Tagging "Technology"

After SK2's and my first joint tagging expedition, I started thinking about how to bomb with more expediency. (Note to self: try to find a bulky knitting machine - they use a worsted weight yarn and if I'm going to be bombing all over the place, hand knitting will kill my hands.) Sewing went fairly quickly, but was a little cumbersome, especially in freezing rain when fingers don't cooperate the way they might on a rare warm spring day. Other yarn bombers speak of using tie wraps to quickly attach their pieces, but they can be aesthetically offensive unless they can be completely hidden.

My favorite stitch markers are the soft black ones. They come in a variety of sizes. Off I went to the big box hardware store and in the plumbing section found little packages of 10 (and couldn't find any packages that had more). Each pkg was had rings of equal size, although you can obtain different sizes, and each pkg was an amazingly expensive at $1.97. Does anyone know where I can get these in bulk? I'll be trying the competitor's big box hardware store in the meantime.

I can get 20 rings from my LYS for $3.50, and I really don't care if the sizes are different, although in a perfect world, I'd rather have a consistent size.

This is what I did:

I slipped the 10 rings onto the yarn before I began knitting, just like you'd do if you were going to knit with beads. Every now and then I slid one up at the beginning and end of a RS row. I think it might be better to stagger the rings on each side.

With the configuration I came up with, I could certainly easily thread through the rings, and at this point I'm thinking that zig-zagging across and making 2 passes would work better than going "straight", matching up rings on each side, if you know what I mean (like lacing up your boots or corset). For this first experiment, it might not go any more quickly than the sewing we did.

It might work to leave "live" stitches on one side that could be zipped through with a long tail and sewn onto the cast on edge.

Here is the tool kit I came up with (sans camera, since I needed it to take the pic):


What we've found useful so far: bag with lots of pockets. And a mini-bag (do you see the little red bag in the center that SK2 gifted to me from Alaska? Handy for needles and crochet hooks). Identifying cards already sewn onto the pieces. And include more yarn than you think you might need to sew your tags onto posts, trees, ballards, park statues, etc. Scissors are essential if you are using an acrylic that you can't break with your hands, like you can with wool. Cards not sewn to pieces are handy for when you hit a car antenna so you can place the card under a wiper. Don't forget the camera!

The tagging ribbons arrived today! Pics to follow! Bombing schedule: T minus 1 day! YAY!

k4Peace

SK1