Woollen woods 2014 - first knit a swatch...

A few months ago I was thinking about creating a 'knitting creature' of some sort; no not a completely random thought! the idea was sparked off by the new 2014 Canopy Arts woollen woods event at a local National Trust property here in the South Lakes. For this event, anyone can create a woollen creature (something which might normally be seen in a woodland) and send it in to be exhibited in the woods at Sizergh Castle. I did a woolly caterpillar last year and thought this year I might try something else, maybe a bird...

Caterpillars are so last year...

Now the advice when starting a new project with some unknowns thrown in is to knit a swatch but what to do in this case?! I knew I wanted it to be a mixture of a little bit of knitting but mostly created through using pre-loved woollen garments.Anyway after a bit of pondering I decided to create not a swatch but a small prototype. Largely because I had bits of white cotton kicking around;the prototype turned out to be a knitting sheep. It meant I tested out the overall effect a bit and had somewhere to start when it came to the real thing.

A sheep knitting, not something you see every day...

For my 'proper' creature ie my bird, I had a slightly moth-eaten Fair Isle cardi bought from a charity shop in fawns and greys and browns and it seemed perfect for the main role in this upcycling opportunity. I forgot to take any photos as I went along so here is the finished character, my knitting bird, with some idea of what I did along the way.

One knitting bird, complete with knitting...

I loved the colours and pattern on the Fair Isle cardi as a rather nice patterned bird body but wanted them to be quite subtle so turned the garment inside out (I also liked the idea of the seams being visible on the outside) and then just stuffed the sleeves inside and turned the bottom rib up to help give it some stuffing. Next I found a charity shop gent's jumper and cut off the sleeves to make the wings, sewing them into a tapering point I attached them to the shoulders and used the rest of the jumper also to stuff the body. When it came to legs I made a couple of short cord lengths and used a shaped piece of felt attached to the end of the body for that nice Chicken Run/Aardman Animation look.

Now the body was looking ok I needed a head - at first I thought like the prototype I'd knit it but then remembered a handknit bag I'd knitted already and no longer used;  it was perfect for reshaping into that long round shape and had different colours front and back. On went the head, pushed into the neck of the cardi and again stuffed with itself. A scarf (made from a discarded piece of picture knitting left behind from a previous art project) helped to give the head/neck a bit of support. For that look of intense concentration I knitted a nice yellow beak, attached a couple of wooden button eyes on ovals of felt and the bird itself was complete.

Don't disturb me I'm knitting...

Finally, I knitted the knitting that the bird was knitting (is that too many 'knit' words in one sentence?). I used intarsia for the trees but added the letters and National Trust oak leaf on with coloured wool afterwards with a sewing needle and wool.

Echoing the National Trust's advertising approach...

The last thing needed was a shifty visit to the park for a few small branches snipped off to be the bird's knitting needles; I slipped the knitting into position and tacked it in a few places to keep it in position and tucked the knitting needles under the wings and there we have it. Don't you just love how things evolve - from small knitting sheep into large knitting bird!

From prototype knitting sheep to my finished knitting bird complete with message!

I had intended to put the bird into the actual Woollen Woods show but got quite attached to it and couldn't bear the thought of it being out in all weathers over the next 6 months so decided I could use it myself with a different 'message' as a textile artist's mascot. So it seems now that never having thought of myself as (or indeed been) a person who knits woollen creatures I seem to be gathering quite a menagerie, better hope it doesn't get out of hand...

The 'knitty gang' so far (caterpillar and reindeer are absent friends)...

When I can I'm making textile art or blogging about it; here's my web site; or follow me on  Facebook and Twitter for my knitting and textile art news.

A Walk in the Woollen Woods (part 2)

Following on from my post A Walk in the Woollen Woods (part 1) this is the second part called unsurprisingly A Walk in the Woollen Woods (part 2)! If you haven't the faintest idea what's going on, and to the uniniated this could look like a woodland where some very odd genetic mutations have occurred, you can get up to speed by reading part 1; the link is at the bottom of this post.

Here's my next five picks for my favourite pieces in the Woollen Woods exhibition at Acorn Bank.

Sixth pick:
Dickens Owl - has the most brilliant look of surprise on her face; like that feeling you get driving down the motorway when you suddenly realise you've driven past three junctions and have no recollection of 50 miles of your journey. In her case the surprise is more like 'there I was enjoying life in that lovely warm stash box dreaming of being a lovely jumper and now here I am perched in a wood... how the Dickens did that happen!' (hence the name).

Seventh pick:
Red Squirrel - top marks for thinking outside the box or should that be inside the jumper? This fantastically quirky creation is sewn together from a recycled woolly jumper and has a strangely misshapen appearance that just adds to its charm. I think it looks a bit like there's a real squirrel inside a fine-knit jumper trying to find the neck hole (no I don't know where that image came from perhaps a traumatic childhood memory from learning to dress myself?).

