When I discovered this project, I wanted to participate. It was a daring thing to undertake and I wanted it to be a success.

I followed along on-line as people submitted their items and their stories or comments.
I quickly realized that this project inspired others all over the world.

It was a lot of very hard work for the organizers, but what an incredible achievement!

Well done to one and all for such a wonderful Art experience!

Judging by the hundreds of people who crossed the Bridge over the weekend, the Event must be judged a success; although somewhat marred by the cruel theft of one of the panels in the early hours of Monday morning.

So, what's next...???

We went across your bridge today and it looks very colourful! Well done, there is not enough community spirit anywhere anymore. Ignore the negative comments, if these people are so worried about the orphans(!?) then they can donate money to them themselves:)

Came down from the Black Isle to look at the display on Saturday. Some wonderful pieces, really inspiring. I have taken away lots of new ideas. Wish I'd known about it sooner as would have loved to send a piece. Well done to all involved.

Dear 'Confused & Irritated' & 'Kate'

GET A LIFE

Over the weekend there were in excess of 760 persons viewed the Panels on the Skye Bridge.

WHERE WERE YOU TO COMPLAIN ?

We were on Security on the Bridge, NOBODY complained.

GET A LIFE

What a wonderful, brilliant and innotative Project that it has been a joy for all our Members to be associated with!

Transerv certainly loved it!

So are we all doing this again next year - largest quilt across the Bridge possibly?

Alasdair Munro
SECRETARY
KEG

good luck for this weekend - glad you received the knitting from the Kinnaird Kaleidoscope Knitting group in Fraserburgh.

Hello to Fiona McEwan.Good to see you're keeping busy. Best of luck next week

Jim Brown

Look forward to working with the team on this project.

just finished my panel for the project, took a pic, blogged about it and will mail it on monday. yay.

My husband and I visited Skye last week for vacation. We drove over the bridge and stopped to take a picture of me with my panel knitted in Scottish wool in Ashford, CT, USA. Got to meet Alison...what fun. Can't wait to see how this all works out.

I love the idea and hope to be able to contribute. In case I cannot, I wanted to write a note here to say that I think it's a fantastic idea and I wish you all the very best in your knitting and crocheting and eventual assembly and display!

I'm so excited about theis project. I've been living away from Scotland for almost 4 years and sometimes I really miss it. This makes me feel like I'm doing something for my home nation and sending a small part of myself back home. Good luck to everyone!

What a great way to get everyone inspired to knit and support charities at the same time. The press coverage has I'm sure encouraged people to pick up their pins for the first time in years. This project has encouraged my young children to try knitting for the first time and they are feeling very inspired by all the lovely yarns available. We are using yarns donated from friends stashes so no money has been "wasted". The project can only be a positive influence. I'm proud to do my bit!

This is a great idea and a fun celebration of Scotland and craft. Why not do it?

hi, scottties,
as a treescarf expert i must say that knits dont suffer much exposed to the elements. i have some knits outside in the woods surviving for month, whole winters and spring, rain and ice, thunder and storm...and they arent all pure acrylic.
and: de gustibus non est disputandum, art always has a splitting effect as well as a uniting. lets go on knitting!

So sad to see that a minority have not been very supportive. Be encouraged that us, the majority are totally with you on this project and think it´s great! I miss home and this wee project makes me feel that bit closer and to think that a bit of knitting done by my kids is going to hang on the bridge that my brother and many friends and neighbours helped to build, brings a smile to my face!!
Thanks for all the time, effort and vision you have all put into this project, may it be hugely successful!
Thanksxx

I posted my finished rectangle off on Monday. I am so pleased to have finished it and been able to contribute to such a fun and worthwhile project. I hope you raise lots of money for charity and have a lot of fun in the process! Good luck!

What an exciting project for Skye, this is so creative!

I wish you every success with it and with all your future projects.

I love this idea! I live in the U.S. but plan on participating. Thank you to everyone who is working so hard to make this happen.

If knitted public art can flourish in Manhattan and San Francisco then its good enough for Skye. This is a fantastic idea which builds upon the islands strength in fibrecrafts and attests to a general affinty the island has with hand-crafted, decorative goods. It worst it will be a talking point and a piece of ephemeral public art. At best it could be a reflection of the island's heritage and agricultural heritage.

Boo to the nay-sayers! I think it's a great idea and I've been signed up to participate since I first heard about the project back in March. Knitting and crocheting is all about spreading love and warmth and happy colours!

I'm an American of Scottish descent, proud member of Clan McLeod with my clan seat at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, and also a beginning knitter. I love the idea that I can participate in the Homecoming 2009 year in this way, since I cannot make it to Scotland this year, and I don't understand where all the viciously negative comments are coming from. It's for the pleasure of the the knitting, and the feeling of being part of a Scottish event bigger than myself, that I would hope to participate. I love the idea, and recognize that there are creative outlets of all kinds for all kinds of people.

