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. 

What about the Needy?

Long time readers of my blog would know that I belong to a group who work constantly at providing warm items, children’s clothes and toys and toiletries to the needy in not just Brisbane, but also further afield in our state. We would also meet up on a regular basis at our Knit and Natters which take place at various locations, such as community centres and libraries. But with the Covid-19 crisis, these venues closed. 

But as you can imagine, the demand for the items we provide grew tremendously. And our members knitted, sewed and crocheted on regardless as we knew that eventually restrictions would ease enough for boxes of items to be distributed where they were needed.  

I made blankets out of donated squares I’d been given, as well as crocheting 100 plus granny squares myself  over a number of weeks 

After Christmas I had tagged along with DH while he checked out his favourite shop, Rivers at their sales. I would grab the 5 packs of men’s socks while we were in the shop and most times DH would insist on paying for them along with the items of clothing he was purchasing. So I had a few packs of these socks which are highly sought after by the homeless in the community. ( I eventually had a stockpile of 28 pairs of men’s socks as well as 13 pairs of women’s socks. I’d had a quick trip to the Reject Shop for yarn in early May and got a good deal on socks there!) 

And it was on May 8 that those of us on the Northside of the city were able to meet in the car park of the Albany Creek Library and hand over our donations. One of our members brought a ute ( utility) and each person put their bags and boxes in the tray. 

We practised social distancing...

Debra in the front of the photo was the organiser of this collection. After she took the donations home she spread the items on tables in the sun for a few days and then she sorted and packed up all the items again ready to take to K4BN’s storage shed at Glasshouse Mountains township. A big job! 

A lot of yarn was also handed in which was wonderful as many of the ladies in the group had been running out of yarn! 

Since Debra organised that collection, other areas have organised their own collections to help restock the storage shed. We’ve had another collection at Albany Creek too, once again organised by Debra. It is easier now to get items to the shed or to community groups who also distribute our items, as we can travel any where within our state. 

This winter is turning out to be a lot colder than we’ve had here in the south east of state, for many years. So as you can guess, I’m still knitting and crocheting as much as possible. 

The Zillmere Knit and Natter is on tomorrow...the first time in many many months. The big room we use in the community centre can only take 13 people under the rules for social distancing so the contingency plan is for any extra people to sit in the outdoor area. It’s a start as they say but sadly most of our venues are smaller than this one so probably only 4-5 people per meeting room if and when they invite us back. 

Wool on Sunday...

My goodness, this last month has flown by so quickly and here I am writing a Wool on Sunday post for August. And of course linking back to Janine’s blog, The Rainbow Hare here where Janine shares a pattern for knitted and crocheted ice cream cones.

I was able to donate 2 knitted throws to be sold at the annual parish Art and Craft Show. Both were sold prior to opening night, 2 weekends ago. 

One was a garter stitch chevrons rug that I had finished a few months ago and put aside until it was needed. 

I wrapped this throw around the shoulders of its new owner...

The second throw that I donated was in a honeycomb slipstitch design and seemed to take ages to finish ( but it was probably only 3 1/2 weeks work) and it was finally completed the weekend before the show. 

I took a photo of it in the sunlight...

Inside it looked completely different! 

I want to share with you a very special story about the sale of this throw. The lady who bought this, asked for it to be put aside for her when she saw it a few days before the show opened. She didn’t know the price but insisted that she had to have it, no matter the cost. N had bought one of my donated throws last year, so I was surprised when I was told that she’d asked to buy this one too. Sadly, a few weeks before this, N had lost her 18 year old son to an accidental overdose. 

The organisers of the show explained that N wanted to buy this new throw to give to her teenage  daughter on the day that would have been the deceased boy’s birthday. The 2 siblings had been very close. 

But the story gets even more poignant. A former teacher of both siblings ( Year 1), who heard the story insisted on donating a quarter of the price so that when N came to collect and pay for the item, it would be less of an impost for her at this sad time in her life. Such a wonderful act of kindness. 

