books represented some of my most beloved childhood reading. As an adult, I've reread them all several times. One I particularly enjoy is Rilla of Ingleside. Although I've never been really a fan of WW history books, I find this story to be a gripping tale of a family and a community caught up in the fervor of war. Written in 1921, if I remember correctly, WWI was fresh in L.M. Montgomery's memory, and she makes reference to a number of events that were clear to Ms. M, but I have no idea about the background stories. One of the things that fascinates me is how everybody's lives completely shift when Canada goes to war. Not only does every eligible young man leave, but every body left behind goes into action, crafting and sewing things for the army, planting gardens and rationing. A friend of mine told me that at the University of Calgary, this book is regarded as the most accurate depiction of the homefront during WWI. I cannot verify this fact, but it makes sense.I find it very interesting what a difference between the lives of the people at home during that war and the lives of the people in the United States during this war. For one, it is a different country. And for two, it's a very different war. But I see the people of the U.S. living a very comfy life compared to people at home during the great wars of the twentieth century.
When I first re-started knitting when I was 18, and then again when I was 23, I was all excited to "make socks like Rilla", although I never did complete that first pair I started then, made of a questionable gauge out of yarn that was 75% acrylic and all black.
When I discovered the group Socks For Soldiers, I was interested partially because of my reading and love for the Rilla book, and also because whenever I think about the people serving in the desert and their families back home I think about what an extreme and horrific situation that might be. I like that the group is very non-political, so they don't care what anyone thinks about the war or the current politics, they're all about sending care to the soldiers.
I finished my first pair of "big black socks" yesterday, knit to conform to military regulations and to fit some big ol' feet. They're huge socks. So huge. Really all that was left for yesterday was one last kitchener.
Then I knit on what are called "leisure socks", or rather socks to go to soldiers but cannot be worn in uniform. These are knit with much less restriction in form or colour. I knit them with yarn donated by Woven-n-spun. I won it in a contest on the SFS group, with the stipulation that I use it for leisure socks for soldiers. The yarn, colourway Summer Haze, is gorgeous so it was fun to knit with. I didn't expect to finish them yesterday, as I was pretty busy working on a paper, but I got dragged out late in the day, as I'd made good progress, and I knit on the go, and then in the evening while I watched Hoot
with the family. This gave me enough knitting time to actually finish these socks, too. I kitchenered them up in bed, last thing of the day, after a full day of intense homework and some really good knitting, too.The Summer Haze socks were knit on size 2 addi turbo needles, knit in the Ridged Feather pattern from SKS
. I knit the heel and the toe in a size one needle. I used a short-row-heel, and the standard wedge toe.
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