In Flanders Fields the Poppies Blow

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them." -Ode of Remembrance, Laurence Binyon

Today is Armistice/Remembrance Day. Today is the day when we remember all the soldiers who have died for their country, for our freedom, for us. It is strange to think that a hundred years ago, men were fighting in the Great War... For me. Fighting so that I, a woman in the future, forever unknown to them, could live in a free country. They fought not just for me, but for everyone. They died not for their futures, but for ours.

So at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month (when the ceasefire for the First World War was officially sanctioned) we honour their sacrifice with a two minute silence.

The Tower's poppies, each one a fallen soldier.

Of course, any of my British friends reading this blog will hardly need reminding of this yearly memorial to not just the fallen soldiers of the First World War, but the fallen soldiers of every conflict since (and even perhaps, as many re-enactor friends of mine might be compelled to feel, fallen soldiers of conflicts past). Yet a few weeks ago, I was in London, meeting up with my Dutch friends who were over for a holiday. Anyone who has ever been in England (and no doubt all of Britain) at the end of October and early November, will know that the country(s) is swamped in poppies, mostly paper ones pinned to coat lapels. This year, the centenary of the First World War, the Tower of London has been literally been surrounded with poppies; a scarlet, ceramic flower, one for each soldier lost. It's quite awesome, in the most literal sense of the word. My Dutch friends, fresh off their flight, had to enquire about the poppies; they'd been to England before, but they'd never seen our reverence to this flower before. So I explained; I explained about Remembrance Day, about the poem In Flanders Fields, about The Royal British Legion, the Poppy Appeal (the fund raiser for the aforementioned) and about the significance of why the poppy has become our symbol of remembrance. It was strange to have to explain something so integral to life in the British autumn. the way I understand it is we are far from being unique in this tradition; Armistice Day is commemorated in many other countries who were involved in the First World War and Remembrance Day is observed by the Commonwealth (and America have Veterans Day, which remembers all who have served, whether they died or survived). I'm sure other countries have their own memorials in other forms. It was just interesting, as I've felt that, as a nation, Britain has feels very strongly about those we lost in the First World War, especially this year. Perhaps it is reminiscent of our Victorian history, to revere and honour our dead. But the interesting thing was that the Netherlands were neutral during the First World War. Here we all were in a country remembering a conflict from a century ago; my friends must have found it a little surreal, for the British to be so thankful for something the Dutch mostly removed themselves from.

I don't know. It's the small cultural differences that I always find the most fascinating.

My first ever crochet poppy.

Wearing a poppy is a sign of respect. The Poppy Appeal give out paper poppies in return for donations; I think most people donate and, certainly, a great number of people can be seen wearing poppies around this time of year. But why is any of this on my craft blog? This is more ethnography than needle work.

Around this time last year I was starting to develop an interest in crochet. I was living with another avid knitter and an avid crocheter and was really fascinated by some of the stuff she produced. I was also working on a knitting pattern that suggested crocheting a border to the finished garment (my Harlequin slippers). I'd already crocheted myself a very simple case, that was really just a tube, to store my crochet hooks in (they're a vital knitting tool; perfect for picking up dropped stitches) but wanted another, simple pattern to improve my abilities. The thought occurred to me that maybe I could make myself a more permanent poppy; I originally looked at knitted patterns but after a short while concluded that I didn't really like the way they looked. Hence, I decided to look for crochet patterns; these were much more to my liking and the Ravelry ratings suggested that the patterns were relatively easy. So, hook in hand, I set to work and crocheted myself a little, bright poppy to wear on my coat (my coat, with poppy attached, that I accidentally left the other side of the country at my parent's place, so I've not been able to wear it this November).

Remembrance Poppies of 2014

I was pleased with my work. Pleased, but not so much that crochet became a regular thing; to be fair, all I had crocheted since was an amigurumi pumpkin for a friend. Too much knitting, too much reading (and, as I know I repeat in almost every post, too much degree). Anyway, I didn't think much of it after November, although I received quite a few compliments at the time. It wasn't until one of the girls on my course asked me if I would make her a poppy that I really thought about it again. It occurred to me that maybe other friends of mine would also like a poppy. After a status update on the book of face, I was commissioned to make about twenty crochet poppies. I asked for no money because a) that sort of defeats the object of charity crafting and b) two years ago a woman sold poppies and, although she donated 100% of her proceeds to The Royal British Legion, was accused of breaching copyright. I did ask, however, that people receiving the poppies make a donation at some point. Although, to be perfectly frank, the pattern I used doesn't match the poppies used my The Royal British Legion; the pattern was designed by an American and the leaf is shaped differently. So it is just a poppy rather than an imitation of the Royal British Legion's poppy.

I'll confess, I only managed to complete twelve of the twenty poppies requested before today. I appreciate the importance of today, but I did have an exam yesterday, which has been my priority these past two weeks. So for anyone who did not receive their poppy, I am more than happy to make you one still, as long as you don't mind having it post-Remembrance Day.

Petals and centre.

After having crocheted so many poppies in such a short space of time (many I did on the car journey down to London to see the poppies at the Tower), I do feel more confident about my skills. I think it is a great pattern for a new crocheter; it features in the round and straight (is that the right term?) crocheting but also features pretty much every stitch you need. the only thing it doesn't involve is increasing and decreasing. Plus, the whole project can be finished in less than an hour (even when it was my first one and I had no idea what I was doing; it works up very quickly). As I mentioned earlier, the pattern is American so this time I did translate it. For those who are not aware, the US and the UK use different crochet terms. It's not difficult to translate, as UK terms are pretty much US +1 (e.g., a US single crochet becomes a double crochet in the UK), but it made my life a whole lot easier, especially as the book I was using to teach me the stitches is British. Before, I always thought the US terms made more sense; the most simple stitch to do, and usually the first you learn, is a single crochet. The next simplest, and second you learn, is a double and so on. But after having actually done more crochet and starting to actually understand the mechanics behind it (as in, how each stitch is actually made and what it does in a finished project), I realised that the UK terms make way more sense. A double crochet? Yeah, two loops on the hook. Triple? That's three loops! Half treble? You only complete half the amount of stitches for three loops. I find that the UK terms just describe what it is you're meant to be doing! They make even more sense than 'knit' and 'purl', which by now are so ingrained in to my grey matter I don't think I'd forget how to do either in my lifetime. I would definitely recommend the pattern to any one wanting to learn crochet though.

Poppy leaf.

So yes, poppies. I crochet poppies now. I think it's the least I can do for those who have died for my right to sit here, in a free, relatively safe country. The fact I can write this blog, write about whatever I want, the fact I can go to university, the fact I can live this life, I owe it to them. They shed blood so that I, along with every one else, could live this life of privilege.

The facts? I used less than 50g of red acrylic yarn (which I had to make my boyfriend buy for me on his way home from work as I've completely misplaced my previous skein) for twelve poppies, probably about 25g, even less of black acrylic. I used similar amount of green cotton for the leaves. Hook size was 3.5mm. Each poppy took less than an hour to complete, although I tended to work in batches (so, five petals, then five leaves, etc.), rather than whole pieces. The pattern I used was Crochet Remembrance Poppy by Bilgewater Davis, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. The title of this post comes from In Flanders Fields by John McRae.

'If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori*.' -Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

*'It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.' -Horace