Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men
and so it must be daily earned and refreshed
else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots,
it will wither and die.
[Dwight D. Eisenhower]

I just added another sock pattern to my online store from …and a time to knit stockings. This is the July Sock. For the Ravelry PDF patterns, I’m laying them out in a different style than they were in the book or on the CD. I have revised the charts with color, corrected some problems people had in understanding the directions, and added a personal touch or two.

I belong to a women’s writing group that focuses on memoir writing (Story Circle Network). I love being a part of the group but never intended to write a traditional memoir until I realized that my patterns are a memoir of sorts. They were each inspired by something in my life so I’m adding the inspirations to the patterns. It might be a bit unorthodox for a knitting pattern, but my knitting buddies at the local yarn shop loved the idea so I did it.

Here is the text from the cover page shown above:

Celebrate the Fourth of July in a pair of star-spangled banner socks. My childhood started during World War II so I came to associate Independence Day with service as well as picnics and fireworks. This experience inspired the sock design.

Photographs:
Civil War—Samual C. Marvel served in the 13th Iowa Infantry, G.A.R., and was lost on his twenty-second birthday in a battle at Atlanta in July, 1864.

World War Two—Esther Black served in the U.S. Navy as a link trainer and cartographer. Roy Misegades served in the U.S. Army as a cook in Europe.

1965-1969—Katherine Misegades served as a U.S. Navy Nurse Corps Officer.

The PDF pattern sells for $5.00 at this link on Ravelry