WWW: Oldest Yarnbomber, Sheep on the Street in Toronto, E-course on History of Knitting & Spinning

104-year old Street Artist.

Regardless where you stand on the art of Yarn Bombing, I do believe that this one warrants an extra peek.

Grace Brett could very well be the oldest living Yarn Bomber at 104 years young. Her team, The “Stormers” took their time in planning this event that took over their town in Scotland, with knitted and crocheted artwork.

Her 74-year-old daughter, Daphnie, said that the yarn-bombing gives Grace a purpose and that her mother finds it humorous to be labeled a ‘street artist’.

This September’s Third Annual Great London Yarn Crawl, organized by Yarn in the City, raised over £1300 for the UK charity Refuge. In addition to the funds raised, they collected close to 150 hand knit items to donate through Knit for Peace.

Hey! I know her!

This year’s event was the largest yet with 120 crawlers, 15 volunteer guides and 11 shops participating.

Yarn in the City was begun by Allison Thistlewood and Rachel Brown in 2013 and is a variety of yarn-centric events that bring people together to share their love of the craft.

What a great way to gather with your fellow yarn crafters and have a great time all while raising money for a deserving charity!

Sheep on the street, in front of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

Although the Campaign for Wool has been running internationally for some time, here in Canada it’s only in its second year.

It was launched September of 2014 in Canada by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and this year events are being are held in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary with the proceeds going to benefit the Prince’s Canadian Charitable work. The Campaign for Wool currently runs in 12 difference countries worldwide.

The goal of the campaign is to educate as many people as possible about the benefits, sustainability and versatility of wool: we’re listening!

If you are near Toronto, check out the pop-up shop on Bloor located at Holt Renfrew featuring products made with Canadian Wool as well as featuring the Prince’s own Highgrove line of carpets.

Related: Friday October 9th is “Woolly Hat Day” in the U.K. That’s a made-up holiday I can entirely support celebrating! The Campaign for Wool site is offering free hat pattern downloads. You know, just in case you can’t find something you fancy over at Knitty.

Very excited about this: Designer, author, anthropologist and teacher Heather Marano (also known as The Merry Spinster) is offering an online course on the archaeology, mythology and evolution of spinning, weaving and knitting across cultures. When did humans first start spinning, weaving, knitting or crocheting? Did you know that nearly every culture has a myth and even a goddess associated with the fiber arts? This e-course aims to answer all these questions and more.

Class takes place in a private password protected chat room on the website, and there is a private discussion group on Facebook for the class as well. Begins Saturday, October 3rd, and registration is $19.99.