Micro-Fiber Militia

Uptown and Stewart Elementary School Anti-Violence Gift

2011-04-25T18:11:00.000-06:00

Here are the daytime pictures! We had a lot of help on this one and had the debut of a new member. Check out our Flickr set for the details.

See the rest of the photos after the jump...

Whew! That was a lot of work!

2011-04-25T01:40:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures from the work up at Stewart Elementary.

We'll post up the whole story of why we TOOK OVER the Kenmore turnaround as well as bombed some of the school's property.... ~~tomorrow~~ after we get some of our finals work done. Right now, we're going to sleep.

See the rest after the jump...

Fast work at Wilson and Kenmore Pt. 2

2011-04-24T00:12:00.000-06:00

With Spring Break nearing it's end and classes at Stewart Elementary about to start up again this Monday, we sprang into action and put up more work. Two bike racks, another pole, some clean-up stitches on the previous poles, and three skinny fence posts that will hopefully be a precursor to a larger striping project.

Let's just hope people find this work "charming" and "cute" so that it stays up and is seen as it was intended: Brightening and hopefully making people feel safe in a dark and sometimes violent entrance into an elementary school.

Fast work at Wilson and Kenmore

2011-04-21T00:09:00.000-06:00

Just put up a few quick and dirty (i.e. thrift store-bought Fun Fur scarves) pieces at the Stewart Elementary School at Wilson and Kenmore.

There was a shooting there last Friday, just as Spring Break was starting, and we've got a group goal of snazzing up the place before school starts again.

CPD and Clean Streets be nice to us and leave our work up at least until the kids come back to class! Fun Fur is much less disturbing than bullets (but not by much).

Pictures to come... as long as the pieces remain up there.

Citizen Skate Shop and Micro-Fiber Militia

2010-12-06T23:15:00.000-06:00

Well, not officially but we like their style and love them in the neighborhood. Check out their site and come give them some love if you're in Chicago.

Here's the up-close version of the knit piece by Rich Stich-n-Bitch.

Yeah. We've been away for awile.

2010-11-28T23:29:00.001-06:00

Hey, sometimes you just watch a bunch of netflix streaming flix and piss off everything else in your life.

We and our gang do the same thing. Wire in the Blood is a particular favorite of Rich Stich N' Bitch and Time Line. But we're back with a vengence and hoping that graffiti in our little gang-ridden village will help inspire other taggers to something greater.

Preview of work for Ottawa's Spins and Needles Winterlude 2010

2010-02-22T09:02:00.001-06:00

Here's some preview pictures (off of our cell phone unfortunately) of the work we sent up to Winterlude 2010.

Garish in Uptown

2010-01-20T08:58:00.000-06:00

The cursive writing beneath the flower says "Garish"

Wilson and Clarendon

2009-03-03T20:00:00.005-06:00

Rich Stich n'Bitch has lived in the Uptown area for awhile now. She FINALLY has gotten her ass off her chaise lounge to go tagging. Note the torn t-shirt woven in the wool. Perhaps someone's a little upset about the economy and taking it out on her wardrobe?

Oldy but goody

2009-03-03T19:28:00.003-06:00

From this summmer (ah look at the flowers, how we miss them!).

We hear...

2009-01-05T08:56:00.001-06:00

that there might be some action going on in Evanston today.

Not that we'll be up there.

Not at all.

We're just saying.

State and Lake construction

2008-11-10T08:02:00.000-06:00

Recent work 'bout Chi-town

2008-09-15T07:32:00.006-06:00

We've been a little quiet on blogger while we guss up our flickr page but on the streets of Chicago, we're still up to our old tricks.

Heartbeat on Damen

2008-08-30T09:09:00.001-06:00

Wicker Park, in front of STITCH (a store having little to do w/ knitting or crochet).

Yarn Bombing interview and flickr

2008-08-04T07:21:00.003-06:00

Here-ye here-ye!

Week over yet? What? It just started?

Drat.

We've been busy with some virtual housekeeping recently and apologize for the lack of posts....

But in exchange for the heartbreak we've got the link to our flickr photostream. Add us as a contact and check out our pics. There are some up there that are exclusive to flickr (aka we haven't gotten off our lazy asses to load them up here as normal posts).

Over the weekend, we also had a great chat with the ladies over at yarn bombing. We had a great time talking all things yarn, craft, and street art. Our spokesperson's roommate even voiced her opinion regarding covering the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza.

Anyone else think of Jon Lovitz's ego-maniacal Picasso having lunch whenever the artist is mentioned?

And NO we can't find the clip anywhere online to let people know what we're talking about. So here's something only slightly different....

