Bali from Yarn Corner suggested sewing the piece into sections since the height of the tree was only an estimation. I made a 3.18 m section and two 38 cm sections:

This is me lying on top of my City Square piece to give you an idea of scale, and also because it’s so lovely and soft.

My sister came with me to City Square last Sunday to help with the installation and to take photos:

In the end I didn’t need to use the two 38 cm sections; the 3.18 m section reached right up to the branches of the tree. One of the City Square pieces did not arrive in time for the installation. We used left over sections from the other trees to assemble a yarn bomb for the naked tree. There’s one of my sections at the bottom:

While we were installing the pieces, many people stopped to ask questions and to take photos and to say thank you. It was lovely to be involved in a project that brings happiness to so many people. At the end of the day when I left the square, I noticed some tourists posing for photos in front of my tree! It made me very happy.

The giant rubber duck bobbing in Darling Harbour was one of the attractions of Sydney Festival.

The Light Garden at Centennial Park

Illuminated Paperbark Grove, Centennial Park

Wishing Tree, Centennial Park – “I want superpowers for me and all my friends.”

A small cluster of love locks at Manly Beach, some with pacifiers/dummies attached. Perhaps put up by couples wishing for a baby or who have recently become parents?

I spotted this piece by the Melbourne based street artist in Tocumwal Lane, Canberra.

Afterwards we walked through Southgate Shopping Complex and came across artworks by Be Free. It was one of her colourful little-girl-with-bucket-of-paint paste ups in Degraves Street that started me off photographing street art just over a year ago.

The first piece of Be Free street art I spotted in Melbourne. This can still be seen in Degraves Street but isn’t in such good condition any more.

Finally, Lucy and I went for a coffee in Manchester Press. Unfortunately, the amazing coffee foam art I’d been going on and on about was not evident in Lucy’s hot chocolate.

The picture in the milk foam of my coffee.

Lucy’s hot chocolate looks dull by comparison

The Melbourne Town Hall Christmas Projection:

This was even more spectacular than the projection I saw in Brussels a few years ago. My favourite part was when the clock tower turned into an owl, and the clock faces were its eyes:

I saw it on the way to my trapeze lesson. When I got to NICA, one of the girls in my class asked if I’d come from the station. “Oh my God, did you see that piece of graffiti?”

I realised I wasn’t the only person the piece had made an impact on, so maybe it is worth posting for discussion.

Obviously the implication that single mothers are pole dancers is in itself repugnant, but I  also think it is offensive to suggest that going to pole dancing clubs supports women. People come up with all sorts of excuses to justify it – by talking about emancipation of women and freedom to do what you want with your body – but the fact is that stripping and dancing for money only perpetuates the idea that a woman’s value is in appearing sexually attractive to men.

Oh yeah, and there’s an APOSTROPHE CATASTROPHE!!!

The trees are between Curtain St and Newry St, so pop along to see them if you can. The Christmas decorations are particularly sweet although I’m afraid I can’t take any of the credit for them.

While we were wrapping the trees, passing cyclists rang their bells, people in cars rolled down their windows to talk to us, and people passing on the street came up to take a closer look and ask us questions. Everyone was so interested and encouraging. It was lovely to see first hand the positive impact yarn bombing has on a community.

An article about the installation appeared in The Age today.

Before: February 2012

After: November 2012

I hadn’t really given much thought to the life expectancy of a yarn bomb before. I think I assumed that you put them up and left them, and they brought sunshine into people’s lives forever and ever after that. But no. They get bleached by the sun, matted by the rain and dusty from passing traffic.

We went back with a pair of scissors yesterday and cut it down, like the socially responsible yarn bombers that we are.

“It’s really unusual for a book to go missing from the stacks,” he said. “There’s not much I can do except reserve it for you and keep an eye out for it.”

Fair enough, I thought, because I don’t have unreasonable expectations about what can and can’t be retrieved from library stacks.

I pretty much thought the book was a lost cause so imagine my surprise when I popped into the library today and the librarian said, “There’s a message here for you: since we couldn’t find the book you were looking for we’ve ordered a new copy.” Then she apologised because that would mean a bit of a delay in me getting it!

I told her not to worry; I thought it was amazing that they were ordering a book for me, just because I requested it. What wonderful customer service!