Project Joel colour selection

After due consultation these lovely shades of green have been selected for Baby Joel's blanket.  Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 5 ply

Tension Square - Project Joel - 5 ply

Needle Size 3.25 / Size 10

Cast on 26 stitches

Row 1 - Knit
Row 2 - K1, Purl to end of Row, K1

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until knitting measures the same in length as width.
Cast Off

Press Knitting flat without stretching and then measure out number of
stitches in 7 cm.

Tension Square above has 16 stitches to 7 cm.

If your square contains more stitches then use size 3.75 / 9 needles
If your square contains less stitches then use size 3.00 / 11 needles

D Day approaches

Bendigo Woollen Mills "Almond White".  

It's on.  The Team Leader and Julie were observed in Napier Street ordering wool on the internet. 

Baby Fair Isle smart yarn

From the Landline story about the Wangaratta Woollen Mills - a new product available is Baby Fair Isle.  You just buy the wool and the pattern appears for you.

BRENDA MCGAHAN: The Baby Fair Isle from this summer was a significant innovation. Our print house at Wangaratta created for us a yarn, a Fair Isle that knits itself, so it's what we call a smart yarn. It unfurls as you knit. I think that's - that will continue to grow. There's been a very strong market reaction to that.

Pom Pom Garland at Wangaratta Woollen Mill

Photo courtesy of the Australian Country Spinners blog.

This Pom Pom Garland is now in the Guiness Book of Records.

"A Guinness Book of Records’ judge was on hand to adjudicate the attempt, which was part of the festivities for Australian Country Spinners 90th birthday celebrations. The final tally was an incredible 6977 pom poms strung in one continuous garland. It took around one hundred people to carry it from the Mill where it was measured, out onto the lawn for display. In addition to all the volunteers, crafters and staff who made pom poms, they were also received from hundreds of school children from all over Australia".

What a mighty effort!  Should we be doing pom-pom garlands as well?

Team Leader reports on New Zealand

Dear Knitters, I managed to delete my earlier post.  Sorry for the repeat.  The Team Leader has reported on a visit she paid to a yarn supplier, The Tin Shed, who can supply by mail order.  Yvonne says she died and went to heaven when she got there.

Wool colour suggestions

This afternoon Team Leader Yvonne and Knitting Expert Julie did a field trip to Wondoflex Yarn Craft Centre, 1353 Malvern Road, Malvern 3144  -- Phone: 03-9822 6231.

The following are some colour selection ideas:

 A successful expedition by the look of things.  Well done Team Leader and Julie.

Pattern samples - updated

This blanket features a knitted flower and a knitted border.  See the YARRRRN Pattern link to download a larger picture.

UPDATE:  Here is a link to the pattern from upknitcreek.com

This blanket from the Ghana Project has a pocket with a little animal.

There is some very advanced knitting on this Pinterest group of squares.

Tension squares

Tension square showing six stitches to the inch.

Message from the Team Leader.

I have had a fiddle with the 4 ply yarn and knitted a tension square to bring all our knitting together, and make the blankets take on a uniform look.

I would suggest everyone start with this square first so we can get all the tensions the same.

Start with the below instructions and then adjust your needles according to the instructions.

For the complete blanket each square will be 11 cm x 11 cm.
The blanket will 7 squares wide and 13 squares long. Total 91 squares per blanket.

This is approximately the size of a cot mattress and I have done the measurements so that we have uneven numbers which will work nicely for aesthetics.

Lenore is going to start a blog to keep track of where we are and we can load instructions directly onto the blog for the different patterns so we know how many stitches to use etc.

I have added the photos of the tensions square so you can see how I have measured the tension.

Tension Square
Using 3 1/4 needles (10)

Cast on 25 stitches
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K1 Purl to last stitch K1
(This keeps the edge neat without loops)
Repeat for 10.5 cm
Cast off

Prior to cast off check your tension is 6 stitches per inch as above pictures indicates.
This will also adjust the wide of the square once you have the right tension.

If you have more stitches to the inch you will need to change to the next size thicker needle 3.5 mm.

If you have less stitches you will need thinner needles to bring more stitches into the inch. Try a 3 mm.

Let me know if you need help with this and I will guide you through the process.

                                                                                               Yvonne

It has been agreed that the grandmother will decide on the colour and pattern of the wool.  If we have 10 knitters, we will only need to knit 9 squares each.  The squares are quite small, so the task will not be an arduous one.  When sufficient squares are completed, we will have a G&T night to stitch the blanket together.  The Team Leader is investigating the best way to do the stitching.  Experts are being consulted. 

Team Leader chosen

The Team Leader's case.

Just to reassure everyone that a democratic process was followed, Yvonne said, "I nominate myself as Team Leader".  There being no further nominations, Yvonne was elected.

Team Leader's pattern samples.

 Yvonne has commenced knitting pattern samples for each square.

Each sample has instructions attached.

The patterns come from the Ghana Project blog, in the Blog List to the right of screen.