Sweater....

I saw this little sweater in the window of one of Chorlton's independent shops on Manchester Road, imaginatively called Wowie Zowie. It sells pottery and other interesting bits and pieces from the 50s, 60s and 70s. It's a period that is becoming cool again and the things are collectable.

But these little knitted jackets are new. I have friends who have a 9 month old baby who always smiles when he sees me so I decided he deserved a treat. It's a bit big for him at the moment but will fit him nicely in the autumn.

The lady who knitted this jacket is in her 80s and lives out in Cheshire. But when she was a little girl she lived in Chorlton. In the 1940s, Chorlton's proximity to Manchester Docks and the huge Trafford Park industrial estate (still the largest in Europe), made it a dangerous place to live as Nazi bombers dropped their lethal loads on this part of Manchester.

The little girl would spend a lot of time in the air raid shelter where, to calm her down, two German ladies who lived in Chorlton, taught her to knit. An interesting picture there I think, German ladies being forced to take shelter from the bombing raids of their fellow countrymen. And there is something very life affirming about people from opposing sides in a conflict coming together to help each other like this. It reminds me of the men in ww1 playing football on Christmas Day. It shows that ordinary people just want to get on. It's our leaders that have the problems.

The little girl took to knitting and has done it all her life. She can knock out little jackets like this off the top of her head in next to no time apparently.