RIPPLE!

As folk here knew, I’m one of the 57 contributors to the Ripple group-knit yarn bomb project, sponsored by the town’s art entities – the Arlington Commission on Arts and Culture, the Arlington Cultural Council, and Arlington Public Art.

Artist in Chief Adria Arch and Project Leader Cecily Miller did a fantastic job herding us cats (distracted as we all were by balls of yarn).  At the project’s reception on Saturday we learned that a tiny whisper on Facebook netted them 70 volunteers, 57 of whom stuck with the project and worked with the palette and overall direction they established, to create individual pieces to clothe the trees in the bike path grove that Adria and Cecily picked out.  The original plan was to garb about 6 or 7 trees.  I believe the final count was something like 14 were outfitted.

And clothing the trees wasn’t easy, either. With constraints against harming them or affixing the pieces using tacks or staples, Adria and Cecily worked out an ingenious suspension system that relied on Velcro bands around the tree trunks, and used plastic cable ties to hang the knitted and crocheted pieces in place.  The installation is to be temporary – up for just a few weeks – so there are no concerns about girdling or constricting the trees.

Even with the suspension system worked out, there were more challenges.  The grove is located on a steeply sloped bank in between the Minuteman Bike Path and the town’s Spy Pond athletic field.  The grade there is steeper than 45-degrees, making moving from tree to tree almost an act of mountaineering.  Adria and Cecily engaged a local tree company to help.  The arborists used ladders and climbing tackle to get 20 feet up on the trunks, to hang the artwork.

The result?  Magical.  In a dark area with dense canopy, colors bloom!

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Amusingly enough, after these pieces were all installed, someone (as yet unknown) came by and added adorable mushrooms – as if the art has spontaneously reproduced:

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Which pieces are mine?
These two.  I’ll leave you the fun of spotting them among all of the others.

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All in all, a ton of fun.  Thanks to the organizers, the sponsors, and to my fellow crocheters and knitters.  Also thanks to dear family friend Jean Clemmer, who would send holiday presents to the kids using yard-sale yarn as dual purpose “packing peanuts” and as a gift to me.  Over the years I’ve used it to make Fishie Hats for my daughters, nieces and nephews; baby blankets for friends and family; and donated lots of it to Seniors’ day activities programs, and elementary school crafts closets.  Some of the last of it went into these two pieces – the green, pale yellow, and lighter orange I used along with the group-issued blaze orange, magenta, pale turquoise and white.

Photo credits for all but the last two shots go to Alexandra Salazar, who unlike me, knows which end of the camera is which.

4 responses

  1. Thank you for sharing all those photos!!

    Once it’s removed from the trees, what happens to all that bright yarny art?

    1. I am not sure. The organizers haven’t said. Depending on condition, the units may be returned to the makers. I am hoping any that survive will be auctioned off for charity, and have made that suggestion.

  2. So cool! Love the bright colors.

    On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 1:09 PM, String-Or-Nothing wrote:

    > kbsalazar posted: “As folk here knew, I’m one of the 57 contributors to > the Ripple group-knit yarn bomb project, sponsored by the town’s art > entities – the Arlington Commission on Arts and Culture, the Arlington > Cultural Council, and Arlington Public Art. Artist in C” >

  3. Fabulous project! Thank you for stopping by Feeling Stitchy and for sharing your blog with us!

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