Briswool: Giant 3-D woolly city goes on show

Briswool now measures 6m by 4.5m - it's the first time it has been laid out as a completed model

A three-dimensional woollen model of Bristol which took more than three years to create has gone on show.

Reproductions of city landmarks including Clifton Suspension Bridge, St Mary Redcliffe and SS Great Britain were intricately crocheted and knitted by more than 250 volunteers.

It will be the first time "Briswool" has been displayed as a finished work.

The project is estimated to have taken hundreds of balls of wool and thousands of hours to complete.

Volunteers have knitted and crocheted many Bristol landmarks including SS Great Britain

Volunteers range in age from over 80 to children - one seven-year-old girl made penguins for the zoo

Karen MacDonald, from the M Shed Museum, said: "Briswool has been a joy to help set up - it's a paintbox of colour and, as our exhibition designer said, a celebration of human creativity.

"It's been fun seeing it all coming together and the tiny details adding the finishing touches, like beaded bats flying over the woolly representation of Arnos Vale. Very rewarding after the weeks of loading bags and boxes in and out of freezers."

The work is an artistic representation of the city rather than an accurate replica and grew out of an idea inspired by one of the volunteers who suggested to artist Vicky Harrison that people knit "the iconic buildings of Bristol".

Vicky Harrison said volunteers chose locations or objects which had a personal meaning

Hundreds and hundreds of balls of wool were donated - many by volunteer Eileen Stansfield

Ms Harrison said: "Volunteers have chosen to stitch locations or objects that mean something to them personally or were a challenge to make.

"It is a breathtaking scene that charms the eye with colour and texture."

The model will be on display at M Shed until 12 June.

Vicky Harrison said the model involved about 80% crochet and 20% knitting