Auntie Nettie Rockets to the Faire

A couple weeks ago Auntie Nettie got an e-mail from her friend Jane asking if she wanted to go to the Maker Faire when it made its first stop EVER in New York. Unequivocally the answer was YES! I don't even think a calendar was consulted before plans were made. Having been readers of the Craftzine blog for years, there was no question that Jane and Nettie had to go to the Faire.

Now, you know that Auntie Nettie likes to craft. It's a genetic and therapeutic thing. She is by no means an expert crafter, and she believes you can get a real inferiority complex if you read too many crafty blogs or look at too many crafty web sites. However, she was also indoctrinated in the concept of charity, i.e. it begins at home, and it's better to give than receive. Charitable efforts, whether it be for fund-raising for money, or gathering goods and services in support of a cause (like her recent stint making Caps for Good), are part and parcel of Nettie's make-up.

Now, imagine what would happen if the two Boolean operators of Charity and Crafting intersected in interesting ways with a third operator of the Maker Faire? A librarian like Auntie Nettie can't ignore that!

Various twitter feeds and blogs posts alerted Auntie Nettie to a Yarn Bomb for Charity as part of the Maker Fair. Where "Fiber artist Robyn Love [will] yarn bomb a rocket at the New York Hall of Science! The installation–called Send a Message to the Universe–will consistent of 12″ x 12″ knitted and/or crocheted squares (featuring messages to the universe stitched into the fabric) that will be attached to one of the rockets. After Maker Faire, the squares will be made into blankets for the Warm Up America! Foundation."

To quote that oh-so-authoritative reference source, Wikipedia: "Yarn bombing, yarnbombing, graffiti knitting or yarnstorming is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk. While yarn installations – called yarn bombs or knit bombs – may last for years, they are considered non-permanent, and, unlike graffiti, can be easily removed if necessary."

Come on: Yarnbombing a ROCKET + Blankets for Charity? Who wouldn't want to participate?

So ... Yarn was secured, and ultimately five squares were made: 2 all black, 2 patriotic red/white/blue, and 1 multicolored square. There was no time to add a message in the squares, or make them overly personalized. They were messengered down to the artist's husband at the very last minute, so he could get them to her in Brooklyn in time to be added to the longer strips and transported to the Faire grounds for set-up.

(Auntie Nettie is trying not to be overly critical of her squares, but can't help notice that her basic double crochet skills look a little rusty. The square should be SQUARE and not trapezoidal. Perhaps she needs to stop working on stuffed animals and spiral scarves and get back to basics.) Saturday of Maker Faire was beautiful and warm as Nettie made her first foray into that exotic borough of QUEENS, New York -- where the rockets' red glare was slightly subdued.



Jane and Nettie wandered around the Faire a bit (more on that later) before heading over to the Rocket Park where the Yarnification was in progress.

It took a few minutes to try and find the right squares, and originally only three of them could be spotted. With the breeze, the exhibit was a bit more mobile that the artist anticipated, but it was fun for visitors to peer through the strands, read the messages to the universe, and then to add their own.


Jane was a good sport, and made sure that Nettie went back and actually TALKED to the artist. (Come on, I mean they had only been in contact by the phone and e-mail two or three times, but sometimes Nettie is just not that assertive.)

It was on this second visit to the Rocket Park when the additional two squares were spotted, on a table for visitors to use to write their messages. While they were there, Jane and Nettie added their own thoughts. (Auntie Nettie reserves the right to decline to tell you what hers were, but it may or may not have had something to do with a subject best left to be tackled by her therapist.) Here's a clip that was put together showing the installation.

The Yarn Bomb wasn't the only yarn crafty charitable endeavor at the Faire. Near the entrance was was a booth dedicated to making more caps for charity, where reports are a big burly biker type was spotted making a wee small hat in a manly shade of ... pink! You go dude!

Speaking of dudes ... UTILIKILTS was there. Pictures to follow. Because, seriously, how Auntie Nettie NOT take pictures of men in KILTS!?