The last of 2008

We left several cozies last night. They will probably be the last of 2008. We have a couple more which may be done tonight, but I'll probably wait till 2009 to hang them. Last night, even though it was midnight on a Tuesday, there were plenty of people out and a few saw us. I can only imagine that there will be more out on New Year's Eve. In addition to the three pictured here, we also left two antenna cozies but we did not risk taking pictures of them. These cozies are on the one way sign at the YMCA (I seem to like one-way signs!) on a historic light pole on Washington Avenue, and a scarf for the bear statue in the Parkersburg City Park in case he got chilly! Enjoy!

Radical Crochetter on Colbert Report

Earlier this month, on the Colbert Report, there was a segment on a radical crochetter who was stopped by border patrol when entering from Canada because she brought her crochet needle. She is a crochet artist and even created a cozy that covered an entire SUV and a gun!! She takes "masculine" things and adds the feminine through guerilla yarn art. Here's the link.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/212027/december-03-2008/nailed--em---radical-knitting

December 2008

All the recent cold weather and time off from work let me knit and crochet some more cozies. Tonight we hit Marietta for the first time. We left a cozy on the Mound Cemetery fence and by the Unitarian Church gate. I also left my first door knob cozy at the Black Sheep shop on Front Street. Two ladies who were headed to the brewery saw us and gave us a not so friendly look. I should have taken it as a sign to call it a night. But instead I headed to Pburg. Cozied the handrail at the Wood County library. Safe. My favorite one way sign at the city park was safe too. Then headed to the bowling alley. Thwarted. Next we headed downtown to leave an antenna cozy. A guy who we'd seen walking earlier came behind the building between the cars. It was CLOSE! Went back to the bowling alley and tried again. Someone walking down the street speeded up, crossed the street, and passed within touching distance. TOO close! I have that and another piece plus a male crocheter is working on a granny square he wants me to hang for him. So maybe I'll strike again soon!

Fall weather requires warm cozies

Well, the rain slowed us down but did not deter us. We left cozies on a car antenna, on Stop sign pole at the corner of Broad St and 36th street, and we softened a pokey spike on the fence in front of the downtown Catholic church.

Everytime I do this, I am surprised by the number of people out and about in this town after 11. At 11:30 as we tried to cozy the church fence, there was a guy walking up the street in the rain.

This time I tried knitting with limited success. My apologies for missed and added stitches. I went for yellow because it's kind of like the fall leaves.

Fun fun fun!

let's get cozy

It's been nippy lately. I think the poles and antennas are getting a little too cold tonight. Maybe I can help more than just leaves turn yellow.

Why I did it

I told a few people that I planned to do some guerilla graffiti with yarn creations. They looked at me like I was crazy and asked why I wanted to do it. Here are my reasons:

When you cover the ordinary, you make it extraordinary.
It is magical when we wake up to see a layer of snow blanketing the grass and trees that we usually don't notice. By doing crochet graffiti I hope to create a little bit of that magic.

We get so used to seeing the same things day in and day out. Telephone poles, car antennas, street signs, door handles, these items blend into the scenery and avoid notice. But when you cover these mundane items in a bit of yarn, it brings them into focus. Art is the act of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. A bowl of fruit is just a bowl of fruit until someone does a painting, drawing, or photograph of it.

I hope that those who found my crocheted pole cozies reclaimed a little bit of the excitement we had as kids when we found a pretty rock or a toy in the cereal box. Feel free to cut the zip ties and keep the cozie if you wish!

I encourage others in the Parkersburg area to create public cozies. I just ask that you make up your own name and tags rather than use Los Crochet Locos. Maybe we will have the yarn flying with rival grafitti gangs set out to cozie the streets!

Reevaluate what you think of handicrafts such as knitting and crocheting

Most people I know still think that handicrafts such as crocheting, knitting, and quilting are things that old ladies do. When I say "crochet" people think of afghans and baby blankets and booties. But there is a renaissance in these arts of our heritage.

Artists are making knitted bowls and quilts that look like abstract paintings. There are art museums dedicated to crafts. One museum displayed a piece that had a knitted American flag hanging by giant knitting needles held by cranes. See http://carolbristoldesigns.com/?page_id=91

In other cities, young punk rockers sit next to grannies to crochet antenna cozies and leave their guerilla art on city streets. I am inspired by the first group to do this. They are called " "Knitta Please.” Though they are based in Houston, they have left their guerilla knitting all over the world including Paris and the Great Wall of China. Check them out at
http://www.knittaplease.com/KNITTA_PLEASE.html

Following in their footsteps.

In addition to "Knitta Please" I am inspired by the artist Christos. I have loved his work every since I saw it.

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude

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