Page 25 - Let's Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet - Issue 118 (January 2020)

It Takes a Vilage

Bringing Communities Together

One Stitch at a Time

Why the trend for kniting
villages has given us the bug!

Words by Heidi Wilkins

A quiet crafty revolution has
been occurring across the UK
in recent years. Throughout
the country, knitters and
crocheters have been steadily
clicking and hooking away,
recreating their communities
in yarn. Here at Let’s Get
Crafting, we are jumping on The Thrapston Yarn
the bandwagon! Bombers hit headlines
with their knitted village
Miniature knited and crocheted
communities are oten stitched
together through the eforts of local in her town due to her incredible
knit and nater groups. The Thrapston wartime knited garden. It
Yarn Bombers hit the headlines this includes an allotment complete
year due to their stalwart eforts in with veg, chickens, pigs and even
recreating the Northamptonshire town mini gardening tools! She said,
where they live. It took the seven group “I made and designed most of it
members two years to complete their for a Wartime Weekend we Dolphin WI’s Braintree church
knited village and in that time they have in our town in June, for
whipped up the town church, pub, a display in my Age UK
post oice (complete with local postie), shop window.” Susan’s seen by everybody coming into
butchers, football pitch, a houseboat knited garden and others like it are a Braintree. I made the model using
on the River Nene and the old single fantastic source of nostalgia and an polystyrene blocks, card, and foam
screen cinema. opportunity to admire another board. It was made in sections so the
The level of detail in these projects is kniter’s skills. By immortalising our ten kniters could choose which part of
astounding and is admired by all who home town in yarn we trap it in time, the building they wanted to knit and
come across them. Susan Evans who just like a photograph but more fun take it away with them to work out.”
co-manages her local Age UK shop in and time-consuming! As they continued and more
Newport Pagnell has become renowned So where does a kniter begin buildings were added, the group of ten
when atempting to create their were even asked to display their knited
neighbourhood in yarn? Susan based buildings at Alexandra Palace for the
her creation on her grandad’s wartime WI Crat Fair and The Kniting and
garden in London. “I drew out a rough Stitching Show in 2017. The ladies are
design on paper and then just winged still going strong with plans to knit
most of it,” she admits,“sewing up and their local Bocking windmill and The
puting all the bits together was a Bull pub in Braintree town centre – we
challenge, but I kept at it and I am very can’t wait to see them!
proud of it.” We love being inspired by our
Another group that caught our eye readers and this time it’s led to our
was the Dolphin WI creative kniting brand new Community Crochet-along.
group. In 2015 they began to recreate We hope our readers will be inspired to
key buildings in their home town pick up their hooks, get together with
Braintree, Essex to celebrate 100 years fellow craters and get creative! Who
of the Women’s Institute. Vice Chair of knows, in a village hall near you the
the group Elaine Pye told us, “our irst craty revolution could be coming –
Susan’s wartime garden model was St Michael’s Church as it is make sure you’re a part of it!

TOPCROCHETPATTERNS.COM | LGC Kniting & Crochet 23