Merry Christmas from the Purl Gurls Staring Dairy Mart Cow

Over the last few weeks I have been very busy knitting and crochet presents for family and friends but I did manage to do two Christmas YarnBombs.  One was a simple one in a park near our house and another was a little cow that looked like she could use some Christmas Cheer.  I must say that 2011 has been a good year for YarnBombing for not only myself but for our World Wide Community and I hope that 2012 brings all the best to my Fiber Friends and Family :)
The Little Cow is in front of the local Dairy Mart
http://www.lethbridgedairymart.ca/index.htm

Sorry I have been Absent :(

Hi all I first want to say that I am sorry for been absent these past few months but sometimes life gets in the way of stuff we love to do and that is precisely what has happened to me and my yarn bombing.
But I still Love seeing all the wonderful pictures people post on Facebook of the wonder things they have done.  Many things have happened in my life sense June 11th.  I suffered a bit of yarn bombing burn out.  Yeah I know how could the possibly happen but it did for me.  When you eat sleep and breath something everyday for 6 months and then its finished all of a sudden you crash and that's exactly what happened to me.  Then in late June I found my son a Therapist  so many of my days were busy working with them getting him into a routine  my youngest son Jobe was diagnosed last year with Autism.  So I had a bit to juggle and then well once school was done my days became full of back yard fun with the boys.  Oh yeah and then probably the biggest thing that has distracted me from my yarnbombing happened in August.  I was bitten by a nasty bug...yes you heard me a nasty bug.  Called Spinning!!! I found my self rather quickly hooked on spinning my own fiber with first a drop spindle and then with a wheel.  It has become my new passion not that I have lost my passion for yarnbombing that will never happen I can assure you of that.  But Spinning seems to help me when I really need to recenter myself after a busy day.   But don't fret I have been working on a new yarnbombing project to roll out sometime durring the winter here in Snowy Southern Alberta so stay tunned to my Blog in the next few weeks :)

Take a seat, warm your cheaks!

So Tonight I went with Purlgurl 'J' to do some installations. We did this bus stop bench as one of them. 

Here Purlgurl 'J' is attaching the cozy.

Here is her FABULOUS IYBD Crew shirt!

Wikipedia : While yarn installations – called yarn bombs or yarnstorms – may last for years, they are considered non-permanent, and, unlike graffiti, can be easily removed if necessary. Nonetheless, the practice is still technically illegal, though it is not often prosecuted vigorously.

AND THEN WE SEE THIS....IN THE BUS STOP WHERE WE ARE YARN BOMBING!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I LOVE IT! Should I turn PurlGurl 'J' in for $500?

And here is the final product. Along with the infamous Sheldon!

Fiber + Friends = Fun!

Whats a good thing to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Well if you are fiber enthusiast like the Purl Gurls are you do fiber stuff you could Knit, Crochet or maybe even spin some fiber and thats what we did a few weeks back.  We got together with Purl Gurl K @ her house and enjoyed an afternoon of Spinning.  I started spinning with a Drop Spindle about a month ago and found it quite enjoyable.  Purl Gurl K had advanced from a Spindle to a new Spinning Wheel that she had just gotten few weeks earlier.  And Purl Gurl A was about to get her first taste of this Fiber Art.  With her Birthday coming up the end of May me and Purl Gurl K figured we would get her her very own drop spindle and some beautiful fiber to spin. She was quite please and took to spinning on her new drop spindle like a duck takes to water.  We had a wonderful fiber filled afternoon that day I even got a chance to try Purl Gurl K's wheel but I am a long ways from being skilled enough for that for now ill just stick to my drop spindle.

Getting a Team Together

Its one thing to yarnbomb on your own but its fun to have sidekicks.  My sidekick Purl Gurl -A and I have know each other for about 3 years now but in the knitting/crochet relationship im the real yarnbomber.  But up until the last few weeks its just been us but now there are four of us.  So let me introduce the team to you.  As most of you know me if you read the Blog I am Purl Gurl -J or better know as "The KnittingNinja"  Purl Gurl -A is know as"The Cast -On- Queen , Purl Gurl -K who is new to yarnbombing but has been knitting with us for a bit now is called  "YarnAholic and our newest member not only to our knitting group but to knitting as well is Purl Gurl -M also know as " KnitFlunky hehehehe Newbies gotta love them.  So thats our Crew!!

