By Tania Phillips
The Yarnival is coming, the Yarnival is coming.
Break out the Cupie Dolls and dagwood dogs and fairyfloss and get ready for a riot of colour and fun.
Yarnival is this year’s contribution from those amazingly talented artisans who make up the Yarntopians – the official yarnbombing group for Jumpers and Jazz in July.
This year’s installation will be on display at the St Marks precinct next to the Warwick Spinners and Weavers pop-up shop and is sure add plenty of colour to the event.
And of course with just a few weeks to go before the festival begins Yarntopian coordinator Loretta Grayson said it’s all hands to the pump.
“These last few weeks before Jumpers and Jazz in July are always super busy, as we stitch together hundreds of contributed pieces from our team,” she said.
“We also tend to get inspired by all the extra activity, so it’s not unusual for us to be coming up with ideas for new additions to the project and working into the wee hours to get them finished.
“We started planning Yarnival in October 2023, and put out our first call for contributions in December. People are still sending in their pieces, but so far we have had close to 40 contributors. Our local Yarntopians get together regularly to create the larger pieces and stitch everything together.
“Apart from all the new work done each year, we go through our collection to repurpose and redesign pieces from previous installation. These contributions represent many thousands of hours of work by past and present Yarntopians, and we like to honour this by giving them another turn in the spotlight.”
Every installation is full of unique challenges for the team.
“It’s not unusual for our projects to incorporate knitted and crocheted food, but this is the first time we have made toffee apples, fairy floss and dagwood dogs,” she laughed.
“It’s hard to choose what the quirkiest and most fiddly thing was this year.
“All the signage and lettering that is needed to create a carnival atmosphere has been quite fiddly for our Yarntopians to knit and crochet.
“One of our team members is creating the most delightful Cupie dolls that we can’t wait to share with our Yarnival visitors.”
So, have their been some challenges this time around?
“Most definitely! The challenges are a huge part of what makes our work so enjoyable,” Loretta explained.
“From designing each installation to suit the space we are setting up in, to the fact that there are no patterns for most of the things we create, the Yarntopians never shy away from a challenge.”
The Yarntopian team has evolved over the years, but they’ve been creating their unique type of “yarnstallations” for a decade starting with the first one at Warwick Art Gallery. That was Knitchen – a life-size vintage kitchen created in 2014.
“We started using the Yarntopians name for our team in 2017, inspired by the previous year’s Yarntopia installation,” she said.
“In 2022 we were welcomed to the Jumpers and Jazz in July team as the festival’s official yarn bombing team.
“Our local team members get together to plan, design and create our installations, and contributions are posted to us from all over QLD and interstate. Crafters who are interested in joining us can find the link to read and subscribe to our newsletter at jumpersandjazz.com.au/applications/yarnbombing
“Visitors to the festival this year will be able to view photographs, stories and items from the last ten years of the Yarntopians. A Decade of Yarns will be on display at Kings Theatre, Warwick RSL.”
She said Jumpers and Jazz in July was an amazing creative festival with the efforts of the many volunteers and community groups becoming integral to the success of the event.
“As a Yarntopian, I love meeting and chatting with visitors to our installation and seeing the smiles on their faces, but I also love to get out and about to appreciate and enjoy all the amazing art, craft, music and food on offer,” Loretta said.
“Being part of this joyful and vibrant event that brings colour to wintery Warwick is a very special feeling.
“Many of our out-of-town Yarntopians make the trip to the festival and love to see how their contributions have been used.
“I think the most amazing thing is being able to see how a collaborative effort allows us to create an installation that is so much more than the sum of its parts.”
So, what do the Yarntopians think of the growing popularity of knitting and crocheting thanks to social media platforms like Tik Tok and Instragram?
“Many traditional crafts are now getting the attention they deserve, and yarn bombing is a fabulous way to use your skills in a collaborative and artistic way,” Loretta said. “We do get a lot of interest from social media, but most of our volunteers still find us through word of mouth.
“Visitors to our installations are often inspired to become part of the team, too.”
