Yarn Bombs Galore!

Okay…it’s been another long hiatus between blog entries, but this definitely merits mentioning here. I’m still recovering from last week’s events. What events? Well…I had the largest yarn bomb that I have created featured at the Birmingham Museum of Art. An entire car…well, probably one of the smallest cars available, but still! The event was called Art on the Rocks, which is a fun event that they put on in the summer months. It was the last Art on the Rocks event, right before the Andy Warhol exhibit was scheduled to leave. The design of the yarn bomb was inspired by Andy Warhol’s vibrant use of color, and The Rainbow Fish. To my surprise, I even ended up on the FRONT PAGE of The Birmingham News! You will rarely see my photo, since I’m horribly unphotogenic (is that a word?)…and I even tried to convince the newspaper reporter that he could focus on the car and that I didn’t really feel comfortable being photographed, that I would end up being embarrassed by it and I didn’t want to feel that way after all of the work that went into the piece. Long story short, two of my friends that were there convinced me to take the photo with the car, and I did it quickly just to get it over with and hoped for the best. I didn’t HATE the photo, which is saying a lot. I took the entire week off work so that I could focus on this project. This was my "week of living like a full time artist". I thought it would be relaxing, but I was so filled with anxiety and stayed so stressed trying to finish everything. There were nights where I didn't get more than a couple hours of sleep and I still feel like I'm exhausted, but have been on a crochet break this week. I've never felt so under the gun, but I was so pleased that so many people got a chance to see it.

There were a few other pieces sprinkled around the museum the entire weekend, and I did a live yarn bombing on Thursday installing the “CREATE” piece on the stairwell and a really long installment on the hand railing. I also got to display my “CAROUSEL HORSE” yarn bomb that I completed last year for the first time in public. It was featured on a Fox 6 News. JeJe Pruitt wanted to speak with me on camera (live), but I just could not bring myself to do that. I felt like I would have said something stupid, or become overwhelmed with emotion and just started crying…I just had a feeling I would have embarrassed myself and asked Carrie Montgomery to speak on my behalf. She is so at ease in front on the cameras and she did a great job.

I also need to add a photo of the yarn bomb I did to Miss Fancy in Avondale Park (Birmingham, Alabama).

Chez Lulu Yarn Bomb

In celebration of Sugar's birthday, Ordra and I took her to our favorite place to dine...Chez Lulu in English Village. If you live in Birmingham, AL and have never been there (or neighboring Continental Bakery), you have to try it. We shared a variety of favorite dishes, wine and just laughed and enjoyed each others company. That place never disappoints. The waiter didn't even seem to notice when I was yarn bombing one of the chairs, not even when I was holding the chair between my ankles at a 45 degree angle. We were kinda tucked away in an alcove so, none of the other patrons noticed either. I think he was pre-occupied with how much fun we were having, he was an awesome waiter. I felt compelled to leave a yarn bomb there, since it's been a favorite spot for over 10 years now...AND it was Sugar's birthday. I thought about this at the last minute and was totally unprepared, not even a scrap of yarn in the car or a hook. Stopped by the Walmart on the way over though, their hook selection was pathetic, actually had to get a Tunisian crochet hook (always wanted to learn that anyways). Did the trick though. At least they had yarn in her favorite color.

Preparing for another yarn bomb. A bit last minute and only a week to prepare! This one has a color theme, which is kinda nice because all of the smaller pieces seem to go together as one large piece. Even though this is already a busy weekend, I'm trying to make as many in the color theme as possible since Friday we will assemble everything. I can't wait to see how it looks together with Tracy's pieces...hopefully pretty amazing. I've had to put a few things on the back burner to get this finished by Friday. I'm under a deadline to finish some yarn bombed pieces for a gallery showing next month, just glad that the largest piece is covered and only needs a little embellishment, but still a lot of smaller projects still undone. I'm a little worried about it, good thing I work well under pressure. I'll be able to make up for lost time next weekend, a serious marathon planned, new audiobook downloaded and looking forward to it. As far as today, it looks like I'll be out of the house the entire afternoon, so not much will be done as far as crocheting. The possibility of having some photos taken (which desperately needs to be done for the Etsy shop)is promising though, so not a total waste precious down time on my last day off before the event.