Installing the Rowntree Park 100th Birthday Banner

Happy 100th Birthday Banner with Butterflies & Bees

The Happy 100th Birthday Banner and some ginormous butterflies & bees went up in Rowntree Park, York yesterday! The car was loaded with everything we needed for the installation...

Loaded up & ready to go

Once we got organised at the park, Deborah & I installed it with the much appreciated help of Geoff, who we stole from the volunteer gardeners...

Geoff hard at work with those cable ties

and here are Deborah and I doing some finishing touches - thanks to Mary Whitehouse (@yorkstitcher) for the pic...

Deborah & I installing the birthday banner
Photo credit: Mary Whitehouse - @yorkstitcher on Instagram

Here are a few close ups of the finished piece...

Giant crochet butterfly

A trio of giant stitched bees

Slightly smaller giant crochet butterfly

Flowers, butterflies & bees

Info sign

To find out more about the making of the banner (thanks go to Edna Shilleto for all the crochet squares - what a star!) look here or for the making of the giant bees, look here.

This is the first stage of the Butterflies & Bees and a Happy 100th Birthday Yarnstorm.  You've still time to join in with the Butterflies and Bees Yarnstorm.  All the details are here and the patterns are here or use your own patterns if you prefer.  All makes have to be in by the end of July 2021.  You can leave them in the collection basket at Rowntree Park Cafe.  

Collection Basket in Rowntree Park Cafe

The butterflies and bees will go on display in time for the August Bank holiday and will be in place till the end of September after which they will be sold to raise money for the Friends of Rowntree Park, who work hard to help maintain, improve and promote the park for everyone's enjoyment. 

So, go take a look at the Happy 100th Birthday banner, & keep a lookout for the Butterflies & Bees Yarnstorm at the end of August 2021 and for the sale dates in October 2021. 

Donation tin in Rowntree Park Cafe

Donations to the Friends of Rowntree Park

The Friends of Rowntree Park have sponsored this yarnstorm.  So, if you've enjoyed this project and would like to make a donation to the Friends of Rowntree Park, click here or pop into Rowntree Park Cafe (which is now open until 6pm for the summer) and leave a donation in the Friends of Rowntree Park tin.

Crafting a Birthday Banner

Happy 100th Birthday Banner

It's Rowntree Park's 100th Birthday this year.  To celebrate, with the help of the local community and anyone who wants to join in, Deborah New and I are making a Butterflies & Bees and Happy 100th Birthday Yarnstorm.  Part of that involves crafting a Happy 100th Birthday banner which will go on the tennis court fence in the park in York.

Edna Shilleto and her crochet

We have been very much helped in this endeavour by Edna Shilleto who gave us myriads of her lovely colourful crochet squares in two sizes.  Edna is a member of the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers and has been a stalwart of our yarnstorming projects over the years so it has been great to have her squares for this project!

Edna's crochet squares in 2 sizes

Putting these together to make the birthday banner has proved quite a task involving roughly 15m of plastic fencing which acts as the backing onto which the crochet squares are fixed.

Plastic fencing

Here I am attaching the squares...

Making the banner

There were even enough crochet squares to make a large butterfly too...

Large crochet butterfly

and a second smaller one!

Smaller crochet butterfly

It looks like the banner is going to be almost 11m long and about 1.2m tall.  The large butterfly is about 1.45m by 1.35m (including antennae) and the small one approx. 1.20m by 1.07m.  And so far it's used 49 large crochet squares and 205 small ones - thank you, Edna!

Birthday Banner with Butterflies & Bees

It has taken about 75 hours to put together (not including the giant stitched bees which you can read about here).  And that doesn't include all the time Edna spent crocheting the squares in the first place or the time spent planning out the design and choosing the colours and working out the layout.  

Here's the information sign that will accompany the banner...

Info sign to accompany the banner

The banner goes up on 13 July weather permitting - in time for the park's birthday on 16 July 2021.  Do take a visit to the park and check it out.  

You've still time to join in with the Butterflies & Bees Yarnstorm.  All the details are here and the patterns are here or use your own patterns if you prefer.  All makes have to be in by the end of July 2021.  You can leave them in the collection basket at Rowntree Park Cafe.  

