THE DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUCH'S COMFORT FUND

PRESIDENT

THE DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUCH AND QUEENSBERRY

HON. ORGANISING SECRETARY

MISS McMICKING, Netherholm, Kirkmahoe

SERVICE SECRETARY AND HON. TREASURER

General Sir REGINALD MAY,K.C.B., K.B.E., C.M.G.,D.S.O., Glenluiart, Moniaive.

COMMITTEE
FINANCE COMMITTEE
FOREWORD

Duchess of Buccleuch

I am glad to have this opportunity of thanking all those who have responded so promptly and generously to my appeal for the War Comforts Fund. I must first express my gratitude and appreciation to the knitters who have worked so hard to complete the splendid quantity of useful garments which have been received at the Depot. I hope that they will continue this excellent work, and will be joined by others who have not yet had time to knit for us, so that the supply of warm garments for the men in the fighting services will be maintained and increased.

I also wish to extend my warmest thanks to the agricultural community in the areas round Annan, Dumfries, Lockerbie and Thornhill for their kindness in organising the Free Gift Sales which have brought in such splendid contributions to our funds.

We are deeply indebted to those firms who, by generously buying advertising space in this magazine, have enabled us to issue so many copies without any cost to the Fund.

I know it is not necessary for me to emphasise how very necessary and important is this work, and how deeply appreciated are the parcels which we have been able to send to the different services. I am more than grateful to the people of Dumfriesshire for the encouragement and assistance which they have already given, and I am sure I shall continue to have their support in this effort to mitigate the hardships of the men who are fighting for us, and for freedom.

Encouraged by the magnificent response to the appeal which I launched in October for providing members of the fighting services with warm garments, I venture to call once more on your generosity and to put before you again the claims which these brave and devoted men have upon us all. We can at least reward their fortitude by ensuring that they do not lack the necessities with which to face the rigours of winter. We should be failing the men and boys who are undergoing such hardships for the sake of peace and freedom if we spare any effort to alleviate the sufferings of war.

I beg you, therefore, to give what you can afford—and it will perhaps be more than you can afford, for I know that to-day every penny has to do the work of three—to this Fund. Any donation, however small, will be most gratefully received, and any sacrifices we may make will surely be rewarded by the knowledge that we have done our best to repay the debt we owe.

MARY BUCCLEUCH AND QUEENSBERRY.

EDITORIAL NOTES

The Fund is administered by an Executive Committee, consisting of representatives from all districts, and various organisations in Dumfriesshire, and from the Parishes of Irongray, Kirkbean, Lochrutton, New Abbey, Terregles and Troqueer in the Stewartry. A Finance Committee has been appointed to administer the Funds.

The Depot in the Assembly Rooms, Dumfries, is open on Wednesdays between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3.30 p.m., to give out wool and receive finished garments from the Sub-Depots.

Sub-Depots working for the Fund will receive wool free of cost, equivalent in weight to the finished articles brought in to the Central Depot.

A list of these Sub-Depots will be found on page 69. Other organisations willing to help should apply to the Hon. Secretary for full details of the scheme.

Individual knitters should offer their services to their nearest Sub-Depot. All wool issued should be returned in finished garments to the same Sub-Depot from which it was obtained, and not sent direct to the Assembly Rooms. Garments should be returned to the Depots as soon as possible after they have been completed.

Organisations willing to assist the Central Fund financially by getting up whist drives, dances, and other forms of entertainment, should send the proceeds to the Hon. Treasurer. Individual donations will also be most gratefully received.

On February 14th (the day before going to press) the weekly issue of wool was 573 lbs. This will give some idea of the large sums being expended on wool.

All Branches of the Fighting Services recruited locally are supplied with comforts from the Depot if they are required, and are asked for by the Commanding Officers. Individual parcels are sent by request of Conveners of Sub-Depots. Surplus comforts are despatched weekly to large distributing depots recognised by the Admiralty, War Office, and Air Ministry, who, in their turn, send the goods to the units who most urgently need them. All branches of the Services, such as the Merchant Service, Minesweepers, Trawlers, etc., are supplied with comforts by these Depots.

WILL YOU HELP
By A MERE MAN

It was Napoleon, the only man who nearly conquered Russia, who said, "An army marches on its stomach."

