Some people were born to laugh. Some people were born to run. Some people were born to party. And some people were just born to knit.
After the success of our Knit One Save One campaign last year, this year we are once again rallying the knitting troops of Australia, but under a brand new banner.
Enter Born to Knit.
Everyone was born to do something. But by joining our Born to Knit campaign you can share your creativity with a child who needs your warmth.
After seeing the strength of the knitting community last year we have now set our sights even higher. We are aiming to collectively knit 15,000 blankets. That is a total of 240,000 squares. And 929 million 280 thousand stitches. That is a lot of plain and purl. So that is why we need your help 🙂
This year we are encouraging people to knit full blankets if possible. Basic guidelines for getting started on your blanket are below – but there are full instructions on the newly launched Born to Knit section of our website. There is also great information on why we need the blankets and where they are going.
To help you get started you can purchase one of our new Born to Knit Kits (where you get wool, knitting needles, instructions, a sewing needle, and a sticker sheet) or if you have your own wool & needles and just need some tips check out our knitting instructions.
If you are a school teacher or a student Born to Knit has something exciting for you guys over here.
We are excited to start the Born to Knit journey with you. May the knitting needles click, the ball of wool become a knitted square, and together we create 15,000 blankets.
Let the knitting begin.
Guidelines for knitting your blanket:
- Please use 4mm needles
- Please use 8ply 100% pure wool
- A perfect-sized blanket is made up of 16 knitted squares
- Each square should be about 20cms x 20cms
- The final blanket size should be around 80cms x 80cms
Born to Knit 
Exciting news. This cold snap in Melbourne is perfect knitting weather. The average ball of 100% wool yarn is $5 in the stores. Has anyone seen them for cheaper?
Happy knitting folks!
Hi Jacqueline,
The 100% wool can be quite expensive sometimes. There are bargains to be had. Spotlight has a line of 100% Australian wool in their Moda Vera range that goes for about $3 per ball. The bigger shops like Lincraft, Spotlight, Clegg seem to have 25% off sales quite regularly which can also make a big difference. Lincraft has a 33% of all yarn every year which is a must for any yarn hoarder. Plus some of the Lincraft yarns are good sized balls and would produce many a square.
I picked up a good few balls of 100% wool for $2 at Cleggs last year. It is also worth checking the smaller local craft shops as they sometimes sell off the yarns from previous seasons, or odd balls that are left over for quite reasonable prices. Op shops can be good too. I’ve never bought yarn online, but I have heard that there are good deals to be had dealing directly with the wholesalers.
Best Wishes,
Alison.
Bendigo woolen mills sell 200grm of wool for around $12.00 and will send it free of charge if you spend $30.00 Shirley
Hi Shirley
Thank you so much for the update. I just checked their website and they have a spectacular range of colours not to mention a great price. I will certainly be making an order.
Kindest Regards, Jacqueline.
I just bought some gorgeous wool today from Lincraft – 100% wool and on special for $2.99 a 100g ball – I’m excited!
Happy knitting Kerry!
Are we able to use acrylic wool also? And are crochet blankets welcome?
Hi Nicole. We are encouraging people to use 100% wool where possible – as the blankets are warmer, last longer and are more fire retardant. Crochet is definitely welcome as long as the squares and blankets are to our specifications (or close enough 🙂 ). Thanks for your support of Born to Knit.
hi will do you a couple of blankets.hai in joy ed doinmg the squares last year .keep up the good work dulcie
Thanks for your on going support of our campaign Dulcie.
Love knitting and encouragd friends to help, knitted lots so we will certainly be helping again.
Go you knitters this is so satisfying to be helping others less fortunate than we are.
Hello,
I’m so pleased that the knitting campaign is back on again this year!
I ran a couple of knitting parties last year and the participants (of both genders and very varied ages!) have been asking if it’s happening again this year – they will be very excited to hear its all back on again!
And yes Jacqueline there’s nothing better than ice on the windscreen in the morning to remind us that we’re Born To Knit!
Happy knitting
Mel 🙂
Thanks for your support Melissa. We are really excited to have the knitting campaign back for round two this year too. Happy Knitting 🙂
I just bought some wool and can’t wait to start :).
I do have one question though, is there an end date for the Born to Knit Campaign? Or is the end date when the 15,000th blanket is received? Thanks in advance :).
Jenn 🙂
Hi Jenn – we have set the end date of the campaign as Friday 30th September, so our goal is to have knitted 15,000 blankets by then.
Thanks for your support and happy kitting!
Hi all knitters- we have a great factory outlet in Wangaratta who have great sales in pure wool. Am teaching my students to knit and this will do it for us!
