A tale of two trees

To cheer up the neighborhood in this time of pandemic (and to keep my creative mind and hands busy), I've been working on two tree yarn bomb projects in my neighborhood.

Dr. Seuss Tree

I was looking for a new tree or bike rack to yarn bomb when I came upon a set of small trees near the Roosevelt bridge on Plymouth Court (in the Dearborn Park 1 development). The trunks of each tree were separated, allowing for multiple sets of sleeves, and it was short enough that I can reach them all without a ladder.

Five limbs completed!

Most of these were used up fingering scraps, although I do have some worsted in there. I like how each limb is different, as well as the effect of the stripes. I'm going to keep going in May until all limbs are covered, but this is a good progress photo.

Flower Doily Tree

I had some random neon colors that I wanted to work into flowers then string them together and bomb a bike rack. I changed my mind to a tree and selected one right on my block, at Dearborn & Polk in front of Dearborn Station. This is also in front of a cute little market that has been doing some handy business at this time.

Flower doily around tree at Dearborn & Polk

This, too, is only the first phase of this tree - the idea is to bomb the other branch, then join them by bombing the trunk below the pieces. You'll see!

I install these projects to brighten my neighborhood in any circumstance, but somehow they feel more important and noticed now. While the attention can be fun, I don't expect to be thanked, recognized, or acknowledged - these are, by definition, somewhat anonymous. Still, strangely enough, I have heard from a few random neighborhood people on my Instagram thanking me for the installations in the past week. One guy said my Dr. Seuss tree is his two-year-old's favorite thing to look at when they take a walk. That feels pretty awesome.

Stay safe, be well, and keep yarning.