Riot on the Roof – new bomb coming soon!

Hello loves,

Riot on the Roof at the Vernon Public Art Gallery is on Saturday, and even though I won’t be in town, I’ll have a cozy there taking part for me.

Here’s a picture of it in progress.

You can read about the event here.  Small typo in there… apparently they’re expecting me to be YARD bombing.  Hmmm, that sounds more violent than what I normally do.  I’ll stick with the yarn.

I’ll post pictures of it installed as soon as I’ve got it in place.  Also, if anyone is at the Riot, (Saturday at 8:00 pm) I’d LOVE a picture of my piece at the event with people around and everything… hint hint.  Like I said, I can’t be there.  (boo!)   Any kind people can email pics to:

knitifed (at) yahoo (dot) ca

More coming soon.

Unofficial Go-Ahead? Maybe…

Hello loves,

Here’s an overdue update… I dedicate it to Monica because without her, there would be no knitted tree penis.

I know it’s been a while.  But, to make up for the delay, I’ve got a few things to make this update worth the wait.

First, here’s me!  http://www.castanet.net/events/details/14508.  Cool, hey?

In guerrilla knitting news, here’s a picture of one little knitification that I did last night.  It’s just a little post cozy, but it’s red and so it deserves attention.  I don’t know what else to say on that but that it’s red.

So here’s something fun.  Last night at stitch n bitch, we, us ladies, were all happily stitching away on our various projects, enjoying our fancywork and bitching about all manner of interesting topics (did you know there’s a place in Kentucky called Penile? Yes there is.)  So as we were sitting there on the bench, on the group W bench, a lady came over and said to us “Hey guys, I really love the guerrilla knitting!  Keep it up!  I’m with the Community Policing Unit and we all just love it!  And so do the bylaw officers!  We just all get a hoot out of it…  The only one we really *had* to take down was the penis one, and mostly just because we got some complaints, but I think it was because the grandpa who complained was jealous…”  We were laughing and I felt justified, and I’m pretty sure she was right about the grandpa being jealous because that tree is pretty well hung.  Ironically, when they took the pink penis cozy down, they left the tree’s woody, so it’s still pretty explicit – it just doesn’t have woollen balls anymore.  Beyond that, it has green lichen growing out of the tip, so that’s just vile.  Okaaaaay.

Big news: knitified* is going to New Zealand!  I don’t know much about NZ, but I’m researching.  So far, I know that New Zealand has sheep and sheep have wool and wool means yarn and yarn means KNITTING!  So I’m looking forward to a knitting holiday.  I want to tour sheep farms and stuff.  Maybe they have sheep shearing for tourists.

Also, since I’ll be away from my own knit knit BOOOM! stitch n bitch for 5 whole weeks (how will I live without it?) (Oh, I know, I’ll be in New Zealand), I’m going to have to crash some stitchery sessions on the other side of the planet and see if I can’t find some ladies with which to create knit graffiti.

knitified* out.

For Him and the Girls

Hello loves,

I know that I promised you grand updates filled with yarnbombs in Revelstoke and Golden and Banff. My heart aches a bit to tell you that this won’t be that kind of update. Far from excuses, I offer only explanation. Here’s the thing. The girls and I left Vernon and enjoyed a gorgeous drive to Banff listening to good music and only stopping to pee lest we arive late and miss the main event. But wait.  I’m sure I mentioned that I talked B and Meemats into accompanying me to go and see Hawksley Workman in Banff, right? So… no time for knit graffiti on the way East.

We arrived in Banff to gridlocked traffic and by the time we had camp set up we had to book it down town and over the bridge.  We arrived at the grounds about half way through Matthew Barber’s set and he was really great.  I knitted tidy little rows of Neapolitan stripes.

Then life lost all relevance as Hawksley Workman stepped on stage. He and Lonely rocked a killer set and all of a sudden my tidy rows of knitting turned spastic, spatial and special.  I think I died a little during Smoke Baby (those familiar with Elizabethan slang will know what I mean by that). INTENSE!!! Here’s the best part. Afterward, I got to have a few words with the man through a chain-link fence (on which I subsequently placed the only piece of knit graffiti I accomplished over the weekend during the Spirit of the West set – more on that later) and I was standing thisclose thisfuckingclose to him.  

This is how it happened: We all three of us were walking past and saw him behind the stage so I went over to the fence and shouted “Hawksley!” Then he looks over and sees me so I say “I love you!” to which he smiles, laughs a bit, then starts walking over! In my head, I’m kinda like, fuck, I didn’t plan past I love you…  He asked me what I thought of the set, actually asked if I thought it was okay, which I did (I think I might have maybe used the word orgasmic). Anyway, he was very cool to come say hi and was totally open to a quick chat and I really hope I didn’t seem too mental about the whole situation, but I’m reasonably certain I did. He’s got mad sex appeal.  Oh dear!

