Hospital Helipad Yarnification

So, every work day I see the hospital helipad and warning sign, and every day I have thought it could do with a little brightening up. I've been busy the last couple of evenings working on a little something for the helipad, and today I put my latest yarnification in place. . .

A little crocheted red rescue helicopter with knitted i-cord rotor blades and skids, as a homage to the Summit Rescue Helicopter which frequents the helipad. I used the "Teeny toy helicopter" pattern by Meghan Brawley, which I downloaded from ravelry. 

 I also knitted a sign cosy using the Little Red Helicopter Chart by Sandra Jäger. Two helicopters - one on the back and one on the front of the sign. . .

Hope my latest yarnification doesn't break any Civil Aviation Authority rules?! In the small print of the sign it says that trespassers are liable for prosecution plus a penalty of 3 months prison or $2000 fine, but with any luck my little helicopters won't be seen as trespassers, and nor will I!
I'll let you know. . .

Poppies for Anzac Day

I made several poppies to decorate the RSA building grounds where the Anzac parade/service is held every year. I sewed on the poppies just as dusk was falling the night before Anzac Day. The poppies were still in place for the Anzac Parade at 10.45 am and I heard several people making positive comments about the knitted poppies :-) 

The first few photos were taken immediately after I had attached the poppies. The last five photos were taken on Anzac Day.

After the laying of wreaths and flowers

I used this pattern for most of the poppies and this one for the larger poppy attached to the flag pole. Both those links take you to the relevant pattern pages on ravelry. 

Anzac Day occurs on 25th April every year and is marked in New Zealand and Australia. It commemorates all those who lost their lives in war, and also honours returned servicemen and women. "ANZAC" is an acronym formed from the first letters of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which was the group soldiers were formed into in Egypt before landing at Gallipoli in April 1915. 

Anzac Day was first marked in 1916, and Anzac Day ceremonies are held all over New Zealand. For a little village like ours, we had a very good turn out and everyone was in good voice. As usual the "Last Post" brought me out in goosebumps. . . For the first time ever, Sonny Jim took part in the parade, with the rest of his Cub Scout group, and when the appropriate time came he solemnly laid his poppy on the memorial. As for me, I had already placed my poppies the night before. . .

Some of the crowd at the Anzac Day ceremony

Sonny Jim places his poppy


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

R.I.P. Rooty caterpillar

You might remember my very first attempt at yarnification, back in February. . . a young caterpillar called Rooty, whose prime purpose in life was as a Health and Safety officer in the hospital grounds, drawing attention to a tree root jutting out into the path.

Rooty caterpillar, freshly hatched

His secondary purpose was to bring smiles to the faces of all who walked his way. Various people told me that he did indeed make them smile, and happiness was mine. . .

Imagine my sadness when I walked along the "Caterpillar Path" to work yesterday morning to discover this sight. . .

Rooty had been taken from his tree root, but that was not all. I could have lived with that, with only a moderate amount of distress. However, in a seemingly pointless act of eco-vandalism, the tree root has been ripped out of the ground on both sides of the path and is now much more hazardous to clumsy or distracted pedestrians than it ever was, even pre-Rooty. Maybe Rooty himself could be described as eco-vandalism, but not in my opinion, obviously! No tree roots were harmed in the hatching of Rooty. . . they just got a bit of protection from the elements and stumbling feet.

Why? Why? That's what I keep wondering. Why would someone rip a tree root right out of the ground? I don't know. The exposed tree root is now approaching 2 metres long whereas it was previously only about 30 cm. In an attempt to give me something positive to focus on, one of my colleagues challenged me to knit a snake cosy for the 2 metre long tree root. I might just do that!

The chainlink fence hearts were also removed in the same strike - I found a bunch of red fluff on the ground nearby, but not so much as a scrap of lime green acrylic anywhere to be seen. Rooty seems to have just evaporated!

I guess I could say Rooty "had a good innings" - 2 months is not a short life for a caterpillar. He had become a bit droopy in later life, but at least he was still cheery!

