Alison's all at sea with her knitting

By [lchurchill]

SHE hit the headlines with her amazing knitted gingerbread house.

Now textile designer Alison Murray has revealed her next ambitious project.

Alison, from Bideford, aims to raise thousands of pounds for the RNLI with a design called Above and Below the Sea.

Alison and her dedicated army of knitters will be creating a woolly seaside scene, including a three-dimensional tunnel, waves, the beach, jelly and star fish.

On previous occasions Alison has helped raise more than £35,000 by making the world's largest knitted Christmas tree and a giant gingerbread house.

Knitters from all across the world helped to make the gingerbread project and early responses indicate that Alison's next knitting adventure will be just as well supported.

The extraordinary gingerbread house, which had a 10ft by 14ft structure, furniture and garden which was all knitted, had to be taken down from its first public exhibition at Atlantic Village in Bideford because it was deemed too dangerous by fire chiefs.

However, the house continued to tour the country and is off to take part in L'Aiguille en Fête, the international fair for embroidery, sewing and knitting in Paris next week.

Alison is hopeful her new project will have its first public exhibition in North Devon in September 2010.

She said: "This project is more ambitious and more challenging than the last and includes a lot of three dimensional knitting.

"It will be using exciting yarns, but as always we are hoping to get everybody involved — all ages and abilities."

Alison's previous imaginative knitting designs have raised £20,000 for the North Devon Hospice and £16,000 Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Alison is hoping to create a cookery book — similar to the one created for the gingerbread house — which will include fishy recipes.

The gingerbread house provoked attention from TV's Graham Norton, singing legend Jon Bon Jovi and America's Martha Stewart Show last year.

● A nautical knitting workshop will be taking place at Atlantic Village Shopping Centre on the weekend of February 21 and 22 from 11am to 4pm.

Anyone interested in taking part can turn up at nautical knitting or contact Alison on alisonmmurray@yahoo.com