September

I was wondering what I would write for the September Blog. My Entrelac blanket is progressing - that is not real news. We have reinstated our French Knitting Kit Gift Sets to our range of products - that is a wee bit of news.

Then Queen Elizabeth II died and I thought about all the wonderful knitted items that were created to celebrate the 65th Anniversary of her coronation. Below is a small sample of  the knitted tributes. As knitters, we can appreciate the thought, dedication and love that lives in each item.

I first saw the queen in 1954 in Casino NSW. My Grafton school travelled to Casino by train where we were all assembled in Carrington Park sports grounds (later renamed Queen Elizabeth Park). It rained. Elizabeth and Phlilip were paraded in an open backed vehicle. I was so disappointed that she was not wearing a crown. My husband Ferg and his sister Jean were closer to the action. Ferg played  cornet in the Casino Municipal Band and was close to the stage. Jean, a Girl Guide, opened the door to the car carrying the lady-in-waiting.

Years later I wrote Flood Mud, a book for use in schools, about the devastating floods in northern NSW in late February 1954. I began it with the Queen's visit in early February using the picture above. Throughout the book I used my own family's experience of sheltering in the roof cavity. I repeated an appropriate phrase from a Johnny Cash song, "How high is the water Mummy/Daddy" - a chant that must have annoyed my parents and my five sisters. Thank goodness the water did not come as high as in Lismore this year.