This does not apply solely to food or sustenance, but also to warmth and comfort. To be at his best the fighting man, or, for that matter, any man who has a sustained effort to make, must be in the best possible condition, both physically and mentally. He must not only be fed, but he must be kept warm, cheerful and happy.

Applying this theory to the men who have joined the Forces, The Duchess of Buccleuch instituted her Comforts Scheme, the object being to supply such extras as knitted helmets, scarves, gloves, etc., etc., as are not issued by the army as part of regulation kit.

Help of two kinds was urgently required. Money was needed to buy wool, and knitters were necessary to fashion the wool into the most acceptable comforts. In the beginning it was, in various ways, found possible to supply wool at half-price to organised work-parties, the finished garments being returned to the Depot.

Then the ever-helpful farming community, which forms the backbone of this pastoral land, put their heads together and their hands deep into their pockets and organised some astounding Free Gift Sales, at Annan, Dumfries, Lockerbie and Thornhill. The results of these efforts of the farmers were so magnificent that it has now been found possible to issue wool free of charge to the working parties mentioned above. Let us salute these free-handed and big-hearted yeomen who have given so generously and worked so well.

But even this gift money will not last for ever, and it is up to every district and parish to see that the good work goes on. Quietly and steadily, a penny here, a shilling there, will, in time, realise a wonderfully large amount with which to carry on in the days to come.

It should be mentioned that a finance committee has been set up composed largely of gentlemen representative of the areas which have done so well. Those who assisted may therefore rest assured that the moneys collected will be well looked after and wisely spent.

We do not require to stress the fact that such things as helmets, scarves, gloves, mittens and socks, are urgently required by the men on service. We have, of late, had a fairly bad spell of weather in the South, but there have been closed doors to keep out the worst of the cold, and fires have usually been available to dry out wet garments. Yet we have done a fair amount of grumbling at the weather.

Did we ever think what it must be like to be working with the Dover Patrol on comfortless destroyers on such days? Or clinging to a raft in the North Sea after being torpedoed when following our simple trade as fishermen? If we were cold at home, how did the men feel in the trenches, or when trying to fix camouflage over the guns in a snowstorm?

If we said it was " perishing " in the streets of Annan, or Moffat, or Sanquhar, what was it like in an observation plane at 10,000 feet over Saarbrucken or Forbach?

Do not let us bother just now about hanging the washing on the Siegfried Line, let us rather send as many comforts as possible to our men in, near, or on the way to the Maginot Line, and to our ships and aircraft which are helping to hold that line.

The Duchess, her Committee, and our Farmers say that all necessary comforts will be sent.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? WILL YOU HELP???

These comforts are needed NOW, AND next week, AND next month, AND a big supply has to be made ready for next autumn.

Heaven send that none of our lads will ever be able to quote with truth the lines of Shakespeare :- " That comfort comes too late, 'tis like a pardon after execution; That gentle physic, given in time, had saved me, But now, I am past all comforts here but prayers."

Comforts are of little use after fingers, or ears, or toes have been frostbitten.

Now let us go into the question of ways and means. How can you help? You, personally. What are you going to do? To begin with, if you are blest with plenty of money you can make a donation to the funds of the scheme. If, on the other hand, you have no money (in which unhappy state you have the consolation of not being alone), but have organising powers, then you can arrange for Concerts, Whist Drives, Dances, and so on, to help towards the necessary expenses.

One way in which areas can raise money in a very simple manner is by the penny-a-week fund. Each adult in the area gives one penny per week, and it is astonishing how much money can be raised by this method. One Ayrshire village raised hundreds of pounds without any hardship to the inhabitants during the last war.

The collection of the pennies has been put forward as being difficult in scattered areas. Surely this could be surmounted. The local post office, or shop, would, without doubt, agree to assist by having a box on the counter, and the vans calling at outlying districts might also help. Remember that the donation of one shilling is a three months contribution to this form of collection. The donor of that sum does not need to contribute again till the next quarter begins.

That is to say unless he chooses to, and it is astonishing how many do give more than the penny per week.

In some schools the children themselves have started and are carrying on this penny-a-week collection. From an educational point of view this self-administration of a school fund should be of no little benefit to the children.

There are, of course, numerous other ways in which money can be raised without causing unpleasantness, and each area should suit its effort to its natural resources.

