The project to knit replicas of iconic buildings in Warrington was under way before the pandemic. Lymm Cross, a much loved ancient monument, was an obvious subject, but not an easy one. I thought about doing it a few times, but it just seemed too hard, too time consuming.
Suddenly, I had time to fill. Little by little, I recreated the structure, and soon I had four sides. The next stage was to put the roof on to the four gables, and here I appealed to my son, whose mathematical talent proved valuable.
Knitted replica of Lymm cross with stocks, town crier, Morris men, policeman, lady shopper and two children
I reached out to other crafters through Whatsapp and email, and, after an exchange of photographs and measurements, one crafter made some steps, one knitted a series of figures, and one crocheted some cobblestones. The nineteenth century weather vane was a challenge, and I was delight to receive a text saying, "I think I could make that with a knitting needle and a Coca cola tin.."
Somehow the whole thing was assembled, and has been much admired as part of a display in Warrington. No one knows for sure why the cross was built in the first place - one theory is that it commemorates an outbreak of plague. Our knitted version commemorates a twanty first century pandemic and the resilience of the crafting community.