Knit a River

Get well soon, Mary, and thank you

2006-11-27T14:50:00.000Z

When Middlesex WI member MARY PEACH fell and broke her hip recently and was confined to hospital, she found knitting the blue squares an excellent way to pass the time and generate interest in the project.
Thanks Mary, we wish you a speedy recovery.

Hello from Allithwaite School in the Cartmel Peninsula, Cumbria

2006-11-27T14:38:00.000Z

A massive thank you goes to to Allithwait School in the Cartmel Peninsula, Cumbria, who are learning to knit so they can help contribute to Knit a river.

A tale of friendship and celebration...

2006-11-23T00:34:00.000Z

A selection of squares from Southampton, New York. I hope the ladies won't mind if I post their comments here as they say much better than I could...

"Enclosed are ten squares for the 'Knit A River' project completed by a group of eight women from New York celebrating the 60th birthday of one of our dear friends, Laura. We took Laura on a surprise weekend visit to a lakeside inn in New Preston, Connecticut and brought along a variety of blue yarn and knitting needles. Since Laura is a generous and giving person, we felt that the 'Knit A River' project would fit perfectly into the weekend's activities.

We had a wonderful time talking and knitting, with the more experienced knitters helping the beginners. We agreed that the individual squares we created are as different as we are and yet together make a beautiful statement of our friendship. As one friend said, "Different texturs, different dimensions, different complexities, different palettes, as beautiful, warm and comfortable as a favorite sweater."

Thanks to Jane, Janet, Kathy, Alice, Carol, Karyn, Linda and birthday girl Laura (Happy birthday!)

Inspiration from Trinity Academy, Thorne nr. Doncaster

2006-11-23T00:21:00.000Z

An amazing effort by the staff, pupils and local community of Trinity Academy in Thorne has resulted (so far) in over 900 blue squares to add to the river. This is, simply, an incredible achievement and a real inspiration. Their photos have an immense, and sometimes emotional response from those who have seen them, and so they are posted here.

A huge thankyou to everyone involved for your hard work and dedication. It really does make a difference.

Have you spotted yours yet...?

2006-11-20T12:16:00.000Z

In amongst this set of pics are squares from Good Shepherd, Abbotsford, Australia.....a teen group project in Glenolden, Pennsylvania, USA.....the Radford Care Group, Nottingham, UK....Rotterdam, Netherlands....and all over the UK.

Latest pics from WaterAid...

2006-11-15T09:58:00.000Z

There are now some new pics of squares and their knitters, plus the river in Jubilee Gardens on the official WaterAid website at:

http://www.wateraid.org/uk/get_involved/campaigns/campaigns_news/4984.asp?EmMailerKeywords=Jubilee-gardens

Keep them coming!

IKL

2006-11-12T00:32:00.000Z

The River's first day out....

2006-10-17T00:22:00.000+01:00

A small portion of the river was displayed by the London Eye on Saturday 14th October for a photo shoot. Thanks to those who came down and to all those who passed by and took flyers and talked to us about the project. It already looks quite spectacular so to think what we'll all achieve by next March is phenomenal! Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far and keep those squares coming in! Gerard visited Ally Pally on Sunday and returned with a whole bag full!!

More more more...

2006-10-10T21:56:00.000+01:00

thanks to Mary in Stratford-upon-Avon, Pat, Chris and Ann in Leeds and Mary Sue in Austin Texas......

Multiplication...

2006-10-03T18:50:00.000+01:00

A few of these.....

= lots of these....!

The Hexham Wave

2006-10-03T18:45:00.000+01:00

Our first post without a picture of a blue square...?

I'll let the note (and the fish) do the talking here.....

Thanks to Kate and the Hexham group for sending their 'wave', for the lovely note and for sewing them together!! 28 beautiful little squares of individual art that really do make a difference. And, can I just add...sewing the jiffy bag closed was a touch of genius!

Squares from the future....