The outstanding fact is that we are at war. Our Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen are in need of comforts. Money will be required to buy wool to make these comforts. What are you going to do about it?

As Kipling might have said

There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick, There's not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick, But it can find some useful job that's crying to be done For the scheme for Soldiers' comforts glorifieth everyone."

It is well known that in this county are to be found some of the best knitters in Scotland. In years past they have taken part, and no mean part, in the various competitions connected with the W.R.I. exhibitions as well as the large cattle and other shows in the country. For the duration of the war there will be none of these shows or exhibitions.

But the Committee of this scheme will have wool if you will knit it into the required comforts according to the patterns set forth elsewhere, and return it to the Depot at the Assembly Rooms, Dumfries. It is hoped that wool will be obtainable within walking distance of every collection of houses in the county.

It is the desire of all workers connected with the scheme to acknowledge the very wonderful example which has been set them by the President, the Duchess of Buccleuch. It is very evident that it is the fervent desire of this lady that the scheme should be a success. She has not spared herself in any way. At the several Free Gift Sales she herself attended and opened the Sale, making on each occasion a not only charming, but practical speech.

At the Depot the Duchess has endeared herself to all visitors by the manner in which she has shown herself anxious to meet and to know everybody. The county is to be congratulated in having the help and services of this lady, who has evidently said, This is my scheme and I have to work myself to make it a success. I cannot and will not leave it to others to do the work while I take the credit.The Duchess has set a fine example to the county. What are YOU going to do to keep YOUR end up?

THE MEN WE ARE KNITTING FOR

THE ROYAL NAVY

By A SAILOR

What is the Navy doing?

This question, heard all too frequently from the lips of the, uninitiated between the years 1914-18, has not yet been voiced during the present conflict, and the reason is not far to seek. For, with the lack of activity on the Western Front, and the absence of aerial combats on the scale that was generally expected, the Royal Navy—at the time of writing—has occupied the forefront of the news. So far, too, the Navy has suffered far heavier losses than either of its sister services, and it is a fact—regrettable, perhaps—that the British public has always been prone to judge the achievements of its fighting forces by the length of their casualty lists.

In actual fact, however, the Navy is fulfilling precisely the same functions as it did during the war of 1914-18, and, indeed, in every war throughout our maritime history. Apart from the very obvious one of securing our Island and Empire from invasion, these functions may be broadly divided under two headings. Firstly, to protect our trade routes and so ensure the steady inflow of those foodstuffs an& raw materials on which our very existence depends; and secondly, by paralysing the trade of the enemy, to exercise an ever-increasing, stranglehold on his national and economic life.

These objects can only be achieved by obtaining and maintaining the command of the sea, the first essential of which is to render impotent the enemy's main fleet. This, then, is the role assigned to our capital ships, but unless the enemy is prepared to offer battle—and with the present comparative strength of the two main fleets this would be tantamount to suicide on the part of the German Navy—itis manifestly impossible to destroy him.

In the days of sail, the alternative consisted of a close blockade, such as that maintained by Nelson off Toulon, and Cornwallis off Brest, during the years immediately preceding the Battle of Trafalgar. But with the advent of the steamship, needing frequent refuelling, and the counter-weapons of mine, torpedo, and submarine, the close. blockade is no longer a practical possibility. Instead, what may be described as the " distant blockade " has come into being, and has been found equally effective under modern conditions. For, by maintaining a superior force of capital ships off our own coasts, and within striking distance of the enemy's fleet should it venture more than a short distance from its harbours, his ships are rendered as impotent as though they were at the bottom of the sea. By this means our cruisers, destroyers, and other craft which form numerically the bulk of our Navy, are enabled to fulfil their allotted tasks without molestation by the heavier ships of the enemy.

Of the regular fighting ships,, the next, in point of size, are the cruisers. The larger of these correspond approximately to the smallest two-deckers of the eighteenth century; the smaller are direct lineal descendants of the frigates, which Nelson called "the eyes of the Fleet." In the present war the great majority of our cruisers—in which category we must include the armed merchant cruisers—are engaged in protecting our trade routes all over the world from surface raiders; and in exercising the right of search for contraband goods carried in neutral vessels and destined for the enemy. How well these tasks are being performed may be gauged from the destruction of the " Graf Spee," the fact that whenever an enemy merchant vessel emerges from port she is almost invariably either captured or scuttled, and by the published figures of the contraband captured week by week.

