It thrills me when I hear about younger people who are excited about yarn and crocheting. Recently I had the opportunity to interview Marcy Kraft, a 25 year old full-time mom and the founder of Crochet Grenade. What I also love about Marcy is she's a fearless, self-taught crocheter. Her mom taught her a few basic stitches and she was off and running! Marcy does not work from patterns, which makes her story even more amazing when you see the scope of her artistry. She says she just looks at the shapes of things and plans it all out in her head and then she executes the design. The first thing she got involved with was converting STOP signs into giant crocheted flowers. She paired up with another creative fiber friend and they were able to cover 100 before the city took the flowers down. They really brightened up the neighborhood, but it was deemed a traffic hazard. Some of the things Marcy has worked on in the past include covering the front of an entire store with yarn and also covering the surfboard that was kept at the entrance. She also crocheted hot air balloons and hung them off the side of a bridge. She collaborated with others and made a huge etch-a-sketch that was put up in a park. Her most massive project was when she was asked by Westfield Mission Valley Mall to yarn graffiti the mall in only 30 days. Imagine someone actually paying you to yarn bomb an entire mall! What fun! Marcy ended up covering twelve 15 foot light poles and a palm tree and even had some yarn left over to cover a shopping cart that a major department store kept around in the store for a while. In 2012 Marcy made a huge gumball machine to cover a cement light fixture in front of the San Diego Convention Center. Many ComicCon conventioneers were able to see her beautifully, bright, gumball machine. For those unfamiliar with Comic Con, it's a 4 day event held yearly in San Diego, CA. The convention dates are July 18th, thru the 21st. It's a convention which celebrates comic books, science fiction/fantasy, pop culture, movies, and television. A lot of celebrities make the annual pilgrimage to connect with their rabid fans. It's the ultimate geek event!!! The Rubik's Cube Project has been swirling around in Marcy's head for over 1 year now. She needed over 2,700 squares to cover all the cubes in the park across the street from the San Diego Convention Center. With the help of various Meet Up groups, and from people all over the world who sent in squares she was able to get enough squares to make an impact. The convention goers will surely get a treat for the eyes when they spy the colored Rubik's cubes. For those unfamiliar with Rubik's Cube, it is a six sided 3-D puzzle invented by Erno Rubik and was very popular in the 1980's. The colors in the cube are blue, green, orange, red, white and yellow. Red Heart Super Saver was used in this project for its durability. One could truly lose their mind trying to solve the puzzle, but in this case all the Rubik's Cubes are already solved and all you have to do is to enjoy their beauty and admire them. Marcy told me she likes to spread happiness in the world and that's one of the reasons she yarn bombs. If she can spread a little joy into someone's life it makes what she does all worthwhile. If you'd like to see more of Marcy's work or to contact her check her out on Facebook and Flickr.
