Knitters Making Poppies for War Anniversary

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.

Next Pattern:

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?