Meet Flipperty (Flip to his friends - the little owl on the right) and Flopperty (Flop to his friends - the little owl on the left).
They have been taking part in my first attempt at yarnstorming at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park today. Why yarnstorm? Well it adds fun and creativity to public places and hopefully brings a smile to peoples faces.
Yarnstorming is happening all over the place and I was inspired to join in the fun after watching DeadlyKnitShade on the BBC news, seeing friends across the pond do wonderful things with hearts and learning about Knit The City, the city being London.
Since Yorkshire is the home of yarn with its dark satanic mills and sheep covered hills, I decided to bring a little yarnstorming joy to the north as well.
Why owls? Well, I like them. Owls are cute yet full of wisdom. The YSP uses them as a symbol on their bags and products. They also look like they might know what the sculptures are really trying to tell us.
So, I made Flip and Flop to start the yarnstorm of Yorkshire. They are not from my pattern, it is a free one called Owl Puffs (available here) and is cute and quick to knit up.
It was one of those gorgeous winter days in February. The sun was shining, the leaves in the shade were covered in frost but the snowdrops were blooming in the sun and the YSP looked beautiful.
One of my favourite installations at YSP is the Barbara Hepworth The Family of Man. It is elegant and looks amazing in the natural surroundings.
Flip and Flop thought they were funny sorts of trees, a little hard and cold but great holes for building a nest in and sheltering from the weather.
It was harder to say goodbye to these little critters than I thought it would be. I was full of excitement about the yarnstorm and created them with this in mind. I spent quite a while deciding on where they would look best and wondering how long they would stay there, and what new adventures they would have if someone took them.
And then the sun started setting and it was time to go. It was hard to leave them behind. I hope they are ok. It looks very cold and dark out there. Good luck little friends, I hope you bring a smile to many people and are taken home by someone nice.
