93-Year-Old Grandma Knits an 8-Foot-Tall Buckingham Palace!

Margaret Seaman, a 93-year-old retired park owner from Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk, spent 8 months knitting a replica of Buckingham Palace. It is a remarkable size of 8ft (2.4m) x 5ft (1.5m). She used “at least 100” balls of wool that were donated from the Wool Warehouse to create this magnificent wool masterpiece. The creation is made up of polystyrene blocks and wires. It also features woolly trees in the background, guards with bear-skin hats and adorable little pedestrians. You can now find this creation at The Forum in Norwich’s Norfolk Makers Festival until March 19. It will raise funds for a new children's hospice at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. However, this may be the last of her royalty-inspired creations as it was rather difficult to create the gate.

Margaret is a mother of four, grandmother of thirteen, great-grandmother of two, and a great-great-grandmother to one young boy. She started knitting 10 years ago until it became a serious hobby. She joined a knitting club for the company after she lost her 86-year-old husband, Fred. “I usually knit for about eight or nine hours during the day and then I go to bed at 9 pm and I knit for another three or four hours.”, she said. 

Margaret has used her knitting talent for great causes. “I find it hard to walk,”. “My gardening and walking days are over but I can sit and knit and raise money for good causes.” She was able to raise over $120,000 for charities, donating $10,000 to three hospitals in Norfolk, exclaiming that it was "so uplifting".

She occasionally gets recognized on the streets. “Now, when I sit in the car whilst we’re out, people knock on my window and say, ‘are you the lady that does the knitting? “But I don’t feel any different—I’m still Margaret.” She stated. 

This is not the only huge project she has taken on. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she knitted an NHS “Knittinghale Hospital” out of 34 balls of wool. She has also knitted a replica of the royal Sandringham Palace in Norfolk (including the sables) in 2019. The most notable one though, was her replica of Sandringham House. Not only because of its grand scale but also because she was awarded the British Empire medal (BEM) by the Queen for it. "It was most unexpected - somebody just walked in, stood next to me and I didn't know it was the Queen. It's the best thing ever to have happened to me,” she said. 

“I start on a piece, work so far on it and then if I get stuck and can’t think what to do next, I leave it and start on something else. Usually, I’ve got five or six pieces on the go at the same time and I work on whichever one my brain tells me to do. It’s all in my head normally, I don’t stop to write things down. I always think that’s a waste of time​,” she explained.

“Margaret has wowed the crowds at our Festival for years now. She is a role model for both older people and younger generations and has become like a dear Grandmother to me,” producer of the Norfolk Makers Festival, Jayne Evans said. In 2021, she was also awarded “Oldie Champion Knitter of the Year” by Oldie Magazine which was presented by the Duchess of Cornwall. "I'm very happy to see their response. It's hard work talking to people - I'm losing my voice, but it's just so rewarding. Some people come up, stand with their mouths open and then they start to cry," Margaret described.