Wednesday 31 May 2017

Local yarn bombing

There’s been much to enjoy outdoors recently and not only naturewise. For the two last weeks in May, a stretch of the downtown riverbank was once again adorned with a Knit ‘n’ Tag event. This time the theme was ‘My Finland’ to celebrate the centenary year of our country’s independence.








In addition to knitting and crocheting, diverse other kinds of handicraft techniques were also presented in the creations mounted on the trees: weaving, sewing, quilting, appliqué, even macramé and felting.









I couldn’t help feeling some of the pieces had been just patched together out of a pile of random items, which is of course a perfectly valid way to demonstrate each contributor’s individual relationship to crafting. However, I always prefer those with a more tight-knit approach to the theme, especially those designed to the finest detail taking every lump and bump on the tree trunk into account.






My favourite creation entitled The Landscape of my Childhood was one of those holistic pieces of art. The swellings on the trunk had become clouds. An orange sun was resting where the trunk branched out into three.  There was even an owl sitting in a hollow.











My other favourites included a couple of striped pieces just because of their colourful beauty, the wrap of crocheted portraits because of the brilliant idea, and the piece with a string of lemons because of the positive message. When life gives you lemons use them to make lemonade the last one was indicating. Some optimism would certainly be welcome for a nation with ‘a brutal sense of realism’ as Jared Diamond characterises our people. It is naturally a strength in our kind of a big picture, but many of us could use a generous dose of joviality in the less grave things.









I didn’t know about the event beforehand and will try to keep better track in the future to consider reserving a tree for myself next time. I took most of the photos around mid-May when the riverside lindens showed hardly any shoots yet. Now the scenes are completely transformed into an intoxicating greenery, my favourite season under the sun.

Have a look also at my post of the previous yarn bombing event in 2015 here.





6 comments:

  1. Those yarn bombing looks fantastic, they are all so different it is quite difficult to choose a favourite. Sarah x

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    1. Even the weather favoured the event. Our early June has been exceptionally cold, at least so far.

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  2. How creative and wonderful! Love seeing all the different needleworks in bright colors against the backdrop of the colorful buildings. So much talent! Thanks for sharing! xx Karen

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  3. Ihania näkymiä Aurajoen rannalla! Voi miksi ei enää asuta tuolla, niin pääsisi katselemaan kaikkea vilinää ja osallistumaan tapahtumiin.

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    Replies
    1. Vielähän sinä ennätät hyvinkin tänne palata... :)

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