Hi everyone, just to let you know that the KAS Calendar 2013 is now available from the Square Shop for only $9. The calendar is a wonderful source of fund-raising for Knit-a-Square and KasCare. Once the order confirmation arrives in your mailbox, the calendar will be available for downloading. Then you are free to email it to as many of your family and friends as you wish!
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VIDEO EZINE - DECEMBER 2012 - THE ORPHANS LAMENT
Sandy has now posted the second Square Circle Video Ezine called the Orphan's Lament after Roger McDonald's poem which is featured towards the end of the video. There is much to enjoy, including film and photographs of the blankets being distributed, squares and garments. The wonderful singing at the beginning and end is the Phiri Parish Choir of which Lindiwe is a member in Soweto.
Some of the lovely comments already received :
Annette (UK) : am so excited to see a little girl with a doll I made, it's the first time I've seen anything of mine actually on here.
Laurie (Canada) : Once again, tears and joy intermingled! The gospel choir and Roger's poem, extraordinary!
Susan (USA) : It is wonderful to see these videos with our work and the children's smiles. I am a Plain Jane knitter, but as we can see from the video, the many squares all join together to make beautifully colored blankets, and it is so heart-warming to realize that so many loving knitters and crocheters join together to help keep so many children warm with a touch of that love. I love this organization and everyone involved in it
Janeen (Australia) : Wow that moved me to tears what a wonderful dedicated group of people to battle to achieve what they do so glad i can play a very small part
Please do add your comments to Sandy's discussion page on the Forum - we'd love to hear them!
We look forward to receiving video from you too. Especially if you are involved in a knitting group, school or church. Using your iphone makes it so easy these days and all you have to do is email it to sandy@knit-a-square.com
We thought you might like to read the story of the development of the Knit-a-Square Official Pattern Book and to this end Linda & Carol have put together the following :
In March, we independently of the other, suggested to Pam Antink that we would be willing to sort the patterns on the Forum. Pam replied with a suggestion of her own….would we be willing to work together to create a Knit-A-Square Pattern Book. Little did we know that it would take 8 months to have it ready to present to the KAS knitters and crocheters!
Carol, the knitter, in England and Linda, the crocheter, in Canada make a great team. Pam was always willing to listen and encourage us as we talked through the problems associated with organizing a pattern book. She was the perfect ‘silent’ partner. Thank you to our proofreaders: Helen Flagg, Christine Johnson, Mary Lokken, Anne Powell and Gitta Seyfert for their eagle eyes. It was a comfort to know that the patterns were correct.
We planned for the novice as well as the experienced knitter/crocheter. Our needles and hooks worked overtime as each pattern was tested before receiving approval to be included in the Pattern Book. It was many months before we were absolutely sure that the patterns would be helpful for KAS crafters as well as provide warm garments and blankets to keep the children warm.
In July, Sandy asked that a few of her mother Zanny's original patterns be included in the Pattern Book. Since Zanny had knit the patterns, Carol was assigned the duty of enlarging the pattern now known as ‘Zanny’s T-sweater’ and also adapting a square from a number of squares used in the blanket Zanny had made for her great-niece Emma.
Zanny's T Sweater - now revised and resized
Carol sorted and knitted a number of test patterns before finalising the patterns. In August/September, we were busy sorting photos for the respective patterns. We tried to have more than one photo for each pattern. To keep ourselves ‘legal’, we had to have permission from the photo owners. Unfortunately, in some cases, we did not hear back from the owners and had to leave their photos off the patterns. Linda spent the last week of October and then November sorting the patterns onto a standardized template. Once completed Erica Smith, our tech expert, was able to add this final version of each pattern to the webpage and the forum.
The two objectives we kept in mind were:
1. Ronda’s need for larger size garments
2. People’s requests for squares patterns
Squares are the backbone of KAS. We have chosen the most popular squares as well as some that offer the knitter/crocheter a challenge.
The ‘Plain Jane’ is the most knitted or crocheted square received for KAS blankets. Available for both knitters and crocheters, the pattern is easy to make and can be created in a wide range of colours and designs.
The problem with making a precisely 8” square is solved with the mitre square. This pattern can be done with either needles or hook. In crocheting, squares that start from the centre are another way of solving the 8” quandary.
The marvellous KAS Go-Over is the main garment pattern. Ronda knows this garment works well for the children. When it is very cold, they wear everything they own underneath the Go-Over. With a knit and a crochet version, the Go-Over pattern is perfect for the novice as well as the experienced crafter: Squares sewn together = a wonderfully warm garment.
Zanny’s T Sweater is also very special. Zanny created this pattern in the early days of KAS. There is a strong family connection with this pattern as Zanny is Ronda’s sister and Sandy’s mother. The revised larger size will help KAS keep the older children warm.
We could continue commenting on the great patterns but we would like you to have a look - click here for the KAS Pattern Book - try one or more of the patterns and post a photo of the finished item on the Forum photo page [Click the ‘Photos’ tab on the Forum menu bar and follow the prompts.]
Enjoy!
