We've been busy this fall! It's proven to be the perfect time to finish up projects. From yard work to yarn work, it's been a productive time for us here at Yarniversity.
Cynthia has been hard at work finishing objects. "I'm so delighted to have finished my Mitered Vee Capelet! That was a project that took more time to knit than I thought, and as it grew, I found that I couldn't travel with it as I had before. So, I had to take the time to sit and knit - sometimes with an audiobook, sometimes with a movie and sometimes just with myself."
The Mitered Vee Capelet was Cynthia's August Finished Object and it took longer than she expected, so it became a two-month project for completion. 
To compensate, she finished a much easier and less time-intensive, travel-friendly project for September: a "Foxy" lavendar sachet made from felted wool with embroidery. Time management, right?
And for the month of October, her project is the Prairie Hills Shawl, designed by Sarah Schira. This project uses one skein of sock yarn (exactly) and has a built in, unravel-able, fringe. Cynthia chose a space-dyed yarn from Over the Moon Yarns called "Glitch in the Matrix". She loves the speckled variety of colour in the mainly garter stitch pattern of this project. And, it's finished! Cynthia said, "I love this Year of Finished Objects idea. It's motivating me to work through not only what I've started and failed to finish, but also to add variety to my craft pursuits, like spinning, weaving, crochet and embroidery. I'm really motivated to try this again: one project each month is a great goal for me."
Barb has been immersed in machine knitting this fall as her classes for the School of Sweet Georgia (SOS) are being published. She has been deep in design, editing, and testing the patterns, workbooks and videos that students can access on SOS. (See the bottom of this blog post for a discount on your SOS subscription). Editing requires a clear mind, an eye for detail, patience and persistence. Between courses, Barb can be found a corner of her neighbourhood, installing yarn art!
The Calder neighbourhood has been a place of neighbourhood renewal, instigated and fulfilled by community members. It's really powerful to see your friends and neighbours take pride in themselves and their surroundings. Barb's contributions have been a wonderful catalyst. She's been "yarn bombing" an aging telephone pole located on a mixed residential & commercial street. She began by wrapping the pole with an underwater scene and replaced it with a street scene featuring transportation, particularly trains.
The neighbourhood, as Barb explains, has a history with trains: "It was the railway that gave birth to the town of Calder in the early 1900s and, more than 100 years later, the railway remains its lifeblood. The train theme is strong in this neighborhood, from the actual busy rail yards to the historical homes and community buildings that have been protected and restored."
"I live close by, and Calder is a great neighbourhood to explore with my family and friends. You can often find me enjoying a coffee or sweet treat at the Boxcar Cafe."
In the latest yarn art installation, Barb has taken a kids play mat with roads, train tracks and ponds as the backdrop on the pole. She then added trains, cars, boats, fish, trees and more to the “scene”. All the additions are lovingly crafted from felt and/or knitted or crocheted with yarn. It really brightens up the pole and creates a fun and “touchable” art installation that brings smiles to passers-by. These changing scenes on the poles create a conversation starter for residents and visitors to the neighbourhood.
And in the spirit of Halloween, Barb has added some spooky yarn graffiti to her art pole! Now the little village roads and ponds, trains and cars are trapped behind a huge black (crocheted) spider web, guarded by a black arachnid of giant proportions. Barb constructed the big black spider with fabric, felt and stuffing. The web and spider are spectacularly spooky and stand out from the playful green of the backdrop.
Barb has further plans for this ever-changing art installation. If you’d like to participate, please drop us an email: info@yarniversity.ca and we’ll keep you “in the loop”. Rumour has it the next installation might involve snowflakes! Pull out your white yarns and consider knitting or crocheting a snowflake. Maybe snowflake paper crafts are your thing? How about string art? We want creativity and inspiration to become infectious, so come and join in!
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