Washington ‘bombed’ with colorful yarn
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Cheryl Hopper and her son-in-law, Jason Briggs, lay out mandala art that she crocheted before hanging it as a canopy in front of the Main Street Pavilion in Washington Monday.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Cheryl Hopper, her son-in-law, Jason Briggs, and her 14-year-old granddaughter, Violet Briggs, lay out crocheted art before hanging it in front of the Main Street Pavilion in Washington Monday.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Washington resident Cheryl Hopper crocheted hats and a Baby Yoda for the Whiskey Rebellion statue on South Main Street in Washington.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Cheryl Hopper’s son-in-law, Jason Briggs, with the aid of Washington Fire Department’s ladder truck, hangs her crochet art in front of the Main Street Pavilion in Washington Monday morning.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Cheryl Hopper’s son-in-law Jason Briggs works on the crochet art canopy Monday morning on South Main Street.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Jason Briggs attaches the crochet art from his perch atop a Washington fire truck.
Cheryl Hopper has been planning to “bomb” the city of Washington with yarn for more than a year now.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Jason Briggs works to attach the crochet art in front of the Main Street Pavilion Monday.
The Washington resident has been crocheting since November in preparation for her yarn bomb art installation on Main Street. On Monday, city firefighters used the ladder truck to help Hopper and her family hang a collection of mandala art, which she crocheted inside Hula-Hoops before binding them together to create a canopy for the Main Street pavilion.
“I’m glad it’s done,” Hopper said Monday morning, as she sat in the pavilion parking lot. “It was such a big project.”
She crocheted 134 Hula-Hoops on her own since November. Those that don’t make it into the canopy will be given to businesses on Main Street to hang.
“She took over our living room, then the sunroom, then she had some in the kitchen,” said Hopper’s husband, John, while helping hang the art Monday. “I’m anxious to get our rooms back.”
Over the weekend she and her family hung crocheted flowers in the trees along the business district. She also made a few tree and lamppost wraps along Main Street along with a couple garden gnomes to sit in the landscaping in front of the Observer-Reporter sign.
One of her most time-consuming projects was crocheting a Baby Yoda that sits at the base of the Whiskey Rebellion statue next to the Main Street Pavilion.
“Everyone asked me to make the Yoda,” she said.
Though she did it all on her own, Hopper said she did have folks donate yarn for the project.
Hopper, who’s been crocheting for 60 years, won second place in the nonprofessional design contest at the Crochet Guild of America’s National Convention in Chicago in 2017.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Cheryl Hopper and her son-in-law, Jason Briggs, arrange mandala art that she crocheted before hanging it as a canopy in front of the Main Street Pavilion in Washington last year.
This project, dedicated to Washington, was a lot of work, Hopper said, but it kept her busy during quarantine.
“At least I had something to do while I was sitting at home,” she said.
She did have to take a break from the project to knit a baby blanket for her grandson, who was born during the pandemic, but otherwise, she’s been working steadily on beautifying the city with the vibrant color patterns.
The original plan was to install the project at the end of May and leave it up for the Whiskey Rebellion Festival, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though many events in the downtown were canceled, Hopper said it will still be up for the farmer’s markets, held from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursdays.
“People need to have something like this to see when they’re driving around the downtown,” she said.
Hopper has also asked that Washington business owners and residents “keep an eye on it” while it’s up, so no one steals or vandalizes it.