finished: two blankets

On Tuesday, my friend, D., from the Blue Mountains group of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW visited to help me sew some of the donated squares into blankets. We took a while to sort squares into colour groups then to decide on a layout for our first blanket.
We worked together to turn 28 squares into one blanket. D. sews faster than me but still it took us several hours to bring one blanket almost to completion. D. very kindly took all the crocheted squares home with her so my dining table looks a little less cluttered.
During the following days, I sewed the last ten inches of seam and darned in all the ends. I have named our collaborative blanket Scarlet Diamonds – for fairly obvious reasons!

I have also finished my Winmalee Blanket, which is a variation on the Moderne Baby Blanket, from “Mason-Dixon Knitting” by Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner. I needed mine to be much larger so reinvented the pattern for my own needs. What should have been the length of the baby blanket became the width of my single (twin) bed topper and then I recreated the same layout in mirror image.
 
The photo was taken on a dark and dreary rainy day and the colours are wrong. It’s purple not inky black and the border is a lovely bright teal. I think knitting a whole blanket in just 38 days is pretty amazing (well, it is for me anyway)!
I am linking this post up with Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday.
It would have been good if I could have written it last week when I was hosting but it’s really good to approach the end of the month with two finishes, even if only one of them is completely my own work.
And now, with the bushfire emergency over and the need for blankets passed (even though I still have a pile of squares on the dining table), I think it’s time to turn back to my UFOs and WiPs and see if I can end the year in style with 2013: The Year of the Finished Project.

quilts that went …

On Friday, a group of ladies from Caring Hearts Community Quilters and my WM gathered at our founder’s house to photograph, fold and pack 72 quilts to go to high school students (aged 12 to18) who lost everything in the recent bushfires.

That’s our founder, second from the right.

WM was kept busy on the back patio taking photo after photo while one or two women held the quilts up for him, and the ladies inside worked tireless in sorting quilts, packing quilts, collating packed quilts, attaching missing labels, sewing in or removing hanging threads, etc.

Most of the quilts were donated, less than half were  actually made by our group. What a wonderful crafting community! I’ve put some of the quilts in these photos; I’m sure you didn’t want to see all 72!

And, just because I can, a gratuitous photo of Younger Grandson enjoying spaghetti for dinner!

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday

Today I'm hosting TGIFF.

I don't actually have a recent, unpublished, finished object to show you. However, M-R, one of the instigators of the TGIFF concept, has invited me to share with you what I've been doing as regards the survivors of the bush-fires which devastated parts of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in mid-October. 

For those who may not know, four major fires sprang up near Lithgow, Mt Victoria, Springwood and Winmalee. The Lithgow and Mt Victoria fires soon joined into one blaze and destroyed over 10,000 hectares of land -- both bush and farmland. Remarkably, only a few residential properties were lost. However, major infrastructure was destroyed, including property belonging to the state-owned railways. This meant that electric trains were not able to get further west than Katoomba and commuters who travel from Lithgow (a two-hour trip on an express train) had to take a bus for part of their journey, adding up to an extra hour of time to their morning and evening commutes.

The Springwood and Winmalee fires also joined and, at one point, jumped the Nepean River, coming within four kilometres of our suburban home. What we once thought was completely safe suburbia has proved to be vulnerable with winds carrying embers into our yard and onto our roof.  Fortunately, WM keeps the gutters clean and free of dead leaves, etc. No homes were lost in our suburb or the surrounding area but it could have been otherwise! This photo was taken by WM from our front yard looking west towards the "Winmalee" fire.

17 October 2013

The story for residents of Springwood and Winmalee is very different. Over 200 homes were completely destroyed and another 200 were damaged, most irreparably. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. Hundreds of children are attending pre-school, primary school and secondary school every day that have lost absolutely everything!

A local charity was collecting blankets for families that had been affected by the fires. I donated two that I had to hand -- one I had already finished and was storing for the "right time", the other was finished in response to the fire emergency.

"Intarsia Blanket" (designed and knitted by Never2Hot2Knit)

"Knitted Patchwork" (donated half squares joined by me)

I also cast on another blanket, which I called the Winmalee Blanket, in honour of the suburb that suffered the most damage. I would have liked to have finished this by now but I'm still a few hours away from completion. For those of you who don't knit, a finished blanket has about 140,000 stitches in it and takes about 75-80 hours to knit. I'm about 7 hours from finishing mine, this is what it looks like so far:

modified "Moderne Baby Blanket" (Mason-Dixon Knitting)

For the knitters reading, this is a modified version of "Moderne Baby Blanket" and the only acrylic yarn (which I'm desperately trying to use up) that I had in large enough quantities. 

The president of the Knitters' Guild of NSW (Inc) got behind the idea and soon squares and finished blankets began pouring in. I had raised the idea, so I was the volunteer seamstress. This is what my dining table looks like with three completed blankets folded on the left corner and "squares" of various sizes stacked across the table (there are more piles that you can't see behind the 'skyscraper')!

please come and help me!

and this is a partially completed blanket on the living room floor.

"Knitted Patchwork II" (505 donated half-squares, 50% knitted, or to be knitted, by me)

I am hoping to finish this one soon but want to finish the Winmalee Blanket first which is getting more and more difficult as daytime temperatures are over 30*C (86*F). 

The need for blankets has now passed so the squares will be stitched together during a "seaming bee" in the new year and the resultant blankets stored (by the Guild) for future need.

