Celebrate a charity knitting hero

Kyla Austin, Toronto, Canada

So that's my pledge to you – a square a day.

Already well versed in charity knitting, when Kyla found knit-a-square she made this amazing pledge.

She wrote: My name's Kyla, and a family friend taught me to knit when I was about five years old. I didn't enjoy it a great deal and never really kept it up. Then two years ago I found the knitting charity 'caps to the capital', where knitted baby hats were sent all over the world to keep little newborn heads warm. Determined that I could make a couple hats, I picked up knitting again, teaching myself off the internet, sitting in front of my computer in residence.

After finding knit-a-square, I gathered up all the spare yarn that's been sitting around my apartment, and whipped up a couple squares over two days. It doesn't take me long to knit up a square, and when I realized this,
it hit me all of a sudden perhaps I can make a square a day.

I have a long commute to school and spare time between classes. We don't have tv but we do watch movies, so there's another few hours there. It wouldn't be that difficult to make a square a day. So that's my pledge to you – a square a day.

Kyla didn't stop there though. Soon she wrote again:

Anyway, since I am knitting in class, my professor and classmates have caught on. I emailed my professor the website address, and this was her reply:

"Kyla, Thank you for this….you know, after I asked you about it last week, I spoke to my mother this weekend who, as I mentioned has been knitting for babes/children for years and she's getting me going with all kinds of wool! Sometimes we just need another reminder of what's in front of us."

So there you go! Got another one hooked just by knitting in public. I think I could start a chain.

And indeed that is exactly what Kyla is doing:

I taught my classmate to knit yesterday. She sat down next to me and asked if I could show her, so I gave her a knitting 101 introductory lesson then just let her run with it. She was really proud of herself, saying that she could start knitting her own squares as well.

She too has a long commute to school, and she said 'there's no reason why I can't do something with that time – I mean, there's children out there in the world that unfortunately make the clothes that I buy in stores, I think I owe children a lot more than a blanket,"

Many of my classmates have asked me. "why are you knitting every day in class now?" And so many of them have asked me that I sent an email out to everybody explaining the goal and the program and including a link to the site. Now they ask me "hey which number square is this?" and "how many are you going to do?" and my favorite:

"I wish I could knit," to which I reply "I'll teach you any time you like."

Finished square 14 tonight. tomorrow is square 15. (15 March 09)

Kyla has also put up her own live journal, squareaday.livejournal.com . The journal is finding all sorts people interested in contributing, Brownie troops, students and knitters and crocheters thrilled to find a project as a 'stash buster". As Kyla said: "gotta love the grapevine over the interwebs".

Recently Kyla wrote to explore the idea of visiting South Africa in a year when she has completed her 365 squares, help put them together and do some volunteering. We are currently in contact about how this may work.

Kyla embodies a spirit of compassion which has moved us all greatly. I hope you find her story inspirational as we do. I look forward greatly to her updates and will keep you all in touch with her progress through the Square Circle ezine.

We hope too, very much, that she will get to meet some of the children she is working so diligently to help.

And we are grateful to her college mates and tutors who have become involved as well.

Please make sure that you join Square Circle for more stories of our heroes and their efforts to help keep the children warm.