KNITTED mini Stoke Newington Common is on show at library – and will feature in Chelsea Fringe Festival

A knitting group who recreated Stoke Newington Common out of wool will be offering “guided tours” of their model for the Chelsea Fringe Festival.

Common Thread, run by the Stoke Newington Common Users’ Group (Snug) spent four pain-staking months creating the miniature version.

And the hard work has now paid off after the team was approached by bosses from the prestigious garden show to feature their installation.

Hackney dwellers can see the model anytime they like simply by visiting Stoke Newington Library, where it sits in the foyer, but next week knitting nuts from across the capital will be in town for a glimpse.

“It all started when Hackney Museum asked Snug what we could do for an exhibition a couple of years ago,” said Siobhan Beatty who runs the group.

“We were in a meeting and I said why don’t we knit the common. I said it before I had thought about the implications!

“It was not smooth sailing. It started off quite straightforward, but then we realised there was no pattern for knitting trees and with the deadline looming we were spending all of our time doing it.

“I was coming home from work early to finish it in time.”

After getting the call from the Chelsea Fringe Festival the group will now be hosting workshops detailing how they designed and made the model, a separate one on the tough task of knitting a tree and a children’s workshop explaining how to make shrubs or plants out of wool.

To book a place on the workship, email commonthreadworkshop@gmail.com.