Collection Basket in Rowntree Park Cafe

The butterflies and bees will go on display in time for the August Bank holiday and will be in place till the end of September after which they will be sold to raise money for the Friends of Rowntree Park, who work hard to help maintain, improve and promote the park for everyone's enjoyment. 

So, as well as the Happy 100th Birthday banner, keep a lookout for the Butterflies & Bees Yarnstorm at the end of August 2021 and for the sale dates in October 2021. 

Tree Leaves & the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers

The Fairfax Court Forest

The Fairfax Court Yarnstormers have made a fantastic contribution to the Tree Leaves Yarnstorm Installation.  I called in to join them for their knit and natter session recently and collected several large bags of trees and leaves that they had been busy knitting (and stitching!)

Jean Elliott, Hazel Laws, Edna Shilletoe, Doreen Feetenby

The table was groaning under the weight of the urban forest they had created!

Jean Marshall, Marjorie Winn, Ann Driffield

Jose, who urges the group on in their community knitting endeavours, wasn't there when I visited but she had knitted hundreds of leaves (literally!).

Jose Smith

A fabulous forest... 

Thank you so much ladies -  I can't wait to see all your hard work on display!

Fairfax Court Yarnstormers are Blooming Marvellous!

Ann Driffield, Edna Shilletoe, Doreen Feetenby, Jose Smith, Marjorie Winn

The Bloom! festival in York, running from the 5-8 July 2018 is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Ancient Society of York Florists.  After attending a workshop run by York Learning to make flowers for the community art flower wall at York Explore Library, I thought, I know some people who'd like to get involved with this! 
 

Daphne Atherton, Jean Elliott, Jean Marshall, Hazel Laws

So I popped along to see the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers - stalwarts of community knitting, stitching and crochet projects.  And guess what - they've been Bloom!ing marvellous!  Between them, these magnificent makers have produced 140 knitted blooms for the flower wall...

Knitted flowers for Bloom!

And more knitted flowers for Bloom!

I'm sure York Learning will be delighted with these fab flowers - thank you Ann, Daphne, Doreen, Edna, Hazel, Jean, Jean, Jose, Marie, & Marjorie!

Fairfax Court Yarnstormers Make Brilliant Birds

Fairfax Court Yarnstormers - Jean, Hazel, Edna & Doreen

Stalwarts of the yarnstorming scene in York, the Fairfax Court Yarnstomers - Jose Smith, Edna Shilleto, Doreen Feetenby, Jean Elliott & Hazel Laws, never fail to impress and today was no exception.  Over the last 5 years, the Fairfax Court Knit & Natter Group have participated in all my community yarnstorming projects, coming up trumps every time.  Having been to see them earlier in the year to tell them about the Brilliant Birds Yarnstorm, I went along recently to pick up their offerings and was frankly blown away.

A Truly Enormous Partliament of Owls

A Very Cute Flock of Robins, Blue Tits & Other Round Birds

Lovely Stitched Birds from Hazel

Fab Birds Knitted to the Sue Stratford Blackbird Pattern

Doreen's Sue Stratford Pattern Hummingbirds Roosting in the Outdoors

In all, there were over 250 additions to the #BrilliantBirds flock.  Jose, who made a large number of the above and couldn't be with us for the handover, is the team leader and keeps everyone on track and upto date with all the news.

Jose

What can I say except thank you so much ladies, you're amazing!

Something fishy's going on at Fairfax Court!

The Fairfax Court Yarnstomers - Jose, Edna, Jean & Doreen (not pictured) & their Fantasy Fish

  

This week I went to visit the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers who over the last few years have been fantastic at supporting our yarnstorming projects.  I knew they had been knitting fish as I went to tell them all about the Fantasy Fish Yarnstorm earlier this year and they were keen to join in.  However I had no idea how many fish they would knit...

Piles of fantasy fish

It was amazing.  When I arrived, I was met by piles of #fantasyfish - more than I could have imagined!  Jose told me how good the project had been for using up all her bits of yarn and (top tip) if you used two yarns together you got a rather nice mottled effect. 

and here's the shoal!

It did take a while to lay them all out!

The Fairfax Court Yarnstormers have done it again!  More than 130 fish have swum along to #increasetheshoal. Thank you so much Jose, Edna, Jean & Doreen!