Visitors to Ruddington village centre are being treated to an array of amazing, knitted creations this Christmas after an unexpected ‘yarn bomb’ added a new dimension to our more conventional festive decorations.
With the usual traders’ Christmas trees and St Peter’s Rooms light installation already in place, yesterday (December 3rd) a group calling itself ‘Ruddington Yarn Ninjas’ swept through Church Street with hundreds of additional, seasonal creations to bring some festive colour for yuletide shoppers and sightseers. These include nine reindeer, Santa Claus, a snowman, dozens of twirlers, over 300 pom-poms, and many more!
A spokesperson for the group – all from ‘Handmade in Ruddington’ – confirms it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work: “The Ruddington Yarn Ninjas have been busy over the past few months working on different projects” she reveals. “Over 30 of us have been knitting, crocheting, pom-pom making, crafting and sewing dozens of granny squares to make this all happen. It’s been a real community effort with people of all abilities pitching in. Some ninjas have learnt new skills during our crafting evenings that have been held at The Bottle Top and Beehive Hairdressers.”
Planning for the ‘yarn bomb’ began in September. In fact, villagers got a taster of their work last month when a poignant, knitted ‘Lest We Forget’ Remembrance Day decoration featuring poppies around a soldier’s head appeared on top of the pillar box. That’s now been replaced by a knitted ‘Nativity Scene’ (top photo).
The Framework Knitters’ Museum allowed group members to use their historic, Griswold, circular knitting machines as the basis for some of their creations, but most of them were made or finished off at home. “As a community we have so many talented crafters” she adds. “After sharing photos of what other villages had done in terms of yarn bombing we thought ‘we can do this’! Especially given our village heritage with knitting, it seemed a perfect fit. Some patterns were shared, but mostly used people’s wonderful creativity! The reindeer were made to measure, and some pieces were made to go in a certain place, but others we just placed on the day.”
Now everything is in position, the Handmade in Ruddington group has teamed up with the Framework Knitters’ Museum, Ruddington Parish Council and Ruddington Village Centre Partnership to create the ‘Ruddington Yarn Bomb Festive Trail’ for children to follow during today’s Ruddington Christmas Market (December 4th – midday until 7pm). They’re challenged to find all of Santa’s reindeer and other ‘woolly’ creations to collect a sweet once they’ve completed it.
It’s now hoped these most creative of Christmas decorations can be left in place for everyone to enjoy until the new year. After that? “Watch this space!”
{Photos courtesy of ‘Ruddington Yarn Ninjas’}
