KasSnippets - January 2015
REPORTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
On a freezing cold day at the beginning of June 2014, we headed off to Finetown once more … and, thanks to a large group of volunteers on that particular occasion, we were able to visit three schools.
Our first stop was Evergreen Day Care and Pre-School.
Full Report : Our visit to Evergreen Day Care and Pre-School
Other recent reports : Playing Santa with the Sharp Kidz...
NAVY BLUE SCARF CHALLENGE
Knit-A-Square partners
with South African business!
Knit-A-Square is excited to finally reveal details of the navy blue scarf project we have been hinting at for the last few months and to share with you details of another very exciting project at the same time!
Following two successful ‘GSK Scarves for Schools’ drives in 2013 and 2014, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) approached KAS with details of a similar, but bigger and better campaign for 2015 and we are delighted to have been invited to get involved.
The idea is to ask our contributors, as well as the people of South Africa, through various campaigns, to help us knit 6 700 navy blue scarves which will be distributed to underprivileged school-children by April this year, ahead of our winter.
Learners cannot concentrate in class when they are very cold. Many learners come from informal settlements where some of them live in shacks and do not have appropriate clothes to wear when the weather turns cold. GSK and KAS are asking you to assist in keeping as many of these learners as warm as possible.
Various needy primary schools in Soweto, have been identified as the potential recipients of the scarves and the principals, staff and children of those schools are eagerly awaiting the handover of the promised scarves, which will make a significant difference in the learning process to all who receive them.
Thanks to our unquestioning contributors, we have already started to receive navy blue scarves and have been furiously knitting ourselves. But, we have also been knitting scarves for another purpose….
TO READ THE REST OF THE EXCITING REPORT GO TO :
SPECIAL REPORT FROM SOUTH AFRICA
DISTRIBUTION PHOTOGRAPHS
Link to : Photographs from KAS Distributions - 2015
KNIT-A-SQUARE SHOP
In preparation for Anne Powell's forthcoming February Theme,
Think like a Kid - Four legged friends, Counting Squares, Word Squares - all with an African flavour!
We thought we would feature the Learning Posters
as this months focus for fund raising.
$5 buys 2 Learning Posters
Many pre-school aged children in South Africa are cared for during the day by community run day care centers or crèches. These organizations do their best to provide a healthy, safe, and educational environment.
Learning posters both brighten up these buildings, and provide important intellectual stimulation to developing minds. Your gift of two laminated learning posters helps many children, by enhancing their environment and supporting their early childhood education.
Your generous donation to the KAS Operations Fund, representing the cost of two learning posters, will help us to support crèches and day cares that provide a healthy learning environment for kids.
Link to Learning Posters in the KasShop
KAS REACHES GREAT HEIGHTS FOR CHILDREN
A JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD !
This challenge is going to take us around the planet whilst reaching great heights & piles of squares - 178,000 to be precise, in order to reach the top of Table Mountain, Cape Town in South Africa!
We are going to need 50 squares for every foot climbed!
Since we left Delphi in Greece, KAS has only conquered one other height - The Stawamus Chief Mountain in Canada! We are currently visiting Scotland and it is quite a hike! The squares held up during the postal strike will be filtering through by the end of January, so we can start taking bigger strides again!
Our current target is 119,600 squares
Here is our 159th target - Beinn a' Bheithir (Mountain of the Thunderbolt) - Scotland
Here is the link to KAS Reaches Great Heights for Children
WHAT'S GOING ON IN
SOUTH AFRICA?
SORTED IN SOUTH AFRICA
- THE OFFICE
The parcels have not only been arriving by the dozen, but two visitors who discovered Knit-a-Square at Hobby-X last year turned up with a pile of squares and goodies.
Margie and Brian
See more pics in Sorted in South Africa
The JBay Recycling Project for Children
& Stitch Witch News
The team are making preparations for the first trading day of 2015 on 26th January.To see more of the photos from the various Monday sessions please click on
JBay Recycling Project for Children
JAM - Joint Aid Management South Africa
JAM International have set themselves the aim of feeding one million children in Africa during 2015!
Mama Ntombi Community Projects !
MNCP managed to provide a Christmas treat of a much needed delicious meal, a toy and goodie bag of sweets for 750 children and 100 adults. There were also lots of fun activities to keep the children entertained and enthralled. Amongst these activities we had face painting, bubble fun, balloons and a Nativity play.
SPREADING THE WORD,
MEMBERS & GROUP NEWS!
