Knitting In Kate Ingersoll's The Lace Makers

We are all different and unique, or so we are told. History and everyday activities can point out things that make us all similar. In the novel The Lace Makers, by Kate Ingersoll, this is shown between her connection of two different girls, during different times. A young African American slave girl, during the Civil War, and a young German girl in a concentration camp, during World War II. Both girls go through tough challenges. They lose family members, Hold their tongues to keep out of trouble, and all the while they anxiously wait to be freed. All these girls had were hope, knitting, and their mothers to help them during these times. The connection both girls have to knitting, illustrates the theme in the novel, The Lace Makers, that even though we are all different there are things in the world that make us more alike.

Sapphire tells the reader her mother taught her how to knit: “My mama say she done teach me how to sew and make lace…” (Ingersoll pg 14). Sapphire and her mother are slaves, so in order for Sapphire to work in the main house, her mother has to teach her this skill. Children learning skills from their parents is very common. Karin, a young German girl, explains the clothing she made with her mother, referred to as Mutti, and how her mother taught her too. Karin tells of the clothing she has made with her mother and how her mother taught her to knit as well: “...when Mutti taught me how to knit. ...make little hats and booties. Next came a simple sweater for Vati. Then a pair of socks for my baby brother.” (Ingersoll pg 26-27). Karin is remembering the time before she was taken to the concentration camp. They have both learned how to knit from their mothers (“Re: The Lace Makers”), knitting symbolizes the connections both girls share with their