Rainbow Yarnstorm in Rowntree Park, York

Rainbow Yarnstorm in Rowntree Park, York

You may remember, back in April, I told you all about the Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group's plans for a Rainbows for Rowntree Park Yarnstorm and how you could join in.  Well, thanks to everyone who did because the yarnstorm is now on display in the park and looks fantastic! The display is a big thank you to the NHS, carers, key workers and anyone who has helped others throughout the last few months.  The rainbows are also a celebration of the park itself which has been a special place for many, especially recently! And it's to celebrate the Park's 99th birthday.  Rainbows are a symbol of hope and in some ways that was why the Park was created -  to symbolise a hopeful future for the people of York.

Firstly, there's a truly magnificent gigantic rainbow yarnstorm on the tennis court fence.  It's a collage of knitted, crocheted and stitched squares.

Rainbow Yarnstorm Detail

On top of these squares there's extra interest added in the form of flowers and other stuff.  See if you can spot the frog, the car and the whale! 

Check out some of the extra decorations

It even looks good from the back...

Back View

Fun facts - did you know there are 86 red squares, 77 orange, 64 yellow, 55 green, 42 blue and indigo and 49 violet.  That's more than 370 altogether!  The whole display was made by over 40 people, from primary school age to over 90, from all over the city and further afield.

Rainbow Bench

You can even sit on the rainbow bench and have your photo taken which quite a lot of people were doing when I was there.  It seems to be proving very popular!

Lots of people like the yarnstorm

You can then move on to see the individual rainbows which are hanging in the arbour.  Here's a sneaky peak...

Rainbows in the Arbour

and a bit more detail...

Rainbows in the Arbour

Don't forget to take a look at the display board by the cafe...

Display board by the cafe

because there's alot of interesting rainbows and rainbow coloured pieces there too!

Detail from the Noticeboard

The Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group hope to keep the yarnstorm up until the end of August so you've got plenty of time to take a look.  Why not take a pic of yourself with the rainbow and post it to social media with the hashtag #RainbowsforRowntreePark. 

Thanks to the Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group and all who took part for such a fabulous display! 

Rainbows for Rowntree Park - Stitching Hope

Hope in stitch

As you may have read in a previous post - the Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group are organising a Rainbows for Rowntree Park Yarnstorm as a big thank you to everyone who's helped us in these difficult times and as a celebration of the park itself.  You can read all about it here.  They would like you to make 6 inch/15 cm squares or flowers in one of the colours of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo or violet - for a large rainbow display in the park. (Alternatively, you can make little whole rainbows which will hang in the arbour).  These can be knitted, crocheted, stitched, embroidered or felted depending on your preference. 

Just recently I have been working on an embroidered orange square of hope.  Using some orange calico that was backed with iron-on vilene as a base...

Calico backed with iron-on vilene

I cut out a piece a little bigger than 6 inches/15 cm square.  Then I printed out the letters of HOPE on paper in an appropriate size and font, cut them out and used them as templates...

Letter templates & Frixion pen

Using a Frixion pen (the ink disappears when you iron the fabric), I marked out the 6 inch/15 cm square, divided it into 4 and drew round the letters...

Square and letters marked out

Then I started stitching by first completing the dividing lines between the letters.  (I should also have stitched round the outline too as the ink faded and I ended up guessing where the edge was!) Each letter was completed in a different stitch.  The letter was densely stitched and the surround was much more openly stitched...

H in back stitch and seed stitch

O in chain stitch and detached chain stitch

P in French knots

E in cross stitch

Here's what it looks like on the back...

Messy reverse side

I cut out another piece of orange calico, added some ribbons to it in the corners as I thought they might be useful for attaching the square in the rainbow (if not required they can easily be cut off)...

Reverse side with ribbons

Then I bonded the front and the back together using bondaweb, (an iron on adhesive), and cut it to the correct size.  To finish off I machine stitched round the edge using a zigzag stitch...

Finished orange square

Why not join in with the Rainbows for Rowntree Park Yarnstorm?  The more people take part the better the display! You can make your squares as simple or elaborate as you like.  Here's my yellow square in crochet...

Yellow crochet square

and here are my knitted squares...

Knitted squares

Here are a few flowers I made...

Knitted and stitched flowers

and here are some rainbows...

Knitted rainbows

All the details can be found here.  Your makes have to be delivered by the end of June and will hopefully go up in Rowntree Park in time to mark the Park's 99th Birthday on Saturday 18 July 2020. I can't wait to see your makes!  Do post pics on social media using #RainbowsforRowntreePark.

Big Knitting Creates a Rainbow

Big Knitted Rainbow and Little Knitted Rainbows

I recently knitted some little rainbows, that are currently hanging in my window but which will be heading along to the Rainbows for Rowntree Park yarnstorming project in due course. Offering a visible thank you to the NHS, they were also fun to make, look very cute and definitely contibute a positive vibe which is much needed at the moment.  So, what next? I decided I'd like to make a big knitted rainbow.  My big knitting needles are 20mm in diameter so need some big yarn.  I save colourful old T shirts in case I might be able to recycle them for a craft project and here they came into their own!  I didn't think I'd have a rainbow's worth of colours but it turned out I did...