R.I.P Rooty, you started a local yarny revolution!! Look at this beautiful flowery doorknob cosy, put in place at work by my Accomplice recently. . . if it hadn't been for Rooty, this flower would never have bloomed!!

Happy 100th International Women's Day!

Of course, I wanted to add a little celebratory yarnification to International Women's Day, and this is the end result!! Here's a link to my free pattern for the Female Gender Symbol.

International Women's Day yarnification

A chain of female gender symbols: ♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀, each one a different colour, strung under the eaves of the Nelson Women's Centre. My concept was that each female symbol would be a different colour and they would all be different sizes (just like us women!) but when joined together they have strength in their diversity as well as similarities. As you can see in the photo, one of the verandah posts also has an I.W.D. cosy, incorporating the official International Women's Day logo in white and purple. . .  On International Women's Day I left home at 7 in the morning, in order to get to the Women's Centre in plenty of time to install the yarnification before they opened at 9 am. It took me around half an hour to put it in place, and I wrote a quick note to explain myself, as well as leaving details of this blog. Then I just had to go away and hope the women of the Women's Centre liked what they would find! Later that afternoon I was delighted to find a comment on the blog from Carrie at the Women's Centre and it looks like they appreciated my efforts. Woohooooo! I smiled for the rest of the day!!

So that's the short version - but here's a bit more detail if you want it!

Pretty much as soon as I came up with this yarnification idea, I had only one location in mind - the Nelson Women's Centre. Even though I had never actually used the facilities there before, it just seemed like the perfect spot for the I.W.D. knit graffiti!

My target: Te Whare Awhina Mo Nga Wahine Puawai / Nelson Women's Centre

My first thought was to somehow link some knitted ♀ symbols together. Next I thought of a knitted bra with orange yarny flames coming out of it, to evoke reminders of the feminist "bra burning" in the 1960s (before I was even born!) But two things turned me away from that idea - firstly I couldn't come up with a satisfactory way of portraying "flames" with yarn, and secondly after a few minutes of research I realised that tales of "bra burning" were probably more of an urban myth than reality. . . So that idea never made it to fruition. 

However, whilst exploring the International Women's Day website I came across a logo  which I converted by hand (using pencil and paper) into a chart and then into a rectangular "cosy" which ended up adorning a verandah post on the front deck of the Women's Centre. . .

♀ under construction

The chain of inter-linked ♀ symbols posed my biggest challenge of stamina. I had no fixed number in mind, but decided to construct as many as I could before the novelty completely wore off! In the end I knitted 15 and my lovely Wifie knitted another 3. They were knitted with i-cord, using different shades of various acrylic yarns in my stash. 

As all the yarn used is synthetic and the wire is galvanised it should be fairly weather proof outside though the seasons, but could equally be taken inside the Women's Centre as an internal decoration. . .

Here are a few more photos of today's yarnstorm:

A pile of knitting!

The Nelson Women's Centre post-yarnification

The newly attached knitting

Sign beside front door

The finished installation

Mischief managed!

Accomplice ahoy!!

It's official! As of today, I have a part-time accomplice to help with a few of my Yarnificationz exploits! My accomplice does not wish to be named, or to take part in attaching any knitting/crochet, but is happy to help with the actual production of aforementioned yarnification! A very accomplished back room accomplice she is too. Yay! Watch out Nelson!

On that topic, I am delighted that my woven cotton "yarnificationz" labels have arrived from up north. Now to re-visit the scenes of my yarnification and tag with these labels which will point people in the direction of this blog if they are interested. The New Zealand-owned company who made the labels is called "Name It" and here is their website link. I highly recommend the company. I placed an internet order last Monday, they gave me excellent customer service on the phone half an hour later when I wanted to slightly alter my order, and the labels arrived last Friday. Here's a pic of the labels - as yet unused. . .

WWW.YARNIFICATIONZ.BLOGSPOT.COM

As I think I said in my last post, my concentration has been all over the place since the big earthquake last week.  However, after lots of trial and error, I eventually discovered that I had retained my ability to knit i-cord. Over the weekend, I put one of those pieces of i-cord into action. It's now an aerial cosy!!

