Let There be Peace on Earth (and Let it Begin with Me)

A few weeks ago, I was on Ravelry in the Knitting our Way to Peace group. In this thread, I brought up a project I would like to do for my senior thesis show this fall. The other Ravelrers were enthusiastic, and now that things have temporarily settled down a little, I'd like to get started with it.

The idea is this: a flag for every nation of the world, sewn together to make a large quilt. At the center would be the words "Let there be Peace on Earth." I think it would be much more meaningful if it was a group project, rather than an individual one.

So, here we are. I would like a little help with this, but of course, there are guidelines. If you would like to participate, PLEASE READ ALL OF THE RULES CAREFULLY BEFORE BEGINNING!

General Information:
1) Please sign up for a country before you begin to prevent repeats. This link will provide you with a list of available countries. To claim one, simply leave a comment on that post.

2) Some countries and territories are in the middle of political upheaval, and have more than one flag. I leave it to you to decide which flag you do, or even both. All I ask is that you please select a flag from the list; Due to time constraints, I am no longer open to other flags (Maybe. If you can make a good case for it...)

3) There are occasional buyers who attend these senior thesis shows. If the piece sells, I would like to donate the money to Doctors Without Borders, which helps every nation regardless of politics or religion.

4) The show will be held sometime in early 2009, probably January. Dates are TBA. Please check back with the blog or with the Ravelry group for the most up-to-date information.

5) Sign ups are open until November 8, 2008.

Construction and shipping:
1) The height of each flag should be 20 cm, or 8 inches. The width should be 16 inches, or about 40 cm. IF YOU DO NOT MATCH THE PROPORTIONS EXACTLY, DO NOT FROG YOUR WORK. Please send it to me as is (preferably blocked, but I'm not picky). As long as it is reasonably close to the specified dimensions, I'll put it in (i.e, only off by 1" or so in each direction.)

2) The materials are open, but keep in mind that each flag will be hand-sewn together. Knitting, crocheting, weaving, felting, quilting, embroidery, tatting–I don’t care, but it must be fiber. You could even paint on canvas, but I ask that if you do, please remember the dimensions, remove the stretcher before shipping, and please leave enough blank canvas around the edges for me to sew, as I don’t want to damage the painting.

3) I would like to receive all the flags no later than December 13, 2008.

4) You can ship your flags to:
Sheena Pennell
P.O. Box 781
London, OH 43140
USA

5) Feel free to send your personal messages with your flags. I would love to display them at the show. I’m thinking about binding them into a handmade book to give with the finished product. If you would NOT like your messages displayed, just include a little PS and I'll leave it out.

6) I want to give credit where credit is due. Please include your name (real name or screen name, doesn’t matter), along with the name of the country your flag represents.

Please continue to check the blog, as I'll be posting regular updates and reminders.
You can also find the latest information in our Ravelry Group. You can watch the progress of the project through our Flickr group.

Edit: I had to move the list of countries because this post was over eight pages long and Blogger decided to rebel. You can find it here now. Please leave your sign-up comments on that page from now on, just so everything is nice and tidy and in one place. Thanks for your understanding! ^^

So much to do, so little time

Here we have the Canada scarf, which is what I was working on all through Thanksgiving break. I finished it this afternoon, just in time for the chilly walk from the dorm to the B&E, which might as well be across town, seeing as it is three blocks away and it is cold.

Stats:
Times Frogged: 0
Yarn: some cheap acrylic (think Red Heart) that I inherited when the mother-in-law of one of my dad's friends died (seriously, anyone need crap yarn? I got two trashbags of the stuff, and even I like it, it would qualify me for S.A.B.L.E--Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy). On the bright side, I used up almost two whole skanes on this scarf.
Needles: US 7/5mm steel straights (inhereted from my Canadian grandmother. That was actually not planned...)
The How-To: The way this all started was I had a full, but slopy, skane of red yarn that I wound up on my ball winder. It was one of those big skanes, so I had to make it into two balls. I knit up the first ball, planning to make a time-killer scarf (to later be donated to charity), when I thought, this is going to be awfully short. I should put another color in the middle. Of course, I thought white, because it was the only coordinating color I had enough of in my stash. And when you have red, white, and red, of course you need a maple leaf! I looked a pictures of the Canadian flag I had, and charted out the graphic in Excel. Most of the scarf is garter stitch, but I used stockinette for the maple leafe. The worst part was that I'd drawn the pattern right side up, but I had to knit it sideways. To keep track, I typed a p or a k over each column, to denote whether it was a knit side or purl side for the leaf. Then, as I did each row, I'd fill in the empty space on the computer with v or ^, coinciding with the direction I was working.


The scarf is 26 stitches wide, with a two stitch border on each side of the leaf. It' about six feet long. Maybe seven-ish. I haven't measured, but it's about as long as a twin bed.

It has yet to be blocked, and clashes horribly with my light blue coat, but I adore it anyway (even if it is made out of red heart). Sorry, Salvation Army. You missed out on this one.

I'm planning a hat to go with it that is based on the Quebec flag. ^^

~~~

I've been slow in updating because my computer is in the shop. I expect it back around Wednesday of next week. With no internet to keep me busy, I've been doing a lot of reading, knitting, and drawing.


This is a drawing of one of my avatars from the site GaiaOnline. Nina, as I like to call her, is from the Village Hidden in the Yarn. More artwork concernig her and her adventures (including the battle of the Soul Sucking Scarf of DEWM) are forthcoming.

The drawing is a combination of Micron, Copic, and Sharpie markers on skech paper.

Currently on the needles: the back of the Kimono sweater; top down hat; scented, embroidered, and beaded kerchief;
In storage: Never ending skirt
In planning: European Union scarf, Quebec Hat, Slythern scarf, comic strips