Charity squares

I came across this great website while looking for crochet patterns the other day
http://www.knit-a-square.com/

It is a charity project which asks people to send knitted or crochet squares to Africa to be made into blankets for AIDs orphans. You can send knitted/crocheted hats or baby vests too. All they want are 8 inch squares and you can send as many as you like or just 1! Every single square will be used in a blanket to keep an AIDs orphan or abandoned child warm. It is a great way to use up scraps of wool or just pass the time in front of the telly doing something which doesn't require too much concentration. I am relatively new to crochet (well, I've been doing it for about 17 years!). I feel like I am still a beginner because all I really mastered was how to do 'granny' squares to crochet together into a colourful throw (which I am still working on!). It started off as a cot quilt for Jacob (soon to be 17!) and then I started adding squares on in fits and starts. I kept forgetting how to do it in between times and having to ask my long suffering sister (the crochet expert) to explain it again! The great thing about doing these charity squares has been trying out different stitches and using the squares as 'samplers' to practice my crocheting. I now feel much more confident to tackle actual patterns.
My sister, Jane was visiting last weekend so I got her involved with the squares. She is very quick and managed to match my 4 in a matter of hours! We crocheted on the train there and back to Glasgow and managed to impress the man sitting opposite us who couldn't help commenting on how complicated and interesting it looked! I have taken a photo of a selection of the squares. We have been using up more of the Rooster wool which is lovely to work with. Jane's are the more subtle 2 tone stripes, whereas mine are the louder, multi-coloured ones! I love the idea of sending something bright and pretty and cheeful to someone less fortunate in Africa. So if anybody out there fancied having a go then just visit the website. They have patterns and lots of information.