LADIES who like to knit and natter have given the Manor Farm pub a festive spruce up by decorating the ceiling with intricate crocheted snowflakes.

The women from Swindon’s Stitch and Bitch group meet weekly at the Haydon Wick pub and decided to create the giant snowflakes stretched across hula hoops as a way of adding Christmas cheer to the establishment.

Tracey Major, who dreamed up the project, said: “I had seen the idea on the Yarndale Facebook page and fell in love with them. I thought they would be a fantastic thing for the ladies to knit as snowflakes and it felt right to yarn bomb the pub where we meet.

"We wanted to say a thank you for hosting our little meets every week and for looking after us, and they get some wonderful and truly original Christmas decorations.

“We had planned to yarn bomb the trees outside the pub in secret but we were concerned about all our hard work out in the elements and with the recent Storm Angus, the hoops just wouldn’t last very long.

“We talked to the pub and they loved the idea and offered to let us hang them indoors, which was the perfect solution.”

Around 16 knitters belong to the group and their 13 intricate designs now hanging from the pub ceiling already catching the eyes of punters, with many asking if they can be purchased.

Suzy Cowper said while the women have never done anything Christmassy before, they all enjoyed getting into the festive spirit.

“It is really nice to see them up because everyone has done something different and I personally did about eight to ten rounds and I doubled up on the wool which only took about an hour in the end,” she added.

“Other people did smaller designs which would have taken longer and the hardest part was getting it around the hoop. People see us here every Monday so at least they can see what we do.

“Knitting and crocheting is like learning another language but it is great fun.

“It can also be quite relaxing and if you are stressed out with work or whatever, do a couple of lines of knitting and somehow it de-stresses you. I hope people come and look at them because as we were leaving on Monday, someone asked how much they are because they wanted to buy one.”

The Swindon Stitch and Bitch group have already knitted a number of items in recent weeks which have generated a lot of interest including a poppy man for Remembrance Day in Royal Wootton Bassett.

New members are welcome to join the group who meet every Monday evening from 7.30pm onwards at the Manor Farm pub in Haydon Wick.