With that knitting commitment out of the way, I’ve now gone back to joining donated squares into blankets for charity. ( a number of the granny squares have been made by me at Knit and Natters) 

So my next month’s Wool on Sunday post should contain photos of these completed blankets. 

Wool on Sunday; July

Once again I’m joining Janine from the Rainbow Hare blog here, in posting about yarn related activities in the last month. Janine has been working on a sweater but also writes about the building project in her garden. I’ve managed to work on a number of projects during the last month which probably explains the dust that has appeared on wooden furniture...and other housework neglect. 

I was determined to finish a rainbow throw that I was making for DsD3 and I did. 

She is so busy with her work that finding a good time to hand it over became problematic so the handover happened when she dropped in to a Trivia night that DH and I attend, on her way home from work. She needed a ‘joy boost’ and I like to think my efforts helped with that. 

In the last month I got to work on my usual contribution to our parish art and craft show...you guessed it...a knitted throw! 

Here’s the progress so far with just over 2 weeks to go until the show...all good for a finish on time. 

At Knit and Natters and Trivia Nights I’ve been crocheting squares...15 to be exact as that’s the number  of squares needed to add to the 15 squares made by Susan W, from Sunday Stitchers. 

Susan also gave me 2 balls of this variegated yarn and I used these 2 with gold/yellow and red yarns. The colours in the variegated yarn look a bit like the indigenous colours but it’s actually a navy or ink blue not black. ( it’s the colours of the Adelaide Crows footy team) . I think a needy indigenous person will love the blanket that Susan’s and my squares will make. 

These squares plus the bundle I wrote about last month have still got to be joined but it’s comforting to know that that will be done quite quickly when the knitted throw is finished. 

Years ago ( probably the 1980?) I knitted some kite shapes from a pattern published in a booklet in the Australian Women’s Weekly. The shapes came out very small so I experimented and made them larger. It was an on off project for years and I trialled various ways of sewing them together; eventually crocheting around each shape in black and then sewing them together. 

This photo has to have been taken before I had my cataract operations in 2009 but I suspect it’s possibly 5 years before that. 

I gave the blanket to a friend’s young daughter who had lost a finger in an accident...it was a perfect gift as E loved it. ( she’s just recently had her 21st birthday) 

After I gave that blanket away I started making another lot of shapes; every ball of 8 ply that I’d buy, I’d make one shape. Then for whatever reason, I put the project away. And came across it a few years ago.

But I couldn’t find the pattern and for some reason I struggled to work out the pattern from the pile of shapes...very disappointed with myself! 

And then last week on the K4BN Facebook page someone posted a photo of a throw made with those same shapes in that rib pattern. A few people commented on the photo and I wrote that I’d lost the pattern. Within half an hour I had a copy of the page of that booklet from another member of the group. I was so happy and grateful that someone had kept a pattern published in 1972!! 

I hope it doesn’t breach copyright rules to share it here ©?

Wool on Sunday...

Joining in with Rainbow Hare’s blog and Janine’s monthly feature, Wool on Sunday. https://rainbowhare.com/category/wool-on-sundays/

So what yarny things did I get up to in May? Most of what I did was for the charity I belong to...especially after I read these posts from the founder of K4BN on the group’s Facebook page. 

And...

But what about this post? This sort of thing breaks my heart...

So firstly some items I’ve made from donated squares;-

A baby blanket made with squares from Cheryl E

A large blanket mainly made with squares from Susan W



I had 5 of Susan’s squares left over...

So I’ve spent a week or so crocheting the 25 granny squares needed to make up 30. So I’ve crocheted in the car and at Trivia night at the RSL club as well as in front of the telly or sitting in the sun on the verandah 😉

And I’ve now got a bundle of 25 to make another blanket! 

And I thought I’d share some photos of a K4BN Knit and Natter...

 

This is at the Zillmere Community Centre and here are some of the May donations...it’s amazing what this group contributes to make life a little better for those in need.

