A colorful display of yarn: Knitters brightly ‘bomb’ Old Poway Park

By Emily Sorensen

A group of Poway knitters have brought yarn bombing to Old Poway Park.

Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art that uses yarn and other fibers to create colorful displays around trees, light posts or other objects. The yarn is sewn around the object and can be removed without causing any damage.

Members of the Fiber Arts Workshop, which meet to knit every Tuesday in Old Poway Park, came together to yarn bomb a tree behind Templar’s Hall on Aug. 5, enveloping the tree in a “sweater,” as well as hanging about 20 knitted birds from its branches and adorning it with a 5-foot long knit snake and a colorful knit salamander.

“I missed International Yarn Bombing Day, but I wanted to do something,” said Sara Stolz, who came up with the idea to yarn bomb the tree and knit the sweater. “So we decided to do something in the park.”

The group chose to yarn bomb the tree they meet under, which turned out to be nicely shaped for yarn bombing. Knitting the sweater was a several-month project, said Stolz, who worked on it in her free time and had to measure the tree to make sure it fit. The sweater is made of acrylic yarn, chosen because it won’t be damaged by the sun.

About 12 members of the workshop knit birds for the tree, with Pat Pharr-Snyder making the snake and Kristin Osborn, who leads the workshop, making the salamander. “Everyone likes it,” said Stolz. “It’s so colorful; it makes you happy to see it.”

Stolz said she first found out about yarn bombing from another knitting group she belongs to in Encinitas. After a friend sent her photos of a yarn bombing done in South Carolina, Stolz wanted to try it herself.

While the sweater and the birds have remained intact, the snake and salamander have both been stolen. The snake by the morning of Aug. 7 and the salamander sometime after Aug. 9. “It’s too bad,” said Stolz.

Stolz and her fellow knitters said they plan to keep the yarn bombing up until the park asks them to take it down and are looking at possibly doing a second yarn bombing in the park, if they can find a way to better deter potential thieves.

“We’ve also talked about yarn bombing each other’s trees,” she said. “That way we know they’ll be safe.” Workshop members are also working on new birds to replenish the tree if necessary.

The yarn bombing has received a mostly positive response, excluding the thefts. “It’s especially fun to see the reactions of little kids,” said Stolz. “The kids think it’s cool. (When we were working on it) they wanted to know what it was and when it was going up.”

The Fiber Arts Workshop meets every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Old Poway Park in the Porter House or behind Templar’s Hall in nice weather. Anyone interested in knitting, spinning, crochet or other portable fiber projects are invited to join. Bring your project and a lunch; a limited amount of materials and tools may be available.

For more information, contact Kristin Osborn at 760-787-0282 or kristinlosborn@yahoo.com.