Most numerous of all—though we can never have enough of them—are the ubiquitous destroyers, the Navy's "maids-of-all-work." Primarily designed for attacking the enemy fleet with torpedoes during a general engagement, there is no end to the tasks these fast, useful little ships are called upon to perform. In the public mind they are probably associated principally with the destruction of U-Boats, and it is true that they are waging a ceaseless and most effective campaign against these unseen pirates who flout so openly, not only the honourable traditions of naval warfare, but the most elementary principles of humanity as well. Yet the many other duties which fall to the lot of the destroyers, if less spectacular, are no less important. Between screening battleships, escorting convoys, patrolling the narrow seas, together with countless other subsidiary tasks, their work is never ended.

Of our own submarines the public hears but little until one, more fortunate than the rest, sights the enemy fleet and gets home with a torpedo; or another pays the extreme penalty for her daring and fails to return home. Even in the Navy itself little is heard of their work, and one is apt to forget that, for every successful exploit like that of the " Salmon " or " Undine," there are many weary weeks and months spent on patrol at the very gates of the enemy, and probably countless hairbreadth escapes which will not come to light until after the war. And if any reminder is needed that no non-combatant, either neutral or enemy, is menaced by British submarines, surely the meeting between the " Salmon " and " Bremen " was sufficient.

To recount in detail the duties of all the various other types of vessels comprising our Navy of 1940, would require a whole volume. Aircraft carriers, anti-aircraft ships, escort vessels, and minelayers are amongst the regular naval units manned by naval personnel, and their names are self-explanatory. In addition to these, countless other small vessels are chartered by the Admiralty for the duration of the war—no new thing this, by the way, as we read of similar charters during the eighteenth century.

Apart from the armed merchant cruisers already mentioned, the majority of these little ships consist of yachts, drifters, and trawlers. They are extensively used for anti-submarine work and the still more dangerous task of minesweeping, the drifters and trawlers being manned for the most part by their own fishermen crews. The story of the magnificent work of these men during the last war has been graphically told by Captain Taprell-Dorling ("Taffrail") in his book, "Swept Channels." Their immediate response during the present conflict has been no less impressive, and the full extent to which the Nation stands in their debt is not sufficiently realised.

Every new weapon devised by modern science has produced the appropriate antidote, with the result that the variety and complexity of the vessels comprising our war-time Fleet has increased out of all knowledge during the present century. Yet, despite these inventions, despite man's conquest of the air, and without in any way disparaging the work of the Army and Royal Air Force, the wording of the preamble to the regulations is as true to-day as when it was written during the reign of Charles II.

"It is upon the Navy, under the good Providence of God, that the Safety, Honour, and Welfare of our Realm do chiefly depend."

THE ARMY

The following is a short history of the two Regiments most closely associated with the County.

THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

The Regiment was first raised in Edinburgh by the Earl of Leven in 1689, and was then known as Leven's Regiment, and it is believed to have been recruited in the amazingly short space of four hours.

It had not long to wait for its first engagement, which took place at Killiecrankie in July, 1689, only four months after it had been raised. For their success in this engagement against the Highlanders, the city of Edinburgh bestowed two exclusive privileges on the Regiment. The first, that they were allowed to march through the city with fixed bayonets and colours flying; the second, that they were allowed to recruit in the city by the beat of drum on any day except Sunday, without the permission of the Provost. Only last July the people of Edinburgh witnessed the four Territorial Battalions of the King's Own Scottish Borderers marching past their Colonel-in-Chief, H.R.H. the Duchess of Gloucester, with bayonets fixed and colours flying. It was a sight which those who were fortunate enough to see will never forget, and shows how the privileges gained in 1689 have been carried on down the years.

In 1782 the Borderers lost their then cherished name of the Edinburgh Regiment and became known as the Sussex Regiment. The Duke of Richmond was Colonel and wanted the Regiment named after his own County. The reason for the change is believed to have been due to the War Office desiting every Regiment to have the name of an English county in order to stimulate recruiting. During these years the Borderers served with distinction, all over the globe, in Flanders, Gibraltar, at the Battle of Minden, in this country at Culloden Moor, to mention only a few of their engagements.

