International Yarnbombing Day 2016 - Where's Waldo?

This year, international yarnbombing day snuck up on me again. But unlike last year, I remembered in time! I remembered with about two weeks to spare, just as I got a new job.

So I wanted to do something cool, but something I could execute in a reasonable amount of time.

Perfect opportunity to do my Where's Waldo project!

So I spent two weeks cranking out a Waldo based off the very first book from 1987, where Waldo has 12 accoutrements that he loses throughout the book! So I made a Waldo with a cup, snorkel, binoculars, kettle, sleeping bag, shovel, backpack, camera, hammer, bag, belt and walking stick.

The plan was to wander around downtown Victoria and take pictures of random, not necessarily easy to guess locations and have Waldo lose an item at each one. I sorta did that, and chronicled it on Instagram.

First, I stopped at Terroir, the amazing tea salon on Fort st. They were having a tea tasting with the tea harvester from Taiwan.

I enjoyed amazing teas, done at different temperatures than normal, and there were so many different flavors! I digress, but it was delicious.

Waldo left his cup behind after we enjoyed our tea.
Next, we ended up in Centennial Square. Waldo decided to try out his snorkel in the pool.

But then he left his snorkel there as we headed off to the next venue.

We decided to get some chocolate from this awesome chocolate shop just off Fan Tan Alley. Waldo was using his binoculars to look around the shop, put them down, and promptly forgot them.

After our delicious chocolates, we crossed Market Square and headed onto LoJo. We ducked into the shopping arcade, where there's a secret garden Waldo and I hung out in.

Waldo thought this would be the perfect place to make some tea. He took out his kettle and was half way through before I told him that he couldn't do that here!

(This picture is a real "where's Waldo")

He ended up forgetting his kettle. I feel kind of responsible for that one.

After we left the arcade, Waldo mentioned being hungry. I decided we should head to Trounce Alley and eat some tapas.

After Tapas, Waldo was sleepy. He pulled out his sleeping bag to nap, but I told him we had to continue on. In our haste to leave, he left his sleeping bag behind.

As we were walking along, Waldo caught a magnificent scent. It turned out that we were walking past Lush. We wandered in and smelled a bunch of their bath bombs. Waldo decided to whip out his shovel and dig away at one of the bath bombs, but couldn't really crack them.

It ended up getting stuck and he had to leave it behind.

After that we wanted to go take a look at the ocean. Walking the promenade, we stopped to take a look as the water-planes were taking off.

Waldo took off his backpack to get a better look up on the rail. When he climbed back down, he just forgot to put it back on.

As we continued walking along, we came across the statues that I yarnbombed back for the very first International Yarnbombing day in 2011. I explained to Waldo how I had turned the statues into Katamari characters. He wanted to take a picture with the statues to commemorate the yarnbombing.

He ended up leaving his camera there though, so I guess I won't be getting those pictures.

On our way back downtown, we passed a lot of construction. Waldo decided that he could really help the workers out as they weren't working on a Saturday.

He lost track of his mallet before he could really fix anything however.

Suddenly! Waldo and I ended up in London!

Just kidding. We were just in Nootka Court, where there is an English style phone box. Waldo decided to try it out, as everyone uses cell phones nowadays. He took off his bag while he was in there and didn't grab it on his way out.

Also while in Nootka Court, we checked out the beautiful totem pole they have in the garden.
Waldo didn't realize his belt had come off now that it wasn't holding up all his various tools.

The belt was left behind as well.

With only his walking stick left in his possession, the Bug Zoo caught Waldo's eye.
I mentioned to him that they would definitely have walking stick bugs in there. He wanted to compare the two so we did.

His walking stick was pretty much as big as a real walking stick insect.

In his haste at comparing the two however, Waldo ended up leaving his walking stick behind at the bug zoo.

With no accoutrements left, Waldo and I decided to head on home.
We traveled by bus and as my stop approached, I thought Waldo was with me, but alas, he remained on the bus.

Where's Waldo now??

All in all, it was a really fun day full of great adventure. I hope you had fun looking for Waldo too.
Happy International Yarnbombing day for 2016!

And now for something completely different

Here's Roy.
Good ol Roy hangs out on the bridge to Mattick's farm.
While on our bike ride, we stopped to take a break (and yarn bomb my spine tag!) by dear old Roy and decided to have an improptue photo shoot.

Roy's never looked better in my friends fetching Marvin the Martian style helmet ( or as drunk people around town like to yell, Spartan!!) and the Hufflepuff tag/scarf I made in tribute to my girlfriend.

That's also my friends incredibly pimpin Townie that he just picked up. Roy looks like he would love to go for a ride XD
Keep up the good work Roy.
Enjoy!

Bike ride to Mattick's farm: Spine

For a long time now, I have had this piece complete that I have called "the spine".
I really like it because I have this odd fascination with bones.
Anyway, I could never find a good enough spot for this tag, taking it out with me on over a dozen different tagging outings and just never putting it up.

Finally, today!
I found the perfect spot for it, just up enough that you would have to go out of your way to claim this lovely yarn bomb.

As I was taking picture of it, a woman stopped on her bike and asked me if I had made the tag. Grudgingly, I acknowledged my part in its creation. I was happy that she complimented it and said that it was something she wanted to get into, but it was a lot of work to just give it away. I told her about my efforts in Buddhist non attachment, and all in all it was lovely conversation about one of my favorite yarn bombs to date!
Enjoy!

P.s. If they look like bonbons, or something else to you instead of vertebrae, don't worry. You are not alone. My intent and my execution are not always the same thing XD

Bike ride to Mattick's farm: Contribution piece

Today, my friend and I went on a bike ride to Mattick's farm. It's a neat little place with some shops, a wonderful country style grocery store, and a miniature golf course (or two 18 hole courses to be exact). Our interest this time round was in the mini golf, as it is one of my favorite past times.
Long story short, I beat my friend XD
On our way there however, I stopped to put up a couple tags.
When we first went on this bike ride, we passed a house that had all this stuff by the side of the road. Art stuff. Gnomes, painted rocks, glass works. All kind of art stuff creating this side of the road display. It even had a radio playing music that you could listen to as you went by.
I loved it.
So like Rico's Fan-Ta-Sea Isle, I really wanted to add to it.

Thus, I contributed my Hufflepuff tag to this lovely woman's art display.
There was even a marker and a lil book that you could write stuff in. So I wrote about how awesome her thing was, left my blog addy, and went on my merry lil way.

We played our golf, and then as we were heading back, I noticed that the display looked different. There was more art, and oddly enough there was something hanging from my tag.

I went closer to look and realized that the lady's whose house this was at had added the tag, along with some other art.

It was super touching to be able to work with this woman, even anonymously.

What a marvelous day!
Enjoy!

P.s. There was more written on the back of this note, now that I look at the pictures I took. I don't know what it said, but now I feel the need to go back and find out.

Rainbow fishies!

This was originally supposed to be for my gay friend David.
I was gonna put it at his bus stop.
But honestly? At 11:00pm I didn't want walk 3 blocks there, and then 3 block back, when I had to walk form 20 minutes home anyways.

(<--- This is me doing this tag)      

                          

Either way, I did put it between his house and my gf's house! So he'll pass it and I will as well.

I think it was a brilliant compromise.

My friend David really likes fish.

A lot of people in my life right now like fish. Roomate, guy who lives down stairs, David.
I think I did an ok job of portraying fish.

This is the last of the rainbow yarn I got from my friend at the pride lounge. There may be more rainbows in the future, but none as matching as these ones I imagine.

Enjoy!