Sweater weather has been popping into Lexington every now and then, and with temps in the mid-60s + rain this week, even the trees are celebrating by showing off their wooly best. Now through Saturday, Nov. 16, some of the towering trees at the Living Arts & Science Center can be seen showing off a colorful crocheted creation.
The fiber art installation comes to us courtesy of the Tree Sweater Gang, a group of fiber enthusiasts that knit + crochet around town making a woolier and funkier Lexington.
Tonya Vance, a member of the Tree Sweater Gang, says the group’s first installation was a large tree downtown in 2010. “Over the years we’ve covered several dozens of trees with colorful, whimsical sweaters,” said Vance. “The largest tree sweater we made was [for] a very old tree in Woodland Park, which we covered prior to its scheduled removal due to illness.”
The group has a longtime partnership with the Kentucky Children’s Garden at The Arboretum where each year they don a maple tree with a “wishing” sweater. The garment has pockets that children can put their wishes in. We’ll keep you posted when we can expect to see it.
Vance noted that the Tree Sweater Gang no longer hosts meetings, so they are not currently recruiting new members. She does encourage knitting, crocheting, and fiber artists to find outlets for their own installations.
For those interested in trying their hand at the fiber arts, we suggest checking out the Fiber Guild of Lexington or finding a group from the Kentucky Crafts Encyclopedia.
