Exciting Knitting News…20,000 squares and a Stitch’n’Sip event.

Two exciting things happened today.

We reached the 20,000 knitted square mark. Hip hip hooray! So we are now officially 1/4 of the way towards our goal of 80,000 squares. Definitely calls for an extra piece of chocolate with your tea this afternoon.

And secondly.

The lovely Lee and Suzana are organising a  Stitch’n’Sip afternoon for Knit One Save One on Friday, March 5th from noon till 2pm. It will be held at Just Planet Cafe in Sunbury. So you can head down there with needles and wool in your nimble knitting fingers, whip up a square or two, chatter with generous like-minded souls and even purchase a cup of coffee at half-price! Almost too good to be true. Check it out.

When should we host our Knit One Save One Stitching Session? Vote now.

We received such positive feedback from our call for knitting volunteers blog post that it was difficult to find a day and time to sew our squares into blankets that suited you all!

So we have decided to run a poll.

Please place your vote, to let us know when we should hold our regular Knit One Save One Stitching Session. This Stitching Session is sewing the knitted squares that we have received into blankets (so far 17,303 squares!). We have proposed three different times and days to hold the sessions at our office on Victoria Parade in East Melbourne. If you are not available at these times, or do not live in Melbourne, but would like to host your own Stitching Session please let us know via the poll.

Once everyone has voted we will post the details for the first Knit One Save One Stitching Session here on the blog. Bring on sewing squares into blankets, drinking tea and friendly chatter!

P is for People who knit.

We receive blankets and squares from all types of people. Young people. Old people. Individual people. Groups of people. Probation and Parole people. Wow – too many p’s…

But we did actually receive a lovely, neat stack of knitted blankets tied together with a pink bow and all from the lovely people at the Metropolitan South Probation and Parole Region, in Brisbane.

Check out their knitted stack.

Blankets knitted by a group of Probation and Parole Officers from the Metropolitan South Probation and Parole Region, Brisbane.

Cream of the knitting crop. Hand-spun alpaca wool.

To quote directly from the letter that was included with this amazing knitted piece (yep – this blanket is so fantastic, that it deserves the use of the word ‘piece’):

‘This lovely alpaca blanket was hand-spun, knitted and sewn together by Joy, the mother of a work colleague of mine. Her only concern is that it will shrink if washed in a machine or hot water.’

Hand-spun alpaca wool blanket, knitted by Joy.

Well Joy – we have no concerns what so ever with this blanket. The softness and quality of this hand-spun alpaca wool is amazing.

The family that receive this blanket will be very fortunate indeed.

Knitting Show and Tell.

A little bit of Show and Tell to celebrate breaking the 15,000 knitted square milestone.

Go team.

Thank you and enjoy.

P.S. Don’t feel intimidated… we still want the single colour, plain stitched squares and blankets too. These ones might look impressive but they all do the same job.

Stars, Squares and Stripes. Knitted Blankets Galore.

Knit One Save One is primarily doing the big push for 20cm by 20cm knitted squares. And today we are only 23 squares away from cracking the 12,000 mark. A hip hip hooray and a big pat on the back for us all.

The response has evidently been overwhelming. But it seems that the level of knitting skill, dedication and perhaps stitching speed is forever increasing. Every day the number of knitted blankets (not just squares) arriving grows. As much as we love to open a parcel of squares, the squeal of excitement that escapes for a fully knitted blanket is impossible to muffle.

So if you are able to knit a full blanket that would be fantastic (we do count it as 16 squares… so the tally receives a great boost!).

We also received a wonderful response to our call for knitting volunteers and will be in contact with you all shortly. If you would still like to be part of our team that will knit the squares into blankets it is not too late to shout out. We are looking primarily for Melbourne based volunteers… but we are also trying to sort something out in Sydney. Just send an email with your details to knitonesaveone@savethechildren.org.au

Conclusion: There are many knitters out there with big hearts. And we only need 68,000 more squares… ‘only’ not the appropriate choice of word… so may the hearts continue to grow, and may the fingers continue to knit.