Spruce Up the Neighborhood

The yarnbombed sign pole on our corner has been looking kind of ragged after two years exposed to the New England elements. As I cut it down, the underside was revealed, showing how much the colors had faded. Compare the bright orange and its outward-facing pale version near the top of this photo.

A few months ago, I began creating, collecting, assembling the pieces for a new “wrap.” Sometimes I used leftover bits from projects or just random yarns from my stash. Some I remembered fondly and others, like a small hank of bright colors, I had no recollection of buying. Maybe they were gifts or leftover bits from a knitting student?

Since the pole is across the street from a park where lots of dogs gather, the yarn along the base had received many “markings” over the past two years. I know this is a natural thing for dogs to do and don’t begrudge them the need to leave their mark. And I know that weathering of all kinds — weather, animals, winter road salt — is part of what happens to public art. But the ickiness factor of that bottom bit of the pole gave me the idea to try something different.

Who knew you could turn a plastic shopping bag into a knitting strip? And then knit with it? It even has a name: plarn. There are loads of how-to posts and videos available. Some are more fiddly than others and involve tying loops together. I used the “spiral” method, where you end up cutting the bag into one long strand.

Early yesterday morning, I pulled out a step stool, scissors, darning needle, four pieces knitted fabric, and started at the top. I’d selected a special piece for the top of the pole, the back of a sweater that Mom had started long ago and never finished. It’s got a lovely popcorn texture and the ribbing makes a lovely flag of sorts.

I love that there’s a piece of her just outside the house. Unbeknownst to her I also took and incorporated a lovely cabled rectangle in blue-green wool — maybe the start of a sleeve or scarf?

Stitching the entire length took more than an hour, in part because it’s a tall pole but also because I stopped to visit with neighbors as they walked to the field or to the subway or bus stop.

It just makes me happy. And I love knowing that it makes other people smile, too.

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Out with the old, faded yarnbomb and in with a new, bright one! I gave the street sign pole on the corner a facelift. More photos and details in my latest blog post. Link in profile. #yarnbomb #yarnbombing #knits #knitaddict #knittersofinstagram #instaknit #knittinglove #knitstagram #knitting

A post shared by Knitting Teacher & Blogger (@saltwaterhill) on Jun 27, 2019 at 7:06am PDT

Yarn Bomb Redux

It’ll come as no surprise to long-time readers that I’m a fan of yarn bombs — or public fiber art (or is it fiber public art?). I don’t post every one that I see. I mean, who has the time? But every once in a while, I’ll find one that’s post-worthy, like the gorgeous bike outside Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA, or the amazing creations along the boardwalk in Saltburn-by-the-Sea in England. Sometimes I’ll share on Instagram.

And then there are the few yarn bombs that I’ve helped to create, especially the street sign outside our house that still makes me smile.

Some of you may recall last spring’s city-wide art initiative at a nearby lake when some young knitting students from a nearby after-school program and I  “wrapped” a bike rack.

The project continued this spring with some additions to the lake area. I didn’t contribute anything to this effort and am still holding out the hope that the cover I envision for one of the barriers may someday become a reality. Fortunately, several other Fearless Knitters already have. Aren’t these fun?

After the winter snows and rains, the bike rack is a bit worse for wear, faded in parts and coming apart at a few seams. But it still makes me smile.

If a yarn bomb catches your eye, please let me know — email or tag. I’d love to share.

 

Spotted at the Miami Airport

I love when friends send me photos of yarn bombings or other public displays of knitting that they’ve seen on their travels, near or far. Kathe was passing through the Miami Airport earlier this month and came across Knitting as Poetry: Reflections on the Natural Environment in a corridor gallery.

First, can we acknowledge how cool it is that the airport has art exhibitions? Miami isn’t the only airport to do so, but it’s worth reminding ourselves that public art enriches our lives — and, when it’s in an airport, provides a diversion from the long waits inside terminals.

The artist, Evelyn Politzer, is a native of Uruguay, so it’s only appropriate that the exhibition is supported by malabrigo, a family-owned yarn company in Uruguay.

Described as “suggestive of aqueous elements,” these droplets are “a reminder of the importance of water conservation, a major issue in Politzer’s immediate community [of Miami].”

These looser, less contained creations are described as “tender and sensual, their color range suggesting warmth and nurturance.” I can see that.

What public fiber art or yarn bombs have caught your eye? As I did last year, I’m working with our local cultural arts organization on a yarn bombing project. More on that in an upcoming post.

I’ve recently started some yoga socks — basically, socks without the heel and toe (aka the fun bits!). It’s my traveling project, seen here at Mom’s hair salon.

