MEMBERS of Yeoford Yarns, a group that shares knitting and sewing expertise and natter, as its name might suggest, were busy over the winter knitting squares for blankets.

Altogether, they knitted at least 40 lap blankets, between 3ft 6ins (slightly more than a metre) and four feet square to go over the knees (or around the shoulders) of residents of the Royal British Legion Dunkirk Memorial Home at Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, a nursing home run by the RBL.

The blankets were in all colours, some like a knitting sampler with squares of different stitches, others more plain but still with lots of colour.

Receiving the blankets, Crediton branch RBL chairman, John Shaw, said he had come to know Dunkirk Memorial House and had been really impressed by the wonderful dementia centre there.

The work done there was “fantastic” and the knee blankets would be so useful especially in weather such as now, fine enough to sit outside but not very warm.

He explained that the home was the charity supported by Crediton RBL branch. It needed £28,000 a year for the patient’s facilities fund for “extras” such as visits to the hairdresser or physiotherapy.

Yarns member Edna Beasley explained that they had been approached by a lady in the village about doing some lap blankets for the Legion. So they picked up the idea and fell to knitting with gusto - resulting in four big bags of lap blankets given to Mr Shaw. They also gave a donation of £60.

Sue Read