Forget baking and cooking, the next traditional craft to get a big, sexy makeover and attract thousands of fans is knitting. Just watch out for hundreds of knitted Nessies!
Once seen as the favourite fireside hobby of white-haired grannies, knitting is casting off its old image to become a must-try hobby with everyone from Hollywood A-listers to hip young things about town picking up knitting needles and having a go.
Reports from across the Pond suggest Russell Crowe, Laurence Fishburne, Sarah-Jessica Parker and Mad Men star Christina Hendricks all like to get creative with knitting needles, while closer to home, household names including Kate Moss, Geri Halliwell and even Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge are said to be fans.
And while it may sound like someone’s spinning a yarn, knitting will be the only topic worth discussing in the Highlands as several thousand crafters from around the world are expected to descend on Inverness for the 2016 Inverness Loch Ness International Knit Festival.
Although months away, at least one plane has already been chartered to take keen crafters and their families all the way from Denmark to Inverness where they’ll cast off their cares for a few days and get down to the knitty-gritty of attending the festival and exploring the area while providing the region with a major tourism and spending boost.
The four-day knit fest, which will be held at Eden Court and other venues across the area from Friday, September 29, will have a packed programme of crafty events with everything from knitting-themed exhibitions, lectures and film screenings to workshops and several fashion shows taking place.
Venues for the festival, which takes place during VisitScotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, include the historic Culloden Battlefield, the city’s Botanic Gardens, Kingsmills Hotel and even Loch Ness itself.
The Loch Ness Knit Fest is based on the Strikkefestival event created by Danish international knitwear designer, Christel Seyfarth. She has run the festival for more than a decade on the small Danish island of Fano.
From small beginnings it has gone on to provide a major annual economic boost to the local community, with visitors spending more than £4million, and has attracted fans in such huge numbers that she has had to change it from a biennial festival to an annual one to avoid the local community being overwhelmed.
While she doesn’t expect this inaugural event to attract 10,000 people like one Strikkefestival did, she cheerfully admits she’d be disappointed if at least two or three thousand fans didn’t turn up with plenty of cash to spend, spend, spend.
Christel, 58, was taught to knit by her grandmother when she was five years old and has knitted ever since, creating everything from small to large colourful works of art which she sold on to her girlfriends and their mothers.
She was weaned, she says, on the joy of colour and has long had a passion for Scottish knitwear, patterns and wools.
She’s also very aware of knitting becoming the next big thing.
“Many people have said to me that it must be nice for knitting to be considered ‘modern’ again but to tell you the truth I think that’s just because a few famous American actresses have been pictured with knitting needles in their hands,” said Christel.
“What I say is knitting today is the new yoga. Knitting has also been branded as a good thing to do in terms of mindfulness but to me knitting has always been the sort of hobby that’s good for you as you focus all your thoughts on to what you are doing. Today, when everybody has a busy life, knitting offers a great way to relax.”
Although colouring-in books for adults have become hugely popular, and traditional crafts such as baking and cooking are now being tackled and enjoyed by groovy young people, Christel says it’s still those who won’t see their 40th birthday again who love knitting best.
“Most of the knitters who attend the festivals are over 40 and don’t have small children but they enjoy their hobby and want to learn more about it while spending a few days away with their girlfriends,” said Christel.
“Two years ago a survey showed that each woman attending the festival, spent on average, around £370 on shopping alone, a figure which doesn’t include accommodation or meals in restaurants.”
All of which is good news for the festival which will also build on local traditions of working with wool in all its forms and be managed by a collaboration between Christel, Visit Inverness Loch Ness and several local organisations including Cobbs, Planit Scotland and Highland Wool and Textiles.
The event will also be supported by Highland Council and Event Scotland.
Cobbs’s Willie Cameron, who was instrumental in bringing the festival to the area said: “When I first heard Christel Seyfarth tell her story about her Knitting Festival in Fano in Denmark I immediately thought of the Highlands and Islands and our long tradition of spinning wool, weaving and knitting.
“It made me think of our dark period in Highland history when the people were put off the land to make way for sheep as that was the currency of its day, and stimulated economic growth – but with the Knitting Festival we are going to reverse that role and bring the people back in the form of international tourists.
“We hope many will come to enjoy the festival and embrace the scenery and cultural experience of the Highlands and also contribute to the economic benefit of the area, before leaving with fond memories and plans to return.”
Chair of The Highland Council’s planning, development and infrastructure committee, Councillor Audrey Sinclair said: “With programmes such as The Great British Bake Off and MasterChef we’ve seen a recent surge in interest in traditional skills and it would appear that knitting is no exception.
With the original International Knitting Festival in Denmark now attracting over 7,000 people each year, we are delighted that their first expansion overseas will see the festival come to Inverness.
“The fit with both the tradition of Highland knitwear and crafts and 2016’s designation as Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design makes it all the more relevant that we welcome this event in 2016. As a lifelong knitter, I personally am looking forward to it.”
Knitting festival organisers will now be working with hotels, tourist attractions and local talent to help ensure that the festival and associated publicity showcases all the very best of what the Highlands has to offer in terms of art, music and hospitality, with highlights of the Inverness Loch Ness Knitting Festival programme set to include a gala dinner and concert of music which draws its inspiration from the area.
“There will also be an opportunity for knitting enthusiasts to get involved before the event as organisers plan to attempt a world record by filling Dores beach with knitted Nessies in the run up to the event – and will be appealing for local SWI, community groups, schools and individuals to get their needles out and get involved.”
As a lifelong fan of Scottish wool and knitwear, Christel is particularly delighted at getting the opportunity to stage a festival here. “When I spoke to Willie Cameron, who I understand is Mr Loch Ness, I thought it was a terrific idea to have the first festival to take place outside Denmark in Scotland as I’ve been working with Scottish Wool for more than 10 years and there’s a strong similarity between Danes and Scottish people.
“That first festival I held came from a silly idea I had about gathering people in Fano, so we could knit and then I’d show them the island, but just grew and grew until one year it attracted more than 10,000 people.
“That year long queues formed and people had to stand outside. Luckily the weather was good but that made us switch from hosting it every two years to it becoming an annual event so it would level out the number of participants coming along.
“At the Inverness festival we’re hoping local wool producers will attend and showcase what they have but there will also be exhibitions, workshops and international teachers that I have selected from across Europe and Scandinavia along with top Scottish designers including the famous Alice Starmore. I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve asked her to attend Strikkefestival and she’s never been able to make it so I’m delighted that she’s coming to Inverness.
“The programme we’ve put together is a fantastic international and Scottish one so while we’re not expecting visitor numbers to be the same as in Fano, we would expect around 3,000 to be here. We’ve already chartered the first knitting plane from Denmark to Inverness but suspect there will be several chartered flights coming to the city.”
Anyone interested in attending the event or taking part in the world record attempt can register their interest now at www.lochnessknitfest.com
Where can I learn to knit?
If you’ve been inspired to take up knitting and would like to learn more about the craft there are several ways to get started.
Inverurie Learning Centre runs a knitting and crochet course with the next classes starting in April (www.nescol.ac.uk) while in Inverness the group, 61-In Stitches, meets every Tuesday to knit, gossip, tell bad jokes and have tea in Eden Court. Places are free but you should book a space on 01463 234234.
Several websites such as www.craftsy.com www.knittinghelp.com offer free advice and video tutorials.
Danish international knitwear designer Christel Seyfarth, above, and one of her beautiful designs, below
The Loch Ness Knit Fest is based on the Strikkefestival event, pictured above, which is held on the small Danish island of Fano and attracts thousands of keen knitters each year.