knitibranch  

So here it is, 2:00 p.m. and I’ve been a busy girl, here and there:

Bay & Grove, El Verano, CA

That was about 7:30 this morning.  Then I was on to the Plaza, where a group of knitters was reportedly gathering to do an installation.  I didn’t see them, or their work, but I did put this up:

California Poppies at Sonoma Plaza

California Poppies at Sonoma Plaza

Then it was off to Cotati to see my sweetie and put this one up:

Cotati Bike Rack

This was one of those rare occasions when a few people actually spoke to me.  I overheard a little girl asking her mother what I was doing, so I talked with them for a couple minutes.  They liked the concept.  Then there was some guy who complimented my work, which was gratifying!  After I got in my car I saw someone walk up to the bike rack and examine it for a minute or so, then she walked back into the coffee shop, thinking who-knows-what.  Cotati’s unofficial slogan is “Keep Cotati Weird,” so this sort of thing tends not to faze people much.

Then it was back to Sonoma to rendezvous with my dear friend Tillie, owner of Sonoma Yarn, for whom I’ve been preparing a tree sweater.  It’s not done, but we got the first three parts installed today:

Sonoma Yarn: Tillie's Tree

Sonoma Yarn: Tillie's Tree

And that’s it for me, for now, anyway.  I’ve had a blast looking at everyone else’s wonderful creations, and you should too:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/1703346@N21/

I have several projects planned for International Yarn Bombing Day.  My plans have changed several times.  Jim Boggio has been on and off, and on, and off the list. His time will come, when I can do justice to the job, but not before.

I do have a few other things ready:

California poppies on a blue background, made for the northernmost bell marking the route of El Camino Real from San Diego to Sonoma. Since it’s a historical marker I wouldn’t expect the piece to last long. Someone will take it down and throw it away. Yet I want to be proud of what I put up, so there’s a tension between how much I value what I do and how I’ll feel when it’s discarded.  At any rate, this one is made of yarn I bought last week at an estate sale, and I used techniques that would minimize the investment of time, but my heart was in the right place, and I really did try to make it look nice.

Tillie’s tree.  My friend Tillie has asked me to yarnbomb the tree in front of her store, but I’ve made slow progress because it’s such a large project, and I haven’t had much help, and I’ve had other things to work on at the same time.  I have a fair bit ready now, though, and I want to get it put up this morning.

I have some other stuff planned too, but I don’t have any photos to post.  What I can post is the pole cozy I put up yesterday at Arnold and Mission:

This was one of the first “yarn bombs” I started, a couple-few months ago. I set it aside in favor of other projects, and just cast off yesterday to get it off my needles and out of my life.  I chose yarns I didn’t like, hence I didn’t enjoy working on it.  I felt OK about it in the end, knowing it wasn’t one of my best efforts but glad it wasn’t entirely wasted, either.  At first I thought yarn bombing might be a way to use up yarn I should never have bought in the first place.  Not so.  From now on, if I hate a yarn, it goes into the donations pile, not onto my needles!

It’s IYBD!  What am I doing sitting in front of the computer?  More to come….

I’ve been wanting to put something where I will actually drive past it every day, and I finally did, at the corner of Grove and Arnold Drive in Sonoma:

This was once intended to be a baby blanket, but I couldn’t get the ends woven in to my satisfaction, so it’s been sitting in a cupboard ever since I finished it.  I think it’s much better off here than moldering away in storage!

Later that same day I put up a stopsign cozy in Santa Rosa at the corner of Mendocino & Cherry.  This one came out looking like an homage to Olek, which is kind of funny considering that I’m not really a quick-crochet-with-variegated-acrylic kind of girl, but nonetheless, there it is….

