yours yarnly

yesterdayโ€™s yearnings โ€“ yearly yonder

The weather in the UK has not been following last year’s anomalous hotness… Am i surprised? Not really. But, when i started thinking about this post a little while ago, it was looking promising, with few days here and there bringing us temperatures warranting light jackets, if any outerwear at all… I nearly put my woolly wonders away, before i realised how perfect they are for this exact time in the year….

Crochet blankets are exactly the perfect spring/ summer outdoorsy attire โ€“ for evenings especially in the UK.  Whether you are sitting outside after a barbeque of an evening, in your garden, or gathered by a campfire, anywhere outside really, a crochet blanket is something i really cannot remove from this picture that conjures up nostalgia, sharing stories by the fire and connection..

Because of the size of my work, i have long longed to take my enormous crochet blankets outside, for a few reasons. They are very difficult to photograph indoors, because of the scale and the light that is needed for them to shine. This is the basic dilemma of space and light. So many distracting things in a flat, that would lose their impact in an open space…

On a beach or in a park, somewhere near the kind of nature you visit when you go camping and/ or organize a barbecue get together with people you enjoy spending time with. There has been a secret plan of taking and placing my work outside for very many months now. Finally, i have managed to have the first go at this, just to try what the results may be, and to see whether this would be something of value to me as a future project. Really, just a bit of fun! My own breed of yarn bombing…

Yarn-bombing; which is a term that has been adapted by a number of textile makers, knitters and crocheters alike, to describe the process of covering of inanimate, large, usually metal objects, usually outside in the open air, with crocheted or knitted pieces as tightly as possible, and all over. You can still recognize the object, but it has taken on a soft, colourful look facilitated by the crochet/ knitted coverings.

I have seen photographs of cars, benches, bikes, a tank even, and multiple fences and trees covered up with wool. As a way of, i can only guess, making metal objects more pleasing to the eye. Possibly also challenging the stereotypical way to use yarn, to create homely objects. The collaborations between the unmovable metal and the ever flexible yarn, as a way of connecting two polar opposites of soft and tough, stereo-typically considered male and female qualities, may be of more value than just the appearance. This might be a bit of an insertion on my part, and very much only a personal opinion.

BUT

If you indulge me this way of thinking for just a little while longer, maybe we can find some value in seeing it this way… To look at it the polarity of traditional views of metal and textile, in terms of construction, for example, most of us may considered metal more suitable for achieving structurally large objects than textiles. Translated into yarn-bombing, then, i choose to see this as a way of reconnecting, as a way of maybe recognising that we all as individuals have capacity for both, strength and softness, two parts of each individual needed to a different degree in different situations.

But i digress.

Tangents out of the way, i did take the four blankets that are as of today in my collection, to the beach recently, and had loads of fun photographing them. The day brought perfect weather conditions, despite the forecast not being favourable at all.

The whim paid off, and i am very very proud to present here today, these four beauties out and about, showing off in the wind as i always knew they would.

Oh and watch some YouTube videos of my oversized crochet blankets on the beach HERE.

So watch this space, we will see how these ladies do on a green grassy background…

And Thank You to all those who helped me, who took some of the photos for me, and generally who supported me with this fun trip. ๐Ÿ™‚ You know who you are. ๐Ÿ™‚ <3 ๐Ÿ™‚

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2 Responses to yours yarnly

  1. e says:

    โ™ฅ๏ธ the art of crochet and the nature. great idea

    • Thank You. ๐Ÿ™‚ i forgot to explain why crochet blankets are so good for evenings after a sunny day – because they are warm, but also airy – what with the holes in them so that you would be warm, but not too hot… just perfect. ๐Ÿ™‚

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