A Kings Cross yarn – an update
It’s been a busy week for the guerrilla knitters in Kings Cross.
Three days ago, we caught their yarn going up in Fitzroy Gardens, but they’ve been working around the clock with a crane and a giant ladder, and the results are spectacular.
I love the idea of public art, but all too often the stark modernist blocks and balls in our public squares seem more alienating than intriguing. They stand so defiantly, inscrutable.
I Heart Kings Cross is something quite different. Warm, friendly – probably a bit smelly after all the rain – each piece of crochet and cross-stitch is so obviously made by someone.
It’s glorious and wonderful.
A pair of eyes are ogling across at a bikini-clad pole (that’s at the pedestrian crossing where Darlinghurst Road becomes Macleay Street), and, as if to underscore the knitters’ take on public art, they’ve wrapped one of the discs in Dennis Wolanski’s Angled Wheels of Fortune in a relaxed, loose weave – “Chill out, ’80s sculptor.”
The police station has been drafted, too, and the entire spectacle now stretches a little further down Macleay Street and up Darlinghurst Road, though the focus remains on Fitzroy Gardens.
This is one of the most unexpectedly glorious things I’ve seen in ages. Walk by, if you can.
I saw a lady doing this in Woolongong the other day too. A worldwide meme at this point. Not sure its cool to cover trees and living things though. They don’t count as eyesores.
Margie
10 Oct 09 at 10:55 am
to be accurate, it’s mostly knitting not crochet & cross-stitch. though there are a few pieces using those techniques too. zoe made the circular piece & jade made the knitted chair cover. all amazing work!
kath
11 Oct 09 at 11:26 am
Hehe! I was using a bit of creative licence. I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to knitting, but I’m very impressed by the results.
matt
11 Oct 09 at 12:11 pm
no problems :) a quick intro:
knitting = making fabric by creating stitches using 2 or more knitting needles. generally a binary based system (knit & purl stitches) but then infinite combinations of stitches, texture & colours make up the final design
crochet = making fabric by creating stitches using 1 crochet hook
cross stitch = decorating fabric using needle & thread
though with creative people these days there is some blurring of the lines of tools used & stitches created.
next project you should come along & join in – everyone was teaching each other new stitches and using different yarns/colours for their pieces. a range of skill levels.
kath
11 Oct 09 at 1:41 pm
Isn’t it just sooo cool? They have really taken it a step further and made it humorous as well.
Good on them for getting that knit up!
grrl+dog
22 Oct 09 at 2:05 pm