A female kudu that ran across the road in front of me, jumped over the fence and then looked back at me rather quizzically.

Over the years I have knitted a mountain of squares on behalf of a school charity programme that collected the squares in order to make blankets to distribute among those in need during the winter. Knitting these plain squares was never particularly interesting – choosing yarns of different colours was the only variation I could enjoy. In retrospect, I would have preferred knitting the long strips favoured by the annual Hospice project.

There are few things as warm or as comforting as a hand-knitted cap, jersey, scarf or blanket. I have always wondered exactly who the recipients of these ‘charity blankets’ are and how many of them actually reach those most in need of them. Having spent many years working for an NGO, I am acutely aware of the temptations that arise with every arrival of boxes of donated goods.

The yen to knit would wax and wane with nothing…