Saturday, October 6, 2012

Operation Colorstorm - Part II

About twelve hours after the installation, in the light of day, I took photos of the results of Operation Colorstorm's nighttime attack on Weaverville. We'll start on the north end of town and work our way south.

Bookworms at multiple scales, in front of the public library - 


A really large bookworm occupies the other handrail at the library and trails back for yards.  Hand rail sweaters are visible in the background.


One of the Co-Captains of this event came into the bakery as we finished breakfast.  She said she had just walked by the library and was greeted by a staff member who asked, "Do you know who did this?"  My colleague answered, rather sheepishly, she did.  She was happily surprised when the staffer proclaimed how delightful it was. 
 


This was the hoped-for reaction, because the Library had the most complete coverage of any site in town.  Taking aside the beautiful Blue-Ridge-Mountains' two-toned sign, the library's decorations have a rather Halloween-esque result that most of us were unaware of.  The stealthy Bookworm yarn-bomber arrived after the rest of the group was taking refreshments and resting up from the work. My photos do not do justice to the effect.  (please note, in the photo just above, the trash can cozy next to the bench and bunny who was shown in my previous post).


The tag you can see in some photos identifies this as the work of Operation Colorstorm. Though the idea to do this was not mine, I was asked to help with the planning.  The name  came to me while driving one morning, mentally composing the first organizational announcement.

Next is a daytime view of the building that houses Blue Mountain Pizza and two other businesses.  The maker didn't call her red ornaments with leaves tomatoes, but I decided that's what they were, so we installed them on the Pizza end of the rails.


At the opposite end of this building, which is marked with a plaque identifying it as the oldest still functioning business location in the county, is a unique place called "Shop Around the Corner."   We ran into the owners, who sell an array of antiques, vintage housewares and gifts, the first day we were scouting.  They were planting the flowers in the beds visible in front of the railing.  We hope they like the incorporation of flowers in the new decorations. 


A telephone pole across the street is dressed in a baby blanket.


 This telephone pole is right outside the bakery wrapped in color with a knitted ruffle!


The creator of the large bunny on the bench at the library (pictured above and in a night-time shot in my previous post) donated this crocheted scarf as a source of yarn for my garden bunny.  As I only needed a bit of the yarn, I brought the remaining piece along last night.  An enthusiastic recruit to the team carried it off and installed it I knew not where during the evening.  I finally spotted it again as I walked by on my way to the bakery for breakfast.


 My little garden, originally designed for a less visible space, was planted in front of the florist's.
 That area would otherwise have not been treated.  But just south of the flower shop is the centrally located town parking lot.  It got a lot of attention.

You can see the clock I showed in the installation photo of my previous post.  Weaverville has no statues, so the clock serves as the iconic symbol. 

In case someone managed to get this far along and had missed everything else, I believe the tree-sweater in the foreground and this bench are going to make them aware of Operation Colorstorm.





The directional panels got "sweaters" and flowers - incredibly, the same people who did all the work at the Blue Mountain Pizza building did all of these as well.





Here you can see the little mice on the clock.


Below them is a vest by one member, festooned by a flower created by a fellow quilter.


 This spectacular bench is also at the parking lot.  Just behind it is the tree I showed in the photos from last night.
 Both of these represent a lot of knitting!

Just across the street, the telephone pole has a garland with fall leaves.  Weaverville is proud of its Tree City USA designation, but there are very few trees in the heart of Main Street.  An artist's vision turns this pole back into one.


The clever yarn bomber who decorated the lights on the Aabani salon with scarves and hats complete with braids managed not to tell anyone there about her plan for months.  Traditionally, yarn bombing is a stealthy activity, but some Weaverville business owners were given an idea of the plan.


The Weaverville Drug Store has two of these massive columns.  It takes dedicated yarn bombers to get up on a ladder that high to adorn not just one, but both of them.



Maggie B's, a wine and sandwich shop, hosted our primary organizational meeting.  This shop got a pretty-pretty piece, which looked almost like a spider web in the morning sun.  My quilting friend contributed the colored flowers we placed on the railings.  The youngest regular member of the knitting group that was at the heart of the effort made more than a dozen red baubles she placed on the rail and bicycle.

The bicycle seen from the other side.  (The grapes were already part of this fixture.)


Our dedicated hand-dying, hand-spinning expert-at-just-about-every-needle-art-you-can-think-of created this very long scarf for the telephone pole anchoring the southern end of downtown.  Every bit of it is her own yarn, start to finish.  My tree sweater on the Frontier Building tree is visible in the background.


 I'm not sure I photographed everything, but I tried!

We ran into our landscaper and his wife at a yard-sale event going on downtown. They had noticed and seemed pleased with the yarnbombs, so that's the first "public" reaction I got to hear.

8 comments:

Dorry said...

There are so many fun items here I hardly know which ones to comment on. The library area is wonderful and I just love the bookworms! Hope there is no rain in the forecast.

Anonymous said...

My husband and I just came back from taking some pictures and I will email them to all the members of our knitting group. I think this was a success and the write up and information on each item was very well written. Enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed walking on main street today and admiring the talent of so many yarn bombers!
Mohini Gaikwad

Sherrye said...

FUN stuff!!! So creative, Cheryl!!

Anonymous said...

I live in Weaverville and as our family walked down to dinner tonight we noticed all of the beautiful knits. Our kids loved it! Thank you for brightening our day and town. It was such a fun addition to our wonderful community. Thank you!! Your talent, art and time are very much appreciated! :)

Anonymous said...

I am the previous poster and had to add: My little almost four year old saw the bunny outside Brown's and said, "Me wish that rabbit come home with me". He was a big fan of that little rabbit...makes me want to finally learn how to knit! (And yes, he really does talk like that!) and our 6 & 9 year old daughters loved the flowers! Seriously, awesome!! Thank you again!

Cheryl K. said...

Sadly, I've been told the group had to dismantle several of the Operation Colorstorm installations this evening. Still, the comment by Anonymous above expresses exactly the reaction we hoped for. The items were cut down but will be stored for some future day.

Meanwhile, Anonymous - that little Rabbit is a perfect First Knitting Project. I made it from a plain square of knitted fabric, with a pompom for the tail!

pnewl said...

Thank you. It's Tuesday and everything is still up at the library which looks fab. Maggie Bs wheel is my favorite. I hope she keeps it! Thank you all so much for your work! If you need an extra pair of needles next time, let me know! Peggy

Diane said...

This is great! I especially love all the knitted puns. What a great adventure!! Thanks for sharing!