For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 2012, Rachael Gwilliam found a way to beautify a Crewe park: yarnbombing!

You may have noticed a Knit1PurlFun feature in the latest issue of Simply Knitting about some glorious yarn-bombed trees! We didn’t have room to fit all the information on there, so here is a bit more on that vibrant event.

You may recall that a while ago we suggested that if you had the square knitting bug and had squares to spare, you get involved with the Tree Cozy Project. The Crewe-based community arts project was aiming to cover two large trees in Crewe’s Jubilee Gardens with knitted cosies in June 2012, to celebrate a certain glittering Jubilee! 

Artist Rachael Elwell from Artyarn delivered the project, with free workshops offering the chance to learn to knit and crochet, or develop your skills, while being part of something a little bit bonkers! 

The Diamond Jubilee bumper bank hol weekend is nearly upon us, and we’re so excited we can barely contain ourselves. Our sister title The Making Spot are holding a Jubilee street party, and you're invited! 

To celebrate, we’ve picked out seven of our favourite Jubilee-themed ideas to share with you, giving you the perfect excuse to experiment with Vintage styling, Union Jack embellishments and, of course, red, white and blue yarn.

1. Brilliant buttons

Jazz up a knitted cardi or top (such as Sarah Hatton’s nautical-style cardigan – Riviera Chic – in Simply Knitting 94), with these heart-shaped Union Jack Buttons (pictured above) from The Laurel Tree (20mm, £1.99 for five).

This year’s grand Diamond Jubilee is the perfect excuse to get knitting some fab accessories to treasure, but with so many options and only a few weeks to go, how do you decide what to knit first?

Knitwear designer Lorraine Hearn has come up with some themed designs to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.

Drawing on the Union Jack as a starting point, they include hats, children’s cardigans, tea cosies, napkin rings and egg cosies, all in vibrant shades of red, white and blue Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran.

We particularly love the slippers (pictured left) with Union Jack ribbon detailing – fit for a queen!

You can buy the knitting patterns online – Lorraine is currently offering a special deal to ‘buy one pattern or ebook and get another pattern or ebook of equal value free of charge.

You may recall us getting a bit batty about Fiona Goble’s fabulous knitted royal wedding last year. This year, Fiona has teamed up with online knitting superstore Deramores to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with the release of an exclusive FREE knitting pattern, courtesy of Ivy Press (the pic credit belongs to Ivy Press too).

We love her sequin shoe buckles, matching handbag and fabulous hair do - she's definitely ready for the party!