Bee Inspired and Bee Creative

"Hobbies are the backbone of this country

and what starts as a hobby can end up changing a neighbourhood."

So said comedienne and columnist, Jenny Eclair, earlier this month in The Independent newspaper.  

One such group who epitomise this for me are Grans On The Make.  This trio of crafting friends based in Kent, in collaboration with The Creative Craft Show, have taken their skills around the country, bringing people together, hand making items together for a cause, and raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process.*

This year's initiative by the Grans is Make A Beeline which highlights the plight of our bees and encourages the development of new habitats through partnerships with communities and agencies.  There's a great flyer on their website to tell you all about it.  I was buzzing to join in!

Their first request at the start of the year was for crocheted hexagons to make a map of Britain so I made a few last February and sent them off.  I was a bit worried mine might have arrived too late for the first show in Birmingham in March but I was told my hexagons were incorporated into Scotland appropriately enough!  (Two became Orkney I believe.)



The closest Creative Craft Show to me is the one in Glasgow in October but I spotted that the Make A Beeline Team were going to be at the Weald of Kent County Craft Show in May.  My sister-in-law lives nearby and loves crafts so I asked if she was going along.  Not only did she attend, she sent me some photos of Grans Pat and Avril at their bee-autiful stand.



AND - she also sent me a picture of the finished hexagon map!  Hello Orkney!!

I've been following the Make A Bee Line project through Instagram and Facebook and there's currently a shout-out for hand-made bees to be made into a special display at the final ICHF show of the year in Birmingham in November.  (ICHF is the International Craft and Hobby Fair)

So I had a look at the patterns on the Make A Bee Line website and tried them all out.  Each bee only requires small oddments of wool to make the body and wings and there's patterns to crochet and knit.

Here's how I got on.  First up, this is my Little Crochet Bee

And here's my knitted Queen Bee and Baby Bee which are two variations of the same pattern.

I then tried the sweet little Easy-Beesy and the Easy Knitted Bumble Bee

I especially liked making the Honey Bee with its organza ribbon wings and antennae.

More knitted critters -  the Super Quick Little Bee and the Small Knitted Bumble Bee.  The super quick one really lives up to its name!

Finally I had a shot a needle felting following the clear video instructions on the Make A Bee Line website and stabbed my way into making another two bees to send away!

Here they are altogether for a group shot...

...prior to posting off to Grans On The Make at the address on the Make A Bee Line flyer.  I can't wait to see the bee feature at the entrance to the NEC in November!

I'm happy that my hobbies of knitting, crochet and needle felting can contribute, even in a small way, to help change neighbourhoods (as Jenny Eclair suggests) but there are lots of ways to join in even if you don't craft.

• Scatter some Beebombs (I got these for Christmas!)
• Plant flowers that bees like - here's some cone flowers from the garden and wild roses from our daily dog walk
• Encourage community planting - this wildflower meadow was sown in a corner of nearby Tarves village last year and was buzzing 
• Attend ICHF shows and support the Make A Bee Line UK stand - find them here:
• Henley-on-Thames 23-26 August 2019
• Exeter 26-29 Septemeber 2019
• Glasgow 24-27 October 2019
• Birmingham 31 October - 3 November 2019

* Those inspiring ladies, Grans On The Make, have recently been awarded a Royal British Legion Community Award for the Poppy Project in recognition of fundraising over £5000 last year. 
I contributed some knitted squares and blogged about it here.