I know that sometimes yarn is useful for things other than knitting.
With a ball of yarn, you can truss a turkey.
Decorate your sun hat with pom poms.
Stuff your bra.
Entertain the cat.
Lay down a straight line of carrot seeds.
Measure the distance from the front door to the back door.
Christo a lampshade.
Trip a bad guy running after your friend, E.T.
Rapel down the White Cliffs of Dover.
Lash a broken mast together and finish the Halifax/Marblehead race.
Bring the entire printing operation of the New York Times to a screaching tangled halt.
My friend Megan lives next door to a beautiful old piece of land that was bought up and subdivided by a heartless contractor. Despite a city wide protest, he's sticking five houses right in her back yard, and through it all, she has to endure the rumblings of construction from 7 am to 3 in the afternoon five days a week from this May to next. The crew is amiable enough, but they keep opening up great trenches around her house for sewer, cable, telephone, and well, you get the picture. She called me one day last week for an art emergency: she had decided that she needed to remind the guys that for all the coffee they brought her and the cookies she made them, that she still had a comment to make about the disruption to her life, and her mail delivery. I gave her a skein of yarn from the stash to "sew" the gash back together.
Everyone thought it was pretty funny the next day, until they had to get back to work, of course. But art had been made.
Sucks about the developer, but your art is awesome. Also, I like your list.
Posted by: Jen in CT | June 19, 2008 at 05:41 PM
That is WONDERFUL. (If you have any more photos, or if you could tell me more about how the specific idea came about, I'd love it...I'm a rhetorician, specializing in rhetorical craft/needlework, and this is fascinating to me.)
What an awesome personal protest!
Posted by: Heather | June 19, 2008 at 07:00 PM
Most excellent.
Posted by: Lynn in Tucson | June 19, 2008 at 07:08 PM
That is really cool! What a way to make art, achieve catharsis (hopefully), and make a geopolitical statement all at once. Plus, the pics demonstrate how a beautiful image can be created out of a crummy situation.
Posted by: Aubrey | June 19, 2008 at 07:24 PM
Great idea and profound statement
Posted by: Holly | June 19, 2008 at 07:59 PM
Very. Cool. and Powerful.
Posted by: Teresa | June 19, 2008 at 09:08 PM
I love that.
Posted by: Vicki | June 20, 2008 at 12:09 AM
Excellent statement.
Posted by: Laurie | June 20, 2008 at 06:37 AM
I had a prof. in Art School who use to "draw" with rope on the side of mountains. That what this reminds me of.
Posted by: denny Mcmillan | June 20, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Well done. Damn developers.
Posted by: Ruth | June 20, 2008 at 08:36 AM
Fantastic idea! I love that the yarn is pink. It makes it that much more graphic, and that much more... I dunno. I just love that its pink. Well done!
Posted by: Sarahfish | June 20, 2008 at 11:07 AM
That's great!!
Also, can I just tell you how much I love that you used "Christo" as a verb??!!
Posted by: chris | June 20, 2008 at 12:44 PM
First of all-that is awesome! And very creative.
However, I am a knitter and I work in the construction industry as an engineer; I must say that what your friend did was pretty dangerous...and while I am happy nothing bad happened, I hope that she has made her point and that she won't be climbing into another trench anytime soon, or ever again. Not to get all technical, but according to OSHA it is only acceptable to enter a trench less than 3-4' tall, and even then, if the trench walls should fail, whoever is standing in the trench will either die (crushed or suffocated) or get very seriously hurt. Also, it is a confined space...if there was too little oxygen in the trench and your friend bent over, she could pass out; and with little to no oxygen, could die. Even if someone else was there, they couldn't jump in to save her, because the same thing would happen to that person.
I hate to get all lecturey about this, because I think it is really cool; but concern for a fellow human being as well as a knitter overrides the cool factor any day.
Posted by: Jamisyn | June 20, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Subdivision, grr! I am heartily sorry for your poor friend.
Posted by: Beth S. | June 20, 2008 at 04:01 PM
you go, ladies. go, go, go.
(k)not that we want to stop progress, but just let them know that it impacts us... yank that yarn.
Posted by: Elise Campbell | June 21, 2008 at 12:55 AM
I love it. Good luck to Megan with the new neighbors, I hope her positive energy and good humor makes for peace in the new neighborhood; unfortunate though it may be.
Posted by: Amanda | June 21, 2008 at 04:51 PM
bloody brilliant
Posted by: catsmum | June 22, 2008 at 07:07 AM
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
Posted by: lanea | June 24, 2008 at 02:36 PM
perfect comment
Posted by: Judy | June 24, 2008 at 02:49 PM
Sniffle. That is great.
Posted by: Lucia | June 25, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Only a symbolic statement, but what is more powerful than a symbol?
Posted by: twinsetellen | June 25, 2008 at 10:48 PM
FABulous! Yarn as personal and social commentary. And pink yarn at that. :D
Posted by: Marcy | June 28, 2008 at 08:01 AM