August anniversary sees Welsh communities encouraged – do your bit – knit! Care with photo of Miles

Do your bit – knit!

With early August marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, local communities are being encouraged to contribute thousands of hand-made textile poppies for a large-scale commemorative WW1 installation.
During World War 1, one of the ways women at home showed their patriotism and “did their bit” to support the troops overseas was by knitting – making gloves, scarves, balaclavas and particularly socks for the soldiers. Organisers of Wonderwool Wales are keen to galvanise the support of local people and the show’s own community of textile makers to recreate the united determination of these home knitters. So they are encouraging individuals, groups and schools to knit commemorative poppies for a massive textile installation to mark the centenary of the end of the war in 2018.
All the poppies will be strung together into a ‘Curtain of Poppies’ and the intention is that it will include 887,858 textile poppies, to commemorate each person from the UK who died serving their country. The curtain will be put on display at Wonderwool Wales 2018, the annual showcase for wool and natural fibres which is being held at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells on April 28 and 29, 2018.
Anyone can join in and send a poppy and for those who don’t knit, poppies can also be crocheted, woven or sewn from felt. Organiser Jane Veevers said: “Every poppy we receive takes us one step further towards our goal, so please get busy with those knitting needles – or if you prefer, use one of our alternative patterns!”
The current poppy count stands at 1524 and around 1000 of those were made at this year’s Wonderwool Wales, back in April, where the initiative was launched. Jane said: “We’re delighted with the enthusiastic support we’ve already received from individuals, regional knitting groups, community groups in Crai, Pontyclun and Neath and others like the Powys War Memorials Project and a number of primary schools. Many people have really taken the idea to heart and are all working hard to help with this project. Please get your individual poppies to us by the end of the year, if you possibly can, as we need time to string them all together!”
Volunteers are invited to use a range of patterns to make one or more textile poppies to feature in the Curtain of Poppies in 2018. Patterns are available on the Wonderwool Wales website. Textile groups or other community groups who would like to make a larger contribution can make lengths of green i-cord (4 stitches) approximately 2 metres long and stitch pairs of poppies back to back, at a spacing of about 15 cm. Jane is also available to lead workshops and has already got dates in her diary to work with a number of primary schools around the country.
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To find out more and to find the patterns for the textile poppies visit www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/show-events/curtain-of-poppies.html
Wonderwool Wales is also inviting monetary donations in support of this project for the Royal British Legion. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Wonderwool-Wales-Curtain-of-Poppies
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