Eight Days Leading Up to the Whitney Young High School 50^th Anniversary Yarn Bombing

A member of Studio Art Quilt Associates opened up her home to me to finish the Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary yarn bombing. My logic brain said, “What are you doing?1?! There are serial killers in Chicago!” My heart and spirit said, “This is fun! Okedoke!”

She found out about it through one of her neighbors who was a quilter and had also done the exact same thing. We literally put the last stitch in at 6 pm the night before the installation.

People had seen us in the street, placing an oversized orange and blue afghan on my car, measuring it out. People slowed down to a near stop in the middle of rush hour traffic to watch us. We heard people say, “That is so pretty!”

People have asked me, “Where did you do all of this?” First, I was not the only one who did this. Whitney Young High School opened its doors on Wednesday, September 3^rd, 1975. Technically, 50 years was Wednesday, September 3^rd, 2025. We had until September 2026 to make good on this project. In June 2025, I sent inquiries to local yarn shops, quilt and knitting circles, and I placed postings on the internet. I asked for 10-inch by 10-inch knitted, crocheted, woven, embroidered and/or quilted in orange, blue and/or in the image of a dolphin. I worked with Friends of Whitney Young, the fundraising committee, who informed me that the big reveal was Saturday, April 11^th, 2026.

My yarn bombers were relieved.

There were a lot of retired teachers, current schoolteachers, school bus drivers, librarians, retired lawyers who had volunteered with Barack and Michelle Obama when they lived in Chicago, city workers, high school students who responded and participated. For the people who graciously opened their homes, their kitchen tables were the perfect size for a good old-fashioned knitting circle. Their kitchen chairs held the parts of the afghan that we had finished knitting and/or crocheting.

The driving dolphins on the windshield was done by a retired French teacher and president of Windy City Knitting. She had also yarn bombed a car and offered advice. There was a famous yarn bomber who lived out of state out East and learned about it. I sent orange, blue and variegated blue yarn to her in the mail. She crocheted the hood in orange and blue granny squares and sent them back to me in the mail. Those who were comfortable knitting or crocheting a part of the car did so.

Initially, the trunk, hood, back doors, front doors, back windshield, front windshield and roof were either knitted and/or crocheted. Those who were more reserved and/or overwhelmed (and understandably so!) did a 10-inch by 10-inch squares. Some people did one 10-inch by 10-inch square. Some people did 20 or more 10 inch by 10-inch squares. We had one person weave her 10 inch by 10-inch square.

In the end, every effort was helpful and more than appreciated.

Whitney Young High School alumni, their families and their friends were very involved. Some of them were not aware that Whitney Young High School was celebrating their 50^th anniversary. I let them know there was still time to be involved in the yarn bombing festivities. One person ate lunch with Michelle Obama in high school when she was a student at Whitney Young High School. There was a Whitney Young High School parents who owned her own yarn shop and had yarn bombed a car before. She was a treasure trove of information.

Secondly, there was never a real designated place where the Whitney Young high School 50^th anniversary yarn bombing took place. People did this in their homes, on the street, in knitting, crochet and sewing circles, and, like I said, out of state.

This was my very first-time yarn bombing a car! Yikes!

I will admit I didn’t know what I was doing, even when I had a book about yarn bombing in front of me. This is more of a reflection about me and not the authors of the book. I will say I learned as I went along. As mostly a quilter, I had a “The Gees Bend Quilters go yarn bombing” type of idea in mind.

Considering I did not use a gauge swatch, and my knitting was very loose, and I needed to drop down a needle size OR get thicker yarn, but I didn’t, this threw a lot off in terms of measurements (and I am so sorry about that!) but, I think I may have gotten the effect I wanted.

YES! I can hear the knit, crochet and quilt police coming for me!

Still, for 10 months, I knitted at home, in my car, at work between classes with my patient, in sewing circles, in doctor’s offices, and in restaurants. Many people walked up to me and asked, “What are you doing?” I explained what yarn bombing was, showed them pictures on my iPhone, shared profiles of famous yarn bombers and stated this was for charity. Even the art department at Whitney Young High School gave presentations about yarn bombing to the students. I placed the administrations capital “W,” capital “Y” and number “50”design right on top of the knitting that I did. The other parts I knitted draped so much that we used them over our bodies as afghans when we were trying to measure the yarn bombing against the car. Did I mention it is cold in Chicago? My afghan contributions helped when we were measuring the yarn bombing on my car!

I lived. I learned. If nothing else, I found the process to be very relaxing.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED AND SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENDED WITHOUT ANY OF YOU!!! THANK YOU!