Join a merry band of Nottinghamshire crafters and knit, or crochet, a tiny Robin Hood hat

This year the Miner2Major Landscape Partnership Scheme and the RSPB at Sherwood Forest are joining Inspire to support Nottinghamshire crafters to take part in The Innocent Big Knit and raise money for Age UK.

Knitting and crafting for charity has become an enormous success in Inspire libraries, with a different charity supported each year and 100s of crafters across the county getting involved.

Juliet Bernard, hand knitting guru, designer and former editor of The Knitter magazine has designed a miniature Robin Hood hat for Notts crafters to knit and crochet and said “I’m really excited to have been asked to be involved with this project for Inspire. Having designed many Innocent smoothie knitted bottle hats already, I was thrilled to turn my hand to the challenge of creating a pattern that would perfectly represent the county. I hope people have as much fun knitting these tiny Robin Hood hats as I had creating the design.”

For any knitting novices that want to take part Inspire also have a range of beginners courses in knitting and crochet, as well as complete step-by-step video guides to take you through both the knitting and crochet patterns!

Click here to watch step-by-step knitting instructions

Click here to watch step-by-step crochet instructions

Steve Little, Scheme Manager for the Miner2Major Landscape Partnership Scheme, said “We are really excited to be a partner for this year’s Inspire charity knit. It’s a fabulous opportunity to promote the rich heritage of Sherwood Forest and raise some money for charity. Whether you’re a seasoned knitter or an absolute novice come and join in!”

Hats donated by 1 July 2021 will take part in the Inspire Charity Knitting Challenge Exhibition, which will be on display at Edwinstowe library, the RSPB Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre and online, after which all the  miniature Robin Hood hats will be sent to The Innocent Big Knit so they may adorn bottles of Innocent smoothie drinks in shops across the country in 2022. Innocent Drinks will then give 25p to Age UK for every hat-wearing bottle sold.

Click here to find out more about the project and join in!