He squared his shoulders, affixed a resolute smile to his face and walked into the sitting-room, where his wife sat knitting a Balaclava helmet in khaki wool.
It was the spring of 1940.
… “After all,” said Tommy feebly, “you can knit, you know.”
“Knit?” said Tuppence. “Knit?”
Seizing her Balaclava helmet she flung it on the ground.
“I hate khaki wool,” said Tuppence, “and Navy wool and Air Force blue. I should like to knit something magenta!”
“It has a fine military sound,” said Tommy. “Almost a suggestion of Blitzkrieg.”
from N or M? by Agatha Christie, first published in 1941.