Gayle
Fantastic! Thanks for your support of our campaign Gayle. If you are school teacher and plan on knitting with your class have you seen our schools competition? You can win up to $10,000 for your school. http://www.savethechildren.org.au/what-you-can-do/campaigns/born-to-knit/schools-competition
Happy knitting!
Hello,
I’m wondering if the cast-on stitches are the same number as last year? I knitted loads of squares last year for the campaign and when it ended I started knitting my daughter a blanket. I’ve picked it up again and notice my squares are bigger than those I knitted for my daughters blanket? I’ve searched all over your site but can’t find last years instructions. I’d love to finish my daughters blanket after this years campain but am concerned it will end up higgeldy piggedly! Can you please confirm the number of cast on stitches and rows for last year? Many thanks, and keep up the wonderful work.
Hi Jody. Thanks for your support of our Born to Knit campaign. The recommended number of cast-on stitches is 44 and the number of rows per square is 88. The instructions for this years campaign can be found over here: http://www.savethechildren.org.au/what-you-can-do/campaigns/born-to-knit/how-to-knit-a-blanket
Happy knitting!
I have enough 12 ply 100% merino wool to knit a blanket. Can I use this? Last year I made 4 blankets out of it, I sewed them up myself and you accepted them but I notice that you are asking for 8 ply only. This is Australian wool and very light and soft.I loved making the blankets last year.
Hi Robyn. 12 ply 100% wool is fantastic. We are only giving 8ply as an indication of wool that would work well with the instructions that we have provided and number of stitches that we suggest.
We look forward to receiving your blanket! Thanks for your support.
Woohoo! LOVE this campaign!!! It’s a wonderful, tangible way to make a difference to the children and support Save the Children. It’s also a terrific way to engage and reach out to our local community. And all while engaging in some engaging active meditation ourselves! What’s not to love?
We’re so excited to be part of the campaign again this year! We’ve just created an in-store display and window posters to ‘pass the word’ locally. Can our local knitters top last year’s effort of over 2,000 squares?
I have just finished my first square and posted about Born to Knit on my blog.
Thanks Suzana! Great blog post and fantastic to hear about the instore display. We would love to see some photos of the display. Thanks for your support and happy knitting.
I was saddened to hear you wanted pure wool. I know your reasons, but I just cannot afford pure wool. I find acrylic is very warm, we use the rugs at home, but I guess it’s good-bye from me, I will really miss working with you.
annie, from Sth. Australia.
Hi Annie. Thanks for your feedback – we are encouraging where possible that people use 100% wool, however, we are still accepting blankets that use acrylic (except if you are submitting them for the Schools Competition). We understand that the wool can be expensive, and so you can use acrylic and we would still love you to be involved in our Born to Knit campaign. We hope that you re-join us and help us reach our 15,000 knitted blanket target 🙂
Can I ask why you will not accept less than 100% wool from Schools but will from others? I understand it is a competition and there are prizes on offer, however my school is in a very low socio-economic area and I am sure we will be limited by the number of squares (and therefore blankets) due to the cost. The school is going to be supplying some needles and wool for a lunchtime program for students but even then we can’t afford much.
Hi Rebecca. Fantastic to hear that your school is involved in our Born to Knit Schools Competition. As you mentioned all blankets submitted for the competition must be 100% wool. To make the competition as fair as possible it was necessary to create rules around what the blankets can be knitted from. Although we are accepting a mix of acrylic and wool for blankets outside of the schoools competition we are encouraging all people to use wool where possible. Wool blankets are more fire retardant, warmer and last longer. Thanks again for your support of our campaign. Happy knitting 🙂
How many balls of wool would we need to make the blanket?
Hi Jade. The number of balls of wool required depends on the size of needles, the ply of wool, and the type of stitch you are doing – but approximately 6 balls of wool should be enough. Happy knitting!
Hi to all knitters – I’m one of the Coordinators at “Christmas Island” Neighbourhood Centre. Is there a closing date for this fund raiser?? We would love to take part however, due to our location getting supplies can take up to two weeks and then the postage back can take another week, maybe two. I have acrylic wool in our supplies which we can start on – not ideal, but would you accept????? If you can let me know ASAP then I can start ordering. Thanks Annique
Hi Annique. Thanks for your interest in our Born to Knit campaign. We are aiming to collect 15,000 knitted blankets by the end of August. We are encouraging people where to possible to knit with 100% wool as it is warmer, fire retardant and lasts longer. However, we are still accepting blankets that are knitted with a mix of wool & acrylic. You can find out more about the campaign over on our website > http://www.savethechildren.org.au/what-you-can-do/campaigns/born-to-knit.html
happy knitting!