Eighth pick;
Blackbird nest - this one seemed to be a favourite of children visiting when I was there; maybe because it's been positioned at just the perfect see-it-on-tiptoes height for children old enough to know what it is. I recognise this particular pleasure/achievement, as being of short stature myself, I get the same sense in the supermarket when I can just see, recognise and reach the coffee cake I
desire on the top shelf "look mummy/Dayve I've found a nest/cake".

Ninth pick:
Red apples - everything up to now has been rather cute and cuddly and this one's different. I chose this as it was both unexpected and yet perfectly suited to its location (as Acorn Bank holds a great apple day event every year). Where better then to hang a group of very real looking apples from a tree? I'm particularly looking forward to seeing this one later in the year when the trees are in leaf... I wonder if next time I see them some will have bites out of them?

Tenth pick:
Stoat/weasel - I missed this first time around as it's been placed high in the trees and it's a lovely piece. I'm sorry Vivienne if I haven't got it's identity right...although as I recall it should be straight forward since 'a weasel is weasily recognised and a stoat is stoatally different'.

Now that I've resorted to bad jokes (at least it's an eco-joke ie on a natural theme and recycled) it's clearly time to stop. Do please go and see for yourself though - I could easily have picked dozens more as there was that lovely black bat, and that amazing bracket fungus and those lovely butterflies, wonderful bees......

Wondering about my Walk in the Woollen Woods part1? here's the first part...

 Find out more about Acorn Bank | Find out more about The Woollen Woods project


When I'm not walking in woods taking cute photos, I'm making textile art or blogging about it; here's my gallery; or follow me on Twitter for knitting and textile art news.


all photos | Lindy Doran;
Individual makers (as credited on Canopy's Facebook gallery)
Dickens owl:Yarn Tan Tetheras
Red Squirrel:Heather Seddon
Blackbird nest: Joy Davis
Apple tree: Jana Wagner
Stoat/Weasel: Vivienne Netherwood

A walk in the Woollen Woods (part 1)

Change the words of the song from 'love is in the air' to 'fun is in the air' and you get a sense of what it's like to take a walk right now in the Woolly Woods at the National Trust's Acorn Bank near Penrith.

The contributors board shows people from all over the UK and further afield took part.

Excited yells of 'look mummy look' from kids, mixed with the adults' more restrained 'aahh', 'ooh' and pointing is what you get when you line a woodland trail with wonderful woolly creatures - cute, cuddly, colourful, quaint and queer. There's something for everyone, up on the branches, dangling from strings, wrapped round trunks and sitting on roots, all making a lovely woodland walk even more enjoyable. And when you've had your fill outside there's a great tea room - how good does it get!

I've picked my top ten but it was a very hard choice and when I go back and see them again in a new season with leaves on the trees I'm sure I'll make a different selection!

So this is my first five (the second five will be in my next blog). The ones I've picked got on the list for different reasons but one thing they and every piece had in common was the sense of having been made by people who were enjoying themselves!

First pick:
The three owls - the six eyes looking down is very compelling, I think I might have been hypnotised! .... pick us, pick us, pick us.

 Second pick:
The Wallace & Gromit style birds (there were two but couldn't get them both in and show detail) - they're very Creature Comforts, in fact I think I overheard the conversation (in a brummy accent) talking about a recent trip to sunny climes, 'oi looved oibeeetha'.

Third pick:
The mouse and mushrooms - together who could resist? especially the little hands, aahh (there see I'm at it now).

Fourth pick:
The little brown bat - other great bats were flying confidently and self-assured from strings (look at me, I'm a real bat) but this one really appealed because he was so understated, you felt he was a bit like a small child looks in a cute animal costume; and he looks like he's not sure if he could fly, with those legs maybe he'd walk instead!

Fifth pick:
The tree climbing hedgehog (is it a hedgehog?) with red scarf - this one stood out for her quirkiness; I assumed it was a hedgehog, but you may think differently eg. armadillo, sloth, expat haggis (we are quite close to the Scottish border here).

So that's my first five picked and the second five will be in A Walk in the Woollen Woods (Part 2) which will be my next blog. Apart from the contributors (great work folks), I'd say well done too to the people from Eden Arts and everyone else who helped, you clearly spent a lot of time putting all the exhibits into the trees, and someone had a head for heights too!, thanks guys.

I've only one thing left to say, go and visit for yourself - it's fun, it's woods, it's fresh air and exercise, it's woolly, how many more reasons do you need?!

Wondering abut my Walk in the Woods part 2?  here's the second part...

 Find out more about Acorn Bank | Find out more about The Woollen Woods project


When I'm not walking in woods taking cute photos, I'm making textile art or blogging about it; here's my gallery; or follow me on Twitter for knitting and textile art news.


all photos | Lindy Doran;
Individual makers (as credited on Canopy's Facebook gallery)
Three owls: Ruth Packham
Wallace & Gromit birds: Amanda Berry
Mouse and mushrooms: Amy Scroggie
Brown Bat: Caroline Bletsis
Tree-climbing Hedgehog: Arts Council Crafts Group, Manchester