White Poppies for a Peaceful Future

White Poppies at the Quaker Meeting House, Friargate, York

You may remember back in 2015, as part of the events to commemorate the First World War 100 years on, the local community, Deborah New, & I put up an installation in Rowntree Park to encourage both thoughts of remembrance (red poppies) and peace (white poppies) as remembering those who died or suffered through war whilst hoping for peace is an intrinsic part of Rowntree Park’s existence. More about that project here.

Rowntree Park Yarnstorm Installation

After the event the white poppies were given to the Friargate Quaker Meeting and the red poppies to the York Branch of the British Legion to use in ways they considered appropriate.  So, it was great to hear from the Friargate Meeting that those white poppies were on display promoting their events as part of the "York Remembers" season marking the centenary of the end of WW1 in 1918.  These events look beyond the history and consider a more peaceful future for the world...

Conference & Workshops to Consider a More Peaceful Future

A White Poppy for Peace Made of Many Poppies

Looking for alternative ways to resolve conflict

Big White Poppy

The first event has already taken place but the second event is on Saturday 17 November 2018 and is a day of workshops to introduce skills for practical peace making, conflict resolution and non-violent communication.  If you'd like to get involved, details are given below...

Programme for the Friargate Meeting House Events

I think we'd all appreciate a more peaceful world.

Poppies in the Park - All Packed Up

Poppies in the Park - All packed up

The Poppies in the Park have had a bit of a spruce up and a bit of TLC after a month on display in Rowntree Park and are now bagged up ready for their new owners.

The red poppies have headed off to the York Branch of the British Legion and the white poppies to the York Friargate Quaker Meeting.

Thanks to our sponsors (Friends of Rowntree Park, Boyes and Duttons) and to everyone who stitched, knitted or crocheted poppies, did some finger or arm knitting or pompom making or who helped put it all together and to the venues that let us meet up to make them (Rowntree Park Cafe, the Golden Ball Pub, Tesco Community Room) and to City of York Council for permission to put up the installation and to Rowntree Park Tennis Club for letting us use their fence.  It has been great fun. Thank you all!

The Poppies in the Park Installation comes down

Today we took down the Poppies in the Park installation.  Everything was ready to begin ...



First the text came down ...

Remembrance & Peace

Then we removed a lot of cable ties that were holding the poppies up ...

a clump of cable ties!

  
and soon it was down ...

and ready to be transported away

It was a case of ...

now you see it - now you don't!

Soon the red poppies will be on their way to the York Branch of the British Legion to help with their work to support members of the Armed Forces past and present and their families. The white poppies will go to the York Friargate Quaker Meeting to support their work for a peaceful world.

Thanks to everyone who took part - we hope you enjoyed being part of it!

Time Taken Making Poppies in the Park

Poppies in the Park - Rowntree Park, York

It'll soon be time to take the Poppies in the Park installation down (Thursday 16 July 2015) and send them on their way to the York Branch of the British Legion (red poppies) and to the Friargate Quaker Meeting (white poppies).  It's been fun working with lots of different people to make them and we've had such a lot of positive comments.  

I thought it would be interesting to work out how long they took to make.  So with some actual info and some estimated, here's a rough idea ...

Gigantic Poppies - 190 cm in diameter

Gigantic Poppies - 1570 hours 

Making the individual handmade poppies  - 750 hours from the local community
Sorting and counting all the handmade poppies - 1.5 hours
Working out the size of the base petal shapes needed, cutting them out, making the knitted outline and stitching it in place - 9 hours
Attaching the poppies to the base - 18 hours
Making the finger knitted poppy centres - 5 hours
Finishing off - 1.5 hours

Total per poppy - 785 hours - that's 1570 hours for both poppies!

Giant Poppies - 1m in diameter

Giant Poppies (Extreme Kntting) - 32 hours

Dyeing and preparing the yarn - 6 hours
Knitting the poppy & stitching up - 5 hours
Finger knitting the centre - 3 hours
Attaching to the backing - 2 hours 

Total per poppy - 16 hours - that's 32 hours for both!

Big Poppies - Approx 60-70 cm diameter

Big Poppies (Big Knitting) - 24 hours

Preparing the yarn - 3 hours
Knitting the petals - 6 hours
Finger knitting the centre and stitching in place - 2 hours
Attaching to the backing - 1 hour

Total per poppy - 12 hours - that's 24 hours for both!

Total time making all the poppies - 1626 hours

That doesn't include all the planning, design, publicity, liaison, sponsorship, putting it up, taking it down etc.

So all in all if only one person did it all that's about a whole year's work (allowing for weekends and holidays).  Just as well lots of people joined in and made it all happen.  Thank you everyone - you know who you are!

Just some of the poppy makers!

Poppies in the Park on Display

All loaded up and ready to go

It was a lovely sunny day for the installation of Poppies in the Park in Rowntree Park, York.  A lot of the hard work had already been done creating the big, giant and gigantic poppies so the morning was just spent turning the finger knitting into text.

