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Auntie B and the Sale of Work

In the Autumn in the village where auntie B worked there was always a Sale of Work to raise funds for the little Congregational chapel. A sale of work consists of the women of the village making items such as knitted layettes for babies ( a layette is a set of matching clothes.) Also toilet roll holders, these would often be a knitted doll to cover a toilet roll to make the bathroom look attractive!! There would be crochet doilies to put on coffee tables and matching sets of leg warmers and mittens. Everyone donated something they had made and everyone bought something. The women enjoyed making the little bits of nonsense and buying something too.  It was a win- win situation. How simple life was then except that there were farm accidents where the men sometimes lost a limb or even their life. In those days every women learnt to knit and sew; nowadays girls don't even know how to sew on a button.  I can't remember Auntie B knitting, but her foster sister Peggy knitted a mountain of clothes in her lifetime.I've lost the habit of knitting but I still crochet, mostly winter hats.

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