Nan, 92, knits scarves to send around world

JUST knitting a few scarves wasn’t enough for Lillian Phillips – she decided she wanted to send them around the world.

The 92-year-old great-grandmother, from Leeds, wanted to send one of her knitted creations to every country.

Mrs Phillips, of Headingley, began knitting scarves 20 years ago using a pattern passed onto her by her late sister.

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She is now almost blind and cannot read a conventional pattern but is able to knit all her creations from memory.

“I had nothing to knit for so I decided I would like to get one of my scarves in every country in the world,” she said.

She enlisted the help of friends and family to help distribute them whenever they were on holiday.

“Now 132 countries have got one of my scarves.

“I told people to give the scarf to anyone else that they see,” Mrs Phillips said.

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One scarf was taken to Rome by a friend and given to the daughter of a secretary of a cardinal who attends the Pope.

Sometimes she even gets letters and gifts from those she has sent her scarves too – something that Mrs Phillips says makes her feel very good.