We are pleased to announce a Call for Entry to our 2009 Knitted Farm Playmat contest. Are you a knitter or crocheter? Can you design (or want to design) unusual pieces of fun farm out of wool yarn? If so, you should design a pattern for Living Crafts Annual Knitted Farm Playmat feature article to be published by Living Crafts magazine in November, 2008 (Winter 2009 Issue).
The knitted farm tradition is traced back to England and Germany, when people used their yarn scraps to knit squares of a farm, using yellow for a wheat field, brown for a plowed land, and green for a horse pasture and so on. When they had enough squares, they would sew the pieces together, embellish them, and sew wool fabric backing on them (or just wet felt or leave plain with a crocheted border). Making a play mat can be really rewarding, especially if you do it as a co-op. In the Our Tribe feature article in Winter 2008 of Living Crafts each of the twelve women designed one piece and knitted it twelve times, and then traded with the rest of the group. A play mat is a blanket with a scene! Your children can have hours of fun, while exercising their imagination by playing on a beach scene, a race track, a farm, and so on, bringing their favorite objects for their pretend play. Although there are many options available in toy stores (for babies up to kindergarten age), it can be a wonderful experience making one of your own, and an heirloom treasure that can last through the generations.
