Church unveils Yorkshire-themed 'knitivity' scene

An elaborate knitted nativity scene has been unveiled at a Yorkshire Dales church.

Buckden Knit and Natter, which has 16 members, spent about a year crafting the display.

Comprising angels, shepherds and kings, as well as Jesus, Mary and Joseph, it can be viewed at Hubberholme Church in Upper Wharfedale.

Sandra Kilvington, who is part of the knitting group, said the nativity had a "little Yorkshire twist" in all of the captions.

"We've got Mary and Joseph travelling along the Dales Way," she explained.

"We've got shepherds using their local dialect to describe seeing the bright star.

"Then we've got the kings that are going over the Moors from the East Riding on camels."

According to Ms Kilvington, the display was a "massive team effort" from the Knit and Natter group.

"Without a doubt, everybody one way or another has knitted something and contributed something," she added.

"It didn't matter what standard of knitting you were, we all did either arms, legs or beards or any of the Kings' gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh."

The idea for the nativity began when the knitters made Mary, Joseph and a donkey for the local primary school three years ago.

"We'd bought the pattern and then we said, why don't we knit the whole nativity?" Ms Kilvington said.

"Why don't we do it for our own church? It all sort of snowballed."

The women are also known for knitting mice, to match the Robert Thompson woodwork mice on the church pews.

"We've now knitted more than 4,000," Ms Kilvington estimated.

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