"Fall to Spring Timeline" on State

2008-06-03T06:12:00.003-06:00

In front of our fav. yarn store, LOOPY YARNS. A big artistic piece from Timeline, another member of the crew who's breaking out on her own.

Stop into Loopy Yarns and tell them the Micro-Fiber (Fibre) Militia sent you!

Lincoln Park No Swimming

2008-06-03T06:09:00.001-06:00

A little mohair bit from the Rich Stichin' Bitch.

Lincoln Park Tunnel

2008-06-02T17:19:00.000-06:00

We're in a museum!

2008-05-03T22:02:00.000-06:00

Well, in FRONT of one at least.

We got busy during Looptopia. These pics are from the day after (luckily minus the rain from the previous night). Always fun seeing people digging our work. This gave the people waiting in line something to look at besides teens pretending to be stuck in the lions' butts.

Apartment complex bench

2008-04-17T19:19:00.004-06:00

Sandberg Terrace bench near Clark.

Lake Michigan rail

2008-04-11T06:12:00.000-06:00

Towards the Loop and above a tunnel.

Lake Michigan tunnel

2008-04-10T20:44:00.000-06:00

The cross-over tunnel somewhere south of Fullerton. Closer to the Water Tower (we think).

Union Station bench

2008-04-09T21:30:00.000-06:00

Columbus and Illinois afghan bench

2008-03-13T15:22:00.000-06:00

Near the River East theater.

Couple things about this one:

a) Yarn is made out of cotton and MILK FIBER. So awesome. Another Loopy Yarn purchase.
b) We made this on-site. As in, we had a meeting then went to this concrete park and crocheted this specifically for the bench in a couple of hours... frequently while sitting on the bench.
c) We really dig this idea and might keep it up as the weather gets nicer.

Get your newspapers here!

2008-02-27T01:45:00.000-06:00

We had a bad day and decided to take it out on the city! By covering it with yarn! That's had hours spent on it!

Corner of Randolph and Wabash.

btw, we love Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Though we'd do bad things to Keith Olbermann that we wouldn't do to Rachel.

Experiment in balls of steel

2008-02-27T00:51:00.000-06:00

This was meant to be an experiment with our super new obsession GLOW-IN-THE-DARK YARN!!! A new find from Chicago fave Loopy Yarns. Strangely enough, it became an experiment in balls of steel.

Yep. Underneath a security camera at the Prudential Center right off of Michigan. The experiment is if it's still there after a couple of hours and how big of a deal the security guards will make of it.

Hey... we gave them a smile and a wink into the camera! It's just yarn!

mfm going a little crazy

2008-02-22T02:13:00.001-06:00

We FINALLY got this out of our place. A failed attempt at a chevron hat from a YEAR ago finally has a proper place out in the world. A place that didn't get us arrested, isn't covering a fire-related device and is on garden island on MICHIGAN AND JACKSON!
Yeah. We're proud.

ANOTHER project that's been hanging around forever. Granny square swatch under the L-tracks on Plymouth and Van Buren. Right by the library.

In front of Intelligensia on the corner of Dearborn and Jackson. It's friggin' cold in Chicago but we'll welcome the flowers anyways.

mfm on the Magnificent Mile!

2008-02-10T02:33:00.001-06:00

We're back! And with special features!

This is directly south of Michigan-and-Madison. On some construction scaffolding.

Oops. Guess scaffolding doesn't last forever. Gone now. RIP.

Here's the special feature! (if we got blogger to like us again)

mfm around the nation

2008-02-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

During the holidays, one of our members ventured into the Wild Wild West and DARED to put this up:

Why was this daring? Well, it's in front of the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings Montana. This museum used to be... the county jail.

If you look closely you can see the old County Jail sign behind the glass. We've got no idea if it's still there but if you'd like you can e-mail the Yellowstone Art Musuem from their website. If you ever wondered who got the artmuseum.org address... here's your wacky answer.

Also, this was put up in honor of a specific person: Leni Holliman. Our member worked for her at Yellowstone Public Radio. She's a fantastic inspiring woman who makes us struggle for decent descriptive words for her. Currently, she's dealing with some serious health issues that make us kinda upset at God. This is for her.

Irving Park Bike Rack #1

2007-11-30T22:30:00.000-06:00

These went up a few months ago but more importantly, they are still up.

Alright. We're tired. Talk to y'all later.

Lake and State

2007-10-14T01:34:00.000-06:00

Yeah. We know. We've been gone for a little while. The micro-fiber militia Super Computer 3000 broke down temporarily and we had to have the super mad geniuses fix it.

What have we been up to in the interim? Crocheting like crazy for a project one of our members did in Logan Square (they'll be posted soon. We promise).