Another group that I belong to is called Caring Hearts Community Quilters (CHCQ); it was started a few years ago in response to a bushfire emergency in Victoria. Along with other quilting groups and charities, there has been a massive effort to supply families who lost everything with items to show, in a practical way, that someone cares about their plight. CHCQ has already donated thirty-one quilts to two primary schools and a pre-school for children who have lost everything. Later today we will be sorting and bagging another 64 quilts that will be given to students in two high schools. WM is coming to the sorting day with me to take photos so come back later to see some of the activity and quilts.

Sourcing or making over 100 quilts in less than a month is no mean feat for a small group of about twenty women, most of whom are in their sixties and seventies. I am proud to be associated with the group.

Thanks, M-R, for encouraging me to share this story. I hope the post was not too long!

Please link up with your finished projects here. Please use the URL of your actual blog post so that we may all come and visit your blog and see what you have finished.

two little boys

My blog posts have been few and far between lately.

I've been busy knitting when I probably should have been stitching.

I'm still spending too much time on the computer, well, my iPad to be exact, but that's due to an increase in Bible study. I have several translations of the Bible plus my notebook on my iPad; and our church has the weekly message available on Sugarsync, YouTube and podcast so I'm able to review the message later in the week during my quiet time.

But you didn't come here to read that, did you?

You want to see the two boys mentioned in the post heading...

DD just sent this photo and I couldn't resist showing it to you. 

Gorgeous, aren't they?

Just 31 days till we see them again!

2013: The Year of the Finished Project -- November edition

This year is moving so fast, I can hardly keep up with it!

As most of you would know, I put all my October goals aside and have been working on blankets for the victims of terrible bushfires which swept through parts of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, a couple of weeks ago.

Here are the goals that I set at the end of September:

1. Scrappy Hearts quilt – I managed to finish all but the last four blocks but there was no way this quilt, which is not needed till April next year, was going to get done once the call-out for blankets and quilts for the victims of the fires went out!
2. Country Houses quilt – all I did with this is put it on the bed, quick what I needed to do next, and fold it up again.
3. Purple Cocoon Socks – finished 9 October
4. 
5. Westall Cardigan – replaced with Knitted Patchwork blanket -- finished and delivered to the charity collecting for the bushfire victims; I then started working on Winmalee Blanket (being knitted in one piece) and Knitted Patchwork II which is being made from the left-over blocks from the Knitted Patchwork blanket.
6. turn another set of blocks from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge into a flimsy -- not started! Replaced with a QAYG project from donated blocks which is still in progress.

I have not set any goals for my own projects for November. I am likely to be sewing knitted squares for most of the month. If not, I will return to my October list which will look like this:

1. Scrappy Hearts quilt – finish enlarging blocks, make flimsy, make backing, baste, quilt and bind!
2. Finish QAYG project -- possibly to be known as Scrappy Strings Again!
3. Country Houses quilt – get it off the shelf and onto our bed
4. Westall Cardigan – sleeves to be finished
5. turn another set of blocks from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge into a flimsy

So what about you? 

Have you been busy meeting your goals or have you been distracted by other things?

What do you have planned for November?

Please link here with the URL of your specific blog post so we can all visit and see your progress.

still working on those blankets for fire survivors

I'm still here. My plans for finishing my own projects are well and truly on hold as I use every available minute to work towards completing more blankets to be given to survivors of the recent devastating bush fires in the Blue Mountains.

Both fires are still burning but they are contained and, as far as I'm aware, there is no threat to life or property. But 200 homes were lost and 200 more were damaged, probably irreparably.  So blankets and other household items are needed.

After a suggestion was made to the president of the NSW Knitters' Guild, donations of squares have started trickling in. I have the feeling that this is just the beginning of what might be a flood! 

I was naive! I had no idea how long it takes to put 28 squares into an acceptable layout, then seam all those square together -- 1,125cm (450") of seaming per blanket, in fact! Oh, yes, and then there are ends to be sewn in...

That's assuming that the squares are all the same size to begin with! Most of what has been donated so far, while very much appreciated, is far from being a standard 25cm (10") square! And that means additional work of knitting or crocheting to increase size; or blocking for a bit of extra stretch (a waste of time since most of the donated squares so far are acrylic and will not retain their blocking!).

Beside my knitting chair, I have one blanket on the needles. It is being knitted in one piece, based on the "Moderne Baby Blanket" (found in Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne). I knit on this while WM and I are watching television; it has nice long rows of garter stitch which is just perfect in this situation. (I can't sew seams while watching TV).

Also beside my knitting chair (in the background of the photo) are some squares I am knitting for Knitted Patchwork II. 

It's just as well WM is very forgiving and compassionate -- the living areas of our house are slowly being overrun by knitted/crocheted squares.

This is a corner of my living room floor, where I have laid out the remaining thirty five pieces of knitting left over after I completed the "Knitted Patchwork" Blanket. I am adding more by knitting on to these pieces and joining them using the garter stitch no-sew joining method taught by Ghalena Khmeleva. 

My dining table looks like this. It contains all the squares I collected form my LYS last week plus three completed blankets all knitted by one person; hurrah for such kind knitters who donate full blankets so that my only task is to deliver to the local charity!

In the corner of the dining room, on the floor, are three bags of squares delivered to me by the Guild president yesterday. I haven't even opened them -- it will probably be weeks before I even get to them. 

Maybe it's time to hold a sewing bee. Anyone want to come and sew squares with me? Pleeeeeez?