The Prince’s Foundation invites knitters to contribute to art installation

The Prince’s Foundation at Dumfries House is encouraging people from across the country with an interest in knitting to contribute to a colourful art installation set to be unveiled on the Ayrshire estate next year.

The installation will take the form of a patchwork mosaic and will feature thousands of hand-knitted squares draped over the estate’s historic Adam Bridge, to celebrate knitting as a traditional craftform, as well as the associated benefits to the mind and body that practising the skill can bring.

The project forms part of a wider collaboration between The Prince’s Foundation and The Joseph Ettedgui Foundation which aims to recreate a community of hand-knitters with an interest in turning their hobby into a viable business proposition through its Knitwise initiative, which trains and develops locally-based hand-knitters to a high standard to help future-proof the industry.

Ashleigh Douglas, future textiles manager for The Prince’s Foundation at Dumfries House, said in a statement: “Knitting is a very relaxing craftform that is known to have multiple benefits such as reducing depression and anxiety and increasing a sense of usefulness and inclusion. The Knitwise group features participants of all skill levels - from complete beginners to experienced knitters - and it has been heartening to see them all working together towards the goal of creating this wonderful art installation.

“We would like to invite beginners and experienced knitters from all over the UK to contribute to our art installation project from home in a sustainable way by using up ends of yarn or unravelling unworn knitted garments to make a 20cm square to be included in the patchwork mosaic. To help inspire creativity, we’ve created an easy-to-follow video tutorial which is suitable for beginners and can be found on the Dumfries House social media channels.”

To get people started the charity has placed easy-to-follow knitting tutorials on its Instagram and YouTube channels.

Once the installation is dismantled, the patchwork will be cut into smaller blankets and distributed to charities in need.

Image: courtesy of The Prince's Foundation by photographer Iain Brown