Jump into our Skywhale Knitting Adventure!

Create, Connect, and Celebrate with Fellow Knitters. We're calling on all advanced knitters! Join us in a unique community project to knit your very own Skywhale, helping us to celebrate Patricia Piccinini's Skywhales coming to the Sunshine Coast for the Horizon Festival in May 2025. 

Jump into our Skywhale Knitting Adventure!
Katy Griffis

Welcome to our Skywhale Knitting Project! We are excited to invite experienced knitters to participate in this challenging and rewarding community endeavor. In celebration of Patricia Piccinini's Skywhales visiting the Sunshine Coast for the Horizon Festival in May 2025, we are coming together to create our own knitted Skywhales. 

For the very first time in South East Queensland, Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhales Across Australia will be presented at Horizon 2025. 'Skywhales Across Australia is a project that talks about nature, family, evolution, care and wonder. The skywhales float into our lives to make us smile and think,' says Patricia Piccinini. 

Patricia Piccinini's Skywhalepapa is a monumental sculpture in the form of a hot-air balloon. Together with its companion piece Skywhale, they form a skywhale family. Following their debut over Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra in 2021, the floating pair will take to the skies across Australia as a National Gallery touring event in 2024 and 2025. 

Piccinini believes Skywhales Across Australia is not only two spectacular sculptures but a performance piece: “I imagine visitors assembling to watch Skywhalepapa coming to life. With a single skywhale figure, we have a character, but with the two, we have a relationship and a narrative,” says Piccinini. 

As the skywhales float across the dawn skies, Piccinini calls on communities to engage with them creatively. Make a morning of it, prepare a picnic, watch in awe, and sing along in wonder as the skywhale family takes flight. We are making the most of the time between now and the event by getting the community involved to create your very own knitted Skywhale.

Local knitting group, the Happy Yarners, have already signed up for the project and are excited by the involvement for the local knitting community in this important event. They are hopeful that knitters from across the region will get involved and hope to see lots of knitted skywhales at the morning tea event. 

The Happy Yarners knitting group from Caloundra who are already underway knitting their Skywhales.

The Happy Yarners knitting group from Caloundra who are already underway knitting their Skywhales.

The knitting pattern, designed for advanced knitters, is available for download along with a comprehensive list of materials needed. This project not only offers a chance to showcase your knitting skills but also to connect with fellow enthusiasts in our community. 

We will gather at the Caloundra Regional Gallery in April to celebrate our creations with a delightful morning tea. This event will be a wonderful opportunity to share your work, exchange tips, and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow knitters perhaps planning together their visit to the big event in the sky.  

Download the pattern, gather your materials, and start knitting your Skywhale today. We look forward to seeing your amazing creations and celebrating together in April! 

Don’t forget to pop your photos on your socials and tag us in - @caloundraregionalgallery – and why not use #skywhaleknitters in the caption. We would love to share to our followers.  

LocationEventDate and TimeCostRegistration
Caloundra Regional GallerySkywhale knitters morning tea celebrationsWed 16 April, 10.30-11.30amFreeRegister