Operation: Pre-Historic First in Flight

Last month Kitty Knitter and family took a vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  We played in the sand, soaked up the sun, and made some fantastic margaritas.  We also visited the Wright Brothers memorial in Kitty Hawk.  They had quite an impressive monument and a very nice exhibit, but they have it all wrong.  We Bombshells know the first flight took place long before Wilbur and Orville gave it a try. 

We decided to celebrate this year’s International Yarn Bombing Day by doing what we do best, the impossible.  We've had our eye on the Woolly Mammoth sculptures at Cincinnati Museum Center’s Geier Collections & Research Center for quite awhile.  We've been planning something extra special for this family of pachyderms.  With only about 2 weeks to design and execute, we decided it was time to create a scene from Disney’s Dumbo.  This installation was the dream of Bombshell, Miss Boo Radley.  She spearheaded (Can you really say that when speaking about Woolly Mammoths?) this massive undertaking and inspired us all to think big. 

Mammoths 2013 B.B. (Before Bombshells)

We had our choice when it came to the size of the project we wanted to create: small, medium, large, or (you guessed it) mammoth.  This Kitty opted for small and ended up with a 25”x 40” piece of Mrs. Jumbo’s blanket (Mrs. Jumbo = Dumbo’s mama).  Yep, that’s roughly the size of a baby blanket. Small is relative when it’s done on a Woolly Mammoth scale.  This girl can really crank out some knitting, but it typically takes me a couple of months to finish a blankie for my friends’ little kittens.  I think an unspoken rule of being a Bombshell is biting off more than you can chew and miraculously making it work.  Thanks to a few very late nights and Miss Boo swooping in for the big finish, my piece was completed along with all our other elements of yarn bombing magic. 

On Thursday June 6th, a handful of Bombshells along with some much appreciated guests installed our pieces on the mammoth sculptures. Yes, this was a couple days before the official IYBD, but it’s never too early to celebrate.   “The List” from WCPO was on hand to record our bombing.      You can click here to view the footage.  We created Mrs. Jumbo, little Dumbo, Timothy the mouse, and a few other elephants from Dumbo.  All in a day’s (er, 2 jam packed weeks of frantic) work for a group of fanatically dedicated fiber artists. 

Until Next Time.

Hugs & Stitches,

Kitty Knitter

Bombshells (and friends) to the rescue

Adding Mrs. Jumbo's hat

Stitching Mrs. Jumbo's shawl 

Stitching on Dumbo's hat

Making sure the ears are just right

Dressing a "mean" elephant

Mama and baby

Our Dumbo scene

 

Bombshells, friends, and Mrs. Jumbo

Dumbo and Timothy

  

Timothy

Crossing the Finish Line

This girl does not run.  Not unless the house is on fire or there’s a line forming for a slice of cake at a wedding reception.  I’m fantastically, impressively, unathletic.   My high heels are not conducive to running and then there’s the whole sweating thing.  We Bombshells do, however, admire those who can perform the seemingly impossible feat of running long distance.  We salute your mental fortitude and physical ability to keep your legs moving when all your body wants to do is stop.  We just don’t know how you do it.  So let’s raise a glass and toast the fine men and women of the Flying Pig Marathon. 

To celebrate these runners, each of the Bombshells designed and created a fiber chandelier.  We started with 15 salvaged light fixtures of varying shapes and sizes.  We then spent a few months knitting, crocheting, and decking them out.  We took our pieces for a preview in Hyde Park Square before their official debut.  I do believe we created some lovely mood lighting that evening.  Our collection was then installed in the chute at the end of the marathon.  I guess you could say we were the light at the end of the tunnel.  (You see what I did there?)  As fancy as our chandeliers were, we do realize few runners would be admiring them when they reached that point in the race.  We were simply hoping we’d offer a pleasant surprise or a pretty distraction to help a few folks cross the finish line.

While we may not be athletes, the Bombshells do what we can to be supportive and celebrate the competitive spirit.  We’re kind of like the Pep club for all things Cincinnati.  Or, maybe more like a rowdy, unorthodox, but thoroughly fabulous group of cheerleaders.  It can be difficult to shake our pom-poms while holding a cocktail though.  Nonetheless, I hope you found this post illuminating and that it shed some light on our latest project. (Ok, Ok, done with the puns…)

Hugs & Stitches,

Kitty Knitter