Make a beautiful baby blanket out of knitted squares.

Knitting squares to make a baby blanket it not only a great way to learn how to knit, but you can make a beautiful and unique blanket which will be with a child for many years.

You can also be very creative using a variety of knitting stitches and the beautiful yarns available today, as you can see from the laid out squares here.

This is another one of my mother, Zanny's blankets, which she has just completed but is yet to sew up.

Traditionally baby blankets have been made in whites and pastels, but babies are stimulated by colours and are able to detect subtle shifts in shades as early as two months, so surround them with a palette of beautiful colours.

Pretty patterns and rainbow colours
Make it unique too, by varying the knitting stitches to create different textures and surfaces for them to touch and feel. Many of the yarns today are so soft and gentle to touch, so chose them not only for colour but for feel as well. Yarns that are a blend of wool, silk, alpaca and even bamboo are warm and delicate to the skin.

Like all craft work, it is best to plan your baby blanket carefully from the start. Start with two main colours, as shown in the blanket pictured – purple and turquoise. Then add another two to three colours which either tone in – the dusty pink and the dove grey – or are blended in by a mutual colour, in this case the multicoloured pastel wool which contains tones of most of the other four colours. Four to five colours is usually enough. Any more can make such a small blanket look messy.

These square knitting patterns, like all our square instructions, use 8 ply yarn and 6mm (4UK/10 USA) needles. There are 24 squares, 6 x 6 inches (15 x 15 cms) arranged in six rows of four squares. Despite choosing 8 ply yarn, there will be some variation in the square sizes. Don't worry about this, it is easy to slightly stretch the squares to fit each other when sewing up. Also as demonstrated here, changing needle sizes dramatically alters the size and feel of the square, so you can experiment with this as well if you want more or less squares in your baby blanket.

If you are learning to knit, then perhaps try the simpler knitting stitches to start, although once you have mastered knit and purl stitches, there is no end to the wonderful knitting patterns you can make.

And when you are finished knitting your beautiful and unique baby blanket, please use your wool scraps to knit one 8 x 8" square (or more) to send to Africa to make blankets for AIDS orphans.

Please also join Square Circle ezine for stories of your efforts to help keep these children warm and for new baby blanket patterns.

Celebrating charity knitting heroes

Simple. Profound. Life changing.
Giving is Living presents a clear, practical guide to making generosity a part of our everyday lives. It shows us how small efforts to reach out to help those in need can make a real difference.It explains that generosity does not have to be about giving money. It can start with a smile, cost nothing, and it can do so much good.

JUST AS OUR HEROES PROVE.
While charity knitting or knitting for kids may have been of interest for some of these knit-a-square heroes, they have taken to heart the plight of the AIDS orphans, and are championing this crochet and knitting project with a passion.

It is this commitment that will continue to drive interest and ensure that we reach our goals.

The goals are modest, given the scale of this unfolding tragedy, but as each of you takes ownership of this project, or spreads the word, we are more likely, to not only achieve the goal of
10,000 blankets in 2009, but beat it.

Every additional blanket keeps another abandoned child or AIDS orphan warm.

You are all charity knitting and crocheting heroes
The map represents all the states and provinces of the countries around the world from which you, and many hundreds of knitters and crocheters, are sending squares.

Over and above charity knitting, for every square you knit and every person you tell about it, you are all contributing to changing the world's awareness of the plight of these children.

There are many people who deserve mention on this page and to whom knit-a-square and the children who will benefit as a result of their work, owe grateful thanks. We hope too, that there will be many people in the future who we can add to this growing list.

Please take the time to read some of these inspiring and heartfelt commitments to this project as we post them to the blog over the next few weeks.

Form a knitting circle. Knitting for charity in a community of friends is good for the soul!

Heart to hand:
The circle makes the squares. The squares make the circle.

The same as a book club, a knitting circle can be the basis for life-long friendships. Being united in a common purpose, by knitting for charity, makes the effort even more meaningful.

How many times have you thought that you would love to get involved in a craft, or a group or do some good in the world. Sometimes we are so busy, it all seems way too hard.

This knitting project is a really simple way to start. Not expensive, little required and a fantastic outcome. Eight people in a group, each knitting 5 squares would be enough for a child's blanket.

And a great way to kick start a life-long hobby which, apart from knitting for charity, will see you creating many wonderful items of clothing, gifts and perhaps even a heritage blanket for yourself or your loved ones.

Wool today is exquisite, multi-textured and in every colour imaginable as you can see in the beautiful blanket my mother, Zanny knitted for me.

This wonderful display of wool is at Purl's Palace, Daylesford, Victoria, Australia, which is well worth a visit. You can view her site at www.purlspalace.com
Photo by Jack Sarafian.

Here are some suggestions for how to get a knitting circle together:

1. Download the 'Square Circle' invitation. Click here. 2. You could start with your immediate family and friends and ask them if they know anyone else who would be interested

3. Settle on one regular date, ie second Wednesday of every month. Try not to change it once you start, just to accommodate one member. Once the regularity is affected, the group tends to break apart. Just make it on a 'come if you can' basis.

4. Agree to host it on a rotational basis, or go to your local wool or craft shop and ask if they would host it for you after hours. Great benefit for them!

5. If at home, decide whether the host is going to supply food and beverages. If you have a group of 8 – 12, then you are only involved in this once every 8 – 12 months. Your efforts will be greatly rewarded by the conviviality of sharing food together, but also the enjoyment of meals shared at other member's homes. Food is definitely a topic of enthusiasm for most people and recipe sharing an added benefit!

6. Make sure for the first meeting that everyone brings at least one ball of 8 ply wool, a pair of 6mm needles and a darning needle. If they are already involved in a knitting project, ask them to bring it to show the group.

7. Print out the knitting and sending instructions for the squares for everyone

8. Please join our mailing list for the Square Circle ezine. This way we can keep you in touch with our knitting project and the success of your blanket for our charity for children.

9. Also, please contribute your knitting circle stories, patterns, and successes, and if you make a heritage blanket, please send us photos.

Zanny's bowling friends set to knit after a day's hard bowling. Proves you can knit anytime, anywhere!

Welcome to Square Circle. We look forward to a life time's association and making many blankets together