Our January Garden theme at www.pinterest.com/anne1464/knit-a-square-january-2015-the-garden/ is attracting lots of attention and people are re-Pinning their favourites to their own pages. Every time someone does that, our web address appears in a new place. We have 65 people following for January and 61 of those are not KAS members, so word is spreading and we are being looked at!
Our Knit-a-Square S.A. page www.pinterest.com/warmkids/ now has 156 followers of which 121 are not yet KAS members, and things are being re-Pinned from there as well. The most looked at board on this page for the past month has been KasSnippets - 104 people who are probably not KAS members are reading Snippets and learning about us!
GROUP FOCUS
KY CROCHET MISSION
BEREA - KENTUCKY - USA
For those of you who visit the Forum, the name Penny Whittemore will be familiar. Penny joined KAS in 2014 and has been busy ever since! Here is a link to view her fabulous contribution : Penny Pics
to view what Penny and the KY group have accomplished including KasCuddles, many many squares, toys, finger puppets and Pocket Pals. Penny flew (hopped or slithered??) into the November Theme Bugs, Slugs and Hugs with enthusiasm and she is creating a special blanket for our kids.
Penny reports that she tried to learn to crochet as a child but couldn’t get the hang of it. She started crocheting in March 2014, and in April 2014 she had a stroke so learning to crochet became a kind of therapy, but was able to continue despite the difficulties.
But, this busy lady did not stop there!
In March 2014, she formed the KY MISSION GROUP at Scaffoldcane Full Gospel Church in Berea, Kentucky, where her husband is the Pastor. As Penny describes it, "In my younger days I was a weaver so I had tons of yarn left" and she certainly has put it to good use!
She and her mother hold meetings once a month at the church where this group of about 15 get together to knit, crochet, share patterns, discuss ideas for the monthly themes, package up squares to send, and top it off with a big home-cooked lunch! Even some kids help by rolling yarn into balls to be distributed to the members.
Several ladies in the group go around the community teaching others to crochet and knit and hand out KAS brochures to spread the word. Penny is hoping that by next year, the group will grow in their community.
Hats off to Penny and the entire KY CROCHET MISSION GROUP
for your commitment to KAS.
Some of the group members.
Penny is third from right and her Mom second from right.
The group now have their own website page at :
GLENROSE FRIENDS
by Christine Chiplen
I had a lovely afternoon yesterday, visiting an inner city music studio, where two sisters, Jayne and Joyce teach piano and violin, mainly to children and young people. They also run craft workshops during school holidays.
I had recently visited their mother who has been very poorly, and talked to her about KAS. After I had gone, she wondered what they could do to help KAS, and suggested the cutting die they used in their craft sessions could be used to make some felt shapes for use on my squares.
So when I visited the studio yesterday, expecting a few felt shapes, I was very surprised to meet a very enthusiastic Jayne and Joyce and a lovely variety of lovely felt animals, butterflies, trees, flowers and many other lovely, colourful shapes waiting for me!
The studio is called Glenrose, and so Glenrose Friends will be supporting KAS this year.
To read the rest of this blog please go to : Glenrose Friends
KNIT-A-SQUARE - MELTON MOWBRAY
Rebecca 'KoKo Cat' Price has been very active on Facebook promoting Knit-a-Square Melton Mowbray, as well as fund raising and gathering squares for KAS. She created the group in October 2014 and has already attracted 45 followers! The group meet at the More Coffee Shop in Melton Mowbray (UK). They have two lovely postage sponsors, Mark of the More Coffee Co (an independent coffee shop : http://www.morecoffeeco.com) and Gwenne of Foxwise Accountancy. Already by mid-January they have 98 squares ready to go!
Andrea Palmatier's KasBlog
FIRST FRUITS OF THE HARVEST
The holiday Kwanzaa was created by the American Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 as a way of reinforcing African culture and heritage and reconnecting Africans throughout the world with the traditions and building blocks of community. The number seven holds a special significance – the celebration is seven days long, there are Seven Principles (the Nguzo Saba in Swahili) and seven symbols, including one called The Seven Candles. The last day of Kwanzaa (Swahili for first fruits of the harvest) is the first day of the new year, January 1.
To read the rest of this interesting blog, please click here
THE BLANKET ROOM COLLECTION !
Christine has started a new 2015 blanket collection and already there are 5 pages of blankets to view. Karen was delighted to spot 6 of her Mum's squares knitted last June in one blanket, think she'll be one happy Mum! Here is the blanket.