Carol and Linda
2013 - CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF THE OLDER CHILD
It is so important that the children have warm clothing when the South African autumn arrives in March/April. With this in mind, we are making Ronda’s Winter Drive our January 2013 Challenge.
THE JANUARY 2013 CHALLENGE is the
WISH LIST CHALLENGE RONDA'S WINTER DRIVE
WARM TOPS - BEANIES - SCARVES - SOCKS (sox) - GLOVES OR MITTENS and,
of course, CUDDLY TOYS NEEDED.
Your parcel does not need to arrive in South Africa before the end of January. Winter in the southern hemisphere starts in June and continues through to August. Those of us who use sea-mail find parcels take between 8-10 weeks to arrive. Thus, if you mail a parcel by the end of January it will reach Ronda and the volunteers in early fall, ready to be distributed for winter. But, whenever your parcel arrives, know that you are keeping children warm.
The focus will continue to be garments for children aged 4-9 years old.
Using patterns from the Kas Pattern Book which are designed for the older child, will ensure you send exactly what the children need to keep them the warmest.
The Go-Over is perfect for the Plain Jane knitter/crocheter. It is made with eight 8” squares for the body and eight 7” squares for the sleeves. Sew them together and you have a cozy sweater.
For crocheters, Mary's Chain Stitch Hexagon Sweater is wonderfully easy to make. As well as being soft and stretchy, knitters love how quickly Grace's Ribbed Vest works up. Or challenge yourself to try one of the more difficult patterns, Heather's Winter Warmer is a beautiful knitted sweater. The Stripes and Triangles sweater, crocheted from the neck down, has an outstanding pattern.
2013 MONTHLY CHALLENGES
The Moderator Team are still setting the agenda, but having taking all the suggestions put forward the list is likely to include Educational Squares (Sept); Africa/Animals; KasCare Aids awareness month (Dec); Musical/Notes/Instruments; Night & Day; Stripes & Zigzags; and several more.
Update on December 2012 Challenge
The Plain Jane Challenge continued into December with the addition of Stash Busting & UFO's - along with Ronda's Winter Drive.
To see more of the Winter Drive contributions visit the Flickr Gallery or if you'd like to see more of the Plain Jane Challenge November-December also on Flickr.
RED & WHITE HAT CHALLENGE
The Red & White Wish List Challenge is going to close on 31st January. The Forum Tally has reached 450. However Ronda believes from the number of hats that have been received in SA is fairly close to the 600 so do keep going! This challenge has received a superb response which can be seen on a Flickr Gallery - the range and inventiveness of that hats is astonishing and we look forward to seeing photographs of the distribution.
TALLIES or ITEM COUNT
Squares - Knit-a-Squillion started July 2011 ends December 2012 has reached a total
of 229,454 (however, November & December Square Lists have still to be added)
Hats started January 2012 ends December 2012 total 11,048
Vests & Tops started January 2012 ends December 2012 total 4,381
Click here for the Current Tally and Square Lists.
BLANKET ALBUM & SORTED IN SOUTH AFRICA!
As well as Lorinda's team's contribution of 95 blankets to Blanket Album
we have added more blankets as they have arrived or found in the KAS archives.
Sorted in South Africa! is a new discussion post, with photos that Ronda has managed to take on opening days. Quite a few members have spotted their work!
TREASURE BOXES are run along the lines of Santa's Shoeboxes
The presents will be shared by Pastors Willem and Natalie to outreach projects in extremely poor rural areas. Many of these boxes are filled with slip-ins from KAS Members!
SPREAD-THE-WORD & EVENTS
Laurie Fortier (Canada) has a super blog : Yarns for a Better World.com
Laurie talks about how her life has lead up to this moment in time, and, that literally, knit-a-square changed her life! Her inspiration came from Ronda and she reminds us of the very beginnings of KAS. "Ronda explains that she could no longer sleep at night after passing these poor children in the streets day after day. She could no longer believe that the situation was hopeless. She had to do something. What she and her niece Sandy decided to do is the most extraordinary thing. Forget the big picture. What can we do, small, easy, cost-effective? Knit-a-Square is born. One square at a time we will provide warmth and comfort to the aids orphans of South Africa."
Please do click on 'super blog' above and enjoy a heart felt story of a strong desire to do something that makes a difference.
The number of "Likes" is rapidly heading for 5,000 and currently stands at 4,882! We also copy the messages and stories received on Facebook to the Forum if anyone is not a member of FB.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Here's a beautiful story of selflessness for Christmas from Denise!
"I noticed this little boy sitting quietly in the corner not opening his present (the green box) so I approached him and asked him why he wasn't opening his present like the rest of the children. It soon became obvious to me that he was going to give his gift to someone else and on further enquiry I discovered that he was saving his gift for his 13 year old sister!!
I swear things happen for a reason...I had made a box (the pink one on the top) for a 15 year old girl, Rudene, who has since left the hostel, so guess what...I was able to give his sister her own little Santa Shoebox and he got to keep the box packed especially for him!!!
MAY 2013 BE FILLED WITH PEACE, GOOD HEALTH & PROSPERITY FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED IN
KNIT-A-SQUARE, AND,
ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN OF AFRICA
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