On Wednesday, rather early Thursday morning, I was putting a massive yarnbomb on a telephone pole with a friend when a cop drove past us. He kept going for a few more feet, stopped for a minute, and then backed up. It was as if he was undecided about whether or not it was his job to stop me. I went over to talk to him and asked if anything was wrong. He questioned what I was doing. Unfortunately I used the word 'yarn bomb' instead of 'art project' (as I have since learned is a more strategic way of describing my action). He nodded and told me he knew what yarn bombing was, and said that the city was actually concerned about the 'mischievous' yarn bombing going on in the city. I explained that it was harmless and well-intentioned, but that I would be happy to take down my yarn bomb if he wanted me to. He said that I should, and that he'd come back in ten minutes to make sure that the pole was as cold and naked as it had been before it felt the warm and loving woolen hug I had offered it. Well maybe not quite in those words.
It was this experience that really motivated me to start this blog. I have yarnbombed quite a bit but this was the first time I have ever felt like I was doing something wrong. I typically like to do it at night, but I've decided that from now on I am going to do it in broad daylight so as to seem less sketchy.
I have since put up three yarnbombs in the middle of the day. All were a success. Only one attracted attention while I was doing it, and I ended up 'educating' a guy on campus about my favourite pass-time. There is something to be said about the light of day as a sketch-reducer.
I will try to take pictures and post them soon to make this blog more interesting.
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