All Squares, All the Time

In between Ten on Tuesday posts, I have been knitting, not that you would know it. It's Pine Street Inn Knit-A-Thon season once again, and I am squaring up, so to speak, to participate.

The truth is that I really enjoy making squares. They are finite by nature, just a little bigger than the standard swatch, and I like to try out different patterns. This year's discovery is crochet seed stitch, aka granite stitch. I used it for the red square and the purple square in the middle. I'm not a huge fan of lacy crochet stitches or granny squares for blankets, because my toes poke through the holes and get cold, but this stitch is a solid as can be. It's dead easy, too:
Chain an odd number.
Setup row: Sc in second ch from hook, *ch 1, sk 1 ch, sc in next ch.
Row 1: Turn, ch 1 (turning ch), sc in ch sp, *ch 1, sk 1 ch, sc in next ch sp, end sc, sc in turning ch.
Row 2: Turn, ch 2 (turning ch plus ch 1), sc in ch sp, *ch 1, sk 1 ch, sc in next ch sp.
Repeat rows 1 and 2.

I've seen this pattern given as just one row, but actually there are two: in row 1 the first chain space is next to the turning chain and in the turning chain at the other end; in row 2 you ch 1 and skip that stitch from the previous row. I really like the way it looks; I plan to use it for a Red Scarf, which will be next up after squaremania ends with the Knit-A-Thon.

So, want to help? Of course you do. The Knit-A-Thon will take place at the State House on November 7, a week from Sunday, from 11 to 4. (Yes, the State House, the thing on Beacon Hill with the gold dome. I vaguely recall being inside it about a thousand years ago on a school field trip. I think it's a pretty cool place for a knit-a-thon.) It is actually not a Knit-A-Thon at all, but an assemble-a-thon, where we put all the squares everyone has made together as gifts for Pine Street Inn clients moving into supportive housing.

If you don't live around here or you're busy next Sunday, I give you option B: my fundraising page. Any donation of any size is deeply appreciated. Want to donate by the square? I have ten so far, with another one on the needles. I'm betting I can make at least another five.