That little rainbow aerial cosy brightens my day even when the sadness that grips the whole country seems overwhelming. . . it's a small thing, but maybe it is a first step in finding some reasons to smile?

Thinking of you Christchurch

Another big earthquake struck the Christchurch area on Tuesday lunchtime. Five and a half hours drive from where I live. A place our family knows well, reduced to ruins and so many people missing or already confirmed dead. It feels surreal. We were there on holiday last month and felt many aftershocks, desperately hoping none of them would be severe. Thankfully, they were all minor. But on Tuesday the earthquake was a magnitude 6.3, very shallow and only 10 kms away from the central city. Friday lunchtime now and the number of bodies in the temporary mortuary has risen to 113, with many many more still hidden in the rubble as the search for survivors continues to be the focus. Much of Christchurch has been reduced to rubble, and Lyttelton and Sumner have sustained massive damage. Search and Rescue teams and other help has been pouring in from around the world. Thank you to one and all.

The latest Canterbury earthquake has been declared a National State of Emergency. Pretty accurate, as with New Zealand being such a small country it seems everyone knows someone who is affected directly. It's a national tragedy and we are all going through it, whether or not we have loved ones down there. So much worse for those that do, obviously. It's heart breaking, gut-wrenching stuff to watch the news footage. We are all affected in one way or another, bursting into tears just thinking about it. My 10 year old son started crying whilst watching the news footage on Wednesday. Children everywhere distressed, those who were in the earthquake are terrified. It makes me more appreciative of what I have, yet so much more aware of the fragility with which we all cling onto life and brings home the knowledge that especially living where we do, all this could be taken away at any moment. Driving home on Wednesday afternoon, as a break from the non-stop earthquake news on National Radio, they played "Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" (Symphony no. 3, op. 36). Two of the movements are written from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child and one from the perspective of a child who has become separated from a parent. Very poignant. So many people in that exact situation in Canterbury. Tears welled up. . . not for the first time that day.

It's been a very hard few days and will continue to be so for a long time yet. Up here out of the quake zone, it feels like we're only going through the motions, but we are trying to keep up usual daily routines. Last night I went to Knit Night, even though I didn't really feel like it. A ravelry friend from Christchurch joined us and told us how the earthquake hit her home and family. Terrifying stuff.  As soon as they could, she and her family escaped to the north, to close family and rather more safety. Refugees from Christchurch. "We're going on a Quake Break" they told the children. No warning of the quake this time, she said. The September earthquake was preceded by a deep, low rumble, then it hit. Not this time. Usual daily life and then BAM! Lives turned upside down in moments. Unbelievable tragedy unfolding instantly from nowhere. 

It was good to talk at Knit Night. And then talk some more. Soothing to knit too, even if I can only concentrate on i-cord at the moment! Knit graffiti seems somewhat frothy and inconsequential right now. But yet, when I looked at the Stitch London website, at the bottom of the page I saw the strapline "Keep Calm and Carry Yarn" based on the World War II slogan "Keep calm and carry on" found on posters all over the UK in wartime. It resonated. "Yes!" I thought! If the survivors of the Blitz in London could "Keep Calm and Carry On" then I could certainly "Keep Calm and Carry Yarn!" So with renewed vigour I continued knitting i-cord, aiming to turn it into another piece of yarnification one day soon.

In the meantime, kia kaha (be strong) and arohanui (lots of love) to the people of Christchurch and surrounding area, to those who have loved ones in that area and everyone else affected by this disaster. 

LOVE, LIVE, LAUGH!

LOVE, LIVE, LAUGH! at the hospital.

Location: Nelson Hospital

Date: Sunday 20th February

I decided to move the "LOVE" caption up the handrail a bit, so it had room for a couple of  colleagues - LIVE and LAUGH! Hoping it will brighten up a few people's days. Planning another set for the handrail opposite - KNIT, NATTER, NURTURE. Some day I'll get round to it. . .