Knitting With Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband,
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
shadowed my childhood.

Larger than life figures
they measured World War ll
for me.

Now I live 20 miles
from Hyde Park
home to the
Roosevelt Mansion and museum.

The museum exhibits
case after case
of memoribilia.

In one display case
you will find examples
of Eleanor's knitting.

Eleanor a shy young woman
was deemed homely.

When Franklin married his cousin
Eleanor New York society was
aghast.

In the forites when FDR was felled by polio
Eleanor (the mother of five)
took her untutored gravely voice
and I'm sure her knitting
on the road to campaign for him.

In future years
as first lady-
knitting in hand-
she traveled the world
to visit with dignataries,
as well as soldiers at the front.

Eleanor knit with
worsted weight yarn
on bulky needles.
A forest green piece
(unfinished) holds fore.

Her tension was loose
and I spied a dropped
stitch or an incredibly
loose one.

With five sons in the service
I'm sure she knit for them.

In later years
when she was the US
representative to the UN
she took her knitting
to council meetings.

ER's knitting much like her life
was not always even and smooth...
but filled with remarkable tensions.

Her plain knitting style
and loose tension
allowed her to cross
borders and knit together
disparate groups and harmonize
conflicting views and values.

Eleanor remains my hero.
She took the threads life presented
and knit patches of compassion
faith both in wartime and
in the post war search for peace.

Eleanor Roosevelt:
First Lady to the World...
A knitting idol!