Yarn Bomb in the Neighborhood

About a year ago, I decided that the street sign at the corner of our house was a good venue for a yarn bomb. Thanks to the city park across the street and our location near the town center, there’s lots of foot traffic — neighbors of all ages, dog walkers, commuters, soccer players and fans.

Some of my knitting students used extra yarn from their projects to create segments of what would become the knitted wrapping. If you look closely at the video, you can see “memories” of Rachel’s butterfly dishcloth and Monkey’s little sweater.

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Spruced up the corner street sign. #yarnbomb #knitting #newtonma #makesmesmile #knittersofinstagram

A post shared by Knitting Teacher & Blogger (@saltwaterhill) on Jun 9, 2017 at 6:01am PDT

As I was stitching the pieces onto the pole, about 10 people stopped to comment and ask questions. “What happens when it rains?” was the most common question. I tried not to sound snarky or dismissive when I replied, “It’ll get wet.”

Later in the day, my friend Elyse called as she was walking her dog. “Your yarn bomb makes me happy,” she exclaimed. I couldn’t agree more.

Bike Rack Yarn Bomb

With all the rain we’ve been having this month, I’d been keeping my fingers crossed that nothing would be falling from the sky during my knitting girls’ field trip to install their yarn bomb. Fortunately, the bike rack that we wrapped was in a shady spot since Mother Nature gifted us a hot (93F, 34C) sunny day.

The first decision was what order to attach the 8 or 10 knitted segments, 7 inch wide rectangles of various lengths. Once each was pinned onto the rack, the installation began.

Each segment was stitched onto the rack, then the ends of the segments were connected so the rack was covered in one very long (about 23 feet, 7 meters) tube.

As always with 10- and 11-year old girls, the conversation was wide ranging and non-stop — mostly about the adventure at hand — and occasionally interspersed with outbreaks of singing!

• “How long do you think this will stay here?”
• “I really hope someone doesn’t cut this off or mess with it.”
• “Is this art?”

The project is part of a city-wide Festival of the Arts, an annual event that usually includes some type of public art creation. This year’s public art is “Hooked on Newton,” a celebration of fiber via knitting, crochet, and (I’ve heard) tapestry that will be installed at a nearby lake. The first official installation is this coming Sunday, but we got permission from the organizers to decorate the bike rack on a week day, so the girls could participate.

They had a blast and were all justifiably proud of their creation.  Me, too.

 

Gearing Up for Yarn Bombing

You can imagine my delight when I learned that my city is organizing a yarn bombing as part of its annual, yearlong Festival of the Arts. Only they’re not calling it yarn bombing because, well, bombing is frowned upon.

With a much more PC tamer moniker, “Hooked On Newton” is a public art project, a collaboration of the Newton Arts Council and the Crystal Lake Conservancy. The lake — specifically, the picnic area and public beach — will be the palette for knit and crochet creations.

The best part is that anyone, even you, dear reader, can join in the fun. Send me something for the yarn bombing public yarn art, and I’ll be sure it gets “installed.” Heck, I’ll even take a photo and be sure you get due credit!

We’ve got a water theme — maritime and/or lake — but I don’t think anyone’s very picky about what’s included. Maybe some leaves? Or fish that could be stitched onto a fence or tree? How about this amazing duck? Speaking of trees, we’ll definitely be wrapping trees. Find me on Ravelry @saltwaterhill to see other patterns I’ve favorited or popped into my library.

Yarn Bomb Wrap a Bike Rack*

I’ve volunteered to lead the bike rack wrapping since it’s a great project for the 4th and 5th graders in my knitting classes. What do we need for a bike rack but a lot of scarf segments?

The lake has a wiggly bike rack like the one above although currently not wrapped and definitely covered by a fair bit of snow. We’ll collect all sections and install (by sewing) them sometime in May.

Here’s my bike rack wrap recipe:

“Scarves” that are 7 inches wide and any length. We need a total of 300 inches to cover one bike rack.

Knit with any colorful yarn (wool, acrylic, cotton). Change colors and/or yarns. Stripes are fun but not required.

Cast on enough stitches for 7 inch width. If you’re using:

• Bulky/chunky yarn (approx 3-4 stitches/inch): cast on 21 or 22, use needle sz 10-11
• Worsted/Aran yarn (approx 4-5 st/inch): cast on 28-35, use needle sz 7-9
• DK/light worsted yarn (approx 5-6 st/inch): cast on 35-42, use needle sz 5-7

Use whatever stitch pattern you’d like. Bind off when you’ve knit as much as you want. Let me know when you’re done (via Ravelry, Twitter, or a comment here) and I’ll send the mailing address.

*try saying that 10 times fast!