International Yarn Bombing Day

It was a success! So many great pieces were created for the bridge! Pom poms, flags, a salmon, a snake, spirals and lots of cozies! The biggest cozy is over 50 feet long.

Every single person who walked by had a positive thing to say. They loved it and thanked us for decorating the bridge.

There were a few questions that I'd like to answer. Who removes it? We do! We continuously check on our yarn bombs and do any repairs or remove any pieces that start to look dingy or are too destroyed to keep. We try very hard to prevent any litter or trash. The city of Eugene has not spent any money or time cleaning up our installations.

How is your graffiti different than traditional graffiti? Why don't you get in trouble? I suppose the difference is that you can remove knitted graffiti in a matter of seconds with a pair of scissors. And also I think people respond better to public art that's knitted because it's surprising to them. They don't expect it and that usually makes them laugh. For us, the removal of our graffiti is no different that using a hose to erase sidewalk chalk art.

Why don't you spend all that time, effort and yarn knitting for charities instead of wasting it on yarn bombs? Most of us do donate to charities. But we're also artists. Art for art sake. To ask someone to spend any and all free creative time for a specific purpose is silly. When you want to bake a cake, do you bake it for yourself or is your first thought to spend your time and ingredients baking for a food bank? Besides, we've been told what we're doing is a public service by people and the city of Eugene.

Video by Brian Walker.

You can read more about this event on yarnbombing.com and on our facebook page. Check out more photos on our flickr.

Yarn Bomb Update

We're very excited for International Yarn Bombing Day! Only 9 more days! We've been busy knitting and crocheting and there are some amazing pieces.

This is just a little note about the plan to install it. We'll be meeting on Saturday, June 11th at 5pm at the Peter DeFazio bridge in Alton Baker Park. Feel free to come, bring art to install or take pictures. Afterward we plan to head over to McMenamins North Bank for beer and food. Come celebrate in this international event with us!

Our Next Yarn Bomb!

The Eugene Knotty Knitters are encouraging and welcoming anyone to participate in our next yarn bomb. Scheduled for Saturday, June 11 2011. We would also like to do a potluck picnic afterwards if enough people are interested. We haven't nailed down a specific time on Saturday that the installment and picnic will occur. Keep checking back!

We are planning on knitting some decorations for the Peter DeFazio pedestrian bridge in Alton Baker Park. Some Knotty Knitters have also shown an interest in knitting some flags in honor of Flag Day and securing them to the bridge.

Are there any guidelines? Not really! We don't have a theme so as to encourage whatever type of knitted or crocheted art you want to make. Keep in mind that the bridge gets hundreds of visitors a day including lots of families and children. Also note that while most of the knitted art is left for others to enjoy, someone may love your piece a little too much and remove it. So don't get too attached to it. And lastly, please make your yarn bomb easy to remove. Whether it needs to be removed by the city or by yourself. It is up to the the individual to remove their yarn bomb as deemed fit (is it falling apart, are pieces missing, are you wanting to take it home?)

I have taken photos and measurements of the bridge for you all to use as a guide (in our experience knitting cozies with a negative ease works best! That way it stretches and is snug on whatever you're covering.) Feel free to head down there yourself and look around. There are lots of places that need cozies. Poles, rails, benches, light posts... There are also some trees and garden area that would look great with some knitted plants and wildlife. We're trying to keep all yarn bombing up around the bridge so as not to interfere with the ducks and geese down by the pond and river.

Here's some links to get you going:

The Eugene Knotty Knitters facebook page.

The facebook event for International Yarn Bombing Day.

The Knotty Knitters flickr page with photos and measurements.

If you have any questions or would like to do the potluck, please let us know at knittyknotty@yahoo.com