Three of us girls meet for coffee on a Thursday night and decided to do some yarnbombing as well.  Nothing like and Espresso to get ya all wired up to go yarnbombing.  While we prepared our stuff for installation and chatted about yarn some of us(YarnAholic) bought that night before we got together we discussed the finer points of where to put this fabulous new piece of work we were creating.  The target this evening would be a Bus Stop Shelter Bench who wouldn't want to sit on a nicely knitted bench cozy instead of cold metal.  We had the "Newbie" KnitFlunky help out with that while YarnAholic crocheted up a few more flowers for us.  We knew it was time to get going and do our thing when the ladies in the coffee shop started mopping the floor and turnning off the lights.  So off we went I knew where there was one shelter for sure that could use a nice warm cozy.  Once we got there I had our "Newbie" KnitFlunky take the pictures you see here so do you all think she should be our offical photographer for the team I think she did a pretty good job :)  More Bus Stop Bench Cozies to come I promise.
PS Purl Gurl -A " Cast - On- Queen was sick that night but is feeling much better

Give a Dog a Bone

In the small city of Lethbridge in Southern Alberta we don't have alot of statues and and cool pieces of art one can yarnbomb.  But we do have one really cool piece that I have been contemplating for sometime now.

 We have this cute little yellow Dog in a Park called Galt Gardens its a beautiful park in the center of the city.  The piece was installed a few years back long before I was bitten by the yarnbombing bug.  But now was my chance to give the Dog a nice Dog Collar on a wonderful Spring afternoon 

Spring Bomb

I had been feeling rather gloomy this last week with Spring officially coming and still no sign of it really showing up that I decided to take matters into my own hands this week. If Mother Nature wasn't gonna bring spring to my Neighborhood then I was. So I sat down with my knitting needles and my crochet hooks and went to work. I wanted something bright and colorful so I made a pole cozy with some lace on the bottom and lots of color. Then I crochet some flowers and sewed them on. My plan was to put it up on the way from getting my son at his school so I had him be my look out which he loves doing glad I can make it a family affair. :)

Random Act of........

My Random Acts of Yarnbombing started last week with my crosswalk cozies. The buttons on the crosswalk just looks so cold out there in the snow so I had some unfinished Granny Square centers that I re purposed and just picked up stitches around the edge to knit the sides and they fit perfect and for about a day they looked lovely on the buttons in my neighborhood. Then today after not feeling very productive the last few days knitting wise I decided that a sign post in my neighborhood looked cold and lonely on this first day of Spring Pffft sorry but its not Spring here yet in Southern Alberta :( So I whipped up a cozy for that sign post and off I went to bring some color to the neighborhood and to my day.

Nerd Wars Yarn Storm

Being the nerdy knitter that I am I would much rather knit odd things like Bugs and Cozies for stuff hehehehe. Yes I am crazy and some of you know that already. At the beginning of January I joined a group on Ravelry called Nerd Wars PurlGurl A had talked me into this as usual it was a group of like minded people who enjoyed all things Nerdy like Star Wars, Big Bang Theory, Vampires, Star Trek and other Syfy stuff as well. I naturally joined the Star Wars team being a way back when the "Original " Movie first came out I felt it only natural to be part of this band of Rogues. Each month we have 6 challenges that we are given and we are to adapt them to our Team. This month one of our Challenges is to do Yarn Storm in our community well of cource I have to do this one its just right up my alley:) Stay tunned and see what I come up with. In the mean time check out my cool Yoda hat that I knitted and felted for my son.

Check out the website for Ravelry's Nerd Wars

http://ravnerdwars.info/

Yarn District in Buenos Aires

Before I embarked on my adventure to Argentina I did some research on yarn stores. I found out that Buenos Aires has its own yarn district. This area covers about three city blocks although I only browsed a few in one area because my time was limited that morning I did enjoy just seeing how diffrent our shops in North America are from thiers.

One shop in particular that I wanted to visit was Milana (http://www.milanahilados.com.ar)
This was the first shop we visited. I was very impressed with this shop as it was bright and very well taken care of. When I entered the shop I asked one of the clerks working there is she spoke English and her reply was " Muy Poco" which means very little. I asked and if I could touch the yarns as they were behind a counter with scales on them that they use to weight the yarn....by the way yarn is sold by the kilo down there. The yarns were colorful and soft. Everything from lace weight to roving used to do hand felting or spinning. Although the shop was not very big it was still over whelming but wonderful. What to choose and what to take home with me. Not only was I buying for my self but also from PurlGurl -A as well.
After being in the shop for more than half an hour I made my choices. I choose an Acrylic and Wool blend that was very soft that is made especially for the shop and my other choice was a yarn from Uruguay which is right across The Bay from Buenos Airies. I was happy with my choices and I went on my merry way. I checked out a few more stores one called "nube" another called "Cisne". Nube had a larger selection than Milana but mostly Acrylics and far more expensive. Cisne was more Acrylic as well but nothing spectacular. Except for their window display which was a Swan done in skeins of yarn. I only wish I had had more time and money with me that morning but I am sure my husband is glad I didn't.

