Year 7 pupils worked with a Chinese artist on a range of activities to celebrate Chinese New Year. They designed lanterns, worked on puppetry and created a large and colourful dragon that now adorns the library walls.
To build on the enthusiasm created by our Big Knit chair, we decided to give everyone the opportunity to try Big Knitting in a communal textile project based in the Library.
Brightly coloured strips were knitted using two or more strands of yarn, which were then stitched together to make a wall hanging to represent the body of a dragon forming the centrepiece of our Chinese New Year celebrations. We used chunky and extra chunky needles adapted by our technology department from old donated drumsticks and “Smart Price” broom handles. Yarns of different colours and textures were purchased from clearance bargains from a local firm.
About 100 people, both students and staff contributed. Several pieces of knitting were on the go at once. People just popped into the Library and knit a few rows whenever they had a spare moment. One person picked up and continued the knitting when another had put it down. Some learned knitting for the first time. Those who didn’t knit made pompoms for the border. Others were happy winding balls of wool from cones. For two weeks the atmosphere was relaxed, most sociable and extremely industrious.
Finally the panels were joined and a gold crocheted border added. Baubles, bows and pompoms provided the finishing touches. The result is a wonderful Dragon wall-hanging 4.5 metres in length