Evening star., 1917-09-05
WOMEN At HOME KNIT;
MEN AT FRONT FIGHT
Red Cross Sees Vast Need Of Knitted
Garments for Boys in Camps
and Trenches.
"1f YOU want to do your bit. knit"

"If you want to do your bit. knit"
That's slogan for the women of the
country. 1t has been pointed out to
folks folks bound tight to them through
skeins of yarn and keep their love
warm through woolen comforts made
by the yearning fingers Of wives.
sweethearts and mothers.
While the man folks are mobilized in
the great cantonments or concentrat-
ing in the trenches of Flanders, the
women of the country are to be KNITTED
closely together in common service 1or
those who have gone forth under the
flag.
Because the Red Cross forsees tre-
mendous need for knitted garments.
which can scarcely be filled even II all
the women of the country keep their
long needles flying. half a million Illus
trated circulars We're sent out !ester-
day from national headquarters to Red
Cross chapters throu ghout the country.
The circulars contain full information
on how to knit the eight standardized
articles-sleeveless sweaters. mufhers,
helmets, socks wristlets, wash cloths:
bed socks and bottle covers-anthorlZed
by the woman's bureau of the Red
Cross
The standard patterns are those pro-
vided by the District chapter OF the
Red Cross, which has thus far been able
to supply all the emergency demands of
| the military forces.
! The District of Columbia chapter
has ordered 10000 pounds of yarn
from the Red Cross supply service for
the thousand women in the District
who are knitting for the American
| Red Cross. Mrs. Theodore \. Nc
Laughlin. secretary of the District
| chapter. says she is this week sending
| a supply Of yarn to Mexico City.
Mexico. where the District chapter
has an auxiliary composed of three
hundred American women who want
| to knit for the American Red Cross.
| Recent cables frGT1 Mai. GravSOn NJ.
P. Murphy. Red Cross commissioner in
France. again emphasize the necessity
for warm knitted articles for the men
who face the hardships of winter in
the trenches. Army officers request that
| the knitted articles be forwarded as
| soon as possible. The severity of win
| ter with coal shortage to face and
rising tuberculosis rate to combat de-
mands that several million garments
reach France before Thanksgiving.
Directions for the making of sleeve
I less sweaters, of which Mai. Murphy
has ordered a million. are as follows:
! Two and one-half hanks of yarn (5s
pound); 1 pair Red Cross needles No. 3.
| Cast on 80 stitches Knit .. purl >
| stitches for 4 inches. Knit plain until
sweater measures 25 inches. Knit 2S
| stitches. bind off 81 stitches for neck
| loose. Knit Is stitches. Knit ridges
| on each shoulder, cast on ~ stitches
Knit plain for u inches. Purl Q. knit 2
| stitches for 4 inches Sew up sides. leav-
| ing inclres for -arnholes. Two rows
| single crochet around neck and 1 row
| single crochet around armholes.
| The circular is the first of a series to
| be issued by the woman's bureau. of
which Miss Florence Marshall is direc-
| tor. Others are to be issued Immediate
| ly on the making of comfort kits. the
manufacture of hospital garments sur
gical dressings and relief kits for the
refugee children Of France and Bel
gium.