Oundle Yarn Bombers ‘blitz’ town centre for Poppy Day

Oundle Yarn Bombers have unveiled their newest display in the town to mark Remembrance Day.

The now famous collective of knitting enthusiasts revealed their latest creations to delighted Oundle residents on Sunday (November 3).

Group spokesperson Mel Lee took time out to describe the main feature of the commemorative display.

“We’ve done a panel based on a painting by Ann Marie Bone,” she said, “which is a sunset with hills and a tree and poppies on the floor [with] the outline of a soldier looking out to the hills.”

In addition to the moving, large five-metre-square panel, the knitting ninjas have also created three bench covers and a tree cover, which also serves as a large cascade within the Market Place.

As always with the Yarn Bombers, this project has been a labour of love, as well as an exercise in patience and endurance.

“The panel is 100 by 75 inches so we think we’ve used around 500 poppies,” Mel said, adding: “and about 500 leaves for the tree.”

It took the combined efforts of around 20 people working diligently to bring the final displays to fruition on time.

However, while some may bulk at the idea of working to such a tight deadline, Mel believes the Yarn Bombers thrive off the pressure.

“They absolutely love it,” she shared.

“If we don’t have a project then we start to get a bit twitchy.”

This display is the latest in a long line of ‘blitzes’ which the crack knitting squad have dazzled onlookers with over the past few years.

In 2023, the Yarn Bombers filled Oundle town centre with a host of patriotic displays to celebrate the King’s Coronation in style.

The same year, the centre of Oundle awoke to a festive blitz in the run up to Christmas which saw buildings, trees and benches bedecked with an array of Yuletide figures and coverings.

This was followed in 2024 by arguably the group’s most ambitious undertaking, The Longest Yarn - an incredible 80-metre-long display which marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day in an inimitably British way.

Mel said the wooly wonders are already looking forward to their next project. ”It’s going to be very special,” she hinted.