ARTSPREE 2012: Pom Pom Yarnbomb

This Saturday, July 14th, The Fuzz (with the help of Aloha Knitters volunteers) is hosting a pom pom yarnbomb at The Honolulu Museum of Arts Spalding House annual ARTSPREE family event. Admission is free, and a free shuttle will be running between Punahou School and Spalding House from 10 AM – 4 PM.

Parents of the Art Camp kids have been asking about where to find supplies and lessons; this is a short list of resources both local and online.

Yarn & Lessons
YarnStory
1411 South King St., 2nd floor, Honolulu
phone: 808-593-2212
owner: Kim
Knitting and crocheting lessons are available and can be tailored to any experience level; call Kim or drop by the shop for schedule and rates.

Aloha Yarn
46-018 Kamehameha Hwy, #209 (next to the Kaneohe Post Office)
phone: 808-234-5865
owner: Nanea
Lessons available; check the website, call, or stop by the shop for schedule and rates.

Ben Franklin Crafts
Various locations on O’ahu; check in with your local branch for information about classes.

Online
Jimmy Beans Wool carries a wide range of yarns, tools, patterns, and books. Shipping is fast and reliable, at a flat rate of $4 per order.

Elann offers great bargains on brand-named yarns (often discontinued colors or types), and has a value-priced house brand. They also sell tools, patterns, and books.

WEBS offers a wide range of yarns, including their own house brand. Quantity discounts available on many items. They also sell tools, patterns, and books.

Knit Picks sells their own brand of yarn at competitive prices, as well as tools, patterns, and books.

There are many more retailers – this is just a short list!

Tools
The Embellish-Knit! Machine for making knit cord is available at joann.com.

Clover Pom-Pom Makers are available at Ben Franklin Crafts.

Templates for making your own pom-pom makers are available from Vogue Knitting.

Counterfeit Crochet “crochet-in” workshops with Stephanie Syjuco

Next week from June 27 – 30, 2012, Stephanie Syjuco will be hosting Counterfeit Crochet “crochet-ins” during the Find Art Festival in Honolulu’s Chinatown. At least a few Aloha Knitters are planning to attend the Friday 5:00 – 8:00 PM workshop.

From the official press release, here’s the schedule:
Pegge Hopper Gallery
1164 Nuuanu Avenue, Honolulu, HI

Wednesday, June 27, 2:00-5:00 PM:
Beginning crocheters welcome

Thursday, June 28, 2:00-5:00 PM:
Advance crocheters

Friday, June 29, 3:00-5:00 PM:
Advance crocheters

Friday, June 29, 5:00-8:00 PM:
Opening reception, crocheters of all levels welcome

Saturday, June 30, 2:00-5:00 PM:
OPEN SESSION! Come one, come all!

All workshops are open for drop ins (at any skill level), but Stephanie is going to try to tailor her activities according to the schedule above.

International Yarnbombing Week + WWKIP Week 2012

Fibonacci sequence tree sleeve by ArchiPURLago

In celebration of International Yarnbombing Week, TheFUZZ (with the help of several Aloha Knitters) installed a variety of knit and crochet pieces on the grounds of the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Spalding House location. In celebration of World Wide Knit In Public Week, members of TheFUZZ will host ‘sit-and-stitch’ hours at Spalding House (every Wednesday and Thursday in June, from 2:00 pm – 4:00 p.m. Bring a project in progress or just come to hang out and take a look at the yarnbombs!

Workshop and lecture times are posted on the Honolulu Museum of Art’s exhibitions page.

Kailua meetings – day change

The Kailua Aloha Knitters meetings are now Tuesdays 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Still at ChadLou’s, and it’s a great time of year for their Iced Grinds espresso drinks! 

Pinterest

Are you on Pinterest? I have been pinning to “But What Do You Knit or Crochet in Hawai’i” (the real answer is “whatever you want to” but the board has lots of ideas for warm-weather appropriate items).