In 1795 the Regiment, which had so far been merely in detachments, was brought up to full Battalion strength, and in 1859 the present second Battalion was raised in Preston, Lancashire. Then in 1881, to the dismay of all those in and associated with the Regiment, it was decided to move the Headquarters of the Borderers from Edinburgh to York, and to call it the "York Regiment, King's Own Borderers." However, feeling ran so high against this move, that those in authority decided to move the Headquarters to Berwick-onTweed, and in 1887 they were given the title they hold to this day of the "King's Own Scottish Borderers."

In 1900 the first Battalion fought with great gallantry in the Boer War for two years, and in the course of this campaign the Regiment won its first Victoria Cross. This was gained by Lieut. Coulson for saving the life of a wounded Corporal under intense fire. This gallant officer was killed in action later in the campaign.

Then in 1914 came the Great War, to which the Borderers contributed altogether seven Battalions. Shortly before the War the 4th and 5th Territorial Battalions were formed out of the old 4th and 5th Volunteer Battalions under a new organisation, and then in the early days of the struggle, the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions were raised as part of Kitchener's Army, and were naturally disbanded after the war. There is no need to dwell on the heroic deeds of the Regiment on the Western Front, the desperate struggle in Gallipoli and their adventures in the Holy Land and Egypt. It is enough to say that the Borderers came out of the struggle full of glory, and their gallantry is shown in that 6500 men and 359 officers laid down their lives for their country, and four Victoria Crosses were won.

At the end of the war the King's Own Scottish Borderers were drawn from an area which extended from Berwick on the East, to Stranraer on the West, covering the whole of the South of Scotland, and embracing the counties of Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire.

During the years following the Great War, all Territorial Battalions became very depleted in strength, and the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions were disbanded completely. There is little doubt that this was largely due to the utter weariness of war felt by both -the officers and men, and to their fervent belief that they had fought a war to end all wars. And so things went on until, about three years ago, the threat of war once more made itself felt. Gradually at first, and then more rapidly, the 4th and 5th were brought up to strength. In the Spring of 1939 it was decided to raise the 6th and 7th Battalions as duplicate Battalions to each of the 4th and 5th. At the time most people thought that it was an impossibility, but when war became imminent, the response to recruiting for these two Battalions was amazing, and by last July they were both up to strength. A truly wonderful feat in such a short time. The National Defences Companies are now in process of being raised as an 8th Battalion.

And now war is upon us again, and the men of the King's Own Scottish Borderers at home and overseas are ready to uphold the reputation of their predecessors in whatever tasks they may be called upon to fulfil.

THE LANARKSHIRE YEOMANRY

The earliest known records of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry are about the year 1640, when they did their annual training on Lanark Moor, but the records are broken, and the first date of more or less continuous service thereafter is 1794, when two troops were raised in Lanark, and then augmented to six, and titled The Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire Fencible Cavalry.

This Regiment was stationed round about Brighton, Deal and Dover, and was disbanded in 1800. Meantime, in 1798, the Yeomanry throughout Britain were beginning to be raised, and although there are no records to show that any were in Commission in Lanarkshire until 1819, Dumfries had three troops with 129 men, and Peebles one troop of 40 men.

The Regiment has been in existence ever since then, although its amalgamation with Dumfries troops did not take place until after the South African War, in which the Yeomanry served with distinction, and along with other Yeomanry Regiments they became the 17th Company of the 6th Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry, and got for themselves their first battle honours—South Africa, 1900-1902.

During the Great War they served dismounted in Gallipoli, Palestine, France, becoming in 1917 part of the 74th Division, which was entirely comprised of dismounted yeomanry, and had for its badge a broken spur. They remained in Palestine till the Spring of 1918, when they went to France, and the Brigade to which they belonged earned the name of Girdwood's Hailstorms, and took the place of a Guards Brigade in the 31st Division.

Battle honours gained in the Great War are :-

Ypres, 1918. France and Flanders, 1918.

Gallipoli, 1915. Egypt, 1916-1917. Gaza,

Jerusalem, Tel Asar, Palestine, 1917-1918.

