Stitches For Survival was born during the lockdown of March 2021. We hadn’t been able to sing together in person for over a year and with COP26 looming in Glasgow in November 2021 I wanted to find some sort of collective community action that was possible whatever lockdown restrictions we might be under. Interestingly the idea came to me whilst gardening – a great time for ideas to compost!
Very quickly the idea caught on throughout UK and internationally and we started seeing photos of beautiful creations! As of 6th September 2021 we have 1,600 members in our Facebook group, public knit-ins have been held in many towns and cities and local people have displayed their panels at exhibitions in Bristol, Leeds, York, Selkirk, Dublin, Saltaire and many other locations throught UK.
Stitches for Survival scarf has been outside the gates of Mossmorran Petrochemicals facilities plant in Fife; on the streets with Storm, the 10m tall mythical sea goddess puppet created by Vision Mechanics who has risen from the sea and now walks on land to tell us the story of the oceans in crisis; at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Climate Festival and many other locations.
Do have a read of my reflections on the Stitches for Survival project – which is still continuing after COP26 in the form of exhibitions and displays. We are delighted thetst some of the panels have been taken into the Museum of Scotland permanent collection.