The "rules" of the challenge are as follows:

• Each square's finished size will be 12" square.

• Each squares will have a 3 st-/3-ridge garter stitch border around it to facilitate putting the finished squares together into a laprobe. That is, start and finish each square with 3 ridges (6 rows) of garter stitch and keep the first and last 3 stitches of each row in garter stitch.

• Use worsted weight acrylics/synthetics or washable wool or wool blends. No cottons or fibers, such as "normal" wool, mohair, alpaca, rayon, etc., which require handwashing, please. We want the afghans to be easy to care for, and therefore, the yarns used must be machine washable and dryable.

• Squares should be finished off, ready to use, with all ends neatly worked in. Wash and block your squares, if necessary.

• Any color or colors may be used in the square.

• Any pattern stitch or knitting technique may used in a square. Have fun -- anything goes, from simple garter stitch and knit/purl texture patterns to fair isle, intarsia, cables, mosaic knitting patterns, and so on. If doing a pattern which involves stranding, please keep any floats to a minimum, catching up the unused strands every 2 or 3 stitches, so they will be less likely to catch on things.

• You may use or adapt commercially available patterns or designs, or create original afghan squares.

All machine washable and dryable squares received will be used for laprobes destined for Hospice, but only those which follow the above rules will be counted towards the challenge.

Bring all finished squares to the June meeting for judging. If you are unable to attend this meeting, please send your squares to Esther S. Bozak. (See membership directory for local address.) Please make sure your set of squares are clearly labeled with your name.

Two awards will be given:

• A prize will be given to the member who knits the greatest total number of squares. Pattern stitches and designs will not be considered; the squares can be in any number of pattern stitches and designs, even all of the same pattern stitch or design.

• A prize will be given to the member who knits the greatest number of different pattern stitches and designs. Each square will count as one pattern stitch or design. Squares which are a duplicate of another, ignoring color combinations, will not be counted.