ELORA – A knitting group in Elora is planning an art installation for Remembrance Day and it is looking for others who knit or crochet to join the project.
St. John Anglican Church in Elora hosts a knitting club that meets weekly and it was during one of its weekly Zoom meetings that members cooked up a plan they call the Poppy Project.
“We normally make prayer shawls, lap rugs and teddy bears,” said knitting club member Pam Gradwell in an interview. “We got talking about projects happening in Calgary and Cambridge and decided to do our own project.”
The Poppy Project is intended to commemorate the poppy, which was officially adopted as a symbol for Remembrance Day 100 years ago.
The vision is to attach more than a thousand knitted or crocheted poppies to netting and drape it from the steeple of the church in a stunning display for Remembrance Day.
“It will cascade from the steeple,” Gradwell said. “We’re aiming for 1,500 poppies.”
The local project was inspired by two other projects the group had heard about.
In 2018, the Anglican Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary created a display of over 10,000 knitted and crocheted poppies, which were displayed that year on the cathedral grounds to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
And this year the Cambridge (Ontario) Poppy Project is aiming to create a display over three civic buildings with up to 20,000 poppies.
“We jumped at the idea,” Gradwell said. “It’s a project for the community and we think it will be very striking when it’s up.”
Gradwell said they sought and received permission from the Elora Legion, the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command and the National Poppy Campaign Coordinator to use the poppy symbol in this way.
The poppy, as a symbol of war, sacrifice and peace, can be credited to Col. John McCrae, whose poem In Flanders Fields is annually recited at Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country and around the world.
McCrae was born in Guelph and his family home has been converted into the McCrae House museum.
Patterns for poppies can be downloaded from the church’s website www.stjohnselora.ca. Gradwell said people should use acrylic yarn as it can withstand the weather better. She estimated that one 100 gram ball of yarn would make about 10 poppies.
Red and black yarn, for the centres, are required.
St. John’s Church is located at 36 Henderson St. in Elora and completed poppies can be dropped off at the Parish Centre – the yellow house beside the church. There’s a container on the back porch marked “completed poppies.”
Poppies can also be mailed to St. John’s Church, 36 Henderson St., Elora, ON, N0B 1S0.
Knitters are asked to leave a two- or three-inch tail on the poppies so they can be tied to the netting at a later date.
The deadline for completed poppies is Sept. 31.
