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Nora, 91, knows hats the way to do knit
SHE may be 91 years old, but age proved no barrier for knitter Nora Willis – as she completed a personal challenge to knit 1,120 woollen hats.
SHE may be 91 years old, but age proved no barrier for knitter Nora Willis – as she completed a personal challenge to knit 1,120 woollen hats.From woolly jumpers for her children, to cuddly toys for raffles, Mrs Willis from Hodney Road, Eye, near Peterborough, has knitted wonderful woollens for many years.
But knitting four colourful mini hats a day for 280 days in a row – to help elderly people in Peterborough fight the freeze this winter – was her biggest challenge yet.
She knitted 60 of the hats for Age Concern's Big Knit campaign last year, which sees knitters create woolly hats for Innocent smoothie bottles, with money from every bottle sold in Sainsbury's going to the older people's charity.
Mrs Willis decided to step up her game this year – pledging to knit three woolly hats every day from January 1 to October 1 in order to beat last year's target and knit an incredible 1,120 hats.
The pensioner has beaten her target by knitting four hats a day and completing the challenge a month early.
She said: "I always used to knit pullovers for my sons when they were at school and then I got involved in making blankets.
"I would make cuddly toys to be sold at raffles too.
"I also helped make scarves and hats for Age Concern to send over to Third World countries and even knitted a 330ft long scarf.
"It was about 1994 that I started knitting for charity. I set myself this challenge because I worked out I could quite easily knit three hats a day, with baubles.
"Each one would take me about 45 minutes and I loved every minute of it. They are all different colours and they look beautiful.
"By the end my wrist was starting to ache and so I was glad of a rest, but I am delighted that I finished it."
Mrs Willis is now planning to have a rest before getting to work on making some beanie hats.
Her work will be seen on Innocent smoothie drinks and veg pots on supermarket shelves in November.
For every sale, 50p will be donated towards Age Concern Peterborough's services.
Spokeswoman for Age Concern Peterborough, Jane Grant said Mrs Willis's work will go a long way towards the city's target of 4,000 hats.
She said: "We received a letter from Nora about her knitting and were delighted with the number of hats she has already knitted for us.
"Her donation will go a long way to ensuring we reach our intended target before November."
Interested knitters should call 01733 564185. Or you can donate some double knitting wool – size 10 and some 3.25mm knitting needles – to the appeal by visiting the charity's offices in Lincoln Road, or their shops in Bretton, Werrington and Millfield.
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Weather for Peterborough
Sunday 12 February 2012
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Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
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