Oh, sadness!

Update: after installing four bollard socks on the main foreshore car park areas and paths in Rockingham this morning, I've gone back a few hours later, just 'cause I had a funny feeling ...

... and yes, sure enough, each one has gone. That was a short life span :(

Logical analysis:

1. if members of the public have removed them opportunistically, GREAT!! So pleased that they've caught their eye. I hope these pieces of yarn graffiti turn up elsewhere sometime.

2. if local authorities have removed them, then how interesting! And fast work too!

My next bollard sock installation project might have to take a different tack. I may need to dust off my surveillance op's training to see who is following so quickly behind me to remove this offensive public knitting!

OR ... if Rockingham doesn't like escaped knitting, other places might.

International Yarn Bombing Day - 11 June 2011

Yarn bombing, aka yarn graffiti, has been around for a few years now. It seems to be better known in Europe and the USA than here in Australia, but I notice a few more fibre graffiti persons are leaving their knit tags around the place. And today has been adopted by yarnbombers as International Yarn Bombing Day.

 

I wanted to do my little bit to contribute to the event, so today I've nonchalantly wandered around my local area hanging crocheted spirals and fluffy pompoms in trees and popping on a knitted bollard sock here and there. I mean, why not?

What I love is when there's an engagement with a member of the public who bravely comes and asks "what are you doing, what's it for" and chuckles gleefully at the irony of knit graffiti.

I think it's these little bits of happiness that make it so much fun.
 

            

Spirals!

Developing this idea has been on my list of things to do for well over a year, and after a bit of experimenting, I've now got these colourful things hanging on my verandah. Will make many more 'cause I think these are going to be exactly what I want for International Yarnbombing Day on 11th June, 2011.

 I'm imagining public spaces festooned with bright coloured spirals.

The pattern for creating these corkscrew spirals can be found here. You're welcome to use them for fundraising purposes (they've sold quite well at fundraising stalls because they're so bright, and very different!).

Escaped Knitting

Well, goodness me but the knitting escaped - again! Today's yarnstrike was on one of dozens of nice green bollards on the north side of the Rockingham Civic Centre. I don't give it much of a chance of survival in that location, but what the heck, I know it prompted a smile in one or two passers by - so I achieved my goal.

The best part of my day was spent while in the waiting room of the adjacent medical centre, creating crochet spirals for the next yarnstrike, and engaging with some younger folk (okay, so these days everyone's younger than me) on the topic of yarn graffiti. I just love seeing their imaginations take off and potentially spark a creative bug which will awaken if not now, then at some later point in their lives.

Update 5 Apr, 2011: It was still there on Saturday, but it's gone now, hopefully to a better place :)

Yarnstrike!

A Google search will demonstrate that the terms "yarnbomb" and "yarnstorm" are well in use now. They have their definitions, references and examples of use.

I like the word "yarnbomb", but some have noted the sensitivities of a subsection of the word and the correlation with terrorism, probably more so in countries other than Australia. The word "yarnstorm" is being touted as a replacement here and there, but I don't think it's appropriate to describe the actual graffiti piece.

So, after tickling my two and a half brain cells, I think I've found an alternative which will describe both an act of yarn graffiti (so, it's a verb), and, at a push, the thing that is the piece of graffiti (a noun): 

Yarnstrike ! ^©



And it'll fit nicely on any tags I put on my yarnbombs. Would be good as the title of a yarnbombing book too! (Adds concept to list of projects to do later this year)

Here's the next bit of colour for a Yarnstrike on an unsuspecting bollard for this week. It would be fun to see if it gets moved around from suburb to suburb and where it ends up. Might have to set up a Yarnstrike Facething page so its peripatetic wanderings can be documented by enabling travellers. Now, that'd be something new!
 

Edit, 29 March: 2011
1. Installed it in the middle of the day yesterday, cnr Rockingham Beach Road/Patterson Road.

2. I stuffed up when I was trying to create the facething fan page - have given up for the moment - will re-address the concept when my energy returns.

3. Went to remove the dangly tag (which gave a suggestion of a Facebook page) on the yarnbomb at 9:00pm last night, but it was gone  - the whole yarnbomb, not just the dangly tag.  :(

Random Acts of Colour

 

This is an experiment for a forthcoming yarnbombing project. Don't know where for yet, or if I'll make modifications to the next ribbon of colour.

Note to self: each strip is 30 stitches wide, on 4.00mm needles and boringly dull garter stitch throughout. Not that the knitting garter stitch is boring, just the end result is very plain. There are no real challenges involved in the making of these. Year 3s could do this.

They're random acts of colour in yarn. I've knitted each end to be a casing, ie, they're threaded onto an old broom handle at the moment. The bottom casings haven't been put to use yet. I may well hang something soft and safe or small on each end. - maybe pompoms would be suitably silly!! Anything heavy and hard (was originally thinking of little brass bells) runs the risk of being blown around and may whack someone. So, in keeping with my Yarnbombing 101 guidelines, risk management is a consideration in even fun and farcical things like knit graffiti, aka, yarnbombs.