What a super idea I have got about 7 panels doing the rounds of all my friends who all love the idea well done for being so out there Some artists are paid millions to come up with similar ideas and you just did it wow well done

I can't wait to knit my piece for the bridge, my mother was a knitter, born on Skye and I'm doing a piece in her memory, she would have loved the idea.
What a fantastic idea.

I am happily knitting away at my panel, having chosen a yarn that will survive the elements and still be good to sell.

Hoping to take it on a work trip soon, so I hope to get photos for you too, as the panel travels.

Proud Expat

The lovely Sandy in our knitting group has organised a piece of knitting to go round the group. I have also set aside some yarn to knit up some broader panels.
This is a lovely idea to raise the profile of Scotland and benefit local charities too.
I hope it goes well.

Mx

I cannot believe that people have felt the need to express such hatred towards this idea. Stitches on the Bridge is people knitting to cover the Skye Bridge, is it really worth so much venom?

Firstly why is this an important year for Scotland? Because the tourist board said so. This group simply want to be involved in this celebration and why not?

Secondly whose time, money and resources are being wasted exactly? I bought my yarn with my own money and am using my own time to knit it. Why does that bother you? There is not a world shortage of yarn so we are not wasting yarn that is urgently needed elsewhere. I have never done charity knitting before and this made me want to get involved so I did. I have looked up patterns and made items that I think are appropriate for Scotland. I am learning something new in my knitting which for me is a bonus. The items will go to charity in the end so a charity is receiving items from me that they otherwise would not have.

Thirdly, people making the items know where the Skye Bridge is and will mostly be making things appropriate.

Finally, this is about a large community of people that feel they have a link with Scotland. If you look at the messages on the various goups such as Ravelry you would see that people want that link and want to share their story. I am not currently living in Scotland and miss it and this gives me a further connection. People coming together through a common interest, how wrong can that be?

There are so many bad things happening around us every day, is this project really worth so much of your anger? This is knitting, we enjoy it and we want to take part in this project, there is no need to abuse us quite so much. I for one am glad this project exists and believe there are many more people like me.

I have never heard of such a ridiculous waste of time, money and resources in the name of what a self-important churlish group of misguided amateurs has decided qualifies as "art". It is an embarrassment.

Try directing your attention to something significant, worthwhile and that will actually make you and others proud, not something that has given your group a cheap laugh in the pub and something that will make others cringe.

This is a historic year for Scotland, it is also an extremely difficult year for many whose more immediate worries should at least make you think twice about flaunting your mind-boggling concept of what is time and money well spent.

Please wake up - have you actually THOUGHT about how this self-indulgent, short-sighted act will be perceived - I can only hope you will receive sufficient negative mail about this that it will cause you to think again.

I completely agree with the earlier post - what kind of state will these school project bits of knitting be in when exposed to the elements. Get some focus, find an aim, and do something worthwhile and that will actually be valuable to people in need.

What an utter waste of time and resources.

Kate - an otherwise proud expat Scot

What an incredible waste of yarn and time! Both could be so much better used - say teaching the underprivelidged to suppliment their comfort and income, for example. How many senior citizens, orphans, or poor familes could have been warmed and comforted by items made from all the yarn that will bw WASTED by hanging on a bridge, and RUINED by exposure to the elements

This is going to be so much fun. Hope there are enough people knitting.

What a lovely idea. Count me in! I am in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Skye is always somewhere I have wanted to visit. This will finally give me the push. I will HAVE to see the finished bridge.

Coming from the west coast of Canada where my grandfather settled upon leaving Muir of Ord and Beauly in the early 1900's, I think this is a wonderful and rich way to "bridge" the richness of Scottish history that effected so many of us, to the present!
The Highlands of Scotland is the most beautiful place on earth!

finally i can give something back: we had a wonderful summer in the highlands 2006!
hope you like orange.

im already knitting as crazy and will send my finished panel to you with love from germania libera. it will be 30cm X 200cm. hope you like orange.

Thanks Meg for the info. Plan to send this round a few knit friends!

Let's get knitting...

PS Can we crochet items???

What a fantastic idea! I can't wait to see the finished product. Must get stash busting now!

Spain is with you.
We´ll be getting our needles out soon to do our bit for your exciting project. If we could get all the old spanish ladies on it too, we´d finish it next week. We´ll pass on the word.

What a brilliant Idea I can't wait to start of to look at the stash yarn thanks ladies for all your hard work. Will be enlisting my knitting group too.

This is a really exciting project - honoured to be involved...
Can't wait to see the finished work... it's going to be glorious!
Time to get the needles out!

Hi
I think this project is awesome, congragulations you guys for setting this up!!!
theres a whole group of us in San Francisco that are going to me knitting like crazy over the next 6 months...some of us are coming over to Skye in the fall - yipeee