Blah blah blah.  Anyway, after this, I was a bit too dazed and out of it to concentrate on putting up tags, but I did one little one and gave up.  During Spirit of the West, which was rad, I snuck over and put it on the fence. And got a big fat parking ticket.

The rest of the trip was spent beating prohibition… we were rum runners. Bootleggers.  Regular Habana Joes.  We were pretty burnt out for the drive back.  Meemats and B alternated between sleep and waking and I kept the music on so I could sing myself awake.  It was a crazy 36 hours.

SOAPBOX:
Oh yea, and guess what.  I totally got judged by non-knitters!  This is great (note implicit sarcasm).
So, just as we sat down on the lawn at the front of the stage, we moved in just behind/beside this group of trendies.  One of them turned around to see who sat down as I was pulling out my knitting.  She raises her eyebrows and leans over to her friend, whispers in her ear, they both look back at me and the friend  mouths the words, “Oh. My. God.”  And then they laugh at me.  I’m SOOOOO unbearably un-cool!  Please tell me how to be!

This is the best part: the chick that realised that somebody would do something as loser-ish as make art in public was wearing, wait for it, boots made of knitted fabric.  Yes.  It’s cool to wear fashion made in the sweatshops of Bangladesh, but not cool to make it yourself (fuck-heads).  God forbid we give up consumerism!  People, curb your creative urges!  Don’t express yourself artistically!  Clearly, this is a threat for some people. What kind of world would we live in if we all made it ourselves, or got someone we knew to make it for us?  Probably a better one.  I pick that one, thank you very much.

Lastly, my focus for the next few weeks is to get my Persephone shell completed and then make some progress on my Stompin Tom Connors portrait.  Because I haven’t touched either in weeks.

knitified* out.

From knitified* with love…

Hello loves,

This is a late update, I know.  I got back from Castlegar fully 5 days ago.  So all apologies for my tardiness.  Please accept this entry with all of its pictures.  Before I get into last weekend, let me drop in a pic from the Vernon Morning Star.  Hey look!  There’s me!!!  Clearly, the arts editor in Vernon knows what’s cool.

On to last weekend… I drove down from Vermin on 6 through Coldsore, Lumpy, Cherrypit to New Denver then headed south through the Slocan Valley.  Know what I love most about Hwy 6? The highway sixyness of it. Gorgeous drive.  Phenomenally beautiful. Curves that don’t quit. 

Castlegar was lovely, though I didn’t spend much time there.  And I didn’t actually even get to yarnbomb in city limits.  I really only got to spend about an hour in the park by the river with takeout from the local Indian restaurant (can’t recall the name) which was okay (6/10) and had overwhelmingly huge portions.  Anyway, pretty park.  There was a wedding on the other side of the river and I could hear everything that was going on and that was fun.  But this was all in the early evening, so everything was closed and so there wasn’t much bumming around to be done.   The closest I got was the rest area that overlooks Ootischenia and Castlegar on the Crowsnest Hwy 3.  I think it turned out well.  I like how the cable knit looks when it’s stretched over the metal pole.  There were some Dutch tourists in an RV who were watching me put this one up and though I couldn’t understand much of what was being said between them, I did catch a bit and I think they were confused by the whole process.

In Nelson, which is ever so lovely this time of year and crawling with people, of all the knits I had at my disposal, only one of them fit anything.  As a result, Nelson just got this little purple one.  It’s not down town, but in the park near the big orange bridge.  It always surprises me how big and orange that bridge really is.  The park was really busy and the day was warm and I bummed around town for about 4 hours before I went for a scenic drive through Ymir, Salmo and back to Castlegar. 

On Sunday I drove back home on 31 to Kaslo which stole my heart and my breath as it does everytime I visit.  Even on a Sunday with everything closed, Kaslo was super busy and I was starving so I didn’t stay long.  I didn’t get to knitify anything, but next time for sure.  When I left town on 31A, I had half a mind to head north to Shutty Bench (just for shits and giggles) but I didn’t.  Instead, I drove up the hill out of town and about half way to Retallack (which is about half way between New Denver and Kaslo – it’s where those old school house looking buildings are) I found a pullout with a metal post beggin’ to be cozied.  So I did.  Passing traffic was minimal, but those that did pass gave me all sorts of weird looks as they rubbernecked their ways past me.  Squares. 

My last stop was in New Denver which is a super cute place and I had lunch at the only place in town that was open, the Panini (which has good food by I hate going there because it’s one of those places that has a huge list of rules that don’t come off as cutesy but a bit dictator-like and which I find stupid and also because everytime i go in there, the woman that runs the place is being a horrible boss to the young people she has working for her).  So I took my food to go and went to sit on the beach.  There I found a walking stick.  So I knitified it and planted it in the water.  That’s Slocan lake and the Valhalla park mountains in the distance. 

