Above and Below the Waves

Friday 04-09-2015 - Sunday 06-09-2015

Two thousands knitters and a mountain of material funded by The National Lottery has helped to create a spectacular knitted ‘Above and Below the Waves’ scene.

“When I was younger, people didn’t consider knitting as a form of art,” says Alison Murray, Founder and Coordinator of the All2knit organisation. “But I wanted to create a community knitting project for people in north Devon and show people that knitting can be fun.”

Alison created the ‘Above and Below the Waves’ project which was exhibited at the Edinburgh Arts Festival.

More than 2000 people contributed over the two years of the project to create a nine by six metre knitted, walk-through display of scenes from above and below the sea. The children of Bradworthy Junior School in Devon contributed a knitted sea monster to the design, a group of ladies from Oxford created a three-foot knitted whale and delivered it in a camper van to Alison’s door and a knitted puffin even came all the way from Hong Kong to feature in the finished piece.

The idea was inspired by the fishing town of Appledore, and brought together people from the ages of four to 102. So far it has raised more than £17,000 for the RNLI and continues to bring in the crowds on its tour around the country.

Alison says. “Fans of the projects are always eager to help and find out what we are knitting next, and I feel proud that I have been able to inspire other knitting groups to form".

The finished project is now beginning its national tour around the UK, sponsored by ICHF events. It is displayed at the Landmark as part of Sea Ilfracombe 2015

VENUE: The Pavilion, Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe