'Guerrilla art' drapes city sites in yarn

Shawls were draped on the statues in Triangle Park.

Knitting together the yarn of several city sites draped in handmade clothing and other coverings turned up the story of an international "guerrilla art" project.

People driving by the statues in Triangle Park, or the clock in Railroad Park, or the gazebo at the visitor's center, saw the objects covered in yarn creations -- all part of International Yarn Day and Knit in Public Day.

After spending months working on the projects, members of the Mountain Home Yarn Lovers slipped out in the early morning hours of June 11 to quietly cover the objects in some of their yarn work -- a form of "graffiti" known as a "yarn bombing."

"It was designed to show yarn as art," said Vivian Meyer, one of the founders of the group that meets every week to knit and crochet items for themselves and others.

One of the group's members had read about "guerilla art" projects associated with International Yarn Day in other parts of the country (in Texas, for example, on group covers cars in yarn), "and we decided that was a pretty good idea," Meyer said. "We just did it. We didn't ask permission."

The visitor's center gazebo was given yarn arms and a purse. The statues in Railroad Park were draped with shawls, and the clock in Railroad Park was wrapped in 21 pounds of yard that took Meyer two weeks to knit.

Then, they sat back to enjoy the reaction. A week later, they removed the coverings, some of which will be donated to charitable causes. The yarn used to decorate the clock for example, will probably be recut and used to make scarves for the homeless.

In fact, a lot of the work of the Mountain Home Yarn Lovers goes to charity. Members have made creations for Special Olympics, they've knitted socks for troops, hats for premature babies and cancer patients, and afghans they've given to local nursing homes and care centers.

The yarn lovers group meets every Thursday night at the Phoenix Bookstore on American Legion Boulevard, beginning at 7 p.m. in the bookstore's meeting room. Loosely organized, there are no officers and no dues or fees.

"It's just for anyone who wants to get together to knit or crochet or cross stich," Meyer said, or anyone who wants to learn those skills. "Just come by. We've even got the needles and hooks and yarn to help you get started." Participants range in age from people in their 20s to their 80s.

Meyer said the group had so much fun with the yarn day events that they'll almost certainly do it again next year.