RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29361, 14 November 1960, Page 26

RANDOM REMINDER

Television in Britain, it was recently reported, has brought about a tremendous increase in the sale of knitting wool, because women are apparently unable to do nothing while they watch the screen. This trend appeals strongly to those who manufacture knitting wools, but it could have some nasty repercussions. Assuming that television will soon be holding the New Zealand public completely in thrall, and that New Zealand women are as restless as their cousins in Britain, it is possible to look forward with confidence to a soaring output of home-knitted articles. But the woman who has

threaded her way through a knitting pattern which looks like a highlyinvolved chemical formula, while sitting in the dark and taking a critical interest in the absorbing fare which will be provided on the television screens, and who has emerged without a flaw in the work, will undoubtedly expect the article to be worn. Husbands, therefore, can look forward with a thrill of horror to a torrent of ties of all colours, a pile of pullovers, stacks of socks, and scarves. There will, of course, be some compensation in knowing that all their office colleagues will be similarly embarrassed.

But what is a woman to do when she has provided her husband and children and relatives and friends and acquaintances with more than sufficient warm clothing for a visit to the Antarctic? Perhaps she could start knitting covers for hot water bottles, frocks for herself, even book covers, and covers for her husband's golf clubs. It would take her no time at all to dash off a few little jackets to keep boiled eggs warm while the family assembles at breakfast. But no matter how great the output may became, one thing is certain: it will . not mean that at last a ’ man has his socks darned.