From New Denver I booked it home and had a rather traumatising experience involving my car and a robin.  I stopped, cried a bit and then the rain started and, in the deluge that followed, washed everything away.  Which is good because it was very messy and without getting into detail there is no way I would’ve had enough washer fluid.  I’ve never killed an animal in my car before and I now know it’s a very violent and graphic way for a little birdy to die.  I’m sorry little robin. 

Lastly, tomorrow morning I’m heading out to Banff to go see Hawksley Workman with my ladies B and Meemats.  I promise I’ll behave.  He’s just the hottest man on the planet.  Oh dear god.

knitified* out.

knitified* hits Vertigo

So here’s the big deal:

knitified* is on the NOAA featured members wall at Gallery Vertigo in Vernon!!!  If you’re in Vernon, stop by to see it before July 31… Gallery Vertigo is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 am-4 pm and they always have great shows.

I just might have to yarnbomb the little gallery that could.  Doesn’t the light switch on the members wall look like it’s begging for a cozy? Or maybe the banister going up the stair case?  Hmmm…

In other news, I’m knitting my ass off to get some little bombs done for my trip to Castlegar and the west Kootenays.  I think on the drive down and the drive back I should have ample time to get my little knits out.  So now it’s a question of volume. I need to knit.

Word.

New Knitification

Here’s a quick one before the weekend since my last few posts have been sans knitification.

Knitified Shennanigans

Hey, friend.

Here’s downtown Vernon last night.  Fun stuff.

Also, here’s my next project:

Should be fun.  I cast on for it last night at Stitch & Bitch when I got sick of weaving in ends.  Fun stuff.

I still need ideas for who’s next in my series, so let me know who you think I should do.

Knitified Does BC Ferries, Victoria

Here’s a rundown of Easter weekend, knitified style.

Got into Vancouver on Wednesday night and after the long drive, we checked into the hotel and walked up Main for dinner at the Reef. After a pitcher and in the cold walk home, my fingers were in no shape to weild a needle and yarn and I was feeling a bit forgetful. So, yes, I’m saying that Van got away this time. I did, however, find this jem marked on the wall, near 14th street (methinks). So cool!

So, the next morning after a fun jaunt up and back down Main for some shopping (and $100 of yarn later…) I got the Spirit of BC. But before I tell you about that, I have to show this really great stencil near 20th, if memory serves… Anyway, I thought it was just too cool.

 Yes, we had to take BC Ferries to Victoria, of course and this made the journey that much more interesting. It’s a really small one that I made as soon as I found something that could be quickly and discreetly knitted. Of course as soon as I was ready to go, the Capt’n came over the speakers to say “pod of whales, folks!” and I had to wait for the boat to pass them and for everyone to walk to the stern. It was fun to watch people walk past without noticing, people walk past and give strange looks, kids point it out, people stop to check it out…

So that was the trip to the island. The next morning, we went for breakfast at Floyds, which I love (it’s almost as cool and Slickity Jim’s was… almost) and whilst experiencing a rather lovely veggi benny, I knitified the chair in the corner where we sat. The place was packed and I had to be quick, but here it is. You can’t really tell in this pic, but that’s a little bow. It looked much cuter in 3D. In 2D it comes out looking messy.

Later that day, we went for a walk down Gorge Park, which was really nice, and we didn’t even get rained on. All that day we had torrential rain and really shitty wind storms. And in the midst of it all, I knitified the Gorge.

Gorge-eous, if you ask me…

The last part of the trip was spent with family, so I didn’t get to do much more, but on the way home, I got the Queen of New Westminster. 2 of BC Ferries finest in one weekend.  Ha ha ha.

So, that’s the weekend concluded.

Knitified, Bitch!

Okay, so I will resolve for the month of March to be more vigilant in always knitting knitting knitting so as to have a ready stash of knitifications ready to knitify. I’d like to have a few in my bag ready to go at any time.

Here’s one for the meantime. After putting this up, for a job well done, the meemats lady and I tried to do a celebratory jumping hi5 but brutally failed. Didn’t quite end up with hands jammed in faces, but it was close. Laughed so hard I almost peed myself.

Fun times…

This is me showing off the tag.

Keeping Nuts Warm

So, I had planned on getting these projects out for the Olympic Torch relay events, but there were security guards everywhere and I thought that even if I got them out there, they’d be gone so fast it wouldn’t be worth it.  So I waited a few days and I think they’ll have a longer life span.
Here’s the latest knit graffiti in Vernon; just a set of nut warmers. Bonus picture though – a little tree cozy (very blurry) with the Vernon Winter Carnival hot air balloons gearing up for competition at Polson Park in the background. 

 

I’m almost done a big scarf for a banister on a staircase going into the the park from hwy 6. It’ll be purple and white stripes.  Sound be cute.  I just have to make a few more inches of length and then find the time to discreetly put it in place.  It’s at a pretty busy intersection, but I figure, in Vernon, there shouldn’t be any traffic past 8:00 roughly?  Not exactly tourist season. right now.