A couple months ago I saw a tweet from Leanne Prain, one of the authors of the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit and Crochet Graffiti. The tweet linked to the yarn bombing website and said they were organizing a yarn bombing of the Historic Joy Kogawa House’s cherry tree.
This immediately sparked my interest as it merged two of my passions—yarn and books! And I immediately knew the perfect yarn to use (from my stash too) and started crocheting blossoms.
I also had a thought— at my new internship I’ve got the chance to contribute to various magazine websites (I’m in the digital editorial department). So I mentioned the yarn bombing to Granville Magazine‘s editor, Hilary Henegar. She liked the idea and said to go ahead with the article.
I attended the first of two knit-ins that Leanne and the other co-author, Mandy Moore (tech editor of Knitty), planned at the Historic Joy Kogawa House. It was a roaring success with at least 30 people in attendance and standing room only. I interviewed Mandy and Leanne as well as the Historic Joy Kogawa House’s volunteer executive director, Ann-Marie Metten.
Here is my article in Granville online: Yarn bombing a literary landmark on Vancouver’s south side
I also attended the second knit-in because I’m passionate about raising awareness for the Society and I had about 45 more blossoms to drop off (I’d left about a dozen the first knit in).
I’ve placed a call for help on Ravelry because out-of-towners can mail in contributions:
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6P 2N4
Submissions will be accepted up until March 1, 2011. All cherry blossoms should be made out of pink yarn. Or you can knit/crochet large chunks of “bark” out of brown yarn.
I’ll be attending the “bombing” on March 6 to stitch all of the cherry blossoms (and bark!) into place. And I’m hoping to do more of a ‘photo essay’ with a photographer friend.
February 11, 2011 at 11:35 am
Awesome! As one who misses the cherry blossoms of her college town, this is a yarn bombing that really tickles me.
February 11, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Thanks for this writeup and for your beautiful photos of blossoms under way. Today I called the local fire hall to try to persuade them to bring along a ladder truck (complete with firemen) on Sunday, March 6, 2 to 3:30pm. Wouldn’t that be an easier way to sew blossoms onto this giant tree?