I definitely wasn’t born to knit however I’ve managed to have knitted 3 squares over the week and on to my fourth. I’m not sure I’ll achieve a blanket this time. How long do I have to drop my squares into spotlight? Are Knox and Bayswater melbourne participating stores?
Thanks
Cherie
Hi Cherie. Congratulations on already knitting 3 squares over the weekend! In regards to a closing date of the campaign we are hoping to knit 15,000 blankets by the end of August. Unfortunately, not all stores are participating so the best thing to do is to call your local Spotlight or Lincraft store before trekking out there just to make sure they are a collection point. Thanks for your support!
I didn’t realise Spotlight & Lincraft stores were collection points for you. Last year I dropped mine into the local Save the Children op-shop and they said that if they didn’t get to send them to you in Melb (/Sydney/wherever), they could always sell them thru their op-shop. I was a bit taken aback as they sell the knitted/crocheted blankets for $5-$6 each – it costs me more than that to make them! Please confirm drop off points?
This year we are aiming to knit 15,000 blankets by the end of August which will all be distributed through our programs in India, Laos and Cambodia. If we do receive blankets after the campaign has finished unfortunately we will be unable to send them overseas and so we will sell them through our op shops (which means Save the Children programs do still benefit from your knitting). All Save the Children stores are drop off points for the blankets and there are participating Spotlight & Lincraft stores. The best thing to do is call your local Spotlight or Lincraft to check they are participating in the Born to Knit campaign. Thanks for your support & happy knitting 🙂
Just mailed off my first blanket. A bit under the 80 x 80, but I’ve upped the stitch count on blanket number 2. I did mitred squares, so no sewing up involved. Square 3 on blanket 2 about to be started.
Fantastic to hear. Thanks for your support!
Hi Team
Am finally about to start knitting a blanket (having been knitting for another o/seas charity) and I see that your end date for this campaign is now the end of August and not end of September as I had read in one of the earlier posts. Could you please clarify, as unfortunately I don’t have much free time in which to knit and know that there is no way I could have one knitted and to you by end of August. Thanks heaps. Bev.
Hi Bev. Thanks for your support of our campaign. Then end date of Born to Knit is 30th September. So there is still 6 more weeks of knitting to go! Apologies for any confusion.
Hi I also thought it was the end of September I have knitted enough squares for two blankets and was going to sew them up, If they have to be in by the end of August I will need to send them as squares as I wont have time to sew them up. Can you let us know please if it is August or September. Thank You Robyn
Hi Robyn. Apologies for the confusion over the end date. The deadline is the 30th September so we would love it if you could sew your squares into a blanket. Thanks for your support of Born to Knit 🙂
Do you have guidelines for loom knitting these blankets? I would love to participate but I am pretty new to knitting and I don’t think I have enough time to mail order your knit kit; but I have done a bit more on the loom.
Hi there. Thanks for your interest in Born to Knit. Our instructions do only cover regular knitting but we found this little video that shows how to knit a square on a loom. The instructions are not tried and tested by us – but hopefully they will help! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVu9yAw3Ko
My daughter (seven) picked up a postcard for Born to Knit in a cafe just last weekend. She has never knitted before, but she is valiantly persevering and has done about ten rows. She keeps talking about the babies overseas who need a blanket, so I can’t get cross about picking up all the dropped stitches…Now I am knitting as well – it would be so cool for her if we managed 16 squares, but we may have started a bit late. Maybe if we get both Grans to help out….I did like the idea about mitred squares with no sewing, so maybe next year…
Fantastic to hear you have joined our Born to Knit campaign! 3 weeks to go and so hopefully you get your blanket finished in time 🙂 Happy knitting!
Delighted to report that my little girl though perhaps not truly “born to knit” managed to do a square and a half in those three weeks, and by a fair bit of multi-tasking, I managed the balance of a rug, and sewed it up. I hope the child who gets this rug is as pleased with this project as my daughter. She feels a special bond with that child she has never met, and I have to admit also that this was more satisfying than writing a cheque for a worthwhile project has ever felt – thank you for this opportunity.
I was going to start my 4th blanket a few weeks ago….it’s the 12th now and I don’t think I’ve enough time. Will the campaign be on for next year ?
I still have four squares to go on my blanket and can’t see myself getting it in the post before next Monday 26th September. (Unforeseen work committments have meant I have had very little time for personal pursuits.) It will be sewn together before I send it but I am just worried that I’m sending it from country WA and it may not get there before 30th. As it may not get there until Monday, 3rd October would you still accept it for overseas distribution, given that it would already be sewn together? If you can’t I understand, but I may have to send it to another charity. Thanks.