Giant knitted Gingerbread House on show in Newbury (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Giant knitted Gingerbread House on show in Newbury
1:38pm Tuesday 27th November 2012 in Leisure
The Gingerhouse
A UNIQUE knitted gingerbread house is currently on display in the Old Chapel Textile Centre in Newbury’s Greenham Business Park.
The inspiration for the community Gingerbread Project came from Devon based textile designer Alison Murray and her mother, Ann Murray. It started in May 2006 and took over 700 knitters from across the UK and the rest of the world 13 months to complete, including nearly four months to sew together. The roof alone has 1200 roof tiles, each with a sweet or cake attached and the Welsh Dresser is made from 100% Welsh wool.
Over £8000 was raised for the North Devon Hospice when the house first went on display and since then it has toured to Exeter, Brighton, Harrogate, Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham and Liverpool, raising £16,000 in total for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. The house has recently returned from a major exhibition in Paris.
The house will be on show in the centre until Friday, December 7, alongside a collection of pieces demonstrating a comprehensive range of knitting skills from hand knitting to machine knitting, old knitting to new knitting, and even a sprinkling of extreme knitting, from exhibitors young and old. Some of the items on show formed part of BBC 2’s How We Won the War.
On Saturday, December 1 from 10am – 4pm special open day The Big Knit will take place, with 'have-a-go' sessions and demonstrations from gifted knitters. Moving into the Gingerhouse for this special event is a Wicked Witch with tasty treats to tempt the children, so don't forget to bring along your own little Hansels and Gretels.
Entry is £4 per adult and children under 12 years are free.
