Back in February 2005 I was trying to think of a community-knitting project for people in North Devon. I came up with he idea of knitting a 25-foot high Christmas tree which would be used to raise money for charity..

Word spread by word of mouth and through coverage in the local press we quickly had knitters from across the whole of the South-West of the UK.

By the summer, with holiday makers getting involved and coverage in knitting magazines, we had knitters from across the whole of the UK.

The idea was to show that knitting should be fun, enjoyed by everyone, and that it should be seen as an art form – not ‘just knitting’.

  This first project was kept very simple so that all ages could become involved and we found we had knitters ranging in age from 4 to 104 years old.

   The following projects have resulted from the success of the first. As soon as the tree was finished we were asked “what will you do next ?” and this is how the Gingerbread House project was started.

SIMPLY KNITTING MAGAZINE’s REVIEW of

“In Praise of Mermaids” http://www.simplyknitting.co.uk/page/simply

knitting?entry=in_praise_of_knitted_mermaids

Having toured it across much of the UK and Paris, and getting coverage on American TV,  we have gained even more support and know have knitters scattered across the world. It has also raised much needed fund for Great Ormond Street Hospital through peoples generous donations.

  Everywhere the house has toured it has made people smile and has encouraged even more people to learn to knit or to pick up their needles and start again , and that is what I was aiming for.

  We’ve just finished our third project, ‘Above and Below The Waves” for which we are raising funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.