Following our fantastic ‘covert’ mission in September, when we painted our small town with yarn as part of the Tour of Britain race making its way through our main street, there has been a slight expectation from the community that we would make things appear again!
The group of volunteers , now affectionately named the ‘Nutty Knitters’ by a member of the public, have been busy once again. In readiness for a spooky Saturday evening we created a creepy atmosphere by installing a number of webs and ghosts around the main street. One of our local supermarkets even donated some of their distinctly coloured carrier bags for us to make waterproof knitted items… pumpkin bunting, pompoms and lamp post covers were very popular with the younger audience. Spiders webs were hung from signposts and bus stops as well as a very large one covering the side of the telephone box.
The public have once again loved the installations – the messages of thanks on social media and in the shop are gratefully received and passed on to the group.
Let me tell you about our little group of volunteers – there is a wide age range of members from our junior knit and natter group right through to some elderly relatives of my customers. The juniors are learning their craft but they have loved being part of the team. There is a lot of excitement when they can show members of their family which bits they knitted. There are members of the team with a lot of experience with their crafts of crochet and knitting and they do a great job of coming up with ideas to install. The older members of our team don’t always see the fruits of their labour but they are very happy to have some knitting or crochet to do which keeps them entertained and occupied. The team also has some young adults that are enthusiastic and motivated with developing their knitting skills and love the installations and the group dynamics – it appears that they are learning lots along the way as well.
If a community project like this can generate so much great feeling then it must be encouraged. Even the winter months can be cheered with a bit of wool… There is definately a feeling of expectation now from the residents of the town; so we are now planning the next event. Hmmmm wonder what that could be?