No bike rack is safe

I have continued to adorn pipes and bike racks in the South Loop area; here's a sample of what's been going on!

I saw the new Star Trek movie and was inspired to adorn these two pipes with likenesses of R2D2 and C3PO. 

R2D2 and C3PO in alley off Polk between Plymouth and State

I am happy with how R2 came out; you can really only recognize C3PO because he's next to R2, but that's OK. I don't know how else I could have defined him.

I had the idea to add an object to my bike rack sleeves, and I thought I'd do a tribute to coffee near the White Palace Grill, a famed diner in the South Loop.

Coffee cup on bike rack at Roosevelt & Canal

There was a police officer taking coffee at the counter when I showed up, so I opted to work out at my gym nearby first, then add the cup later. 

Turns out that caution was really not necessary - cops in Chicago really don't care about yarn bombing. I installed the below sleeve for about 40 minutes last night, during which time two cop cars drove by without comment, even when they stopped at the light at Jackson.

Flower bike rack at Jackson & Clark

It was a fun project; the sleeve is Magpie Fibers DK scrap yarn, and the flowers are fingering weight Dream in Color. I didn't think they'd look very good if I sewed them onto the sleeve before installation, since the ribbed sleeve stretches quite a bit, so I opted to sew them on after sewing the sleeve on. It took a while, but I'm happy with the result. It's right by Dave's office, too - definitely the farthest I've gone into the commercial Loop area so far.

While I was installing the bike rack last night, I got a few kind comments, and one guy (an art history professor at Saint Louis University) wants to introduce me to his fiber-loving artist colleague. Would be fun to collaborate. He asked me if I'm an artist, to which I replied, No, I'm a weirdo."

I'm working on a flower piece now, not sure what I have in mind yet. But the flowers are fun.

Flowers for planned yarn bomb

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