Yarnbomb disasters!

Who loves a good yarnbomb?

I do!

This year I decided (albeit a little late due the general craziness of life) that I would join in on the fun of International Yarnbombing Day – 9 June 2012. My first EVER yarnbomb adventure!

I decided to draw upon a local festival for inspiration. Annually, on the first weekend in June, our little town holds “Scarecrow Festival”. Every year, people create and display scarecrows in their front yards. There are prizes for most inventive scarecrow and the flea markets make a killing!

With excitement and enthusiasm I raided my yarn stash, my craft cupboards and dragged out the trusty old hot-glue gun for a little added bling. Colour! Lots and lots of colour! And feathers! Piles and piles of them! But I will get to those later.

Before worrying myself with feathers and bling, I wanted a simple tree cozy. Nothing fancy... just a colourful strip wrapped around a huge tree... can’t be too hard right?

Like a demented woman keen on self denial I have, for the last four days, been working my fingers to the bone – literally! One may have described me over the last week to be some kind of [questionably] high functioning insomniac with an unhealthy obsession with YARN!

I calculated the number of stitches that went into the 20 cm wide and 4 metre long strip of crochet fabric to be wrapped around a branch... the whole thing was made in single crochet and chain stitches [weave stitch].

A 20cm square requires 841 stitches (excluding the foundation chain)

1 metre  of this crochet fabric (5x 20 cm) = 4205 stitches

All four metres of this THING = 16,820 stupid stitches!!!

Why did I do this again? Couldn’t I have chosen to make this strip of crochet fabric in a taller stitch?

Oh but wait... I get madder still. Back to the inspiration drawn from the festival... With all of these scarecrows about, I wondered (in this wildly irrational, slightly loopy mind of mine) about the poor little birdies all frightened by the - sometimes ugly, always quirky - Scarecrows of Milton. In come the feathers and the bling!

In total, 53 birds have been made. Each created from a basic HDC circle. They have felt beaks, feathers for wings and beads for eyes, all attached with the assistance of a hot glue gun. Each bird required 5 dots of hot glue. I’m certain I have burnt the tips of my fingers at LEAST once for each bird. That’s 53 little red dots, blisters and cuss words expelled!

Each complete bird consists of 55 stitches (80 including sewing them closed). Let’s see now...

55 x 53 = 2115

OR

4240 including finishing!

In four days, I have made a total of 21,060 complete stitches to create tomorrow’s yarnbomb!

Besides the sheer number of stitches required OMG the mess! Good Lord the mess! My living room, craft room and bedroom all look as if someone has spewed a revolting mix of yarn, brightly coloured feathers and the entire contents of a Diva store (!) every day for the last week – and they didn’t have the courtesy to at least clean it up!

When do the fairies get back from holidays? Maybe I should have paid them more?

The preparation for a yarnbomb has been fun, frustrating, awesome and challenging! Yes, I am poking a little fun at the Scarecrow Festival, but that does not mean that I don’t love it, or our town. On the contrary in fact! It means that I love it so much; that I am willing to put myself through the pain of the last few days to brighten up the place a bit on what is, despite the Festival a wintery weekend!

I think next year I will be more organised, and enlist some help!