Full Steam Ahead on #yarnbombSAM

Although I was worried about starting this project so late in the year, we are rolling! We’ve been meeting every Sunday afternoon out in front of the Springfield Art Museum for the last three weeks.

It feels good to work outside whenever we can weather-wise, and being right by the sculpture helps remind us how ambitious this project really is. The longest beam of the sculpture is 31 feet long, it’s about 20 feet high, and I’ve estimated there is about 760 square feet of surface area.

Last weekend was a bit windy, so we got the idea to sit under the sculpture, in case it would offer some wind block. It didn’t really, but it was kind of nice to experience the sculpture as sort of an outdoor room. Julie might have been able to knit us a wind curtain to if she had a couple more hours, as she was cranking out the square feet on the new Addie Knitting Machine

At my studio I’ve been learning to use another desktop knitting machine. They call these things machines, although I think they are more like a loom, because there’s a lot of threading, needle and thread manipulation, and it’s powered by moving the thread carriage back and forth by hand.

Making as much knitted background fabric as we can this way allows everyone to worry a little less about volume and have more fun with the creative elements. Here’s a 3-D head that Adie Williams made. Can’t wait to see that installed!

Another encouraging aspect is that we’re getting some great contributions to the project by mail. Mixed media artist Carolyn Brady just sent this big package of crocheted flowers and other embellishment goodies.

Adie’s sister-in-law Julie Miller sent over a 100 granny squares and another big panel.

More of her friends in a group called “Unwind” sent these really big granny squares.

This fluffy knitted “cotton candy” came all the way from Cecilia Pfaff in Sweden. She’s the collaborator with our yarn bomber friend Jacob who has a two-person show in Sweden right now. Cecilia wrote that her contribution was to go with the fast-food theme of the French Fries, which is the local nickname for the yellow sculpture.

Any day now, this huge 21’ x 3’ contribution from yarnbomber.com Stephen Duneier  should arrive. He started yarn bombing last year as part of his new year’s resolutions (including learning to ride a unicycle and wrestle alligators) and has created amazing collaborative projects.

The piece he’s sending is upcycled from his Saddlerock installation and was originally created by his high school friend, who commissioned a neighbor in Alabama who needed money to knit it for Stephen. Here’s a really thought-provoking interview with Stephen on yarnbomber website ishknit.com about his yarnbombs and inspiration. When we return the piece for his upcoming Lizard’s Mouth installation in August 2014, we’re going to send him some of our creations to add to the batch!

You can see a more work in progress on our Instagram hashtag #yarnbombsam

We’ll be meeting outside again today from 3-6 pm to make more stuff and start assembling smaller pieces. Then the big installation will be happening next weekend on Oct 19-20, Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 1-5. Since yarn bombing takes a lot of fuel, I’ll have bagels out there in the morning, and the Art Museum is feeding volunteers pizza for lunch. Please join us for a fun event!

It’s really wonderful to receive all the support and contributions that we have. One of the most amazing aspects of this project is we will be attempting to cover this huge sculpture with yarn. Whether knitted, crocheted, or woven and needlefelted, each piece is made by someone’s hands. It will be amazing to have that much collective hand-made creativity in one place, part of one project.

Thanks so much to all everyone involved!

If you can send a contribution to arrive before Oct. 19, please do. Any size, shape, and color appreciated.

Mail to:
RuBert Studios
1841 E. Bergman St.
Springfield, MO 65802

Drop off:
Springfield Art Museum
1111 E. Brookside Dr.
Springfield, MO 65807