Renegade Fibers

As many of you will be headed to Philly this August, I thought I would start to post about the interesting things that go on here; things that you won't necessarily  find in a tourist guide, or on a tour. Philly is a diverse city, every neighborhood has it's own feel and personality. Where I live in Northern Liberties, it's the arts! Philadelphia statistically rivals Paris for the amount of public art we have on display, though you aren't going to find here what you find there! So let's start off with the most surprising trend I've seen around town -- Yarnbombing.

Also referred to as "Urban Knitting" this is something that has been popping up all over the world, from Philly to Paris, to Milan and back again. If you don't believe me, just google "yarnbomb" in images and see what you will find! It is the kinder, gentler form of graffiti, one in which a knitter uses yarn as the tag medium instead of spray paint. When the yarn gets drab and dirty someone just snip snips, and everything is back to the way it was. In Philly this has taken off like crazy, giving the neighborhood a colorful, happy, cartoonish feel. It never ceases to brighten and amaze me. Just like graffiti, you wake up one morning and POOF! Your parking meter has a cozy.

The majority of the work pictured here can be attributed to a woman whose tag name is "IshKnits". I cannot imagine where she finds the time to knit all of this, let alone shimmy up lamposts!

The lace embellished fence you see below was part of Lace exhibit held at The Design Center at Philadelphia University in 2010. I have seen a great deal of work like this around town, but haven't had a camera with me when I see them. Often times, the lace is actually an artful way to "repair" a hole in a fence.

So remember to keep an eye out for stray yarn when you are visiting Philly. If you follow the strand you just might find yourself a work of art!