Knitting played a large part in women’s experience of WWI (1914-1918). That fact is recorded in historical collections across the United States, including rural Northern California, as well as across the world. As historian Susan Strawn notes in her book Knitting America, “By the time America entered the war, knitters around the world were already sending hand-knit comforts to soldiers and refugees in Europe. In the far-flung British dominion of Australia, volunteers turned out astounding numbers of socks.” (91).
The Red Cross developed a nationwide campaign, with posters and pattern books designed to encourage women to aid in the war effort – even children knit for the red cross. The Red Cross even went so far as to supply yarn, patterns, needles, and instructions, ensuring distributed of needed articles of hand-knit to the military directly.