Knit Wits

The annual Taste of Iceland tour is best known for promoting the food, drink and music of Iceland, but when the 2014 version comes to town, it will also tout a favorite pastime of certain Denver crafters: yarn bombing — or “yarn storming,” as Icelandic yarn graffitist Linda Björk Eiríksdóttir likes to call it. Today the accountant and mother of two will lead a Yarn Storming session in Civic Center Park as part of the tour, and the public is invited to participate.

Eiríksdóttir’s had plenty of experience: “I have always loved graffiti and street art, but I am no good at drawing or painting, so this was something right up my alley — combining graffiti and yarn,” she explains. “One evening my friend was at my house, and I was trying out some yarn that I ended up not liking, and I decided to use the swatch as my first yarn-storming piece. We went out to the street, and I stitched it on a streetlight. That piece is still there, almost three years later.

“I knew other people who I thought would be interested in joining a group of yarn-stormers,” Eiríksdóttir continues, “so I made a Facebook group and invited some people and encouraged them to invite their friends.”

Participants in Denver are encouraged to bring their own knitting needles, crochet hooks, yarn and unfinished projects to incorporate into a group installation. “Yarn storming is a wonderful way to break out of your box,” Eiríksdóttir says. “We do not always have to follow a pattern, or do everything exactly like it is ‘supposed’ to be done. Giving your mind and your hands the freedom to do whatever they want is a wonderful and relaxing thing.”

The free event runs from noon to 3 p.m. in the area just east of the McNichols Building; go to icelandnaturally.com for details.

Sat., Sept. 27, 12-3 p.m., 2014