This past Saturday I attended another gathering of Mrs. Wilson’s Knitting Circle at the National World War I Museum.  You may remember I attended the inaugural event in February.

This time we discussed the role music played in World War I.  We discussed the anti-war politics of music before we entered the war (with songs like “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier“) as well as the bolstering music after we entered the war (with songs like George M. Cohan’s Over There).  We discussed the role of music in keeping up spirits among the soldiers as well as raising spirits at home and encouraging everyone to do their part.

At the end of the discussion the presentation highlighted the role of knitting in music. We listened to a few selections from Melanie Gall’s Knitting All Day album, a collection of World War I knitting songs including tunes like “I Wonder Who’s Knitting for Me” and “Knocking at the Knitting Club.”

Finally, we received a second pattern. I’ve attached it below – Wristlets No. 1.

The next meeting of the knitting circle is the first weekend in May.