On a cold, windy night, in a city that never sleeps, a group of guerrilla knitters arrived at the Yellowstone Art Museum

outfitted with needles, yarn and cable ties.

We weren’t worried about ending up here

but just in case we did, a few knitters planned their projects to bring on the inside. Time would finally be on our side and we’d all be happy to teach the inmates how to knit.

The wrapping/tagging begins…

Some couples know how to spend a Friday evening together, don’t you think? Steve and Linda were the first up the ladders and stood tall in the torrential wind.

This brought out the best and the naughtiest of the participants.

Cara knit a handle for the front doors and used a three needle bind off.

Guerrillas come in all ages.

They call it the nicest form of graffiti, this guerrilla knitting thing. I spoke to the founder of the Micro Fiber Militia who was the inspiration of this wild evening. The bike rack in front of the YAM was featured in the book, Yarn Bombing. In the dark of night, the bike rack was adorned with crochet. Our guerrilla comrade shared the idea that knitting goes from a skill to a craft to an art form. And graffiti is certainly an art form for all.

We loved the fun and would like to try our hand at this again soon…any takers?

 

My good friend and knitter extraordinaire, Sue Baker, formed a knitting club at Poly Drive Elementary this past winter. A group of young knitters gathered weekly to learn the basics of knitting. Little did Sue know that she was teaching life lessons with each knit and purl. The group decided to knit squares that could eventually turn into a blanket for the local battered womans shelter.

I don’t know about you but my belief is that the more we give and teach our children to give, the more goodness will come back. All the knitting, the time and effort of putting each square together, coordinating people’s time and energy resulted in a beautiful end product.

Great job knitters and helpers! Your one good act will make a world of difference.

 

Does this like deja vu all over again? Our friend and teacher Mary Scott Huff arrived on a blustery day in January wearing this beauty. And Saralee couldn’t wait to try one for herself. Now if that isn’t enough, she said it took her 10 days to knit and finish it. Great job Saralee! Knit another soon. Wow!

 

Two years ago, my daughter and I spent a pleasant evening in Cape May, New Jersey. It is a lovely town on the Southern tip of New Jersey filled with Victorian inns and a mass of people. We enjoyed a night on the Jersey shore before heading into the Big Apple. I loved being on the ocean and taking a long walk on the beach. One of the most memorable events in Cape May was sitting on the upper deck of our little Inn, knitting and enjoying mother/daughter conversation. Somehow being away from home, talking about nothing in particular while knitting, made the long hours of this evening particularly special.

I want to share this wonderful Cape May guerilla knitting story with all of you.

Looks like Granny’s stitch-and-bitch is taking it to the streets.
The New Jersey town of Cape May has been thrown for a “loop” after an anonymous knitter embellished a local park’s trees and lampposts with colorful knit garments, the Press of Atlantic City reports.
The knit sleeves (or leggings, if you like) started appearing in late February, and the sartorial stitch-up has townspeople on the hunt for the “midnight knitter,” according to the paper.
“We don’t know who it is,” Mayor Pam Kaithern told the paper. “Technically, they shouldn’t be doing it. The police are asking about it, but it’s fun and it’s a mystery.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a case of renegade craftism; in 2007 we reported on Stockholm’s illegal street knitting scene. (Now there’ are four words we never thought we’d see in the same sentence again.)
Fortunately, most residents speaking to the paper seem to approve of the night knitting.
“I think they’re actually going out and knitting in the middle of the night,” local artist Diane Flanegan told the source. “That’s weird and that’s why people like it.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” resident Jamie Smith added. “It’s better than somebody spray painting all over the place.”
Of course, the mystery may soon be unraveled; one resident told the paper that she knows some of the guerilla knitters, who reportedly receive yarn donations from a group of senior citizens.
Hey, they’ve gotta do something to liven up the ol’ knitting circle.

 

Our community knitting group spreads goodness and surprises. Wanda wandered in with a bushel of bears and Janet arrived with her sweater and bunny. And the true surprise of these two wonderful knitters and all those who participate in this group, is that everything they knit is given away. We know that knitters are generous and giving but this group is amazing with their giving.