Jersey’s ‘Knitting Banksy’ in Paddington tribute to Her Majesty

Friday 16 September 2022

The island's mystery yarn bomber has struck again – this time with a special tribute to Her Majesty.

Speaking under the veil of anonymity, the mystery knitter said they hoped their latest work at Red Houses would "hopefully bring a smile" to islanders' faces and "bring back their happy memories of our Queen."

 The latest tribute is one of many postbox 'cosie' creations that have popped up across the parish.

So where did it all begin?

"I used to knit cardigans/jumpers for my children when they where young (they are 25 and 35 now!), then I started knitting a little for my grandchildren (three and six). Then, in lockdown, I started knitting toys," the 'Knitting Banksy' told Express on Friday.

"I then came across FB groups in the UK who were decorating postboxes and thought it would be lovely to do this over here."

Pictured: The design features Paddington Bear and the Queen's beloved corgis.

The knitter continued: "I only moved to St. Brelade last June and love the parish - it is so friendly and thought postbox toppers would be appreciated by the friendly people of the Parish, so my first topper was last Christmas on box Red Houses and Mont Nicolle.

"These needed to be taken down on 12th night and a few weeks later I put up jelly babies to celebrate the year 2022 at Mont Nicole.

"At Red Houses, I did two lovely puppies to celebrate my daughter getting a puppy just before Christmas. After that was Easter on the two boxes.

"Then a lot of work went into the Queen's Platinum Jubilee ones.

"Then came Summer. I managed to get the Mont Nicole one ready just before the summer holidays, with a message on it, 'Happy Summer Holidays', to the schoolchildren."

The fan-knit-tic postbox topper has since been working on an array for autumn, but put those on pause to be able to mark the passing of "our wonderful Queen."

Pictured: The mystery wool artist is planning another tribute which will pop up this weekend in St. Brelade.

Creating these involved some recycling of the Platinum Jubilee editions – but Paddington Bear was also added, marking the now famous sketch with the Queen, who revealed in June that, in common with the beloved bear, she always keeps a marmalade sandwich in her bag "for later".

"I have reused some of my Platinum Jubilee knits on these, but added Paddington Bear to both of them as a tribute to the Queen."

While there is already a woolly tribute at Red Houses, there is another one in the works before Mont Nicolle, and islanders are being urged to keep their eyes peeled on Monday.