After the first German War they were for a short time (about 6 months) turned into Artillery, and became the 164th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Brigade R.F.A., but in 1921 the War Office decided to reinstate the Regiment as Mounted Yeomanry with three Squadrons instead of four. As a result " C " Squadron, which came from Airdrie and Coatbridge, was disbanded, leaving :-

"A" Douglas and the left bank of the Clyde.

"B" Right bank of the Clyde including Peebles.

"D" Dumfriesshire.

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

By AN AIRMAN

An uncounted number of guns were fired on the day the R.A.F. was born, that was April 1st, 1918. On the 25th March, 1918, the enemy had commenced his attempt to break through the British front, and the chief of the newly formed R.A.F. had ended his order by saying " All risks to be taken." It was in the urgent spirit of this " all risks " order that the R.A.F. as such began its career and celebrated its first birthday.

When the last war ended, the R.A.F. was imcomparably the strongest Air Force in the world, composed of over 27,000 officers and over 260,000 men.

In the years immediately following the war it was reduced to 2000 officers and 20,000 men, to meet the Empire's many requirements for air power.

The R.A.F. is now rapidly getting once again into its war stride. During the fortnight after the outbreak of the war no fewer than 10,000 men were accepted as pilots, crews and maintenance personnel, and large numbers of women have already been enrolled for the W.A.A.F.

Training schools are being established in each of the Dominions, and the young men, after their elementary training, will proceed to Canada to receive there, untroubled by black-outs or air-raid warnings, the advanced training which will fit them for service in the line. So the Empire spreads its wings, and must finally achieve overwhelming strength in the air.

There are already indications that the young airmen of 1940 lack nothing of the old fighting quality, and, should the occasion demand, are just as ready for the " all risks " order as the airmen of 1918. On September 30th, 1939, five of our aircraft in France successfully completed a reconnaissance when attacked by fifteen enemy fighters. Our bombers have repeatedly flown over the Heligoland area in the teeth of the strongest enemy opposition.

Many individual acts of gallantry have already been performed. In the course of one flight, carried out at a high altitude, 20 degrees below zero, an aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the air-gunner wounded. To reach the wounded man it was necessary to squeeze through a narrow opening in the fusilage. The observer found he could only do so by discarding his warm outer clothing. Having done this and reached his companion, he found him badly wounded. He dressed him and warmed him with his own body, encouraging him with reports of progress until the machine was clear of enemy territory and on its way home. During the period the observer was without his flying clothing, the temperature was never above freezing point.

Such is the spirit of the R.A.F. After a fight one day, one pilot expressed the feelings of his crew thus : "Old Hitler's given us a bit of a headache but that's nothing to what we'll give him."

KNITTING DIRECTIONS

(Edited by Miss Grace M`Minn, First Prize Winner in Knitting Contests at Annan, Castle-Douglas, Dumfries and Moffat.)

INTRODUCTION

In these war days nearly every woman wants to knit something for the men who are serving their country. Before the war there were good knitters who could follow any pattern and make it come out as a well made garment, and ordinary knitters who just knitted the things they knew about without a pattern. But now we all want to make the things that are really required, and to make them well.

Before starting to make any of the patterns given in this book a careful study of the following general directions may be of help.

TENSION

The importance of understanding the question of tension cannot be too strongly emphasised. How often one hears a knitter say that a certain pattern is bad because the garment comes out too small or 'too big; she will probably put fewer or more stitches on the next time she tries, and then be disappointed because it comes out the wrong shape. This method of rectifying the fault is all wrong, she should merely have changed the size of the needles.

It is impossible to lay down any hard and fast rule as to what is an average tension; for example, with No. 8 needles just as many people knit 5 stitches to the inch and 6 stitches to the inch as 51, which is the tension given in the directions in this book.

If a person who knits 6 stitches to the inch gave a pattern of a Pullover with a 38 inch chest to a person who knits 5 stitches to the inch, the Pullover would come out with a 46 inch chest measurement!

It will be seen, therefore, that it is absolutely essential when -selecting needles to regard the size quoted in the directions as merely approximate, and to be guided entirely by the tension given, and find out what size of needles with your own knitting will produce that tension.

