo)

That day the staff at the Community Centre had allocated our meeting room to another group...a small group from a state government department. We had to cram into a tiny room, just marginally larger than a single garage. The ladies didn't like that so we had some help to take the tables outside...and then we followed with our knitting and our chairs!

I didn't get everyone in the photo but outside was so much nicer than being crammed inside. The weather was beautiful too...a mild autumn day!

Now it wasn't just me with donations...just about everyone had a 'heap of items' to hand in.

The next photo shows the donations which had all be sorted, noted and then re packed ready to travel to the group's warehouse in Glasshouse. (Town north of Brisbane) 

There were well over 300 items handed in that day. 

We found out also that day, that approximately 850 knitted/crocheted blankets have been handed out to the needy, by the group, so far this year. Phew! That is some achievement! 

This week thousands of warm items and toiletries have been delivered by K4BN to Warwick, Stanthorpe and Roma. ( these are rural towns) Last Sunday, and Wednesday of last week, thousands of items were handed out by the group to needy people in Ipswich and Brisbane respectively. And I keep joining squares....!

An award....

Today I went to the city with DH, to attend a 'Recognition of Donors Function' held by the Red Cross Bloodbank. DH was getting his 'recognition' because he has donated blood 150 times. That's such an achievement by him and we are all very proud . The donors at this ceremony were referred to as 'milestone donors' and it ranged from 50 donations upwards, generally in increments of 50 or 100.

We went to the city by train and arrived quite early. So we wandered around King George Square which was not far from the function venue, the Sofitel (the old Crest Hotel). King George Square was refurbished a few years ago now and Brisbane's residents were not really happy with it. It was originally a place dotted with shady trees and pleasant spots to sit, especially in the hot weather. The new square seemed to be a clone of Melbourne's federation square with a wide expanse of rock pavers and very little shade. Eventually, and reluctantly the Brisbane City Council has made some changes especially with shade areas. A fellow Brisbane blogger, Foto fantastic, has a great post about this square here as he examines the history as well as the present day of this city feature.

City Hall which overlooks King George Square

Looking across the square towards Adelaide st

A little bit of shade here; note the big screen TV tuned into the swimming at the Olympics

Looking north of the square towards the beautiful Albert St Uniting Church 

A statue to honour the Petrie family who were early pioneers and explorers of the settlement that became Brisbane 

These kangaroos are part of the Petrie sculpture piece

King George v, after whom the square is named

Finally I'll share some photos taken in the function room. We sat for close to 2 hours during which we watched audio visual presentations about the work of the Red Cross Blood Bank, we also heard from guest speakers, including people who were alive because of blood products provided by the Blood Bank using donations. Throughout the ceremony recipients of the awards came up  in their groups; starting with those who had made 50 donations. Then 100, 150, etc right up to one man called Max, who had donated 500 times! He started in 1965 and DH started in 1967. Max has been donating platelets which can be taken every 2 weeks unlike other blood products' donations which have about 12 weeks between donations. Having said that, 500  is still a brilliant achievement! I should mention here that people don't get paid in Australia for being blood donors; donors get a cuppa and some cheese and crackers...and sometimes a chocolate bar.

DH is just about to receive the award :-)

As well as the certificate, 'milestone donors' received a cute little clock

Now am I a donor? Sadly I was knocked back in my 20s because I took medication for hypertension. Then about 7 years ago I heard that they had relaxed the criteria. I rang and discussed it and found that I could be a donor...so I did...just the once :-(  Not long after it was discovered that I had developed unexplained anemia which is treated by iron infusions; and my doctor requested that I don't donate blood. Who knows though...with technology advancing it may be possible for me to donate some part of my blood...