Small yarn bombs at University of Arizona

Today my philosopher friend put some yarn bombs up at the University of Arizona. It must of been really hot because he came back a stinky panting mess.

Here are his yarn bombs:

It has been awhile

I haven’t yarn bombed anything in forever! I combination of factors have contributed to my lull in yarn bombing.

First, it is really really hot in Tucson. It is hot all the time, even in the wee hours of the morning and the middle of the night. I am not made for heat, so I am hiding in my house.

Second, it is monsoon season. The rain is great for the desert but not for yarn graffiti.

Third, I have taken up embroidery. As with all new crafts, I have been obsessively embroidering everything. When the craze dies down, I will be back with my crochet hooks.

Last, I don’t have any good ideas for graffiti 😦

However, I do have a crocheted tea pot and mug that has been waiting to get out. Perhaps tomorrow morning I will release it into the world.

Do you hang out with your yarn bomb?

One of my buddies put up their first yarn bomb today. YAY! Afterwards they hung out nearby to watch people’s reactions. I’m such a ding dong, I never thought to do this before. I usually dash in like a clumsy superhero and stumble away as soon as I am done. I think I will hang out near my next yarn bomb and see what happens.

What do you do? Do yarn bomb and dash? Or hang around to see what people think?

International Yarn Bombing Day

For International Yarn Bombing Day I put up a few items at the Women’s Plaza of Honor.

International Yarn Bombing Day, a set on Flickr.

My Yarn Bombing Journey

I set my first yarn bomb on April 20th of this year. It was exhilarating. My creations are generally given as gifts and are only shared with a few people (a few more if pictures are posted on Facebook). Although, I’ve been told that I qualify as an artist, I never felt like one. I’m not sure why, but yarn bombing makes me feel like an artist 🙂

Since, I have only been yarn bombing for a couple of months I don’t have too much of a story to tell. My ridiculous adventures are just beginning and I am excited for future yarn bombs.

One of the things I really like about yarn bombing is pairing

Pretty Asphalt

public spaces with works generally produced in private or semi-private settings.Yarn bombing mixes materials and venues that do not often come in contact with each other, the results are amazing.

I also like yarn bombing (both viewing and creating) because it makes me smile A LOT.

Thanks to Twilight Taggers for the writing prompt

A Cozy Bus Stop

A cozy place to sit and wait for the bus.

I put this up this morning at the corner of Broadway and Country Club. It dresses up the bus stop a bit 🙂

Yarn Bombing vs. Nay sayers, Round 1

One oft heard (or read) criticism of yarn bombing is that it is a waste of time and resources. Those who yarn bomb are told to spend their time crafting for charity (ex: crocheting hats for micro preemies). These criticisms are problematic for a number of reasons:

1. It acts a as moral judgement. In capitalist societies, particularly those influenced by the Protestant Ethic, wasting time and resources is one of the worst things one can do. We must always be working, whether it be participating in production for hourly wages or reproducing the means of production.

2. It assumes that wasting time is a bad thing.

3. It assumes that the production and display of items that do not have an obvious use-value or value (they won’t be used to sell, produce something else, or reproduce the means of production) are not important. It assumes that the production of yarn bombs is a waste of time and resources.

4. It doesn’t take into account the important affective work that yarn bombing does for some people.

5. It lacks imagination.

6. It functions as gender policing.

I hope to explore each of these issue in future posts. I realize that they need further discussion. These are just my initial thoughts  about this particular kind of criticism.

It is important to note that I am not against producing items for charity. People should be able to engage in crafting activities and artistic endeavors that are useful for them with out censer, this includes yarn bombing.

Adventures in Knitting

I am a very awkward knitter; crochet is definitely my craft. A while ago I bought several skeins of eyelash yarn, it was on clearance. Crocheting with eyelash yarn is HORRIBLE and makes me very grouchy. I decided to take up the eyelash yarn again but with knitting needles. Although it was a struggle at first I eventually found my groove.  I was able to produce this

I knit something!

It will show up on a bus stop bench in the next few days 🙂

Yarn Bomb at Himmel Park

This morning I decided to leave a little yarn bomb at Himmel park. This time I took my philosopher friend with me. My little philosopher buddy is very interested in everything he sees and smells and thus is easily distracted. Not a good partner for yarn bombing.

Jennifer Cecere's Work

I’ve been wanting to do something like the above picture BUT on a much smaller and less impressive scale than Jennifer’s Cecere’s work.

DIY Calling Cards

I have been playing around with the idea of leaving calling cards with my yarn bombs.

I have started by up-cycling a tea box. After cutting out the cards, I embroidered on them: one has a line; one has a sun; and one has a oval.

Two sites that been helpful are C.R.A.F.T.: Creating Really Awesome Free Things and 31 Experiment. I haven’t yet  figured out exactly what I want but I am having fun playing around.