The Bandwagon

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SAS Knits It Again got a lot of press this week. Thursday a national newspaper (Algemeen Dagblad) placed an interview with Francine Oomen and me talking about yarn bombing (aka knit tagging or in Dutch; 'wild breien').
Francine is the author of a series of childrens books on 'How to Survive...' different things in life. Her last book covers Yarn Bombing. I thought it was kind of a weird choice in the series but I love the fact that she's promoting knitting to the next generation. One way or another I got on the bandwagon of the media hype that she started and I was happy to join in.

In a reaction to the piece one of the most popular morning shows on National radio called me and spent quite an amount of time talking to me about the same subject. In spite of having worked in marketing and communication for years, I still suffer from stage fright. I used to promote the bands that played at the venues where I worked on the radio on a monthly basis. I even got myself to present an arts & culture talk show for a while to get over my fear. But when I used to DJ I still had to kill a whiskey before I could start playing. It's the main reason why I never started a band. (I love to sing) I start to shiver, can't eat, feel sick to my stomach and can't function right.
Strange thing is, when I'm in the middle of 'the thing' I'm fine and most of the time I can look back on a good interview, show or whatever.
It's a strange thing...

Listen to the radio interview here

Knit Graffiti Crew (a few more shots)

Thank you Daniel!

Knit Graffiti Crew in Action

Today, at the Schouwburgplein in the pounding heart of Rotterdam, SAS Knits It Again organized a Knit Graffiti Crew workshop at the Motel Mozaique festival.

We had a blast. Protected from the wind in a temporarily build greenhouse we kept warm and knitted our behinds off.

There were old knitters, young knitters, virginal knitters and trick-of-the-trade knitters. Boys, girls, men, women. Everyone got together cuddled up in the small house and made small squares and rectangles.

After about an hour of knitting we were asked to join a yoga lesson. We put aside our needles and yarn and minutes later found ourselves on the floor of the wooden church that was build there for the duration of the festival.

Relaxed and mindful we returned to our task and finished the squares. The atmosphere was great (as it always is at the most welcoming festival in the Netherlands!) Everyone helped each other out and of course Dianne B. was at the scene lending her hands and expertise.

The pieces all blended into one big 'Mozaique' of yarn and color.

Then were sewn together...

...and put up on the lamp post right in front of the theatre (Schouwburg) for everyone to see, enjoy and wonder about.

The counting begins...
How long will it stay there and be part of the 'Soft City', the theme of Motel Mozaique 2010?

SAS Knits It Again programmed at Motel Mozaique Festival

English below

Knit Graffiti & Brei Taggen met SAS Knits It Again tijdens Motel Mozaique

Iedereen die zich inschrijft voor deze workshop sluit zich aan bij de Knit Graffiti Crew. Met z'n allen breien we jasjes, dasjes en lapjes voor fietsen en auto-antennes van nietsvermoedende Rotterdammers. Helemaal in de traditie van Motel Mozaïque geven we deze warme cadeautjes weg en krijgen er een vrolijkere en zachtere stad voor terug. Niet getreurd als je niet kunt breien of twee linkerhanden hebt, Saskia van SAS Knits It Again leert je binnen een handomdraai de kneepjes van het oude (en toch zo nieuwe) ambacht!
Tag along dus!

Datum: zondag 11 april 2010

Tijd: 11:00 - 16:00

Locatie: Festival Motel Mozaique, Schouwburgplein

Inschrijven: via de website van Motel Mozaique, menu GIDSEN, kopje Knit Grafitti Crew

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SAS Knits It Again is teaching a knit workshop at the Motel Mozaique Festival. We're knitting little scarves and coats for bikes and car antenna's. Completely in the Motel Mozaique theme, we're tagging the town warm and colorfull.

Want to join? Go to the Motel Mozaique site to register (menu GIDSEN, header Knit Grafitti Crew)!

Tag Rotterdam

Remember the Ladyfest? Well, I promised you I'd show you some pictures of the finished knitted tags from the workshop I gave. Well, the camera results were a wee bit disappointing, but still, here are some of the tags in full glory, framed by the beautiful city of Rotterdam. (most of them are taken at night... so it might just as well be Paris... Barcelona or Capelle a/d IJssel...)

knitted by a Romanian knitter who's organising Ladyfest Romania

you'll remember this one, I added it for picture volume...

anonymous knitter in action in broad daylight (bold!!) while actions questioned by wee Chinese passers-by.

Tagging right in front of my favorite hang out, I'm fearless!

Some funky knitwear by another 'anonymous' knitter. I was told that the Erasmus Bridge (aka 'the Swan') is prominently in the background... somewhere...

Anyone who feels like tagging in Rotterdam with me, let me know. I'll provide you with the logo so you can print it on adress labels, attach it to your tag and go Heat Up The City in the name of 'Tag Rotterdam'!! Let's give the people of Rotterdam something to smile and wonder about and brighten the place up a little!! (I know the logo's not great, I just quickly whipped it up before the workshop, but hey, it communicates, right?!) If you want to join, HOLLAR!

