Knitters Making Poppies for War Anniversary

August 22, 2017 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Knitters in Australia and beyond are being called upon to create knit poppies that will be used to decorate the Australian War Memorial to mark the centenary of the ending of World War I next November.

The group 5,000 Poppies, which has been around for four years and has collected knit and crocheted poppies for various events, is making a big push in 2018 for two different projects. The first is to produce 50,000 lapel poppies by April 2018 for the Victorian RSL for their 2018 Poppy Appeal. A post on the group’s Facebook page said they had 20,000 already finished.

The second project is to plant poppies at the war memorial to represent each Australian who died in World War I. That’s about 62,000, and they have 18,000 to 20,000 finished (as of February). The poppies for this project are due by August of next year and can be mailed to the war memorial or to 5,000 Poppies directly (see the link above for addresses).

They have patterns that can be used to make the poppies, and they need to be worked tightly so they will look good in a lapel or on display, and the poppies for the war memorial need to be able to withstand the elements because they will be on display outdoors for five weeks. I also have a collection of knit poppy patterns that would be great for this purpose.

This is a lovely project and a great way to use some red yarn from your stash in the cause of remembrance and peace.

If you send any poppies, I would love to hear about it!

[Photo: 5,000 Poppies.]

Looking for more knitting patterns for Poppies? Check these out on Etsy.

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Christmas Sock Knitting Patterns

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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