WARTIME KNITTING DISPLAY

"Rifle Mittens" that exposed the trigger finger Knitted helmet cap that provided warmth under a soldier’s metal helmet.

The Forgotten War Effort: Knitting
(Held over for another season!)

This is a fascinating exhibit which chronicles how hand-knitting changed abruptly with the outbreak of two world wars in the last century. Overnight, knitting changed from clothing a family to a full-scale war effort by women to produce service wear and hospital garments.

The knitting, done by Visual Artist Nancy M. Green of Dunrobin, Ontario, began with a 1940s knitting pattern book of her mother’s titled "Service Woollies by Beehive".

Linda Jackson-Hutton, curator of Bala’s Museum, has grouped Nancy’s knitting into two groups: Convalescent and Field Knitting.

Linda says the exhibit is a natural for a Lucy Maud Montgomery museum. LMM’s book, Rilla of Ingleside", documents how knitting became a World War I effort for many Canadian women at home. In the book, the focus is on Anne’s daughter, Rilla.

The exhibit has generated a great deal of interest among veterans, Women’s Institute groups, school children, Legion members and LMM fans.

Bala’s Museum is pleased to hold the exhibit over for another season because of popular demand.

Linda and Nancy Green (right) are holding up L.M. Montgomery’s book, Rilla of Ingleside, which inspired the wartime knitting exhibit.