16 June 2007

My feet are killing me!

We took my dad to the National World War One museum in Kansas City today. It was our second trip, Dad's first. If you've never been, GO. Not only are the collections incredible and the setting beautiful, the overall feel of the place is very...healing. It makes you aware of the horrors of war while making you overwhelmingly proud of the men and women who defended our country.

Of course my camera was riveted to the occasional example of knitting. Here's one of the best:

These socks were knitted by Edith (Mrs. Woodrow) Wilson. Question for the historians in the audience: The socks are displayed with a pair of straight needles, but the socks themselves appear to have been knitted in the round, with Kitchener stitch to finish the toes. Which method was common in 1918? My guess is that they were done on dpn's, but displayed with easier-to-recognise straights. The caption for the picture in the lower left corner reads, "Volunteers in San Francisco's Chinatown knit socks for soldiers". Some spirits never change, eh?

Argh, I need some Epsom salts for my feet! Walking all over the museum, then the mall with friends, equals some very unhappy arches. Oh, well. It was worth it. And tomorrow we go to visit Himself's mom, so that means breakfast and cookies!


1 comment:

Dianne said...

Welcome to blogland! I agree with you about the socks. If they had dpns on display, most people wouldn't know what they were. Sounds like a great museum!

Dianne (from socknitters)