Knitting for Africa (part 5)

June 30, 2011

By Roger G McDonald Relation to Relation Officialdom, that universal curse, meets us with its shrug of indifference. If immigration’s terse, then customs’ worse, regardless of the reason for our presence. Politeness isn’t all about pretence. No matter. Public space gives private lives a welcome meal after long privation. And there’s the family. Each of [...]

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Knitting for Africa (part 4)

June 29, 2011

By Roger G McDonald Seconds First Travelling west is easier than east. In winging left, you fly back into time; like eating your seconds first at a feast. There’s less that sense of weariness and grime that leaves most flyers well short of their prime. Johannesburg—the gold-born city. Heat soaks the concrete, slowing down its [...]

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Knitting for Africa (part 3)

June 27, 2011

By Roger G McDonld Frozen Paradise Our eldest, Zanny, trapped with idle hands, emits a thought sadly, as she’s sitting: ‘If it weren’t for 9/11, and its bans, I’d have had this flight time for my knitting.’ May this change, world politics permitting. A gasp goes up, the word goes round: ‘It’s ice!’ On our [...]

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Knitting for Africa (part 2)

June 24, 2011

By Roger G McDonald Electric Eyes How do you absorb so many faces? Like children, embarking on a picnic? All will terminate in new embraces— this one, a wedding; that, a wake. You pick as best you can. Ideas begin to tick. Four hundred fill the great bird’s gizzard now; four hundred microbes eating, drinking, [...]

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Knitting for Africa (part 1)

June 20, 2011

By Roger G McDonald On March 30 2010, as KasCare founders, Sandy and I were standing on a dusty football pitch in a township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. We were there meeting volunteers of a British-based charity, Oasis. They had accepted our offer of knitted squares for blankets for their housing program [...]

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If these children can jump for joy, we have much to learn and more to celebrate

May 27, 2011

Today I was reminded, most poignantly, about what really matters. We received this video made by Marisa Groff for Ten Thousand Homes and posted by Keri Dodge. It opens with a table of beautifully knitted squares, sent via knit-a-square by the knitting group of the Rolling HIlls Community Church in Texas. You see the community [...]

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Dancing in South Africa

April 27, 2011

A joyful video to share today shot around South Africa. Famous for dancing badly (yet joyfully) with people around the world in an act of Unity, Matt was invited to South Africa to learn the Diski Dance. Granted, this was in the run up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa and [...]

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Knit-a-square visits a creche in Kliptown

February 19, 2011

Knit-a-square’s visit to Kliptown Shack Settlement is a very powerful story needing to be told. As it is an important story I must let the telling unfold rather than rush through it in one huge post. Today I am bringing you part of the story, the light in the darkness. My focus is on the [...]

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A hope*full knit-a-square bus

February 18, 2011

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to show you this: iThemba is now a hope*full bus indeed!  In a few short weeks knit-a-square supporters have made enough squares for 35 blankets and have knit/crocheted 35 hats.  As these items are working their way to South Africa through the post the folks over at [...]

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Our newest Knit-a-square challenge

February 16, 2011

Just a quick post for those of you who may not be members of the Square Circle Forum, or our Knit-a-square group on Ravelry, about our latest challenge. Meet iThemba – our first KasCare bus from the challenge: The premise is simple yet inspired. We are working collectively to supply a busload of children with [...]

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