The paper bag. A bag to hold things. A utilitarian object. Quite practical and never really pretty. Until now.
Wild Purls recently received in a new “yarn”. You can barely call it yarn because it truly is paper. What used to be plain and brown is now pretty and colorful. It’s a “yarn” from a Spanish vendor, Katia, most aptly, called “Paper” (yes, this is washable).

Our first thought was, “Wow, what are we going to knit with that?” That thinking lasted only a second before our brains started spinning.
I said a bag, Connie said a hat, Julia said a table runner! And that is exactly what we did!

I knit a bag (a paper bag . . . and completely lined!)

Connie crocheted a hat (complete with bow),

and Julia is knitting a table runner! (uncompleted, but lots of promise!)

Now, if Julia could drink more caffeine and thrive on less sleep, this could be done tomorrow!

 

This shawl, the Bird’s Nest from Folk Shawls by Interweave Press, is the ultimate in elegance. Margit worked diligently for weeks creating this gorgeous gift. All those stitches and away it goes as a gift for a 40th birthday celebration. It is true that if you want good gifts, get to know a knitter. Great job Margit!

The Bird’s Nest Shawl from Folk Shawls.

 

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.

 

On a cold, dark night, in a city that never sleeps, a group of brave knitters and crocheters will gather to begin their mission. To some, the Yellowstone Art Museum is beautiful and to others, it could use a soft touch of, oh…say, knitting and crochet!

Guerilla Knitting is known as the kindest form of graffiti and we have been given the job of covering the front pillars in knitted swatches.

April 1st is the opening of the installation of fiber artist, Polly Apfelbaum.

You are all invited to attend the opening and view this fabulous, fiber installation. It is sure to take all of us out of our proverbial “fiber boxes.”

Come join the fun to ready the YAM for fiber on the outside and soon on the inside, on Friday, March 26th from 5 to 8pm when we will be Guerilla Knitting at the museum. And who said knitting is boring?!? Jump on board and join the fun!