More Cozy Pictures

Hi all just a few more cozy pictures that my roomie took for me just before I ran the Qualifier .

Killing Time On The Set

What do you do when you have hours to kill on a tv show set? Plan a yarn bomb of cource. I had brought some little Lady Bugs that I had used in my first bomb with me and decided I would make some leaves for them. So I found a really easy pattern on my favorite website www.ravelry.com and off I went. I was great cause it kept me busy and calm before going out there to kick some Big Ball Butt. Once I finished the leaves and sewing on the Lady Bugs I took it out side one of our tents and then signed the log its attached to "The Knitting Ninja Was Here " the picture here is not the best but I was just nice leaving something behind that was pretty and cute

I Bombed The Big Balls

What an awesome day it was today for Purl Gurl -J aka Knitting Ninja. So here is my story.
So I knew I would have a bit of a wait. So I filled my time with chatting with fellow WipeOuters and Knitting I had decided I would do a small Yarn Bomb while I waited. I had some left over lady bugs from my first bomb so I decided to would knit some leaves. Once I was doing this I put it all together and attached it to a log which was part of our tent structure. Once I was called I went out to the waiting tent and did some more waiting. They wanted me to run last. I was happy to be the last. The reason being is they had planned on putting the cozy on the 4th Big Ball. As I walked up to the top of the hill to get ready to run the course I could see them bringing the Cozy up to the platform for the rope swing. OMG this is really going to happen I am gonna have my Cozy on the Big Balls. One of the crew leap over to the Big Ball and then the other guy threw it over to him. As the Cozy covered the Ball I could feel my eyes begining to well up. What a thrill for me. Shortly after that I heard the horn and off I went.......now the rest of the story you will have to see when my Episode Airs in spring of 2011.
But enjoy the pictures that I do have to show for an awsome day. Enjoy!!!!

The Knitting Ninja Does Her Stuff

Waking up in Argentina yesterday morning was amazing! We were up very early and on a bus out to the WipeOut course. The sky was very over casted when we got there. Once they got us all together they took us out and showed us the Qualifier and told us what we could and could not do.
Then it was back to the tent to wait. We each did what they call a profile which is just us acting silly no verbal and that was alot of fun it gave The " Knitting Ninja" a chance to have some fun. Then after that it was off to do our interviews with Jessica who is the Canadian Female host for the show. She is wonderful and funny and gets right into it with you. That is when I presented them with the Cozy and her Hat which she wore. The Cozy finally got its 15 seconds of fame. I also talked about our Lethbridge Area Stitch and Bitch group. The whole time we are out there waiting or talking to Jessica it is thunder and lightening which was kind of scary. Thats when the Will We or Won't we kept poping into my head. Then it was back to the tent for more waiting. We then did our still shots and by then it had been pouring buckets for 2 hours off and on. The finally decided to just get us to do our shout out at the top of the cource and then it was back to the Hotel.
But this morning the Knitting Ninja is ready to go. So far I have not been nervous at all so we will have to wait and see what happens today

Goodness Gracious( Great Big Balls) of Yarn?

Today I start a Journey I never though I would be going on. Purl Gurl -J other wise know as "The Knitting Ninja" was chosen back in August to film and Episode of WipeOut Canada. I had to keep it a secret up until recently. But during my time of secrecy I was busy crafting what I hope will be my BIGGEST! yarn bomb to date.

For weeks I worked on this project other wise know to a few as Operation Big Red. Which is the code name for Big Ball Cozy.
I am hoping that while I am in Argentina Filming WipeOut Canada that they will let me Yarn Bomb one of the Big Balls and take pictures. Would that not be the Ultimate TAG!!!
Durring my time down there I will keep you all posted and what I can share with you I will but for now you will just have to hold on to your Knitting Needles and wait.

A Little Dust Bunny for a Big Dust Pan

I just got home from a great vacation in Denver Colorado with my Husband and my oldest son.

We had gone to see the King Tut Exhibit which was absolutely AMAZING!

There was a cool piece of Art Work right outside the Museum that I felt needed a little something to remember me by so a few weeks back I crochet up a Dust Bunny for the trip. I would have like to have made more but oh well he would do.

The Beaver's Da Bomb

Its a cold and rainy night in the sleepy town of Beaverlodge, Alberta. What a better time for us to give the Beaver a warm scarf. My "Partner in Crime" lets call her Thumper and I made numerous attempts before we were able to get it over the nose of the Beaver as the yarn was so wet and stretching badly. I would have liked to loop it over more than once but unfortunately that was a no go. But here are the pictures from the fruits of our labors. I have been waiting for this moment for soooo long and now its a done deal :)