On other knitting matters:

I knitted Daniel a simple skull wristband for his birthday but forgot to post the pictures. Daniel is a very talented and extremely nice photographer. He printed one of his pictures for my birthday. I love home-made gifts! In the picture you see my friend Steven (on the left) with Reinier together with two other fellas they form the band Cellophane. They absolutely rock, you should really check out their 'My Space'.

maybe not so flattering a picture but it's totally due to my poor camera phone, let that be clear to y'all!

At the moment I'm working on a i-pod nano cover and a scarf for Daniel (I guess he's become a fan...) and a scarf for his girlfriend (and talented multi-artist) Kim. There's hardly any time for 'my own' projects, but I'm enjoying myself to no extend. I'm really, really flattered that people are now ordering 'SAS Knits It Again' knitwear.

I've almost finished the hat and scarf for Sterre, pictures coming up shortly!

Now I'm off downstairs, where there's more knitting to be done. I just luuuuuurv the weekend!

LadyFest Knitting Frenzy

'Starting off with a picture that's a metaphor for this weekend; knitting & rock 'n roll! (note the whiskey on the side!)'

At the LadyFest, I spread the knitting word in a MULTIPLE of ways. Prepare for a picture-fun post full of knitting crazyfunkyness!

COMERCIALLY, I sold some of my own knitting and promoted Debbie Stoller's work through posters, flyers and books. The Dutch publisher of the books naturally agreed that a LadyFest, with lots 'n lots of (feminist) ladies, would the best place to (re)introduce knitting and sent me lots of stuff to make it happen.

ARTISTICALLY, I was DJ-ing for 3 hours while Kim watched my booth and presented me with a small list of orders on my return. Thanks again Kim! Being a total knitting obsessive nerd, I had to knit while DJ-ig, 'fcourse. When I spread the word, I spread it well! And not one person laughed at me... they were surprised, had question marks in their eyes, but everyone was amazingly friendly and open! 3VOOR12 Rotterdam journalist Sander wrote a really cool review. In English (loosely translated):'Female DJ's Saskia (while knitting) en Valesca (smoking a cigarette) talk to the crowd and show us what women are good at; doing more than one thing at a time. The fine tracks they're playing and the hospitality that's radiating off off them, gives you the feeling that they run the LadyFest bar....'

EDUCATIONALLY, I came up with a workshop that was all about knitting 'tags'. I've read about the idea and love, love, love it. You knit swatches and heat up the urban landscape by attaching them to lampposts, car antenna's, bike's, banisters and what not. It's such a friendly and funny way of leaving your mark. And by doing it, you just KNOW you're going to make some people smile. So during the day there were a handful of knitters that got a swatch done, attached and photographed. I'll be posting them in about a week, when the pictures from the 'cardboard' camera have been developed. Some other knitters didn't get the swatch done in time, the were hopping back and forth from bands to knitting, to the bar, to knitting, to another band, to the vegan food stand, and back to knitting... and so on. They fully enjoyed the festival with everything it had to offer but couldn't let their project go completely. Then there were those that got creative and made something else out of their swatch. But none of them knit one or two rows and left it at that... they were all very committed And I have to say, that means something with all this other stuff going on. Some were even so committed that they were at my booth for most of the time, missing out on everything else. That's what knitting will do to ya!

'If I knitted more skull wristbands I could've become a zillionaire... This is Leyla, showing her made-to-measure green skull arm warmer that I made live @ the fest for her and CC showing a black and white version.'

About this moment Sander (the journalist) wrote: 'Close to a delerium, I noticed Saskia's knitting art, that -except from- knitting 'friendly grafitty' was also knitting handbags to hang from your ears. Great invention!...' Weird guy...
Annet Brugel (another journalist) also wrote about our knitting in this review.

'Kim knitting and beeing her charming self.'

'Silvia has been in the Netherlands for 3 weeks and speaks AMAZINGLY well Dutch. Her continental style inspired me to start learning it too. On the right there's CC, Valesca and Allison helping each other out.'

'me and Serfa chitchatknitting'

'knitting frenzy'

'here's Serfa, knitting like a pro and in the back you can just see Ruxandra & Andrea from Ladyfest Romania with Melény and Puk.'

'it takes a lot out of you, you'd HAVE TO smoke, to stay focused..'

'there was ONE boy, who was in touch with is feminine side enough to give it a go.
Should I mention he also was, well, pretty drunk...?'

'here's one I did earlier'

'Melény's finished tag'

It was an amazing weekend, I slept for about 8 hours the whole weekend, knitting the whole day through and on into the depth of night, but it was worth it.

One of the best things this weekend was that I got to meet this gal, who is even more charming in real life than on the net. We couldn't stop jabbering on about everything knitty. I have found myself a kindred spirit, definitely. She joined in the teaching and stayed as long as she could. we almost had to kick her back to her babies, she didn't want to leave. I should've made a clearer picture of her, but here she is, in the distance, teaching Melény.

Black and white pictures courtesy of Daniel Baggerman.
Read the reviews and see the pictures (and some more) on 3VOOR12 Rotterdam.