A Rainbow's Worth of Old T Shirts

So I got to work preparing some upcycled T-shirt yarn.  You fold your T shirt not quite in half lengthways and cut strips not quite to the edge. Then unfold and at the edge where it isn't cut through make a series of diagonal cuts to produce a continuous piece of yarn. You can use the sleeves as well.  I cut my strips about 1 inch/2.5cm wide.

Fold T shirt Over and Cut Strips

Unfold T shirt to Reveal Cut Strips

You can find a great YouTube video from Sustain my Craft Habit showing you exactly how here.  All my adult T-shirts produced over 20m of yarn each...

Big Needles and T-shirt Yarn

I cut up 2 red T-shirts in different shades of red as I knew I would need more than one T-shirt's worth of yarn for the red section of my rainbow. Next I started knitting...

Casting On With The Big Needles

The pattern I used was from Knitting by Post and was the Easy Medium Sized Knitted Rainbow knitting pattern.  I only knitted with half the number of stitches as my rainbow wasn't going to be double sided. Here it is knitted up...

Big Knitted Rainbow

Next I attached it to some plastic fencing using some of the T shirt yarn and some clear fishing line.  Then I made a whole load of cloud coloured pompoms in different sizes...
 

A Suitcase Full of Pompom Clouds

 
and attached them to the bottom of my rainbow.  The finished item was up on my railings in time to "Clap for our Carers" where we show our appreciation with some hearty applause for the NHS and all the key workers keeping things going during the pandemic.

Finished Big Knitted Rainbow

My big knitted rainbow is about 1 metre wide and 0.5 metre high.  I don't think you'll miss it if you're passing by!  Why not hunt out your old T shirts and have a go?

Rainbows for Rowntree Park - A Yarnstorm

Knitted Rainbows - pattern from Knitting by Post

 

A Rainbow Yarnstorm

I have been asked recently what yarnstorm I was organising this year and I had to say I wasn't organising one, but it turns out I know some people who are!  The Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group are creating Rainbows for Rowntree Park as their project for these challenging "lockdown" times.

 

Why Rainbows?

The Craft Group plan to create a giant rainbow to go on the tennis court fence in Rowntree Park, York and to have a rainbow display in the arbour as a way to say thank you to the NHS, carers and everyone who has helped us during this pandemic and as a celebration of the park itself.  The rainbows are also a symbol of positivity and hope which will be a great welcome to visitors to the park.

How Can I Join In?

You can join in by making 6 inch/15cm squares in one of the rainbow colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo or violet...

Blue, Indigo and Violet Knitted Squares

It can be knitted, crocheted, stitched or felted and you can make them as simple or elaborate as you like...

Red Stitched Square

Or you can make a flower in a rainbow colour.  There are some knitting patterns for flowers on my blog here and here - just adjust the colours as appropriate...

Orange & Yellow Knitted Flowers

But you can use any knitted or crocheted flower patterns that you like - or make one up or stitch one...

Green Stitched Flower

Here's what I've had a go at...

Rainbow Offerings

All the single coloured squares and flowers will be collaged together to make the giant rainbow for the tennis court fence.

However, if you prefer, you can knit, crochet or stitch whole rainbows to hang in the arbour...

Small Knitted Rainbows - Knitting by Post Pattern

You can use your own patterns or make one up but I've also posted some links to patterns if you'd like to use these. There's a link to a Ravelry crochet pattern - Rainbow of Unity - from Kerry Jayne Designs here and a link to easy knitting patterns from Knitting by Post here (there are small, medium and large knitting pattern options). Why not check out their other patterns too - you may want to buy one of Kerry Jayne Designs or Knitting by Post's patterns as well!

Why not post pictures of your makes on whatever social media you use with the hashtag #RainbowsforRowntreePark - it will be great to see what everyone's making!

Where do I send my makes?

As Rowntree Park Cafe is closed at the moment you can't leave or send your makes there.  However if you are local to York there is a lidded box at:

118 Bishopthorpe Road

York

YO23 1JX

where you can leave your makes if passing while on your daily exercise, going to shop for necessities or going to work. If you are further afield you can post them to that address, marking them Rainbows for Rowntree Park.  Please have your makes delivered by the end of June 2020.
 

When will it go up?

It is hoped that the display will go up in time to celebrate Rowntree Park's 99th Birthday on Saturday 18 July 2020.  Keep your eye on the Friends of Rowntree Park Facebook page for more information or you can sign up to my mailing list for my regular newsletters where I'll include info about the project.  You can sign up from my blog or the Hippystitch Facebook page (fill in your details and tick to keep in touch by email).

More Information...

If you need more information about this project you can message the Friends of Rowntree Park Facebook page or you can contact Sara from the Craft Group on 07723722868.

Stay safe and happy making!