Kokua Market Yarnstorming 30 November 2011

On the afternoon of 30 November 2011, I removed all of the yarnstorm items from outside the store, as we had agreed to do. It was definitely time to take some of them down; there was a lot of fading and some pieces got really grimy. There are still pieces up in the interior of the store, so take a look around the next time you are in there! 

All the pieces got washed this weekend and are laid out to dry. I’ll be returning pieces to the yarnstormers and assessing the condition of the remaining items – might re-dye some of the tree sweaters and put them up elsewhere. 

Kokua Market Yarnstorming: 14 November 2011

I went over to Kokua around 11:00 am today, checking on pieces and adding a few new ones.

Taken down: the ruffle on a shopping cart and the crochet circle on a ti leaf plant. Both have gotten faded and were looking a little bedraggled. These will go back up again after being cleaned and refreshed. Also noted that the bike rack cozy has a new hole in it where it looks like the yarn snagged and tore. We’re discussing this and asking some yarn graffiti groups about what yarns are best for bike racks – we don’t want to interfere with the utility of the rack. I’ll be back with a patch for the bike rack cozy tomorrow.

Put up: more jellyfish – a few new ones and a refreshed one. A new tree sweater has been added. Another rock doily is now in the garden, and a small rock doily was given to Jonathan (a Kokua employee) to carry around in his apron pocket.

Photos with notes on what has been put up, taken down, and notes on the condition of some of the pieces have been added to the Kokua Market Yarnstorming Flickr group.

Kokua Market Yarnstorming: 10 November 2011

Crochet lace-covered stones are appearing in the Kokua Market garden as part of the ongoing yarnstorming! There’s no official pattern for making the doilies on the stones here; Margaret Oomen’s “Little Urchin” pattern, however, makes a great starting point if you’d like to make your own. Freeform crochet is another great way to explore this, and there are classes available at YarnStory in Honolulu.

We’ve gotten a few inquiries about pieces in the exhibit being available for sale. That varies, depending on the piece and who made it. Margaret Oomen (who is not in any way affiliated with the Aloha Knitters or the yarnstorming) sells crochet covered sea stones online (and a search of the Etsy marketplace will turn up other sellers as well). So far the inquiries have been about how people can buy the pieces, and not about how people can make their own. The act of making something with your hands is a very powerful, very human act, which we would like to encourage people to at least try, instead of just reaching for a wallet. There are many resources available for learning to knit and crochet, both online and in person. Locally, YarnStory and Isle Knit in Honolulu and Aloha Yarn in Kaneohe offer lessons, and the Hawaii Public Library system has several books on learn to crochet and learn to knit. Visitors and new yarncrafters are always welcome at Aloha Knitters meetings!

The organizers of the Kokua Market Yarnstorming may be contacted at spam.KNITsubi@gmail.com

Kokua Market Yarnstorming: 08 November 2011

I went over today and put two refreshed jellyfish back up (washed them, overdyed them with blue food coloring, and stuffed the bells with some roving that had gotten felted in a dye incident gone wrong), one new jellyfish, and a new tree sweater. Another jellyfish was taken down for cleaning and stuffing. Had a nice conversation with a Kokua employee and a Kokua customer – people are enjoying the whimsy!

Kokua Market Yarnstorming progress report

More photos have been added to the Kokua Market Yarnstorming Flickr group!

A cheesy yarnbomb for the cheese department

I checked on the yarnstorm yesterday and noted that the Fibonnaci sequence bike rack sleeve had sprung a hole (may have gotten snagged on a bike?), and took down two of the jellyfish that were looking a little deflated and bedraggled. The bike rack sleeve got patched today and the jellyfish are currently swimming in a dyebath; after they are rinsed and dry I’ll take them back to Kokua Market.

Feedback from people at the market continues to be positive and enthusiastic, although one of the employees was saddened when he learned that his favorite jellyfish had gone missing (not the ones I took down). I’m crocheting more jellyfish to keep the smack looking healthy! The crocheted mushrooms in the planter have also shrunk in number. While we knew that pieces might go wandering off, it’s been a letdown for some of the regulars at the market who like seeing their favorite pieces when they are in the garden before or after shopping or sitting down and enjoying a meal.