I was a bit of a crochet slacker today, as I spent much of the afternoon watching the final game of the 2010 World Cup and making even more African Flower hexagons and the fact that today marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird.

The fact that the World Cup final had almost no commercials (definitely nothing like the Super Bowl), meant I did not have much time to check over my work. So, of necessity, the hexagons were completed at a very leisurely pace as there were not many opportunities to count stitches.

Still, once the game was over I knew I couldn’t let the half century celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird pass without noting it in some fashion, so after dinner had been eaten, I grabbed my crochet and sat down to watch the movie.

Early in the movie, as the audience is being introduced to all of the characters, Jem and Scout and their new friend, Dill, walk past the house of a neighbor, Mrs. Dubose’s. Jem takes a moment to warn his young compatriots, “Mrs. Dubose has a Confederate pistol on her lap under her shawl and she’ll kill you as quick as look at you.”

Because I have what my husband no doubt considers a completely endearing habit of noticing any and all crochet in movies and television shows, the fact that shawl to which Jem refers is composed of granny squares was something I could not ignore.

Done with what was probably a fairly large hook (most likely 5.5 mm or 6.0mm), the squares were five rounds each, with the first four rounds done in scraps of lighter colored yarns, while the fifth-round was done in a much darker color or colors.

In order to enjoy a film, it is necessary to suspend disbelief, and so I have to ignore the fact that it is extremely unlikely that anyone sitting on a porch anywhere in Alabama in August would need a shawl of any kind, but I have come to think of crochet as part of the fabric of our lives and the stories we tell, and I am captivated every time a set designer includes a piece.