Permaculture knitting

Thanks for that previous post, Sharon. The money being raised for the fire victims is growing steadily. Australians have always been generous and supportive in times of crisis so it's good to see that tradition remains strong. The Red Cross is accepting donations both here in Australia and from their locations around the world. You can read about their current efforts here.

It seems I'm always running late these days. The book proposal that was supposed to be in on January 31 still hasn't been sent and after two busy days at work I plan on writing for the rest of this week and have it in on February 15. It is late because I made some last minute changes and my agent, Abby, was gracious enough to not mind the missed deadline. Work was particularly busy this week because I'm starting some new programs and we're planning our move to the new building and all that brings with it. Monday and Tuesday were HOT here, there is no air-conditioning at work so when I came home, I crashed. I'm still feeling a bit tired now, even with a good night's sleep, so I hope I come good during the day.

So, what is on my agenda today? I'll bake bread, sweep the floors and do a general tidy up and then settle into my sewing room to write most of the day. Hanno did a lot of gardening while I was at work so everything is fine outside. I have seedlings ready to plant in the garden and all the tomatoes need to be potted up. I hope to do that tomorrow when I'll see to the worm farm as well. They've been a bit neglected recently but they usually do okay as long as they have food and water.

I wrote last week that Rose had sent me some cotton called Down to Earth. When I start my new project this morning - at morning tea I plan on starting a set of dishcloths for Sarndra and Shane - I'll use some of Rose's cotton and see how it knits up. I'm knitting a set of aqua and red cloths so I'll use some of my Lions cotton for the thin red stripes.

These small squares of cotton that we knit for our wash or dish cloths can be made into other things as well. I showed the pot holder I'd half finished a week or so ago. Well, here it is now, finished, with some very quick hand quilting to attach the back to the front. All I did with it was to knit a square of Lions organic thick cotton, cut a square of cotton fabric to size and then quilt the front to the back. I'm already using it and it's worked really well. I have those saucepans with metal handles so pot holders are always used in my kitchen.

But there are other projects as well. When you've knitted up your own set of cloths, you could knit a few cleaning mitts. Just knit two rectangles (or one long one) the size of your hand and sew them together, leaving a hole for your thumb - in the same way we make a thumb hole in fingerless mittens. These make very good dusters or mitts for cleaning or washing dishes. If you have a swiffer, you could knit longer rectangles to replace the synthetic ones you need to buy replacements for. Two squares, some lining and a strap would make a sweet little shoulder purse for a little girl, or a big one. Or two squares and lining would also make a very serviceable padded digital camera pouch.

As you can see you can turn your squares into quite a few small items that will serve you well. Knitting the squares improves your knitting and you can experiment with different patterns, they're like modern day samplers. Women in the past used their samplers as decorations but we can put our samplers to use replacing products we used to buy. It's like permaculture knitting - we're getting multiple uses from the one thing.

Are you using your cotton squares for things other than dish and wash cloths? If you are I'd love to know what you're doing.

ADDITION: If you're looking for some good reading today, I recommend A Farmstead Pilgrimage to you. I have a handful of blogs I read when I have the time and Kris's has become a firm favourite. Even that first page, without any scrolling back, is a delight. Grab a cuppa and enjoy a visit there. Oh, her feedburner is broken and she can't find a way to fix it. If you can help can you contact her and offer your help. I'm sure she's apreciate if very much.