Hippystitch: Brilliant Birds Yarnstorm

What are we doing?
In May it's Craft & Design Month which celebrates crafts across the UK, and with your help, Deborah New & I plan to make a giant Brilliant Birds installation for Rowntree Park, York in time for the Rowntree Park Birthday Party on Sunday 16 July 2017.

Workshops

Two of our workshops are during the Voluntary Arts Festival 2017 (5-14 May). This is an annual celebration of cultural creativity across the UK & Republic of Ireland.

We are also embracing

The Get Creative campaign is run by a group of cultural organisations to celebrate and support creativity. So at our Brilliant Bird workshops, you can unleash your creativity with knitting, stitching, pompom making, finger knitting, knitting with very large needles and hopefully even some hula hoop weaving.

Workshop Dates

Friday 5 May 2017 – Rowntree Park Café

Rowntree Park, Richardson Street, York, YO23 1JU
10:00 – 12:00

Saturday 13 May 2017 – The Golden Ball Pub
2 Cromwell Road, York, YO1 6DU

12:00 – 14:00

Monday 15 May 2017 – The Winning Post Pub
127-129 Bishopthorpe Road, York, YO23 1NZ
19:00 – 21:00

Drop in – all materials provided and leave your makes behind for display in the park.

Want to join in but can't make a workshop?
If you can't get to any of the workshops but still want to be involved you'll find some Brilliant Bird Patterns here. In all there are five different knitting and stitching patterns, including a cheeky knittted blackbird and a colourful knitted hummingbird by Sue Stratford. Why not give them all a try?

Completed birds can be left at Rowntree Park Cafe, Rowntree Park, Richardson Street, York, YO23 1JU or dropped off at any of the workshops (see above). If you use twitter or instagram why not post a picture and use #BrilliantBirds in your post.

And you don't have to use these patterns - we'd be happy to have a knitted, stitched, felted or crocheted bird of your preferred design.

All birds to fly in by Saturday 10 June 2017 please.

When will the installation be up?
The Brilliant Birds installation goes up in Rowntree Park on Tuesday 27 June (by the tennis courts, near the café and beyond), weather permitting, and will be on display until after the Rowntree Park Birthday Party on Sunday 16 July 2017.

And afterwards?

The charity we are pleased to be supporting this year is St Leonard's Hospice. St Leonard’s Hospice is an independent charity, providing specialist palliative care and support for local people with life limiting illnesses. Whilst their care is free of charge to patients and their families it is not free to provide. So, after the birds come down they will be sold in St Leonard's Hospice shops and at their events to raise funds for their services.