Bond Buzz, Issue #38
August 14 , 2007
Free from Bond America

Welcome to another issue of Bond Buzz!

New text needed here.

I expect many of you are either finishing your vacations – or just taking advantage of a few days off. My vacation was in mid-June when I traveled again to Rwanda where I spent a packed 10 days at meetings and working with the knitters – and crocheters. With a donation that enabled us to purchase enough yarn to fill orders for over 1,000 sweaters, the knitters have quickly made their first school uniform sweaters – and they look great! Akazi keza!! (“Good job!” in kinyarwanda.)

With orders for 2,500 sweaters, nearly 1,000 sports team caps and over 400 gorilla trekker caps (to be made by the Dian Fossey Center knitters to sell to tourists), the per capita income of the knitters is increasing 6-fold: In the rural areas, the average income for a woman is under $1 per day. Through the knitting of school uniforms sweaters, the women in the knitting cooperatives will be making a minimum of $6.50 per day, a significant amount of money in rural Rwanda.

Here’s a photo at right of the Dian Fossey Center craftswomen:  knitters, basket-weavers, mat weavers and crocheters.

But what I’m most excited about is how Rwanda Knits will soon be changing from a program of a non-profit NGO (non-governmental organization) to a for-profit “umbrella” cooperative that will be owned by all of the 17 different smaller cooperative knitting groups.  This was the original goal of the project:  to provide the opportunity for women to own their own successful and sustainable knitting business.  With over 48,000 new students entering school each year, there is a huge market for school sweaters within Rwanda.  Pretty soon, I’ll just go over to have fun!  Having had my own business for so many years, there is nothing more rewarding than watching your own business thrive and grow.  Akazi keza!! (“Good job!” in kinyarwanda.)

Summery Tri-Colored Throw

This summery Tri-Colored Throw made in Caron's Simply Soft® utilizes both cables and lace and are joined by either sew-as-you-go or seaming at the end - your choice.  Or make it in fall colors of Simply Soft Heather to be ready for the next season.  Designed by our friend, Kathy Perry.

6-Stitch I-Cord
We keep getting requests to make an I-cord machine that knits worsted weight yarn, but, since I know the uses for such a thick cord are limited, I thought I’d prove (or disprove) it by making one on the Sweater Machine.  OK, so here are a few uses:  braided belts, headbands, scrunchies, purse straps, fashion doll leggings.  I’m sure all of you guys have far more ideas than I do….

Yes, I’ve shown a similar technique before, but this one is slightly different, as you’ll see.

You can use different keyplates based on the end use of the cord, but if you want to felt it, be sure to use a #4 keyplate if you’re using Felt-It!, as the latching up will tighten the stitching a bit.

		Bring forward 6 needles to HP. Work a closed-edge CO.  COR.  RC = 0. Knit 1 R slowly.
		Attach a claw weight.
		Lift up keyplate and slide carriage back to beginning of row, creating a long “rung” or “float.”
		Repeat Steps 3 & 5 until RC = 11.  COL.
		Insert the latch hook tool face down in the bottom “rung,” twist the tool so it’s face up and latch up the “rungs” of the ladder as if for ribbing.  This will close up the long stretch of yarn and make for a very good-looking I-cord.
		When you knit the next 10 rows, let the latch tool hang on the stitch just latched. When you have knitted the length you want, remove from machine.
		Here’s what the finished cording looks like on the side where you latched up.  You cannot see where the rungs were latched.

And for those nyagokuru’s among us (grandmas), here’s a recent photo of my granddaughter, Hazel.

Happy Knitting!

Cari Clement
Bond America

P.S. As a subscriber to Bond-Buzz, I'd like to invite you to subscribe to the FREE e-mail newsletter—Caron Connections from Caron® International. Just visit the Caron site (http://www.caron.com) and enter your email address. It's that easy. As a subscriber to Caron Connections, you'll receive monthly emails filled with the latest inside scoop on Caron's new fashion yarns and free patterns.