National Knitting Week 2006
last updated: November 6th, 2006
Cornish Organic Wool largest event in South West in National Knitting Week
Knitting Event at Tregenna Castle St Ives Cornwall
As part of National
Knitting Week Julia and Matt Hopson of Cornish Organic Wool and Knit Wits in
Penzance organised the largest knitting event to be held in the South West, all
in aid of the RNLI.
It was the first time that Cornwall was linked by satellite
to both the Highlands in Scotland and Alexandra Palace in London (the equipment
was donated by Rowan Yarns for the London end).This fantastic satellite technology was provided by Patrick Child
of 'actnow', which is promoting broadband in Cornwall.
The event was featured on the BBC Spotlight TV News and
broadcast live on Local BBC radio.See
more photos on www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2006/10/16/knitting_feature.shtml
Guinness
World Record Attempt: 'Knitting with the largest Knitting needles'
This was successfully completed by Julia Hopson of Knit Wits
Wool Shop (Penzance)/Cornish Organic Wool and Matt Hopson and James
Morris-Marsham of Zennor Gig Club, who held the giant needles.
A tension square of ten stitches and ten rows in stocking
stitch was produced using knitting needles that were 6.5cm in diameter and 3.5
meters long. These were a ten times scaled up version of a standard 6.5mm and
35cm long knitting needle. The yarn was rope of 12mm in diameter.
The event was officially witnessed by Claire Crompton,
author of 'The Knitters Bible', and Maurice Stevens from The Cornishman newspaper.
All the evidence has been submitted to The Guinness Book of
Records and we await official verification from them.
Celtic Challenge: Cornish V Scots. Fleece to garment
competition
This was the second time this challenge had
been attempted, turning a fleece into a garment (or, in this case, a throw) in
the quickest time.Both teams consisted
of 8 spinners and 8 knitters working at any time plus 2 carders and 1 person to
sew up.The Cornish team used Romney
fleeces supplied by Cornish Organic Wool from The National Trust's farm,
Bosigran, just down the coast at Zennor.The Scottish team used Scottish Cheviot fleeces.Both teams had previously dyed one fleece
(with tea) so the throw (which consisted of 63 squares of various patterns) was
a chequerboard design.For the second
successive year the Scots won the challenge – clearly, the Cornish knitters
need to speed up!
Crocheting
with boat hooks: RNLI - first ever attempt at crocheting.
Julia Hopson and Dave
Nichol from the RNLI successfully managed to crochet a flower design, much to
the amusement of onlookers.
Julia and Dave Nicholl RNLI
Behind her is the Landrover
with the satellite sending the pictures live to Alexandra Palace and Highlands of Scotland.
Speed Knitting
Witnessed, via satellite, at Alexandra Palace in London,
Frances Jago managed to knit 250 stitches in three minutes which, we
understand, makes her the fastest in the UK this year.
She said that, due to all the attention, nerves got to her
and she feels she can do over 260 stitches in three minutes.
(pics pr Frances Jago and Johnny Rutherford from the BBC)
Rowan
Heather Esswood from Rowan inspecting
Julia's 'Extreme'Knitting
Heather Esswood from Rowan spent the Friday advising and
showing some wonderful yarns to the public.
On the Saturday Heather ran a wonderful successful workshop
where Rowan kindly donated their fee to the RNLI.
Claire Crompton
Claire had a successful day
advising on knitting techniques and signed copies of her book, 'The Knitters
Bible' and gave a sneak preview of her two latest books: 'Knitted Accessories'
and 'Knitted Bags' which are due to be released in March 2007.
Seed
Power
Josh & Nikki Bond and
June Rainbow demonstrated the 'Yarn Shifter'- their unique weaving loom.
School workshops
Jo McIntosh from
Knitweave, St Ives ran some very well attended School workshops with the aim of
bringing the younger generation on.Many children left proudly clutching their first attempts!
Fashion Show
The finale of the day was
the fashion show put on by Cornwall College, Camborne featuring local designers
as well as Jaeger, Sirdar, Debbie Bliss, Colinette, RYC and Cornish Organic
Wool.
Throughout the day a number of local groups
demonstrated their unique skills.Never
before had so many different, local craft groups gathered under one roof to
display their extraordinary talents.All visitors left having been inspired by the huge range of ideas they
witnessed.Demonstrations included: Beading
with GJ Beads (St Ives), Lace Making with The Penzance Lace Circle, Weaving,
Drop Spindle Spinning and Spinning with The Cornwall Guild of Weavers, Spinners
and Dyers, Embroidery with The West Country Embroiderers from Penzance, and Rug
Hooking from Newlyn.
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