Yarn Bombing: Knitters are Nutters

Maybe the long winters that drive me indoors also drive me toward quirky creative projects. But that wouldn't explain the thousands of knitters who produce exuberant, extensive and extravagantly colored yarn bombs in perfect paradises.

For me, yarnbombing parking meters outside of our own Kitchen Theatre Company a few years ago was great fun.

It's a joy thing. Because it's fun to surprise people by contrasting morose hardscapes with cheerful hues in soft fibers outdoors where they "don't belong." To express happiness. Show delight. Or challenge the status quo.

I wanted to capture the idea that we couldn't wait what the Kitchen would serve up next.

With two parking meters right outside the front doors, it was an ideal set-up.

So diving into my scrap yarn, scrounging for graph paper, and adopting some Fair Isle patterns were all I needed. After that it developed into a backstage mystery.

This installation lasted more than a year. Its removal (who? when?) remains a mystery.

After that it seemed a shame to leave out Gimme! Coffee, on State Street with a tree waiting to be cuffed.

The piece was created to be viewed from either the sidewalk or the curb.

But alas, the effort was short-lived, lasting just 3 weeks before the item ran missing. (Aw!)

Earlier still, a Cornell Reunion yarn bomb greeted visitors to the main administration building on International Yarn Bombing Day (yes, there was one!).

And lasted longer than expected.

Want to learn more? See more yarn bombing:

The New York Times

Time Magazine

Ithacans seem to like the painted electrical boxes on street corners, created by local artists, so I think our city needs more yarn bombers.

Next time though, I'd make it a group project.

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