Retired Ipswich teacher knitting for Longest Yarn project

Jane Elsdon and husband John, who live in Ipswich, have been involved in the new ‘Longest Yarn’ project that has captivated knitters from around the world.

Mrs Elsdon created a metre-long panel depicting Omaha Beach a few hours after the initial landings in June 1944, a project that took eight months to complete.

The keen knitter used wool from Ipswich’s own craft shop Franklins, where staff have been very “encouraging” and kept updated with the project.

Jane Elsdon's panel took eight months to complete. (Image: Jane Elsdon)

Now, with an entire display that is longer than the Bayeux Tapestry, the project needs funding to transport the panels across the Channel to the Notre Dame Church in Carentan, where the exhibition will be on display from Tuesday (May 28) until the end of August.

The exhibition will then go on tour in the UK and USA.

“It’s been very emotional, and has taken over my life, and my husband’s. He was hands-on, sewing poppies and creating things.

The panel shows Omaha beach a few hours after the initial D-Day landings. (Image: Jane Elsdon)

“It has made that sacrifice those young men gave for us to be free all the more real, and how grateful we should be for them.”

The project led to Mrs Elsdon visiting the beach and American cemetery in Normandy - where she visited the poignant 9,000 gravestones and took pictures of the sand, so she was able to replicate the colours - along with the Omaha museums, where she took photographs of uniforms and read the stories.

The panel will be on display in Normandy before touring the UK. (Image: Jane Elsdon)

“It’s an amazing story,” she added. “I’ve met some wonderful ladies through it as we have shared this passion.

“I don’t want to count up how much I’ve spent on wool.”

TheLongestYarnStore on Etsy, The Longest Yarn Auction Site Facebook group, or on the project’s website: www.thelongestyarn.com