An international online project has got two North-East women in an unusual `knitting needles across the ocean' challenge.

Anne Makepeace, of Woodbine Avenue, Gosforth and Suzanne Hardy, of Oxclose, Washington are joining 20 other knitters from the UK, Germany, Finland, Italy and USA in creating a fabric version of a internet blog, which is an online diary.

By the time the piece of knitting finds its final resting place in Washington, in six months' time, it will have travelled more than 13,000 miles and been to five countries throughout the world.

The first stitches were knitted in Cornwall a month ago and since then it has travelled to Hampshire and is now in Germany. From there it will come back to the UK in Northampton, then to Brighton before arriving in the North-East in March where Mrs Makepeace will add her personal touches.

It will then be sent to Finland and Italy before travelling over the Atlantic to Oklahoma where it will travel through seven states, including New York and North Carolina, then back to the UK in North Yorkshire before finally making its way to Washington.

Each knitter has seven days to add their creation, recording their progress on the internet, before the fabric must be sent on. Once completed it will be auctioned on the internet to help raise funds for the upkeep of an online knitting magazine.

Mrs Makepeace hopes to receive the blog in March and is already planning her section of the project.

She said: "The aim of the project is to try to shed the image that knitting is only for white-haired ladies.

"Knitting for me is a way of relaxing and being able to create something a bit different.

"Hopefully before it goes up for auction we will be able to display somewhere here in the North-East."

With no rules about what you add to the piece Mrs Hardy, 39, has no idea what will arrive on her doorstep.

She said: "It is up to the individual what they do with the piece and the progress will be recorded on the internet blog.

"I am going to wait and see what it looks like before I decide what I am going to do. As the last person I want to try and bring the whole product together.

"It's going to be very creative and it's a great way of bringing people, from all over the world, with the same interests, together.

"Each participant will be keeping a journal of the work they have done, giving an insight into their life."