ELY WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

A Colourful Celebration!

Ely City WI celebrated in true Women's Institute style recently with a tremendous yarnbomb! It was to mark the Isle of Ely Federation of Womens Institutes 100th anniversary.

Between Tuesday 8th June and Friday 18th June 2021, colourful installations were presented by Ely City WI on Palace Green and St Mary's Green in Ely to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Isle of Ely Federation of Womens Institutes. Our 17 strong yarnbombing team started working on the project back in March 2021.

We had our newest member of one month to our longest serving members of over 30 years contribute. We had one member who learnt to loom knit during the run up to installation so she could contribute. We encouraged members who could not knit to make pom pom and tassle garlands so they could join in; we encouraged those who were able to knit to produce scarf lengths, and soon further ideas were brought to the table.

In the end, our members knitted over 125 feet of knitted lengths, spiral garlands, giant daisies, knitted bacon and eggs, yarn flowers, knitted bunting and banners, pom poms and tassle garlands, a cannon ball, fish, jellyfish, bees, hearts. We had zoom yarn and yarns (knit and natters), we emailed regularly, we shared photos of what we had created to inspire each other -everything WI is about.

We didn’t rely on a theme, instead, we all contributed according to our strengths, creative discussions were had. This all resulted in us generating a combination of different displays and installations that added interest and provided impact to both sites.

We got to know each other through a communal love of knitting, the project brought us together despite lockdown and the continuing pandemic. The positivity of the project was amazing.

Our members really enjoyed putting the project together and we have received some fantastic comments on social media and it has brought many smiles to our faces when we have seen visitors and residents viewing and photographing the installations.

Thank you to City of Ely Council, East Cambs District Council, Ely Cathedral, King’s School Ely, and Cambridgeshire Highways for their permissions to allow us to yarnbomb Palace Green and St Mary’s Green.

Come and join us! You will find our contact details here: Ely City WI Website: https://wielycity.wixsite.com/home and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ElyCityWI You will be sure of a warm and friendly welcome.

Sheila Willson Yarnbomb Co-ordinator Ely City WI