Gripping yarns: Discover knitting's weird and wonderful side
9 May 2019
It may bring to mind itchy jumpers made by your granny, but a new generation is taking knitting into amazingly creative directions. Here are some weird and wonderful examples - and if they've inspired you, the Get Creative Festival 2019 features all sorts of events where you can give it a go.
Knit the town!
An 89-year-old woman has recreated Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile in wool.
The four metre-long (14ft) knitted display captures Great Yarmouth in its 1970s heyday, when entertainers such as Sir Bruce Forsyth and Ronnie Corbett used to perform there.
Elsewhere, Oldland Common in South Gloucestershire has seen its bollards being covered in knitted versions of famous characters from film and TV – everything from Daleks, to Minions, to Springfield residents Marge and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖr Simpson.
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10 ways knitting can change your life
If you think knitting is boring then think again! Here are 10 reasons why knitting can be a power for good (and occasionally bad).
(Cannon)ball of wool
On The Leisure Society with Gemma Cairney, Kelley Deal from The Breeders talks about how knitting helped her while recovering from addiction.
When slip knots meet Slipknot!
Knitted Knockers
The art of knitting is not just about making woolly toys or chunky sweaters – it can provide valuable help to people recovering from illness.
is a group of around 650 volunteers who make artificial breasts for women who have had mastectomies.
They won the People’s Choice Epic Award for making and supplying more than 2,000 prostheses a year to over 800 women, all free of charge.
Handy guides on how to knit
Break-knit speed
Follow the 'how to' guides and you may, in time, be as skilled as Hazel Tindall – the Scot who was once crowned the world's fastest knitter! (Via ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News Scotland)
More woolly stories
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New balls (of wool) please!
How to make a knitted version of two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray.
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Postbox toppers
Someone's knitting cosy Easter hats for the postboxes of a Liverpool suburb.
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Knittin' for kittens
Battersea Dogs and Cats ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ want knitters to make blankets for dogs and toy mice for cats.
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Woollen Woods
Lots of knitted woodland features appear every year as part of Woollen Woods.
More information on Get Creative Festival
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Get Creative Festival 2019
The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's online home for the Festival, with links to all programmes and features.
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What's happening?
Everything you need to know about the Get Creative Festival 2019.
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Visit the special interactive map with details of hundreds of events.
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All you need to know about the campaign to celebrate everyday creativity.