There are definite signs that autumn has arrived; dropping temperatures, falling leaves, shorter days — and an overwhelming urge to knit.
Knitting is something I do with much more enthusiasm than skill. After a few years of odd-shaped and unfinished sweaters, I’ve learned to limit myself to producing scarves and beanies for various community groups which distribute winter basics to some of the (far too many) children (1) who live in poverty in New Zealand.
I love the colours in this wool, and enjoyed taking five minutes out to capture a few images for Five Minutes of Random (the RegularRandom challenge), a weekly photo challenge hosted by Desley Jane atΒ Musings of a Frequently Flying Scientist.
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(1) According to UNICEF around 295,000 children in NZ (28 percent of all children in this country) live in poverty:
UNICEF NZ: Child Poverty in New Zealand
Lovely pictures and even better – I love that you do this. I have been sewing for Days for Girls International, my current favorite charity. You should check it out, it’s right up your alley. https://www.daysforgirls.org/ Here are two videos about it that I love:
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Thanks for this link Amberly. What an awesome organisation. π
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It has been great to support them. We have a large group of us who try to create 100 completed kits each year. There is a woman who lives near me who sews almost all of the liners. Last year of the 800 liners needed she sewed 780 of them. She is 93. I think she is amazing.
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It fills me with such joy and hope to hear this. And I love that your most prolific seamstress is 93. I’m sure her engagement with this is one of the reasons for her longevity. We need to know about the good in the world, and you’ve cheered me so much with this. π
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I’m so glad. π
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Great montage of your pictures! If only spring was not here, I would want to get out my knitting!
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Thanks. It is such a seasonal thing; and a really strong impulse that always arrives at this time of year.
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I love this wool too Su! How cool. What are you making with this one? I have far too many scarves but I can’t resist them. Thanks for joining in π
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I made a beanie, with some stripes of plain wool in the accent colours. I love scarves but can’t really justify making any more for myself. Some friends have set up a project called Phantom Scarfies to put scarves in public places for people who need them to take. I’ll knit some for them, and some scarf/beanie sets for kids. They go to a group that distributes them to schools in poorer areas.
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Oh that’s fantastic. What a great idea. Your beanie sounds incredibly cute.
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π
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And many of those children will be feeling extra cold (and damp) after the awful weather we’ve had this week.
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Oh I know. And as always, it is the poorest who suffer the most.
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I too am not a great knitter, but it’s the working in colour that I enjoy.
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π I get that. I love adding little bit of colour and texture contrast. Beanies and scarves are very forgiving in that respect.
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I love these little vignettes of your life. You make excellent galleries. I gave up knitting once my kids reached adult size! I used to love knitting baby cardigans, but you can’t keep having babies can you! I am surprised that NZ has children living in poverty. But then I am surprised that anywhere in the developed world has poverty at all. Seems an obscene imbalance of wealth when you get some people buying multi-million houses and yachts…
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Thanks Jude. I tried knitting for the boy-child but he was really never into hand-knitted stuff, so I’ve tended to be a scarf and occasional cardie-for-myself knitter.
NZ has a terrible rate of poverty, which not surprisingly has risen spectacularly as successive governments have privatized, deregulated and generally incubated a new “super-rich” class.
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Sadly this seems to be a world-wide problem π¦
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When do you have time to knit!? Photography, blogging, genealogy, cooking, and knitting! I am impressed!
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Hehe. Evenings. It’s dark by about 6.30 now and I’m in hunkering down mode.
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The wool is such a lovely colour. The children will love whatever you make of it. There’s just too much poverty in the world.
Leslie
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Thanks Lesley. I was drawn to that yarn too. I’ve since added stripes of the blue, purple and pink highlights and am pretty pleased with the result. I’m going to make a pink scarf/beanie set next. It’s such a little thing, but I’ve seen how the kids who get these little gifts really appreciate them. It breaks my heart to know that children can be denied basics — especially in a rich country like NZ.
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Bless your heart Su. Your efforts will make a difference.
Leslie
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I hope so. It’s terrible that children have to rely on charity for essentials.
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It is….
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Beautiful wool, Su. I don’t knit, but I love to see what people create and where I worked part time, several of the women were knitters and we had a knitting group that came in once a month. Glad you can donate your work to a worthwhile cause. Poverty is certainly terrible, but unfortunately difficult to eradicate in a useful way, such as providing training for jobs so that people can actually support themselves and creating jobs for people to do. Sigh. We have to keep trying, that’s for sure.
janet
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Thanks Janet. You’re right; we have to keep trying.
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Great subject for the 5 Minute theme! And an interesting mix of shots.
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π
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The wool is lovely! I’m all for colours! And the project is a wonderful idea! I also used to only knit in autumn and winter but now that I’ve dared to knit other things than scarfs (still mostly socks) I kind of have a feeling that this will change now. π I’m totally curious about trying new patterns and techniques and will watch many YouTube vids π xxxxxxx
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I’m so impressed by your sock knitting! I have definitely narrowed the range of things I make, but I do love trying new patterns and techniques. Maybe I should check You Tube out for ideas/instructions. I am SO old-school, I actually borrow knitting pattern books from the library π xxxxx
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Hehe! π Thank you π I actually plan to post something about it soon, I could add links to the vids I used as learning material, though they are in German. But since knitting is universal and the woman who did the videos shows everything extra sloooow it should not be a problem π
Have a lovely week! Hope more butterflies are to emerge really soon π xxxxxxx
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That’s a good idea. I might be able to learn some German too. Our butterfly babies are doing well. Two more emerged yesterday and flew off. T and I actually took our coffees and sat at the hatchery for about an hour yesterday hoping another would emerge. We’re taking bets on which chrysalis will be next. π xxxxxx
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Then I will add the links to my socks post! π They look quite professional and the knitter speaks clearly and slowly – perfect for learning German then π
Aww – sipping coffee and waiting for butterflies to emerge – that sounds heavenly! A bit poetic too somehow π
Oooh! Bets! Great! You need to post a live video feed so we can all bet together! π xxxxxx
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