Today we remember the sacrifices of many who worked so that we can live in freedom. For many those sacrifices meant their lives. For many others it meant their husbands, that their families were never the same. As a mom with young kids today I've been thinking about how terrifying it would be if my husband went to war, if he didn't come home ever, or came home but was never really the same again.
I've also been thinking about the knitters who knit for the war effort. In the first world war a man was more likely to die from exposure to the elements than enemy fire, often trenchfoot turned to gangrene. Knitters in the allied countries worked to make socks, and those socks saved lives and limbs. My grandmother remembers knitting for the soldiers in the second world war, often argyle socks. (I haven't the faintest idea why argyle ones but there you have it).
I love learning about knitting's history. It's so fascinating how integral a part of society it's been, from the two world wars to knitting a gansey for a fisherman husband. The contribution that knitters have made for generations and generations is just mind boggling.
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