ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

Best Beloved phoned me before lunch today – he was out on a short break and walk after a heavy morning. He who never took much notice of the state of tree trunks on his walks rang to say that seven, 7 no less trees have been yarnbombed on Bos en Lommer (Amsterdam Sloterdijk) – way to go.

Have photos via a trusy Vodafone phone – thank you Best beloved.

And then of course because I am a librarian I went on the hunt to find out more about this event Read about it in Dutch here sorry but it really is all in Dutch – and I haven’t discovered an English explanation – what I do know is that it is an urban knitting project in Almere-Haven, Flevoland (an area of the Netherlands) and the artists are listed on the website with links to their own sites – and they are worth a look.

The photos here were taken by Harald Walker – in March this year. So it is not a recent event, this yarnbombing.

Pity my ball warmers didn’t survive.

Best Beloved walks here now and again and has just spied them.

Trees with designer coats.

The news is in – the ball cover has gone – it was noted at about 3.30 pm today (Wednesday) that there is no longer a red and white knitted cover on any of the balls by the side entrance to the Vodafone building in Maastricht

I am not heart broken this time
I am not gutted

I am busy knitting something orange for Queens Day and I have two patterns to finish. I have also purchased an orange hat with orange flowers to wear should we wander about on the day to experience all things orange. Check out Koninginnedag – Queens Day here

I am sorry I didn’t finish all the ends properly.

We don’t know if it lasted the weekend, we only know it was there 3.30pm Friday and today we know it is not there. It could have gone at 3.35pm on Friday.

I think we have said it already – we (Best Beloved and I) installed a ball cover / disguise on a ball outside Vodafone offices yesterday morning in Maastricht.

Maybe Vodafoners are so used to odd ball things which is why they just walked by without so much as a sideways glance.

So successfully installed.

Ball Cover was tooo Big

We were not accosted by anyone

TNT deliverers noticed. Vodafoners walked by.

It was still there at 3.30pm

And they didn’t notice

we (Best Beloved and I) installed a ball cover / disguise on a ball outside vodafone offices this morning in Maastricht and the b……. thing was too big. – it was too big – it was too big – it was red & white all over – and had the Vodafone teardrop logo on it.

And no-one noticed us at all – not that it was too big – just that it was there – they didn’t even see it.

The TNT delivery guys – they saw it! Cyclists saw it.

It was still there at 3.30pm

This one even has my card on it – never done that before.

Wouldn’t you think that an oversized ball cover would be noticed – especially with your logo on it.

and no comment was heard – anywhere.

Flower parade tomorrow

train to catch, train to catch

Ball to cover, ball to cover

Hope it fits, Hope it fits

Hope no one is about

Gotta Go, Gotta Go, Gotta Go

Damm

Hope it will be fun in Maastricht – It was so much fun in Haarlem

I am going to knit NOW – because I may have an opportunity to maybe install a red and white ball cover in Maastricht on Friday morning if Best Beloveds work means he needs to be there overnight.

I cannot install alone, and there have been no offers of assistance in the Netherlands – so I must use Best Beloved to record the activity; and of course, I must also finish knitting the cover or it will be an opportunity wasted.

Must knit, must knit, must knit, must knit
red and white, red and white, red and white, red and white

Am a bit stressed about this one
Must knit
must knit

NOT a Danish flag then.

Our very local yarn shop has just been sold. My Dutch language is not very good – so I don’t know yet if that means that the business has been sold and it will still be a yarn shop, or if means that the shop only has been sold, which means there will not be any yarns available within 500 metres of where I live. And those yarns in the little shop are all reduced in price, and some reduced very heavily indeed. It makes my pulse race the thought of lovely yarns at reduced prices. What to do?

Of course I have been in there looking at the yarns, (only at the ones at reduced prices of course), and trying so hard to justify buying some more yarn. Why!!!!

I have so much yarn already.

But then “Is it possible to ever ever have sufficient yarn?” I don’t know the answer to that question, do you?

But there is an event coming up, a huge national celebration all over the Netherlands – Queens Day Koninginnedag the biggest, most orange party you could ever ever imagine.

But, back to the yarn – they had orange yarn (now that is such a coincidence), acrylic yarn, entirely suitable for a yarn bombing, urban art, graffiti art knit, knit art graffiti, guerilla art, you name it – this orange yarn is so suitable for a piece or two for Queen’s Day.

I do not usually have very much Orange yarn in my collection, nor do I usually have very much acrylic yarn in my collection. Now I have both of those and it is only 19 days to Queen’s Day.

I have an orange hat to wear to the party, but I might also have a little orange knitting to install somewhere as well. I’ll let you know.

This little post will be so brief that you just might miss it.

There will not be a creative knitted / designer covering placed on a ball in Maastricht tomorrow – April 1st, April Fool’s Day. Unfortunately creating and knitting a sphere – with a logo – is much more difficult that estimated and the installation is postponed.

It will happen – I have the yarn, the spherical object, and its size. I have the will, I can knit and I will find the way to make that logo look right – which right now it simply does not.

If all else fails it will be knitted in the company colours without the logo. It will not be as effective without the logo but if it has be then it has to be.

Hope that does not happen.

Will keep you posted.

This is a link to an interesting list of April Fool’s Day hoaxes. This is not because mine is a hoax, it was fully my intent to install on April 1st – too much work, too little time and the complexity of adding a logo on a spherical piece of knitting just got in the way of completing the piece.

The balls are back like rows of Bridesmaids awaiting to move forward in the church.

They will look grand back in position. Trouble is, and I do not know if this is trouble yet, there were 24 balls (not the 25 I originally stated), now there are 20 waiting. I do hope the evenly spaced balls will look as grand on this elegant curve if there are only 20. It could also be that when I go back today that another 4 will have materialised.

A Yarnbombing, A Graffiti Art Knit installation, or an Urban Art installation will occur here again I am sure. I do hope the powers that be in Haarlem will let them sit and rest a little before removing them next time.

I am gobsmacked, my heart is pounding – the news is in: the balls are back. That is the great concrete balls of Haarlem Town Square (Grote Markt) are back. They are not back in their original position as yet, they are sitting and waiting to be repositioned as the road works continue.

So just maybe a yarnbombing, a graffiti art knit installation, urban art piece, yarn storming, street art piece will be able to be installed in Haarlem again.

Did you know that according to Wikipedia yarn bombing is almost exclusively about reclaiming and personalizing sterile or cold public places?

Having said that I do not think that the Haarlem Town Square is a sterile and cold public space. We have had wonderful meals here, fresh mint tea here, greeted Sinter Klaas here, farewelled Sinter Klaas here. We have bought bird food for the birds, partridge for us, and winter truffle, olives, olive oil, flowers, fish and yarn here in this square. We have listened to jazz at the Annual Haarlem Jazz festival as well as at various venues around the square. We have participated in food and wine tastings, been enticed by the idea of the Keukenhof Gardens and so much more.

Can you say that about your town square?

We have crunkled across the snow, taken our bikes through the square (once), welcomed Olympians to the square, participated a couple of times at the local stitch ‘n Bitch at the square. We have eaten kibbeling, frites, stroopwafels, poffertjes but not raw herring in the square. Tried various beers, wines, olives, and breads, in this square. We have spent a couple of days at a medieval village and market in the square.

There is just nothing cold and sterile about this space.

BUT the balls, the great balls of Haarlem, now they were cold.