The best method of following these directions is to try out a piece of stocking stitch—say two inches wide and two inches long—on any sized needles given in one of the patterns. If you do not get the same number of stitches to the square inch as given in the pattern try another two inches with a different size of needles. When you have found the right size of needles, for example, one size larger than the size given in the directions, you will know that in every other pattern you must use one size larger needles than quoted, for all directions in the book are for the same tension.

Everyone knows there are loose knitters and tight knitters, but it is not so generally known that there are " wide " knitters and "' narrow " knitters. Some people's work have nearly as many stitches to the square inch as rows, others have nearly twice the number cf rows to stitches. This fact must be borne in mind when measuring to ascertain the size of needles, and care must be taken to get the correct number of stitches to the square inch. That is why the number-of rows to the inch is given in all the directions.

A stocking stitch Ready Reckoner, or Tension Chart, will be found on page 73. It has been compiled as an aid to anyone who wishes to work out a pattern for herself, or to convert a pattern made with large needles into a pattern made with fine needles, or vice versa.

For garter stitch the number of stitches and rows to the square inch is different to stocking stitch. Generally speaking there are twice the number of rows to stitches, less one row, that is to say 5 stitches. and 9 rows, or 6 stitches and 11 rows, etc. The texture is therefore thicker, and consequently warmer than stocking stitch.

CASTING ON AND OFF

Always do this loosely so that when you stretch the knitting it gives to almost the full width of the fabric and you do not have that tight feeling as though a string was inside the knitting.

WASHING AND PRESSING

It is advisable to wash socks before sending in, as it makes them, much softer. Pressing is not necessary, and if done at all should not be done with a damp cloth. There is just sufficient moisture in a newspaper to serve the purpose of damping the wool, and not sufficient to cause the iron to flatten the work unduly.

FINISHING OFF

Loose ends of wool should be darned into the fabric. Socks, Gloves, Mittens, etc., should be securely sewn together in pairs.

LEFT OVER SCRAPS OF WOOL

If you have any bits of wool left over from a piece of work, do, not discard them, there are various ways they can be utilised. The first idea that seems to strike most of us is to make them into wristlets, but these are not required nearly so urgently as other comforts.

There is no reason the ribbing of a mitten should not be made of one colour and the rest of it in another slightly darker or slightly lighter shade.

Another method is to knit the bits into 6 inch squares. These can be sewn together and made into bed covers.

Several schools are doing community work, and the bed covers. they have made out of these squares for the seamen, etc., have been among the most acceptable comforts so far received.

If you have not sufficient wool to make these bedcovers yourself, any squares that you send will be made up by one of the Work Parties.

Editor's note: There are many knitting patterns in the booklet and I have included two as examples here:

CAP COMFORTER SCARF-1. FOR THE ROYAL NAVY AND ARMY

Materials—10 oz. double knitting wool. Pair No. 6 knitting needles.

Tension—4½ stitches and 8 rows to square inch. Measurements—All over length, 52 inches. Width across, garter stitch, 11 inches.

Method—Cast on 50 stitches, and knit in garter stitch for 40 inches. Next row, make 1 by knitting into the back and front of 1st stitch, * knit 4, make one in next stitch. * Repeat from * to * to end of row (62 stitches).

Cap—This is made in circular knit as follows:-

* Wool to front, slip one purlways, wool to back, knit 1. * Repeat from * to * to end of row. Always start with a slip 1 purlways and finish with a knit stitch. Continue in this way until the Cap measures 11 inches. Then put the stitches on to 3 needles by taking every other stitch on to one needle, just like a stocking leg. Knit in garter stitch for 8 rounds. Cast off loosely.

An alternative method is to knit the Cap part on 4 needles, and do the Scarf part last instead of first, as in the above directions.

CAP COMFORTER SCARF-11. FOR THE ROYAL NAVY AND ARMY

Materials—6 oz. 4-ply fingering. Pair No. 6 knitting needles.

Tension—4½ stitches and 6 rows to square inch.

Measurements—Length, 48 inches; width, 9½ inches.

Method—Cast on 84 stitches. First row—Knit 1 * wool forward, slip 1 purlways, wool back, knit 1 *. Repeat from * to * to end of row, knitting the last 2 stitches. Continue to knit every row in the same way until the work is 48 inches long. Next row—Knit 2 together to end of row. Cast off. One end of this Scarf is tucked in to form a Cap.