Mindy Dickler, granddaughter of Rose and William Sneider, who owned The Yarn Shop in Asbury Park, New Jersey, shared the introduction below to go with the Operation Kid Knit sock pattern Rose designed for the Ladies’ Home Journal. We asked Judy Alexander to use the pattern, reproduced as it appeared in the original, to knit the spiral socks shown here.
— Editor
The Operation Kid Knit Heelless Spiral Socks. Judy Alexander used 2 skeins of Cascade 220 superwash sportweight yarn in #903 Colonial Blue Heather and 1 skein of #1944 Westpoint Blue and size 2 (2.75 mm) needles to knit the sample socks in the small, 16- inch (40.6-cm) size. Photo by Joe Coca.
In the February 1953 issue of the Ladies Home Journal, on page 6, there was a letter to the editor written by my grandfather, William J. Sneider. In it, he explains how and why the project [Operation Kid Knit; see “Remembering the Humanitarian Project That Time Forgot,” in the January/February 2015 issue of PieceWork] began. The letter was followed by an editor’s note which read: “Rose and William Sneider, whose son is an off-icer in Korea, own a yarn shop in Asbury Park, NJ, whence this movement spread. In collaboration with Korean authorities they have prepared a flier giving directions for knitting mittens and sweaters in Korean Style from scraps and telling you where to send them. Ask for one through the Journal. There are now more than 300,000 destitute Korean waifs.”
In June 1953 there was a letter to the editor of the Ladies Home Journal written by Ben C. Limb, Korean Representative to the United Nations. In it he praises my grandfather for his letter in February, which led to so many organizations taking on this project, including the Girl Scouts of America. And he praises the Ladies Home Journal for bringing light to this plight. Limb’s letter is followed by a note from the editor stating: “Beyond our expectations too. [This] cause brought more mail than any other the Journal ever sponsored.”
— Mindy Dickler
Download the January/February 2015 issue of PieceWork to knit your own pair of “Operation Kid Knit’s Heelless Spiral Socks.” For more great socks to knit, check out our blog post, “5 Fabulous Pairs of Knitted Socks from PieceWork.”