Base camp established

Text in progress

Reinforcements arrived in the afternoon and we got the poppies up ...
     

Deborah & Andrew hard at work

Making progress

 And then finally it was all up ...

Me and the installation

 

View across the water

Thanks to everyone who took part - it looks great and wouldn't have been possible without you!  Special thanks go to Jose for her 300 poppies and to Helen, Kate & Lily who came to my rescue and attached loads of poppies earlier this week.  Thanks to Deborah too, who has worked with me on this project and helped make it possible.


Poppies in the Park has been sponsored by the Friends of Rowntree Park, Boyes & Duttons for Buttons.


Read more about the whys & wherefores of Poppies in the Park here...
Yarnstorming Poppies in the Park

Read more about the workshops here ... 
Poppies in the Park go to Rowntree Park Reading Cafe, York  
Poppies in the Park go to Tesco  
Poppies in the Park Workshop at the Golden Ball York  

or about the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers here ...

Fairfax Court Yarnstorming Ahead

or about the extreme knit poppies here ...

Extreme Knitting Continues with a Giant White Poppy

A Giant Poppy - More Extreme Knitting

or about putting it together here ...
Putting Poppies in the Park Together

Putting Poppies in the Park Together

Gigantic red poppy under construction

Since our last workshop we've been sorting out poppies.  And including all big & small poppies - it's official - there's a thousand.  (Loud fanfare please.) How fantastic is that - and rather more than expected!  We've had to make our poppy twice as gigantic and had to enlist extra help (thanks so much Helen, Kate & Lily for attaching hundreds of poppies!)

So here's just a sneaky peek at what to expect  ...

Gigantic poppies - above and below - knitted, stitched & crocheted by the local community

Gigantic whte poppy - 190cm diameter

Giant poppies - extreme knitting

Giant red poppy - 1m diameter

Giant white poppy - 1m diameter

 
Big Poppies - big knitting

Big red poppy 57cm diameter (thanks to Fiona, Sue & Angela)

Big white poppy - 70cm diameter (thanks to Sarah, Sue & Angela)

The Poppies in the Park Yarnstorming Installation goes up in Rowntree Park on Thursday 11 June 2015 and will be up until after the Rowntree Park Birthday Party on 12 July 2015.  

Come on down - it's going to be great!

Poppies in the Park has been sponsored by the Friends of Rowntree Park, Boyes & Duttons for Buttons and wouldn't have been possible without all the fabulous poppy making plus arm and finger knitting by the local community at workshops and at home.   Poppy makers of York - you're the best!

Read more about the workshops here ... 
Poppies in the Park go to Rowntree Park Reading Cafe, York  
Poppies in the Park go to Tesco  
Poppies in the Park Workshop at the Golden Ball York

or about the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers here ...

Fairfax Court Yarnstorming Ahead

or about the extreme knit poppies here ...

Extreme Knitting Continues with a Giant White Poppy

A Giant Poppy - More Extreme Knitting

Poppies in the Park go to Rowntree Park Reading Cafe, York

Poppies in the Park Workshop at Rowntree Park Reading Cafe

This was our final Poppies in the Park workshop - we had a mix of new people and regular supporters which was great.  There was both knitting and stitching going on, not to mention a group of serious finger knitters and some who were trying it out for the first time.  An impressive 10 metres of finger knitting was created (and some more was handed out as homework - thank you in advance to Helen H. and Sam for that!) We were very busy and apart from those who stayed for the workshop we had a number of poppy deliveries from other people & groups.

Finger knitting and a selection of poppies made at the workshop (Penny & Ann - your poppies turned out fine as you can see!)

Angela arrived in time to pick up some big knitting to finish off (more homework - I can't wait to see how it turns out!)

So apart from saying thank you to everyone who came and knitted, stitched or finger knitted, we'd like to say thank you to Sew Chatty and friends, St Leonard's Hospice Knitting Group from Heworth, Kath Blackett, Easingwold Knit & Natter (& Helen B. and Sam for their second large poppy delivery!), Janet Clark, Vanessa Bradbury, the Good Humoured Ladies Club who meet at Food from the Farm in Colton, Kate Buckley and Heather's Felting Group - all of whom sent us loads of poppies.  I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

In case you're wondering just how many poppies we have - we've got about 950 - so there's been a lot of serious knitting and stitching going on.  Thanks everyone - it's going to be great!  

A big thank you too, to Rowntree Park Reading Cafe for having us - fab coffee & cakes, folks!

Fairfax Court Yarnstorming Ahead

Marie, Jose, Edna & Doreen - Fairfax Court Yarnstormers (Thanks too, to Maureen who has also been knitting poppies but couldn't join us for the picture)

Today I went along to join the Fairfax Court Yarnstormers to collect all their hard work.  They have been knitting for the Poppies in the Park project and have been very prolific.  I collected 378 poppies (217 white poppies + 161 red poppies).  How impressive is that!  (Jose confided that she had knitted 300 which is quite a feat.)  

