Thank you Lion Brand Yarn!

Over the past month, the Beehive and many of our friends and family have been working away on our Knit Night on the Brain installation for Super Crawl. In case you've forgotten, the piece will be a replica of the façade of a bar in Hamilton called The Brain, home to Knit Night, and it will be suspended over the front of the building. We will be recreating the brick work and structural elements of the building while also adding a few touches of our own.



When we came up with the idea for this project, we contacted Lion Brand Yarn to see if they would be interested in donating yarn for the project. Many of us use Lion Brand for our own personal projects all the time. Especially being fans of the Vanna's Choice line.

Founded in 1878, Lion Brand is America's oldest manufacturer of craft yarn. We approached them for help because we knew of their commitment to the knitting and crocheting community and to outreach and charitable works. First we measured the outside of The Brain, then Courtney came up with a pattern, and from that we calculated how many square feet of yarn we would need to cover everything that we wanted to with the installation. We then went through their catalogue in both their Wool-Ease Thick & Quick and Vanna's Choice lines, and picked colours that matched the existing brick and mortar of the building. It was easy to do so with such a beautiful and diverse selection of shades.

We drafted up a proposal, sent it to Lion Brand and crossed our fingers that they would be as enthusiastic about our project as we were. And they were! Five boxes full of their gorgeous yarn were promptly sent to White Elephant where we all squealed and jumped for joy upon arrival.







All of us have been taking our knitting wherever we go. Beehive meetings, the cottage, coffee shops, picnics. There's nowhere we won't knit. And look! A boy knitting! A relatively rare sight.



Even Hollie's cat Tanooki has been trying to help, in his own way...

Once all 69 scarves are complete, we will be assembling them all together to resemble brickwork. We also have to knit the actual sign that hangs on the front of The Brain, which is the silhouette of a human head with the brain exposed. There's a contest among some of the Bees of who will finish the most, with Courtney and Anna currently in the lead, with 9 and 8 scarves completed respectively. We've got lots of helping hands pitching in, from mothers to grandmothers to co-workers to complete strangers who want to contribute. It's amazing to see the knitting community of Hamilton come together for a project like this.

Once disassembled, all the scarves will be cleaned and then donated to Mission Services on James Street North. Art with a purpose! It's so satisfying to know that the scarves that we are working on will be used by someone really in need of them. There's still time for you to pitch in too. You can download the PDF of the pattern on the sidebar to your right, and can pick up some yarn from us every Wednesday night at Knit Night at The Brain,  at 199 James Street North.

We can't thank Lion Brand enough for their generosity. Without them, this installation would not be possible. They are a really amazing company dedicated to progressive thinking within the textile community. We love you Lion Brand.

Knit Night on the Brain

The Beehive has been working on something big and by big we mean huge. So big, in fact, that we need your help.


We are creating a large installation piece for SUPERCRAWL! The piece will be a replica of the façade of the Brain, home to Knit Night, that will be suspended over the front of the building. We will be recreating the brick work and structural elements of the building while also adding a few touches of our own.


The majority of the piece, all the brick work, will be made up of knit scarves. Once SUPERCRAWL is over the piece will be dismantled and the scarves donated to Mission Services Opportunity Centre where they will be distributed to those in need of something warm to guard them against the cold.

This is where your help comes in. Although many of us in the Beehive are avid knitters we will simply not have enough time to get all the scarves completed while working on the rest of the piece. Also, we think it would be awesome for the entire craft community in Hamilton to get together on this one!

We have created a pattern of the scarf we will be using to recreate the brick work. The pattern is available for you to download here. The yarn you will need to make the scarf is Lion Brand Wool Ease - Thick and Quick. We have also created a list of yarn colours to use to keep the whole piece uniform. The brick colours: Hazelnut #640-125, Pumpkin #640-133, Spice #640-135, Apricot #640-136, Butterscotch #640-189 and Wood: #640-404.

And the mortar colours: Linen: #640-098, Wheat #640-402, Oatmeal: #640-123 and Barley #640-124

Lion Brand Yarn has graciously supplied us with yarn for creation of this piece. If you would like to contribute a scarf to the project you can pick up yarn at Knit Night at the Brain every Wednesday from 7 to 10pm. If would like to support the project but are unable to come to Knit Night you can head over to your local yarn shop to purchase any of the Lion Brand colours listed above.

Completed scarves must be submitted by 5pm on August 13 at The Beehive Summer Craft Fair. They can also be dropped off up until that deadline at Knit Night

If you have any questions about the project or the pattern either stop by Knit Night or send us an email. We are happy to help you with any of your questions, and could even teach you how to make one.

Photos courtesy of Hollie and Courtney