So while we watch the first State of Origin match for 2019 with DH yelling at the TV ( coaching points maybe?) I’ll calmly keep on crocheting 🧶😆. 

Wool on Sunday

Joining in with the monthly Wool on Sunday over at Rainbow Hare.

With the cooler weather the knitting charity that I support  has been inundated with requests for warm items, especially blankets, beanies and gloves. 

Over Easter, I set to and joined some bags of donated squares into blankets...

And then there was a bag of smaller squares with a different style of granny square design. It made a lovely knee rug...

The lady who gave them to me normally joins her squares into rugs but she felt like a break from joining after donating quite a few of her rugs to the group. And I certainly didn’t mind helping out. 

I also had been storing some blankets that I’d made up in the warmer months from squares crocheted by a friend. Because so many items that left the K4BN storage shed for distribution , there was now room for more donations. 

These beautiful and warm blankets won’t be in storage for long; they will be distributed very soon. 

A total of 9 blankets made from the bags of donated squares that I’d been given to join. 

And at the moment I’m away interstate for a few days and in spare moments I’m using up some US variegated yarn that a friend brought back as a gift for me years ago, to make a baby blanket; most probably an item for K4BN.

And that’s Wool on Sunday for May 😄

Wool on Sunday; March 2019

Once again I’m linking in with Rainbow Hare’s monthly feature, Wool on Sunday.

This month Janine wrote about a particular project which had caused a bit of angst and then as the project was progressing well, it started to become obvious that the pretty pink yarn would run out 🤨 https://rainbowhare.com/2019/03/03/wool-on-sundays-160-an-abrupt-halt/

Originally I meant to write this particular post about something that had happened in early December, in the January post, but completely forgot and wrote about something different. 😆

So... in early December I got a message from DsD1 which featured a photo. 

The photo showed a mini Christmas stocking and regular readers would remember how each year the knitting charity group that I belong to, make and fill such stockings for distribution to the needy in the community. 

DsD1 explained that our granddaughter Abby was given the stocking at a school concert and it was indeed one of the K4BN stockings. 

Now Guluguba is a small locality near the town of Wandoan and is a long way from Brisbane. 

So I set out to find out how K4BN stockings got out that far. 

My search took me to a K4BN member Rita. Last year Rita set herself a personal challenge to Knit 1000 mini stockings...and she did. I was to find out that Rita had indeed made and filled the little stocking that Abby received. 

Rita wanted the children in one of the many drought affected areas of this country to receive her stockings. Apparently her family comes from the area and she still has family there. 

The ‘Family Courier Service’ that Rita mentioned as to how she sent filled stockings out to the area for distribution referred to family  members who travelled out there for a wedding. Then I discovered that DsD1 and Dan had gone to the same family wedding...Dan’s cousin had married Rita’s cousin's daughter!! Definitely a small world 😉😊

And I believe this generous lady is once again knitting mini stockings for K4BN. 

Mini Stockings Time Again!

Each year I write a post about the stockings that members of my knitting group ( plus other lovely people) make and then fill with sweets. These little gifts are then distributed to those who help the needy in the community have a bit of Christmas cheer. Over the years that I've been with the group the number of stockings needed has steadily risen to over six and a half thousand!

The last Tuesday in October the ladies ( and one man) at Zillmere Knit and Natter got to work and filled stockings for 2 hours!! 

The lovely ladies in my stitching group once again had a lolly drive which resulted in quite a haul to take along to Zillmere. 

And this year I was determined not to make a one off trip to Costco to buy sweets to donate, for two reasons. One is that I have to depend on a Costco member to take me and secondly most of Costco’s range of confectionery is mostly chocolate which is unsuitable for summer which the season that Christmas is here. The first 2 years I made that trip to Costco I was able to buy a big bucket of wrapped lollies but since then it is unavailable. But I did very well buying from selected local shops. 

So here is everyone hard at work filling stockings...

 

A good morning’s work’ with many more packing sessions to come so no group is disappointed and misses out on stockings for their 'clients'.