Knit A Square
A year or so ago, when I was properly getting back into knitting, and learning to crochet, I was finding myself with lots of oddments of yarn. Around the same time, my mum found lots (and I mean lots) of squares which I had knitted when I was little. So I had lots of knitted squares, and lots of little bits of yarn. What to do with them? I thought there must be a charity that would accept donations of squares, probably to make into blankets, and so I had a quick search online.
I soon found Knit A Square. It's a charity based in South Africa, aiming to provide warmth and comfort to orphaned or vulnerable children in southern Africa. Many of these children are AIDS orphans. What started as a family project now has volunteers in over 50 countries. The simple idea is for volunteers to knit or crochet 8"/20cm squares, and post them to the address in South Africa, where they are then sewn into blankets. It takes 35 squares to make one blanket. There is also a KAS pattern book with patterns for different square designs and useful items of clothing.
During my gap year I spent six months volunteering at a school in KwaZulu-Natal, and then a month travelling around the coast to Cape Town. I completely fell in love with the country, so I knew this would be the charity receiving my squares! The first parcel I sent off to South Africa was about 25 squares and a packet of gold star stickers (as they also accept donations of stationery items) squeezed into the largest padded envelope I could buy in my local Post Office. The envelope was about £2 and the postage via surface mail was about £6. Not bad at all!
Since then I probably send off a parcel every 2-3 months. I squash as many squares in as I can, sometimes stickers and other light things. One parcel I sent off was just hats, but then I read in the KAS newsletter that they were running a bit short of squares, the main thing they need - a child wears one hat, but needs 35 squares for their blanket! So it was back to squares.
I've got a few friends involved, one friend was just learning to crochet, and so she used the squares as a chance to try out different stitches. Another friend, who is a very talented knitter and crocheter and has so much wool, has just sent me 3kgs of oddments. Three kilos! As she does a lot of commission-knitting and designing, she normally has a plethora of projects on the go, and so was unlikely to be using up this little lot any time soon. I was more than willing to take it all off her hands! This is going to make a lot of squares, think I'm going to keep a tally.
I think KAS is a great charity, based on such a simple idea: I get to use up all the odd bits of yarn which can't be used for much else, I therefore use up what I have and create space in the flat (yes, I am aware that being sent 3kg of yarn is not using up what I have, and it's created space in someone else's home, not mine!), and it all gets sent off to South Africa where it is put to good use keeping children warm. A win-win situation!
I soon found Knit A Square. It's a charity based in South Africa, aiming to provide warmth and comfort to orphaned or vulnerable children in southern Africa. Many of these children are AIDS orphans. What started as a family project now has volunteers in over 50 countries. The simple idea is for volunteers to knit or crochet 8"/20cm squares, and post them to the address in South Africa, where they are then sewn into blankets. It takes 35 squares to make one blanket. There is also a KAS pattern book with patterns for different square designs and useful items of clothing.
During my gap year I spent six months volunteering at a school in KwaZulu-Natal, and then a month travelling around the coast to Cape Town. I completely fell in love with the country, so I knew this would be the charity receiving my squares! The first parcel I sent off to South Africa was about 25 squares and a packet of gold star stickers (as they also accept donations of stationery items) squeezed into the largest padded envelope I could buy in my local Post Office. The envelope was about £2 and the postage via surface mail was about £6. Not bad at all!
Since then I probably send off a parcel every 2-3 months. I squash as many squares in as I can, sometimes stickers and other light things. One parcel I sent off was just hats, but then I read in the KAS newsletter that they were running a bit short of squares, the main thing they need - a child wears one hat, but needs 35 squares for their blanket! So it was back to squares.
I think KAS is a great charity, based on such a simple idea: I get to use up all the odd bits of yarn which can't be used for much else, I therefore use up what I have and create space in the flat (yes, I am aware that being sent 3kg of yarn is not using up what I have, and it's created space in someone else's home, not mine!), and it all gets sent off to South Africa where it is put to good use keeping children warm. A win-win situation!
Comments
Post a Comment