Calgary knitter and fiber artist Linda Cunningham has spun the stories and fibers of knitting projects gone by into her latest piece of installation art: a 75-foot-long knit labyrinth that includes bits of yarn from many past projects, including a sweater her late husband used to wear. The piece is called The Simplicity of Ritual, and will be on display for other people to walk through and ponder at the Calgary International Children's Festival. Through the end of next week it can also be seen at the Epcor Centre's Ledge Gallery.
More for the "knitting that makes a big statement" file: a couple of knitters at the Scottish Knitting Show made a splash with their bold red and black knits worked in celebration of the 60th birthday of Dennis the Menace. The knitters dressed as Dennis and Minnie the Minx for a fashion show.
What's the secret to long life? If you ask 100-year-old knitter Vera Bodle, it may just be giving up your vices in favor of a new hobby. at age 90 she gave up smoking and drinking and started knitting, eventually taking up quilting and crochet as well. She says it's important to keep your mind and body active -- she rides a stationary bike for exercise.
It seems like yarn bombing is getting coverage in just about every publication lately, and now the New York Times is no exception. The paper shares the story of Jessie Hemmons, who tagged the famous Rocky statue in Philadelphia with a plea to tourists to actually go inside the museum. The story offers a nice roundup of the history of knit graffiti and one person who doesn't like the movement: Agata Oleksiak, who covered the Wall Street bull with crochet and says her version is art, while others' aren't. "The street is an extension of the gallery. Not everyone's work deserves to be in public," she said. Let the argument begin!
In knitting charity news, kids at an elementary school in Fairbanks are knitting blankets to be sent to a military hospital in Kandahar, and eighth-grade knitter Haley Abramson's bat mitzvah project has taken off in a big way to help kids with cancer. She knits hats both to give to cancer patients and to sell in order to donate money to Friends of Kids with Cancer. She's raised hundreds of dollars in the past two years and even inspired others to give, as fellow students have raised money to help her buy yarn.
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