Yarn bombing!

Yarn bombing!
When you least expect it, public art near you could be yarn bombed. Be aware. Be alert.
The big bronze catamount at West Carolina University in Cullowee, NC. sported a fetching 5 foot long red sweater complete with battery powered electric lights for a week in December. Jessica Breen from the WNC Fiber Folk Arts group knitted it for the mascot in four days on a knitting machine.  She told the University News there, “The Catamount got all my holiday knitting.”
The Twin Cities Knitting community in Minneapolis created sets of hats, scarves, and sweaters for the statues of Minnesota Twins players Rod Carew, Kent Hrbek, and Tony Oliva. The well-dressed sports heroes got their duds just in time for the worst cold snap in years.

(Photo from http://alabamakatel.blogspot.com/2011/08/yarn-bombing-in-pittsburgh.html?showComment=1358871019337#c3153449308341025595)

In Pittsburgh, PA the iconic Mr. Rogers sits along the river welcoming more generations of children to the neighborhood. But it's chilly in the city, and one kind soul, Alicia Kachmer, who is known as a yarn artist, decided to do something about her hero. She knitted him (what else?) a bright red sweater. Complete with zipper. It makes him look like the avuncular TV guy we all once knew and loved. One visitor to the newly-clad statue said, "He looks a lot less creepy" with it on.
In Santa Rosa, CA, the Stone Grandfathers, two massive statues, gifts from Bukujeju, South Korea (the city's sister city) looked chilly this month. So Judy Kennedy grabbed her needles and 10 skeins of yard to make both of them hats with ear flaps big enough to cover their 18" long ears in two weeks. She said she was inspired by the yarn bomber in NYC, who covered Wall Street’s Charging Bull Statue in 2011.
In Philadelphia, the statue of Rocky with his raised arms on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum got a new addition in May, 2011. He sported a fetching pink sweater emblazoned with the words, "Go see the Art" on it.
Last August, the statue of Albert Einstein at the National Academy of Arts and Sciences ended up swathed in a multicolored full body outfit of yarn art.
In Germany, less tastefully, a statue of a Sabine woman, sported a well-crafted wrist warmer.
"Yarn Bombing"  (also known as Yarnstorming or knit graffiti) is, officially, an international movement of fiber fans who knit, crochet, and otherwise create works fiber works to enliven the surroundings in grey cities. They’ve covered phone booths, light poles, door knobs, and, of course, statues with unexpected color and texture. The phenom began in the Netherlands according to some sources in 2004.
There’s even an International Yarn Bombing Day in June of each year.
Who and why they're made varies, but as opposed to graffiti and street art, they rarely have political or social agendas and they're easily removed. Though some towns restrict it, it's rarely banned, since the work is easily removed, and, for some reason, most folks like it.
There are those who object, though. they point out that all the time and effort to make an oversized sweater for a statue which really can't feel the cold could more easily be put into making warm garments for the homeless and others who could really use it. But for now, I'll take clothing statues as a clear indication of how we related to public art. And that's a good thing.
http://yarnbombing.com/