KAS MONTHLY THEME
January Theme - The Garden
lead by Christine Chiplin
After the lull of Christmas and end of year festivities, members absolutely burst into life with this topic! Below is just a small selection of the squares posted on the Photo tab, and, we are delighted that more members are posting the PJ's, representing different aspects of the garden.
Knit-a-Square has named 2015 The Year of the PJ !
To see Christine's introduction
please do go to January Theme - The Garden
Here is a selection of the recent single colour squares - which are the backbone of KAS blankets and provide a wonderful frame for the above more exotic squares:
FEBRUARY - Think like a Kid - Four legged friends, Counting Squares, Word Squares - all with African Flavour, - Anne Powell
MARCH - Colour Collision - Rainbows, Kaleidoscope, Nifty Neons - Elaine Jones
APRIL - Variegated Yarn - this is one of the most popular and is enjoyed by the members - Bev
MAY - One-Color Squares - PJs and Textures [Including Autumn Glory, Pretty Pinks, Ruby Reds ... and so on.] - Gloria Grandy
JUNE - Stripes & Zig Zags - another popular item - Pam Antink
JULY - Christmas - Glorious Greens & Reds - Debbie Posmontier and Sue Gillman
AUGUST - "Flags - the international KAS community" - Heather Mensah
SEPTEMBER - Fabulous Faces - Smiley faces, Animal & People faces - Robin Monsees
OCTOBER - Grannies & Garters - Susan Donaldson
NOVEMBER - Oceans/Land/Sky/Space - Valerie Zalewski supported by Linda Maltby
DECEMBER - Year End UFOs, Stash Busters, Plain Janes, Easy Peezies and other Favorites - Susan Haines
TALLY or ITEM COUNT NEWS
by Linda Maltby
- We hope to have the December figures in early February. Gina is unwell, and, needs a much needed break to help her recovery. Ronda & Wendy will work on the database for the time-being. Additionally, the focus has been on unpacking and reduce the enormous back-log of parcels created by the long postal strike.Apologies for the delay.
FEBRUARY PATTERN OF THE MONTH
by Linda Maltby
ABC Squares - Crochet pattern adapted by Rachel Andrus(USA)
Pattern reproduced by written permission of
Caron International
Creating an alphabet blanket for a child, besides providing warmth, will encourage the child to explore the alphabet and help with their learning.
The puffed letters give the child an opportunity to examine and remember the letters in a very tactile form.
Creating the squares in the colours of the South African flag adds another dimension to the blanket by presenting an opportunity for a caregiver to discuss the country where they live.
The Instructions and Graphs for the ABC squares
are available in the
A new addition to our KAS Pattern Book !
Happy Scrappy Dolls – a sewing pattern by Anne Scott (UK)
Knit for Life co-ordinators Pam Johnson and Elaine Jones, approached Anne after seeing and hugging her dolls. Anne graciously allows us to use her doll pattern to create a friend for a lonely child.
Elaine Jones commented when meeting the dolls at Yours Live 2013 :
“When Anne first handed me a Happy Scrappy doll at Yours Live! I couldn't believe how soft and cuddly it was. They are so very simple but it's easy to imagine a child clinging to one of these. Actually, not just children; it was really quite difficult to get Pam and Carol to part with them! I'm planning to make some myself. We were so grateful to Anne for allowing us to post the pattern.”
The beauty of this doll is that it can be made from any scraps of material although using fleece makes it very soft to handle.
Boys as well as girls need a special friend to provide comfort and help them cope with their world. A football [soccer] doll will provide hours of imaginative play especially if the doll’s jersey is in yellow and green…the colours of the South African team.
Decide whether you want to make a girl or a boy or perhaps both.
Then have fun designing a very special doll.
Choose material with a brown skin tone to reflect the appearance of ‘our’ children.
The children appreciate receiving dolls that look like them.
The pattern instructions and doll pieces are available HERE.
Other toy patterns are available
in the
KASCUDDLES MEASUREMENTS
For a few years now, KasCuddles have been keeping babies warm during the cold South African winters. The office stockpiles the Cuddles until a large quantity have been received, at which point they are given to retired nursing sister - Sister Susan.
For 40 years Sister Susan worked at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital which is one of the largest hospitals in the world, occupying around 173 acres (0.70 km2), with approximately 3 200 beds and about 6 760 staff members. On average 80 – 100 babies are born at "Bara" everyday and because of the lack of space, if the mom and baby are healthy, they are discharged immediately and do not stay over. Sister Susan recalled having to wrap these newborns in cotton wool to send them home. Imagine her absolute delight when we are able to supply her with KASCuddles made with love by KASfolk.
