WWII knit your bit kit...

This is darn interesting. Leigh-Anne at Over Coffee works at the Red Cross and asked me about a knit-your-bit kit they might be doing.

The commemorative knitting kit will raise funds for the American Red Cross and is based on the original world war era "Knit Your Bit" campaign, which enabled civilian volunteers to support troops by knitting needed clothing and blankets. Their goal is to release this knit kit for the 60th anniversary of D-Day and as the world remembers and memorializes the 60th anniversary of the ending of World War II (throughout this year). SHE IS LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK FROM KNITTERS--POSITIVE OR CONSTRUCTIVE.

And, oooooh, I feel all special because she let me post the prototype/preliminary design here to give you an idea about the kit. It is a sock-knitting kit that will include instructions and all the tools necessary to produce one pair of WWII regulation socks. There also will likely be two other sets of instructions for vintage/era knitting projections such as a muffler, gloves and/or cap. In the original sample there were going to be three smaller skeins of yarn (20% wool/80% acrylic), but they are now considering a single large skein of high quality (80% wool/20% acrylic) yarn to add value to the kit and for greater authenticity to the original wool yarn distributed by the Red Cross to volunteer knitters. The kit is contained in a reusable tin--good for storing needles, buttons, notations, instructional booklets, etc. (My personal opinion that I wrote back was that the more authentic, the better; e.g. no nasty acrylic).

click the image for full size

The kit will be sold by the Red Cross to help raise funds to support their emergency and disaster services, including but not limited to their Armed Forces Emergency Services which include emergency communications, care packages and on-base canteens for troops. The price point would be around $25.

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENT HERE ON WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE KIT OR SEND HER AN EMAIL BY CLICKING HERE.

Thanks Leigh-Anne for letting us be part of your research!