2006-10-02T11:28:00.000+01:00

We've had an email from a friend, Penny, who was in Germany recently. here's a pic of some squares that we haven't received yet, made by Alice. They're brill! More fish please!! We look forward to adding them to the river...

From Simon...and from April...thanks a lot!

2006-09-21T01:45:00.000+01:00

17th September 2006....

2006-09-17T20:01:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since we posted some pics on this blog (technical difficulties!) so here's a selection of a tiny fraction of the sqaures we've received over the last few weeks. Don't forget if you can make it down to Jubilee Gardens on 14th October (next to the London Eye) we'll be showing the river off and hoping for willing seamstresses (and seamsters?) to join them together....

2006-08-25T13:08:00.000+01:00

from lee, first time knitter.

thank you, Lee, we love you.

Looking for inspiration.....?

2006-08-08T10:58:00.000+01:00

from Redgranite and Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA

2006-08-05T10:31:00.000+01:00

...all the way from Sharon and Marge in Wisconsin.....many thanks!

from glittyknittykitty, UK

2006-07-12T19:44:00.000+01:00

We love this 'icy' look from Glittrgirl, part of the Glittyknittykitty crew...enter their world at www.glittyknittykitty.co.uk - guerilla knitting central...

from Houston, USA

2006-07-12T19:40:00.000+01:00

This beautiful "wave" pattern arrived today from Mary Sue in Houston, TX......thanks MS, and keep track of the updates here and on the official website to see pics of river swelling to giant proportions!

from San Francisco, USA

2006-07-11T12:14:00.000+01:00

11/07/2006: here's our first square from the Men Who Knit team. Thanks to John in San Francisco for this one, complete with a MWK button badge. Check out their brilliant website at www.menwhoknit.com (if you're a man who knits!). Thanks to everyone there who has embraced the Knit A River project, we're really excited and encouraged by your efforts....

Knit a River

2006-06-20T17:42:00.000+01:00

Can you knit a blue square?

I Knit has been a campaigner and volunteer for WaterAid for the last couple of years and has been knitting for even longer. I Knit London was founded as a way to meet knitters and make new friends.It soon became apparent that knitting and campaigning can combine to change the world!

Over the past 25 years WaterAid has helped over 20 million people gain access to life saving water and sanitation. Today 1.1 billion people still do not have access to safe water and effective sanitation which I Knit finds unacceptable.

WaterAid is doing a brilliant job and they have many people fundraising which pays for the work in the 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia but if they rely on fundraising alone many more people will die needlessly. Working to compliment the fundraisers is a brilliant team in the Public Policy and Education Department at WaterAid. This department is home to campaigns. Knit A River is a new campaign. The idea is simple. We need knitters to send I Knit knitted blue squares of 15x15cm (6inches). The squares will be sewn together to form a 'river' which will flow through the centre of London and will be used at future WaterAid events, carrying the message:
WATER AND TOILETS FOR ALL

Can you knit a blue square?

The squares can be of any yarn, material, shade or pattern. Be as creative, or as simple, as you wish and send as many blue squares as you can knit! The only rule is that they are blue (and as close to 15cm as possible).

Campaign with I Knit and WaterAid, help save lives: help Knit A River.

http://www.iknit.org.uk/

http://www.wateraid.org/knitariver

www.myspace.com/iknitlondon

or join our myspace group:http://groups.myspace.com/knitariver

Email knitariver@iknit.org.uk for more information or if you have an questions or can help us promote the campaign, please post a reply or e-mail me directly. The campaign has already receive a great response from knitters in both the US and some parts of Europe.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Keep those squares coming in! We can't post them all, but we'll update this blog with a selection of blue squares on a regular basis....

20/06/2006: Today we received this beautiful square from Wendy in Canterbury, New Zealand - I counted seven different yarns!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

25/06/2006: The end of another week and here's just a selection of the squares we received....every day is a surprise and we love it....!