"Please Rise for the Singing . . . " Super Scarf #40 - A Poetry Scarf

Good Day to you.

I would like to introduce myself to you, reveal Goodnight Gram’s 40th Super Scarf, and explain my Super-sleuthing clues.

My name is F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  While I did not spend my entire life there, I did reside there at  different times in my life.  Saint Paul has a statue of me in one of their beautiful city parks.

My full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and I am named after my second cousin-three times removed: Francis Scott Key.

My distant relative was asked to help negotiate the release of  Dr. William Beanes, a beloved physician, who had been taken captive during the War of 1812, in particular, during the September, 1814 occupation of Washington D.C.  Aboard a ship in the Patapsco River, my distant cousin observed the 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry, Maryland.  My distant relative wrote a poem about what he saw, and it later became our national anthem.

Goodnight Gram has knit the entire first verse of my relative’s poem into her 40th Super Scarf and she asked me to show it to you.

Gram knit it this scarf in the manner of Poetry Mittens, a practice in early America, to knit one’s favorite poem (or part of it) into mittens.  Because it would be too cumbersome to turn the mittens ’round and ’round to read the poems, they were generally knit into only one side.  To carry the yarns around the mitten, Fair Isle designs were knit into the other side.

That is what Gram has done with the other side of the Anthem Super Scarf.  Have a look. 

Gram was already planning this 48,400-stitch design prior to her trip to Indianapolis for the Colts’ 2011 regular season home-opener last month,  but it was solidified as she walked the grassy mall outside the American Legion National Headquarters in downtown Indianapolis.  Below is a photo of the Flag of the United States of America just outside the American Legion Headquarters.

Gram’s dad belonged to the American Legion and was her first and favorite example of patriotism.  The Star-Spangled Banner is Gram’s favorite song, but her 40th Super Scarf also represents one of the ways in which the National Football League (NFL) has shown its committment to accessibility for deaf people: by having the anthem signed at Super Bowl games since 1992.  The first time that happened was in Minnesota, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for Super Bowl XXVI.  Gram has video links to as many Super Bowl anthems with signed interpretations as she could find.

The official version of the first verse of the Star-Spangled Banner has been divided into four lines.  At the end of each line, Gram has added a simple  graphic to illustrate the sentiment of the line it succeeds: for example: “Twilight’s last gleaming”.  Note the sunset below the knitted text.

The 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Super Scarf Project is counting down its final days before the deadline to donate scarves arrives.  They have collected over 9,000 scarves and hope to receive many more by the end of November.

Thanks to the hundreds of you who joined in the Super-sleuthing for this scarf, and thanks to Gram for allowing me to keep you guessing while she worked.  And thanks to Gram for wrapping a scarf around me.  It gets cold in Minnesota, and standing there in the park, I NEVER get to put on my hat or coat!