(L to R) Sister Susan with Wandi and Ronda.
Although we do not have photographs on the Cuddles being given to the mothers for their children, we know the mothers are very thankful for the generous hearts of people around the world.
Because these Cuddles are meant for newborn to 15 months, it is important to follow the measurements given in the pattern.
A helpful hint is to measure the circumference as well as the length when you are part way through and also when finished.
Please read the pattern Knit Link or Crochet Link carefully and make note of the dimensions.
The patterns are available in the KAS Pattern Book.
UTHANDO PROJECT PATTERNS
The Uthando Project, which started in Australia in 2004, designed, made and delivered handmade dolls for the children in KawZulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. In ten years they have produced 36,570 dolls and they hope to celebrate 40,000 very soon.
The Uthando Project would be delighted for Knit-a-Square members do download as many patterns as you would enjoy making!
We have created a discussion in Members Patterns where all the various links to the patterns can be found :
SQUARE HEART OF THE MONTH AWARD
Edited this month by Gloria Grandy
The Square Heart Award for January 2015
is for
Our Team of Volunteers in
South Africa
It will soon be seven years ago (yes! just seven!) that a plea went out to the world for squares to be sent to South Africa where they would be made into blankets.
That call was answered in spades. Squares were sent from every corner of the world. We sent them … you sent them … they sent them … dozens of them ... hundreds of them … thousands of them!
We sent squares, beanies, go-overs, vests, handwarmers, and toys. Whew! We did it! And we’re still doing it!
To read the rest of the award please click here
KAS FACEBOOK PAGE
FINAL THOUGHTS
Instead of begging at traffic lights in South Africa as so many do, Jozi offered to teach people Zulu words for 1 rand per word!
His story went viral on Facebook, result :
Jozi's Traffic Light Teacher, now known as 23-year-old Veli Moses Mackenzie, has been awarded a bursary to follow his dream by studying audio technology at the Academy of Sound Engineering!
now
what will Knit-a-Square inspire?
Replies
Thank you so much for this wonderful edition of the KAS snippets. What a lovely surprise to see a little girl "wearing" the blanket I made:) I love the beanie, made by another KAS member, it matches perfectly well with the blanket. I am always touched that soo many women and man make a difference, by cooperation, "the world united" :)
I can't say thank you enough. I am presenting this to my group this Tuesday. So much encouraging info. Kas is reaching further out and so are we. Our group is hopefully working with a few more missionaries for KAS so we will see. It's so exciting. Our group has a few more members and is increasing through different counties. I am planning a county wide get together in the spring to raise awareness. I will post how it goes since it is just planning time now.
Oh Penny this is wonderfully exciting news! I can't wait to hear an update...way to go on expanding to help the kids. This is so great!
Brilliant report Pam :) and thank you for mentioning the Jbay Recycling Project again :) I just love the Uthando Project and their dolls <3
It just keeps getting better Pam !! A wonderful report !
I agree. A massive amount of very positive encouraging information in this report....thank you so much Pam this is going to take me several read throughs to absorb it all Lovely!
THE DECEMBER SQUARES LIST IS AVAILABLE.
Thanks to the dedication of the volunteers, the total of 18,684 squares is the second highest for 2014. This is a fantastic feat considering the last two Thursdays of December were holidays [Christmas and New Year’s Day]
The S.A. team will not receive parcels in the order sent and is still attempting to clear the backlog. Please be patient and watch the Squares Lists for your name. If your parcel is not on this list, it will be on the next one or even the one after that !
The December 2014 Squares List is available on www.knit-a-square.com “Received Squares”
Graphs for Squares, Hats and Tops are here
Please include the Packing Slip in your parcel to help the team with recording.
Hi I sent some hats off on 22 September 2014 how will I know if they have been received? before I send any more?
Thank you
We try to publish the Square Lists monthlyLynda-Jayne, but the 14 week postal strike has thrown us into a bit of disarray! Here is the link the the website which holds the list up to November. We will be publishing the December list at any moment - Linda is working on it this very moment!
http://www.knit-a-square.com/squares.html
Because of the huge backlog held by the South African postal services it is likely that some of the earlier parcels will get through later - the piles at the depots were enormous. Let us know if you have any problems.
Great newsletter! So much good news to counter the TV news that I avoid. So much good in the world that people should hear about. Now I'm inspired to knit a navy blue sweater!!
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