Yesterday, there were stickers...
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Four days of Farewell
Finally have to admit it...I leave the country in four days, in the completely inside-the-box-stereotypical-kiwi way. Off to London, in an attempt to take over the world. heh.
OutdoorKnit shall continue, of course, with stiX in Wellington and myself in London-town.
Before I leave, there will be Four days of Farewell, starting today. Left Bank gallery (aka the smelly lane) plays host. Keep an eye out, and i'll work on my denial!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Branching out
It will all be ok
In honour of Rayna, of Radical Cross Stitch, being in town, stiX and i decided to branch out...
Monday, February 23, 2009
knitsch: hmm, where do we start, stiX? i'm still recovering...I can hardly move...but oh, what a day! From the moment I arrived and started setting up, i was blown away by the response. First there was millie (of Pink Paper Pinafore fame) who turned up with her HUGE pre-knitted cosy. And then there were the sweet Christchurch pair - which saw the first boy of the day taught to knit. Collaboration of the coolest kind. I think that was when you arrived, wasn't it stiX?
stiX: 'Twas. And immediately sent for caffeine. Copious amounts. A workmate of mine turned up, hook in hand, and set to work to create a piece of crocheted goodness to adorn a tree. About that time, the crowd started increasing and a couple of younguns tracked us down and after a couple of minutes spent mulling the concept of graffiti knit over, decided they wanted to learn to knit as well. James and Emma picked it up in a few minutes (naturals!) and then managed to drag 6 of their other friends to join in too. Their enthusiasm was totally infectious... can't help grinning ridiculously when I think about it.
knitsch: Around then i was kept busy teaching a little girl, i think she was about 8 or 9, to knit. Man she caught on quick! Her mum sat off to the side and chatted to a friend for about an hour, and said little girl's sister decided she wanted a go, so i taught her, then their older cousin (who knew how to knit) turned up, grabbed some needles and got stitchin'. Ah, bless.
stiX: From here it turns into a bit of a blur as we taught so many people to knit throughout the day. My flatmate Claire turned up and crocheted another impressive bricky design and I finally got my piece finished and stitched it up on the tree. What should have taken me about 10 minutes to knit took close to 2 hours due to having to give the graffiti knit spiel to everyone that was curious enough to ask... and I started to lose my voice. I may have wandered off to find food for myself and the kidlet post-seaming (which was quite atrocious... long knit pieces are hard on the old arms!) and when I came back I found that Knitsch had kept up the crowd and there were even more people contributing to the project!
knitsch: Same for me - so many people, so much knitting, and after explaining the concept so many times, I got the sound-byte down-pat. A woman from Toi Poneke came and told me how much the staff love their pink and blue tag, and someone else was horrified that 'the one with the 80's jumper' had been removed from Oriental Bay. My grin must have looked idiotic by then. Eventually I had to find food, and wandered past where all the spray graffiti kids were playing on Garrett Street. Must admit to getting all star-struck and wussed out from introducing myself to any of them, and didn't make it back later to chat, as much as I wanted to.
stiX: Ah yes, following our conversation about the awesome street art going up on Garret St I wandered over with needles in hand and made an absolute fool of myself confessing all the stalking I've been doing of DrypNZ. I did also meet the man behind Peepshow and realised I knew him from "back home". Their work was so amazing and inspiring and all the rest. I can't believe how much they put into it! After drooling over the street art, I headed back to the knitting and we were once again visited by James and Emma, who came back to finish their work and add it to the growing collection of cosies on the trees. I think at that stage someone from the Dominion Post dropped by and we had quite a thrilling chat.
knitsch: Hey let's blow our trumpet - we were media whores. Creative Fibres took photos, as did Capital Times, we spoke to the girls from RadioActive, and a business card from a lovely Dom Post lady is in stiX's hot little hands. Which is probably why, by late afternoon, i had to stop every once in awhile, stand back, and feel completely overwhelmed. Never in a million, zillion years did i think that the response would be so huge. The moral of the story: Put yourself out there. We made it to the Carnival thanks to the wonderful Chris Morley-Hall, and the simple act of sending one email to him with an idea. I can say, without a doubt, the best day of my life.
stiX: Right there with ya Knitsch. It was all I could do to stop squealing with delight... though I'm pretty sure there was actual jumping for joy at several points throughout the day. Everyone was just so freaking rad! So a huge thanks from me to the Cuba St Carnival organisers and everyone who came along, took photos, stopped to chat, cosied a tree, and smiled as they walked on by. You guys rock.
