News / Shaun in the City
Crochet Shaun takes 561 hours to complete
Vicky Harrison is an installation artist with a penchant for crochet.
Her Paper Village on North Street appears to be an innocuous craft shop, but in reality it’s a hub of community arts projects, including the North Street pom pom parade and Briswool, a woollen replica of Bristol.
is needed now More than ever
Earlier this month, Vicky unveiled her design for the Shaun in the City trail: a Shaun completely covered in free hand crochet.
561 hours went into creating Woolly Wonderland, with a carpel tunnel-inducing 500 hours spent crocheting, and the rest stitching the intricate designs together.
“When the Gromits were all over Bristol, I thought ‘Oh I’d love to do a sheep’”, says Vicky.
It’s a natural progression for Vicky who last year created Gertie the Sheep for Bristol Woolfest, a project in which people contributed small crotchet flowers to create the woolly coat of a life size sheep.
Vicky continues: “The moment I heard they were doing Shaun in the City I applied immediately, and they said yes.”
Starting last September, the project took Vicky eight months to complete.
Working form Aardman studios, Vicky began by taking photos and measurements of the Shaun sculpture, before starting to freestyle crochet pieces.
“It was really difficult around things like the ears, so what I had to do was make a paper model of the sheep so I could do a basic fitting at home,” says Vicky.
“Then I could leave the stiches loose and fit it properly around the sculpture.
“All the pieces are really detailed. I’d do a bit of crochet, then sew those bits together and start to crotchet on top of them to get them thicker, and then thicker.
His tail is made from thousands and thousands of curly cues – that took weeks!
Woolly Wonderland can be found and admired in St Nicolas Market.
“The photos don’t do him justice,” says Vicky.
Vicky’s latest project, Maisie Cats for Dementia is a community sewing project which will see volunteers sewing Maisie Cats to be sold to raise money to improve the lives of people living with dementia, working with a variety of groups.
The project is very close to Vicky’s heart, having seen her mother suffer with the disease. The idea of making and selling toys for charity is actually one that came from her mother.
“When we were children, my mum and dad used to make loads of toys and sell them to raise money for a children’s hospice.
“One of the patterns she designed was a cat. I still have one of those cats and I call it Maisie after my mum. I have updated the pattern a bit and now want to use Maisie cats to raise awareness of Dementia.”
To get involved with Masie Cats for Dementia or to find out more, visit www.thepapervillage.co.uk