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The GPO Stone Facade Reproduced In Knitted Yarn
A West Cork group of knitters decided they needed to show their own way of commemorating 100 years on the Easter Rising. Their idea? To recreate the Dublin’s GPO (General Post Office) stone facade while using nothing but needles and yarn.
The knitters started on their amazing project after careful preparation. The Dunmanway Knit and Natter Group have the habit of meeting each Friday at the local library.
When the idea of recreating the GPO facade was mentioned by the librarian Aine O’Brien, they met it with much enthusiasm.
The members of the group first studied a lot of pictures and books to get a feel of how the building looks. While this served to help them do the math, their preparations did not stop here.
They had to choose and compare various hues of grey, in order to match the exact coloring of the stone facade. And that was not exactly easy.
“We spent a lot of time looking at wools before we got the right shades of grey to match the mountain granite and then the lighter Portland stone of the portico and the pillars and then we came up with our own stitch to give us the correct effect of the stone,” says Eileen Hurley, one of the knitting group members.
Replicating the GPO facade in wool was not easy, but it surely was a lot of fun. Besides the actual facade, the knitters recreated the clock located above the door, along with the Irish flags adorning the building, and the window panes.
Some of the details were crocheted and embroidered into the final product. That was an occasion for the knitters to prove they are handy with other kinds of needles, as well.
The finished wool GPO was exhibited at the Dunmanway Library. In the summer, it is expected to be on display at the Cork County Library HQ at County Hall, to celebrate the knitters’ efforts.
