So Soxy!!

A lady in HEB - our local supermarket - once recognized that my children were English just by looking at them. I was flabbergasted. "How on earth did you know?" I asked her. "They have absolutely no English accent at all." "But my dear", came the octogenarian and mellifluous tone of  the Southern counties of England (she herself turned out to be an elderley ex-pat) "They are wearing home knitted sweaters."

So true! You don't see m/any home knitted cardigans and jumpers around here and it is rather cosily English and outdated, alongside Enid Blyton books or the Chalet School books. And she didn't say 'sweaters', she said 'jumpers' but not many people here know they are interchangeable terms back home.

Still, knitted clothing is held dear to an English heart and the tradition for knitting runs strongly down the female line of my family. Children #s 1-3 and now husband all proudly sport their knitted socks especially as they slide so satisfactorily over wooden floors! I am a reasonably good knitter but the socks you see above are knitted by my Mum in Australia and sent up from 'Down Under' at regular intervals to remind us not only of her love for us but also of our British roots.

I've done my part to pass this part of our heritage down. I have taught daughters 1 & 2 how to knit and pearl and the look of ferocious intensity on their face as they grip the lethal looking knitting needles is priceless. I'm not adverse to teaching our boy child how to knit (for example during those evenings when his Dad's not around to give me the "What are you doing to my son?" look) but let's face it, pointy sticks and three year old boys are not a sensible combination.