White poppies

 

Red Poppies

Thank you so much ladies!  They'll be a fantastic addition to our display.

Do come along to our final workshop which is on Tuesday 2 June from 2-4pm at Rowntree Park Cafe, York.

The Poppies in the Park installation goes up in Rowntree Park on Thursday 11 June (by the tennis courts, near the cafe) and will be on display until after the Rowntree Park Birthday Party on Sunday 12 July 2015.

Extreme Knitting Continues with a Giant White Poppy

Extreme knitting in progress - and now I have proper end stoppers on my needles thanks to Andy!

You may know that extreme knitting is a hobby of mine.  And you may also know that I've already knitted a giant red poppy.  Well - now I've also knitted a giant white poppy.  It's 1m in diameter and it took 1.36 kg of yarn made from cut up white sheets (which took a very long time to cut up!!). 

890g ball & 470g ball of extreme yarn - it took both balls!

More facts - the black centre is aproximately 27cm across and was finger knitted using 45m of super chunky, 45m of chunky and 90m of double knitting.  The finished finger knitting was then coiled in a spiral, stitched together and stitched onto the centre of the poppy.  My poppy also has 8 pompoms surrounding the centre for a bit of extra excitement!

Even more facts - if you're wondering about the needles they are 1.9m long and 50mm wide.  They are quite impressive even if I say so myself!  After knitting my giant red poppy I had some proper end stoppers put on as all the stitches kept falling off the ends.  Thanks, Andy!

Giant white poppy

 
"What is this poppy for?" I hear you ask.  It's going to be part of the Poppies in the Park Yarnstorming Installation of course.  There's one more workshop left if you want to come along:

Tuesday 2 June 2015 – Rowntree Park Café  Rowntree Park, Richardson Street, York, YO23 1JU 
14:00 – 16:00

It's a drop in workshop and all materials are provided

The Poppies in the Park installation goes up in Rowntree Park on Thursday 11 June (by the tennis courts, near the cafe) and will be on display until after the Rowntree Park Birthday Party on Sunday 12 July 2015. Keep looking - it'll be there soon!

Poppies in the Park go to Tesco

Today was our first workshop in Voluntary Arts Week and we were celebrating getting creative in the Community Room at the Tesco Store, Tadcaster Road, York.
  

We had a representative join us from the Acomb Craft Group.  Remember the lovely things they did for the first yarnstorming event in Rowntree Park.  Doreen managed to get both felted and knitted poppies made! (So did Heather - how speedy is that!)

Sue took up the challenge of big knitting and now both big knit red and white poppies only have one petal to go.  Hope there will be someone to complete them at our next workshop.

Big knit poppies only need one more petal

This is the only venue where we have been able to offer felt making and it was great to see people having a go.  We had some lovely felt poppies at the end ...

Felted poppies

There were some great knitted and stitched poppies made too...

Knitted & stitched poppies

And a special thank you to Helen and Sam for the 38 poppies they brought with them for the project as well as the knitted and stitched poppies they made today...

Knitted poppies that Helen & Sam brought

All these poppies in the park are going to look great!

The final workshop is at Rowntree Park Cafe on Tuesday 2 June 2015 from 14:00 to 16:00.  Come & join in!

The Poppies in the Park yarnstorming installation goes up in Rowntree Park, York on 11 June 2015 and is sponsored by Friends of Rowntree Park, Boyes and Duttons for Buttons

Poppies in the Park Workshop at the Golden Ball York

The first Poppies in the Park workshop was at the Golden Ball pub in York on Tuesday.  It was a busy night and we took over two rooms. 

It was quite a night for stitching - possibly because we had gatecrashed the UFO (UnFinished Objects) Group's regular night and had a contingent from Sew Chatty join us too.  You may remember the fantastic yarnstormed horse that the UFO Group created and the beautiful flower garland that Sew Chatty made at our first yarnstorming event in Rowntree Park.

White stitched poppies

Red stitched poppies

Ordinary knitting was also on the needles.  No needles necessary for the arm knitting and finger knitting though - and spot the pompoms!

Knitted poppies, pompoms, arm knitting & finger knitting

And of course there was big knitting too - Fiona & Sarah took up the big knit poppy challenge.  I hope there'll be someone to continue the big knitting challenge at our next workshop on Saturday!

Big knit poppies are underway!

Thanks to everyone who came along and made poppies with us.  We've made a fantastic start!  Thanks too, to the Golden Ball for having us.

Poppies in the park workshops are taking place in Craft & Design Month - come and be creative with us!

The Poppies in the Park yarnstorming installation goes up in Rowntree Park, York on 11 June 2015 and is sponsored by Friends of Rowntree Park, Boyes and Duttons for Buttons