Nina Dodd loves Eurovision so much, she decided to knit a dress made up of all of the flags of the countries who have ever participated in the competition. What began as a fun passion project turned into a global sensation…
Written by Colette Earley
Nina, who lives in Brighton with her partner Matthew and their two children, worked in the University sector for many years, but now devotes her time to knitting, as well as travel. “I remember loving knitting so much when I was a child, that I smuggled wool and needles up to my bedroom and knitted in the dark when I was supposed to be asleep,” she tells us. As an avid lover of Eurovision, Nina creates a ‘euro knit’ most years, but decided to aim a bit bigger, incorporating all the flags into one garment. “There was no real aim at all to start with”, Nina explains, “it was just for me for fun to wear for my numerous Eurovision parties. Everyone I knew told me it was a ridiculous idea. Of course, that just made me more determined.” The project began to evolve naturally as Nina got stuck in, but she started the process by working out the best number of flags for each row and the size of each flag. “I then put together a very simple pattern, straight up and down with the only slight shaping being around the armholes,” she explains. “Next, I drew each flag on knitting graph paper – this was easy of course for flags with just stripes, but more tricky with the likes of Moldova, Albania and Cyprus with their eagles and maps. The art was in simplifying the complex flag designs whilst keeping them recognisable. I certainly didn’t want to upset anyone for whom their flag is an important symbol!”.
The design was a big hit among Nina’s friends, and soon attracted local press interest in Brighton, with features in the press and TV. The attention really grew when Mel Giedroyc and Mans Zelmerlow (Eurovision winner for Sweden in 2015) caught sight of it when Nina featured on BBC radio at the same time as them – they loved it so much, they tried it on for size. This year, Nina decided