Back from BayCon, the San Francisco Bay Area’s annual science fiction and fantasy convention in Santa Clara, CA.  In keeping with the spirit of the con, I decided to go with an adapted form of Chelsea Gunn’s “monster feet” as shown in Moore & Prain’s Yarn Bombing book.  I crocheted the feet to make the work go faster, and knitted the toes in i-cord fashion, placing six feet around the convention site during the first couple days, then returning to my other, larger projects.

Monster Feet Yarn Bombs at BayCon 2011

So it was still there when I went back to photograph it:

Four pieces in two days in Cotati….  The first three were originally intended to be installed together, but I ended up deciding to spread them around town instead:

In the center of town (La Plaza and Old Redwood Highway)

On East Cotati Ave at Lasalle

Old Redwood Hwy Northbound, South of McGinnis

Bike rack in front of Gravenstone's

I’ve thus far been following Streetcolor’s advice in terms of installing my pieces in broad daylight, with an air of one who knows exactly what she is doing, and whose actions are benign, rather than as a vandal in the dark of night.  I don’t like the association of the terms graffiti and “bombing” with this activity, although I can’t help using that language myself in discussing it.

It’s public art that is by its nature ephemeral.  You can create something that will last for a few hours or even for many months, but eventually the piece will be taken down.  Its impermanence is one of the things that sets it apart from vandalism. My goal is not to offend the eye, it’s to add charm to the visual, tactile and social landscape, and maybe, in time, to do something that qualifies as art. But when I miss the mark, it takes 10 seconds with a pair of scissors to make it go away. And if I make something that stays long enough to become weathered and  tattered, maybe that means the work was a success.

Somewhat related: I’m singularly unimpressed with this paragraph in the NYT piece:

“Whether yarn bombing is the work of artists or glorified knitters(1), the view of law enforcement is clear(2): it is considered vandalism or littering. Still, the police seem to tolerate it. Yarn bombers say they rarely have run-ins with the law. And in the few instances when they are stopped, yarn bombers say, the police are more likely to laugh at them than issue a summons (3).”

(1) So according to the NYT knitting is not a valid medium for “art?”

(2) This assertion is about to be contradicted by the rest of the paragraph.

(3) So what was the “clear” view of law enforcement again? Stern, tolerant, oblivious, or condescending?

I put one up in Sonoma today but forgot to bring my camera. Photos to come if it’s still there tomorrow.

My first effort in Sonoma didn’t last long.  I guess the maintenance guys in the Plaza are pretty diligent, but it was fun while it lasted.  My second is still up, though.  It’s on a lightpost on highway 12, right by my friend Tillie’s yarn store:

Yarn bomb near Sonoma Yarn on Hwy 12

I put up my first Sonoma yarn bomb today.  I’d intended this piece to go on a lamp post near my friend Tillie’s yarn shop, but it turned out too narrow, so I went to the Square and wandered until I found a tree of the correct circumference.  I saw two other yarn bombs near the square – makers unknown…..

Yarn bomb at amphitheatre in Sonoma Plaza

Does anyone know who to credit for this yarn bomb?

Does anyone know who to credit for this yarn bomb?

Belatedly, here’s a photo of my last Ecuadorian yarn bomb, at a bus stop across the street from the Hilton in Quito.  We got into Quito too late for me to explore any further from the hotel for a more interesting spot.

Yarn bomb in Quito, Ecuador - March 2011.

Tuesday Mom and I went diving with Scuba Iguana, with ample time to knit while in transit to and from Gordon Rocks.  Yarn bomb #1 is a prickly pear lobe, which found a perfect home on a prickly pear near the giant iguana statue in the center of town.  One lobe had been vandalized, with a big rectangular chunk cut out of it, and it was a sad sight to see. Now it looks like this:

Next, I placed a pole cozy near the trash/recycling bins at the bus stop down the street, with help from one of my fellow travelers, who said she had a blast doing it (and earned herself a glass of champagne, too).

Later, I bumped into a naturalist friend who lives in Puerto Ayora and promises to keep me updated on the status of my tags, long may they wave!