This year we are aiming to knit 15,000 blankets. We are encouraging people to knit full blankets if possible, but we are also accepting individual squares if that is all you can manage. Thanks for your support.

Knitted Blanket Guidelines:

• Please use 4mm needles
• Please use 8ply 100% pure wool
• A perfect-sized blanket is made up of 16 knitted squares
• Each square should be about 20cms x 20cms (44 stitches wide, 88 rows high)
• The final blanket size should be around 80cms x 80cms
  

If you still have a knitting question after reading these instructions please ask it over on our Born to Knit blog and we will make sure it gets answered.

How to knit a square…

Download the illustrated How to Knit Instructions

First stitch - making a slip knot

1. Leaving a 30cm end, wind yarn around your finger with the short tail underneath the end coming from the ball. Insert needle under the short end but over the longer end.
2. Draw a loop through.
3. Slip yarn off finger and gently tighten loop on needle.

   

Casting on

1. Holding needle with slip knot in left hand, insert other needle through front of stitch and underneath left-hand needle. Wrap yarn under, then over, right-hand needle.
2. Draw loop through stitch
3. Slip new loop onto left-hand needle.
4. Insert right-hand needle between the last two stitches and wrap yarn around needle.
5. Draw loop through (like before).
6. Slip new loop onto left-hand needle (like before). Repeat steps 4, 5 & 6 until you have 44 stitches on your left-hand needle (including the slip knot).
7. Casting on completed - ready to start knitting!
   

Knitting your square

1. Insert needle into front of first stitch, with the right-hand needle going under the left-hand needle. Wrap yarn under, then over, the right-hand needle.
2. Draw loop through stitch on left-hand needle.
3. Slip stitch off left-hand needle... one stitch knitted.
4. Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 until all stitches are knitted from the left-hand needle onto the right-hand needle and the left-hand needle is empty. You have completed one row.
5. Turn your work around by swapping each needle to the other hand. Knit the next row by working steps 1 to 4.
6. Continue to knit each row until your knitting measures 20cm from the cast on edge. This will be approx 88 rows (or 44 garter ridges). Be careful not to stretch your knitting when you measure it or it will not be the right shape after you cast off!
   

Casting off

1. Knit two stitches.
2. Insert tip of left-hand needle into first of these stitches.
3. Lift the first stitch over the second stitch and off the needle.
4. Knit another stitch onto right-hand needle, then repeat steps 2 and 3. Repeat step 4 until you have only one stitch left (on the right-hand needle).
5. Break the yarn, thread the end through the last stitch and pull tight leaving a 30cm end. Congratulations on knitting your first square!
6. Continue to knit each row until your knitting measures 20cm from the cast on edge. This will be approx 88 rows (or 44 garter ridges). Be careful not to stretch your knitting when you measure it or it will not be the right shape after you cast off!
   

How do you turn 16 squares into a blanket?

The 30cm ends left at the beginning and end of the square will be used for sewing up on the completion of the 16 squares required for the blanket. If you are making the full blanket, you may wish to knit the squares in strips of 4 squares. Instead of casting off once you have reached 20cm, change to another colour and continue knitting, changing colour every 20cm until 4 squares of colour every 20cm until a total of 4 squares have been knitted.

If you would like to help us even more by sewing other people's knitted squares into full blankets (and we know we will need some help!) please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it visit our Born to Knit blog or phone our lovely people on 1800 76 00 11 to find out how you can help us even more.

Where to send your knitted blankets and squares:

Once you have completed your knitting, please mail your contribution to:

• Save the Children
  42 Dight Street
  Collingwood, Victoria, 3066.

Or drop your finished squares or blankets into any Save the Children retail store.