And this is how it looks today, without the people, less the bunting and crochet spiderweb.
Did you take photos on the day, or the night? Did you pinch our bunting? Do you want to join the crew? Email us at outdoorknit (at) gmail (dot) com or leave us a comment.
xx Knitsch & stiX
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Isn't rain wonderful? Good thing the skies are emptying today, just in time for the Carnival tomorrow! Should it be showering as the paper tells me it will, we shall be located inside the Bristol, and running out regularly to adorn the trees. Which may mean we shall be drunken. Of course, if it is sunny, we will be in the planned spot outside the Hotel Bristol. And quite possibly also drunken. Can't wait to see you tomorrow! Knitsch xx
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Another sneak preview
They have started setting up for the Carnival. And mannn does it look awesome.I can't wait for the trees to be able to join in!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I have myriad things I should be doing right now, all in the name of OutdoorKnit. But three glasses of rose in the sunshine has successfully thwarted those plans.
Showing someone the site this morning, i realised that our front page was lacking in images.
Duly amended.
There is some fantastic work going up in Left Bank, off Cuba Mall at the moment. I love, love, love the woman in victorian dress. Not so sure about the er, appendage she appears to be spraying. What do you think? is it woman claiming that she is comfortable with her sexuality, or is she being marginalised by the artist with the addition? I'm pretty pleased that 1. there is attention being drawn to women in graffiti and 2. the amazing amount of time and effort that has gone into this.
Poop-poo to to Don McKinnon and his belief that Left Bank is an example of all that is bad and evil about graffiti.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Righty-ho, we have a facebook event!
RSVP right here
and because we love all things carnivale, here's some Tutts to brighten your day.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lost.
Yes, but is it art? is now missing in action.
As is Graffiti is art.
My hope is that they disappeared because someone absolutely hated them, or completely loved them.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Should one have picked up a copy of the Dom Post today, out would have fallen a map and set list for the Cuba Street Carnival. And we're on it! Woo! Can't really tell in the scan above, but no matter. Woo all the same!
I'm rather looking forward to seeing the Tutts, The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, the Batucada Clash, oh and so many more! and of course the night parade...
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
dum dum dum dummmmmmmmm
The big announcement is:
actually, there are two.
One. I am outing myself. in the name sense, not like the closet kind. My name is Tash.
All this is due to a wee interview i did a while back for Radio New Zealand. You'll be able to find it for the next few days here. We're down the bottom, under home economics make a comeback or something like that.
Oh yeah, and then somehow i ended up in a radio studio recording an ad for...
Two. We are going to be at Cuba Street Carnival! Woo!
This is your super special invitation to join stiX and myself in a public knitting session so we can cosy up the trees in Cuba Mall.
We will be outside the Bristol from 11am - 4pm on Saturday 21 February (that's the day of all the Carnival fun stuff), knitting* our little hearts out.
If you or anyone you know wants to come along, but don't have the skills, or the yarn or needles, for a koha we'll give you all three to take with you!
Plus we will love you forever if you tell your friends, family, colleagues, supermarket check out chick, and dog. We hope to cover all the trees in the copse where we'll be sitting - and we can't possibly hope to do it all ourselves! And of course there is the chance that maybe you'll be snapped knitting with us and be eternally famous.
If you want more info, please send us an email at outdoorknit (at) gmail (dot) com.
*Or lamely attempting to crochet. We welcome anyone to come and show us how it's done!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)