State Street in front of Blick Art Supplies

2007-08-29T01:15:00.000-06:00

Across the street from the old Carson Pierre Scott building. Once more, marking our territory.

Marking our territory in the Loop

2007-08-29T01:12:00.000-06:00

We've been gone for awhile from the Loop area, surfing the ebb and flow of Rogers Park and all. It's time to start anew on showing the Loop who's really in charge!

This is on a bus shelter on the corner of State and Randolph, right in front of the Borders.

Lunt and Sheridan

2007-08-29T01:10:00.000-06:00

Put up Monday night. The Micro-Fiber Militia wishes one of their members a very happy birthday!

Greenleaf Metra Stop Bike Rack

2007-08-20T15:01:00.000-06:00

Rogers Park Metra Stop (Greenleaf side). Put up last Wednesday night with a friend's assistance. Took an hour to sew on with the two of us.

Yes. We think it looks awesome as well.

Red on Red on Glenwood

2007-08-20T14:59:00.000-06:00

Another same color one. Corner of Greenleaf and Glenwood. Made for a specific personal reason and put there for a specific personal reason. Again, looks better in-person.

Lakeview Rehabilitation Center on Sheridan

2007-08-20T14:58:00.000-06:00

Orange on Orange. Placed rightout front of the Lakeview Rehabilitation and Retirement Center. Better seen in-person.

Sheridan CTA Bus Stop sign @ Loyola Park

2007-08-20T14:56:00.000-06:00

Put up last night during the rain.

Grand and State No Turn

2007-08-20T14:54:00.001-06:00

This was put up a couple weeks ago and has already been taken down.

Micro-Fiber Militia: Time Out

2007-08-08T12:32:00.000-06:00

Look! We're in Time Out Chicago!

And it's not knitted graffiti. It's crochet. That's okay, we're a forgiving militia.

Wrigleyville

2007-08-01T02:11:00.000-06:00

Corner of Clark and Grace.
Rest in peace Mike. Go to your welcoming party at home and get it ready for the rest of us. Thank you.

Rogers Park Metra Stop

2007-07-30T17:01:00.000-06:00

Bike rack.

Alley-way cover-up

2007-07-30T16:58:00.000-06:00

Paschen Park Playground

2007-07-30T16:55:00.000-06:00

Exelon Plaza

2007-07-23T22:09:00.000-06:00

Put up Monday night. Close to the corner of Monroe and Dearborn... across the street from Italian Village.
And look! It's got BEADS on it!

LaSalle and Monroe Garbage Can

2007-07-23T22:06:00.000-06:00

Put up Monday night on a garbage can. Corner of LaSalle and Monroe.

Belmont and Clark

2007-07-16T10:58:00.000-06:00

Half a block down from Clark's.

Morse Stop Parking Meter

2007-07-15T15:56:00.000-06:00

A parking meter just east of the Morse stop in Rogers Park.
Thanks to all the new folks visiting the site!

Wilson CTA Stop

2007-07-03T12:17:00.000-06:00

Handle of the door.

Rogers Park Alley Pipe

2007-07-03T12:15:00.000-06:00

Alley off of Lunt and Wolcott. How it turned out (so to speak) thanks to a suggestion from my "assistant."

How it started off. Wasn't the suggestion good?

Loyola Park Dock

2007-07-03T12:14:00.000-06:00

The fishing pole isn't mine.

Heartland Tree Trunk

2007-07-03T12:13:00.000-06:00

One of the first larger pieces. On a tree trunk in front of the Heartland Cafe, in their garden.

First one ever.

2007-07-03T12:12:00.000-06:00

In front of the Heartland Cafe on the bleachers.

Orange Cream Ripple

2007-07-03T12:07:00.000-06:00

Assembling Orange Ripple

Up at the corner of Randolph and State, in front of Borders...

...and right down the street from the Red Ripple.

Oriental Theater/Argo Tea Ripple

2007-07-03T12:06:00.001-06:00

First downtown piece. Still up there in front of "Wicked" and Argo Tea on Randolph and State.

Evanston: Main St. Stop Bench

2007-07-03T12:04:00.001-06:00

This one is already a R.I.P. Outside the Main Street CTA stop in Evanston. Crocheted in rounds AROUND the bench.

State and Randolph

2007-06-27T16:02:00.000-06:00

Corner of State and Randolph, in front of the Oriental Theater, Borders and Argo Tea. Kitty-corner from Marshall Fields.

RIP

Rogers Park Brick Cozy

2007-06-27T15:56:00.000-06:00

Brick cozy outside of Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park. Positioned by somebody else.