Crafting group creates unique homage to Olympics dubbed ‘Yarnlympics’

A crafting group in Hertfordshire is celebrating the forthcoming Olympic Games in Paris by crocheting and knitting sporting events to decorate local postboxes.

Around 100 members of the Secret Society of Hertford Crafters spent months knitting, crocheting and crafting the 37 postbox toppers which will appear in Hertford and Ware.

Nicknamed the Yarnlympics, the sporty tributes will be on display from Sunday July 21 until August 11, with the group hoping to raise money for the Hertfordshire Breast Unit Appeal.

The decorations, made of mostly recycled materials, pay tribute to different events and aspects of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with spectators, athletes, flags and medals making up the pieces.

Marge Ellis, 74, a retired teacher and project supporter of the group from Little Hadham, Hertfordshire, told the PA news agency: “Sometimes we need something to smile about and we want to bring a bit of joy.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you have made someone happy.”

One intricate topper shows triathletes competing while spectators watch in the background, while another shows numerous pairs of knitted legs poking out of a pool to represent synchronised swimming.

Ms Ellis said the creations took “months and months” to craft, adding “We just generally follow patterns. Some of us, some very, very clever ones can make them up.”

The project has included 11 knitted para-athletes, which Ms Ellis said was “important”.

Another piece, which Ms Ellis worked on, shows knitted figurines of the group with “TEAM YB” (Yarnbomber) written on their tops, with some engaging in sports, others knitting and two figurines placing yarn and needles on top of a postbox.

Ms Ellis said: “We wanted something sporty but we are not really sporty, we would rather knit!

“The people who know us can identify each one of us… I’m on a ladder putting the basket of wool on the top and I am the one with the straight blonde hair.”

But such an uplifting hobby is not without its difficulties, with faces being one such obstacle.

Ms Ellis said faces are the hardest things to create and, while some people are very good at them, they are “really really tricky”.

She added: “For one of our yarnbombs we actually had a face team because they were the people who could do faces.

“They were doing the faces because we wanted them all to be more or less the same.”

The group meet three times a week where they drink tea and discuss their hobby, and have raised approximately £167,000 for charity over the last seven years.

To find out more, visit: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/yarnbombing2024