Hello strangers! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, the day after International Yarn Bombing Day I had the worst case of stomach flu/food poisoning that I’ve ever had and even had a little trip to the ER, so I never really posted about it. Then I spent the next month or more getting ready for my wedding. And then I relaxed for a while.
But I’m back! Thought I’d knit something nice in remembrance of 9/11 to add to the Alki Statue of Liberty in West Seattle (my main ‘hood). I don’t want to say a lot about the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, but it was a very memorable time in my life for many reasons, and not only was it a catastrophic event that affected just about everyone in some way even if small, it just seems to be a benchmark in my life.
One of my best friends wrote on facebook of humbleness and pride today, and I think she sums up a lot of the feelings I have had over the last 10 years about the event:
“As pride often does, we looked outside of ourselves to find the enemy, the one to blame, so that we wouldn’t have to look inside at what we may have done to contribute. We had an opportunity to question our relentless consumption, our foreign policy, our financial health, our priorities, and our faith. Instead, we forged ahead into expensive, deadly wars.”
So well put.
I’m not a super patriotic person, but I do think there are a lot of really great things about living in this country that we take for granted. So today, I’ll be proud to be an American, even if that is a hokey notion.
You can see more photos and updates on the YarnCore Facebook page, and soon we’ll be having more events and meetings to join that we’ll post there as well. So run over and “LIKE” us!
Tonight in the West Seattle Junction was our monthly Art Walk, and what better time for a yarn bomb that during a night celebrating local art? So for the last few days I spent my time knitting a sweater… for a tree. I mean, it is pretty cold here still even though it is May and supposed to be spring. The trees are cold, right?
Honestly, it is way more fun to do it in the light of day with passersby. Obviously I wouldn’t be blogging all about it if I didn’t like the attention, right? It’s fun to talk to people who love what I’m doing! It’s also fun to talk to fellow knitters.
Don’t forget, we’re sale #204 this Saturday, West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. All proceeds go to the kidney transplant fund for my mom. It’s a very good cause, and we’ll have a ton of great stuff. Please come!
And without further ado, here are the photos of the tree sweater!
We’re number 204 on the map. It’s a group sale and we’ll not only have a ton of really amazing items (Wii Fit, 3 televisions, 2 antique dress forms) we’ll also have snacks and lemonade for sale. Plus a big group of amazing friends all willing to donate time and items to a great cause. Check it out.
Happy Mother’s Day! What better day than today to ask you to come down and buy some stuff to benefit my wonderful mom? And you may just find out the mystery identity of me, Jaesee aka JC, the woman behind YarnCore!
If you are unable to attend, but still want to contribute, here is where we’ll be accepting donations and depositing the garage sale funds raised: Smarty Pig Kidney Fund
I just realized that I also captured my new favorite real graffiti tag, “shit barf”, on the parking sign above it. We saw this on the door of Neumo’s a few weeks ago and for some reason it made me crack up every time I thought about it. What a good exclamation. SHIT BARF!
It’s a beautiful day for a yarn bomb! Yesterday was also lovely and provided a beautiful mostly clear Seattle evening as the backdrop to our Admiral Way Viewpoint yarn bomb for May Day!
A little about May Day historically, because it isn’t a holiday celebrated much around these parts. From Wikipedia:
“May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. May Day falls exactly half of a year from November 1, another cross-quarter day which is also associated with various northern European pagan and neopagan festivals such as Samhain. May Day marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane. Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized during the process of conversion in Europe. A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the Maypole and crowning of the Queen of the May.”
And so I thought, FLOWERS! Lots of them. I didn’t make nearly as many as I had planned, but I had help from some new members of YarnCore so we did great.
Also, Jonathan Coulton has a different angle on the 1st of May:
(there is also a video with funny World of Warcraft scenes that I recommend, but I thought I’d keep it clean with these cute ASL guys)
So, since today is May 1st, Sunday and a rare clear and beautiful day in Seattle, I suggest you do a little drive-by at the Admiral Way Viewpoint in West Seattle to see not only a beautiful view of Seattle, but also some beautiful knit and crocheted flowers!
Before I get to the pictures already(!), I wanted to address a little note on the back of the tags I left on this particular yarn bomb:
At the risk of jeopardizing my identity, I wanted to talk about this for a moment. You see, the kidney transplant patient that we’re raising money for is my mom. She has advanced kidney disease and will soon need a transplant. If all works out correctly, she will get one of mine. We’re very hopeful for a great outcome for this, but she needs a little assistance. She is self employed, which means that a lot of time off for recovery isn’t covered under her job like it would be for me. And while there is great social services available to her, it may not be enough to cover her rent and bills after the surgery. Also, prior to the surgery there is a lot of dental work that must be done to prevent future infection that isn’t covered under her current insurance, so the money will help with this as well. My mom is a wonderful lady, one of the nicest you’ll ever meet, and our close West Seattle friends have rallied around her to get this yard/garage sale on May 14th rolling. We’re going to have a ton of amazing things like a Wii Fit, a bunch of video games, a tv, antique dress forms, clothing and shoes all in great shape! It’s going to be huge, and we’ll have refreshments and baked goods for sale as well. All proceeds go to benefit my mom’s transplant fund. Details on location and more of the great stuff we’ll have to come. Look here for details in the coming weeks.
On to the photos! These first 3 photos come from Melissa Fenno, who just happened upon us while we were putting up the project! Thanks Melissa!
Putting up the scariest yarn bomb so close to oncoming traffic!
That flower in the front is our favorite!
Gotta put on those perfect finishing touches!
Here are a few from one of my fellow bombers! Thanks!
Here are some of my photos. But as I said before, go see it if you can! It’s a good day to see the lovely view, and it is so much prettier in person!
YarnCore 