I just don't understand....

Ok. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Which means that I'm entitled to mine. I plan to share it here, along with the reasoning that created said opinion. Some people seem to have opinions with absolutely no basis in any reason - they just say something for the shock value, or to stir up controversy.... Anyway, I digress.

I just don't get "yarn graffiti" or "yarn bombing" or whatever it is called on any given day. The kind of thing where people knit or crochet a piece of "fabric" or a shape or whatever, then attach it to a public place. Some call it "art". I call it a waste....

I get art. I do. I get the large art installations, which use yarn or other fibre as part of the media with which the art piece is created. I get "wearable art" - which is what some people call their sweaters and garments they've made.

What I don't get, is when people will take perfectly good yarn and use it to "decorate" telephone polls, trees, lamp posts, bike racks, and other urban installations. I'm not talking about that one picture (no, I have never bothered to save the link, but I'm sure if you haven't seen it before, it won't be long before you see it again) of a tree that is nearly totally covered in yarn/crochet work. THAT is art. Same with the house that is covered, the gas station, the car, the motorcycle. Those are all art projects.

What I mean, is the people who go out and crochet a granny square, or knit a tube, or a long narrow strip, then wind it or otherwise tie it around an object. There is no rhyme or reason to the colour or shape, it is just there.

Right now, according to what I'm reading on Ravelry and on Facebook, there is a local landmark, a bridge going over a river, that many of the local knitting groups want to "knit". They are calling it "knit the bridge", and they want everyone to knit 11 stitches wide, and as long as they want/can, then meet on a certain date, where they hope to have a piece of knitting as long as the bridge.

Now. I'm thinking....

If someone has the yarn to spare, the time to spare, the energy to spare - rather than making something 11 stitches wide, why not make it 33 (or 36) stitches wide, and about 5 to 7 feet long. Then, rather than attaching it, or just draping it, or whatever means these people are going to use on the bridge project, why not give it to a homeless shelter, a charity group, a school?? See, this city where I live, this place where this bridge is located, will all too soon be in the grips of a cold harsh winter. And, just like many other urban areas, there will be adults with no job, no food, no home to shelter from the cold. There are limited beds in homeless shelters. There are also many children whose families are on welfare who don't always have the proper winter clothing. Schools are often left the enormous responsibility of caring for these children, trying to keep them from freezing during outdoor recesses in any way possible. (lost and found boxes are often called upon to temporarily supply needy children, teachers and other parents often provide for "emergency" clothing, local charities do their best to help out). There are also many families who "fall through the cracks" - the single parents, the unemployed, the laid-off workers, the "working poor" - minimum wage earners who struggle to provide basics such as food and shelter. Charity groups are always glad of anything that can be donated - not only do they try to help the aforementioned people, but several will help short term - people who lose everything to fire or flood - both of which can happen at any time of year. (we have such harsh winters, that we often have underground water main breaks, which result in flooded streets, yards, and yes, even basements in some areas in mid-winter).

So. Knit the Bridge? I don't think so. I think that I will try to find some yarn that I can spare (I don't have a lot of undetermined stash - I mostly buy for specific projects. But I do have some bits and scraps, and while I don't believe that just because you are disadvantaged that you should deserve any less, I'm sure that when it comes to warmth vs fashion, I can guess what will win out) and I think I'll knit a scarf, or a hat, or some mittens. Doesn't have to be much - even one item/pair of mittens is one more than zero - and donate it to a homeless shelter. And I'll do it in protest.

Anyone else?