Take a summer stroll down famous Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, and one of the first things you’ll notice is the beautiful landscaping, including picturesque flowerbeds and statues. Walking along on my lunch break one day, I realized that all of these statues must get pretty hot in the summer sun. It should come as no surprise that my next thought was “I should crochet them some sunglasses.”

So that’s exactly what I did. And on a particularly nice day in late July, I set off down Pearl Street with my friend Becky McKay (also known as the Cereal Baker) to help out some statues. It was by far the most fun I have ever had downtown! People really seemed to get a kick out of us. Tourists photographed our handiwork. A waiter at Trattoria got in on our fun. Even the cops were smiling. Now I just want to make more and cover the world’s statues with crocheted sunglasses, which Becky dubbed “croshades.”

Becky the Cereal Baker wears croshades.

Isn’t that a great name? Can you think of a better product? Okay, maybe glasses you can actually see out of would be better. I’m on it! Becky just challenged me to crochet such a pair.

I wonder what they will look like. Will they be like the shutter shades of the ’80s? Will the lenses be lacy or covered in fringe? Or will they look like LeVar Burton’s Geordi La Forge glasses? You’ll have to stay tuned for the Make It! Challenge, Croshades Edition, slated for early next year.

Until then, crochet a pair of these beauties with my croshades pattern. I think it goes without saying that you shouldn’t wear these while driving, operating heavy machinery, or well, moving about in any way. They’re really just for decorating your favorite inanimate objects.

Here’s one thing to keep in mind when you go yarnbombing. While croshades work really well on statues with ears, it’s good to bring a little extra yarn with you in case you need to tie your croshades on the statue.

Whatever you do, be sure to take pictures. Send them to squirrelpicnic{at}gmail{dot}com and I’ll add them to our Croshades album on Facebook and do a follow-up post here.

Check out these photos of our fun on Pearl Street.

Mountain lions wear croshades.

The chefs at Trattoria wear croshades.

Lions wear croshades.

The Rocket Fizz Spiderman wears croshades.

Wolves wear croshades.

Shrubs wear croshades.

The legendary Montbell bear wears croshades.

Big cats wear croshades.

Croshades Pattern Continue reading →