If a "yarn bomb" can be compared to a foot race, this one was a marathon.
Over the weekend scores of volunteers beset the Andy Warhol Bridge in Pittsburgh, affixing hundreds of pre-made, brightly colored yarn panels to the steel span.
But it was all months in the making, with hundreds of knitting and crocheting artists from across the region getting involved in the grassroots Knit the Bridge project.
Among those hanging panels on the bridge over the weekend was Pam Volz of Mt. Lebanon.
"I've always loved a good craft," she said. "I heard about yarn bombing, and the opportunity to cover a bridge in Pittsburgh was a perfect fit. I don't think there's going to be a better craft than this."
Akin to other forms of street art, yarn bombing is movement in which crafters coat public objects like trees and telephone poles with yarn. Knit the Bridge, a project of the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, is expected to be the largest yarn bomb ever in the United States.
The installation is set to remain in place until Sept. 7. At that point, the approximately 580 handmade, 3-by-6-foot panels will be removed, washed and distributed to homeless shelters, nursing homes and animal shelters.
