Bupa St Kilda Care Home residents May Dodds, left, and Marjorie Fromm, pictured with activities assistant Loren Riley-Sykes, and their knitted poppies display for Anzac Day.
Six residents at Bupa St Kilda Care Home in Cambridge took six weeks to create a knitted mosaic of remembrance for Anzac Day.
Resident May Dodds, along with volunteer Jude Bowen, was inspired by resident Marjorie Fromm after she mentioned that the Heritage Museum in Morrinsville has a knitted poppy display that comes out each Anzac, bearing the names of local servicemen who served in the wars.
“Marjorie mentioned the display and I thought ‘what a good idea, that sounds lovely to make’,” said May, 93, who has a personal connection to the war through her husband, a World War Two veteran, and her father, who served in World War One.
The smaller knitted poppies were finished in half an hour, with the larger ones taking almost two hours due to the double knitting wool and stitching required, they said.
Marjorie, 91, said she quickly discovered a new method of knitting the poppies into their unique shape. “Instead of knitting them round, I knitted a strip of wool, then pulled the bottom strip tight and stitched it up the top. Then I finished it by putting a little button in the middle.”
The knitting duo say they learned their skill through knitting their own jerseys and knitting for their children.
Bupa St Kilda activities assistant Loren Riley-Sykes said Cambridge RSA will visit the care home on Anzac Day for a one-hour service which will include wreath-laying, hymns, and a bugler to play the Last Post.
