Every year around this time I get sad that I can’t buy poppies in the US.
In the UK it’s a huge big deal, with poppies for sale in every public building and in many shops, worn by every public figure, sold out on the streets and laid in wreaths around the war memorials which are in every city, town and village. Even schools get in on the act and since the donation amount is not fixed, ever since I can remember I was supposed to hand over a little of my pocket money to buy a poppy.
So this year I decided to crochet poppies for the family. I used this pattern with full details on my Ravelry page. The shape is based on the paper poppies for sale on behalf of ex-servicemen and women in the UK.
It was a good excuse to start talking to the Minx about the horrors of war and the debt we owe our soldiers and she went off to school this morning wearing her poppy with pride. We even read In Flanders Fields together, though I suspect most of it went way over her head.
|
|
|
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
|
Same in Australia. They don’t sell poppies here either !