Yarnbomb for Women’s History Month Brightens Village Green

The Village Green is effulgent with color this week—and it’s not just the recent rains turning the grasses green.

In honor of National Women’s History Month, local knitters and crocheters needled and knotted colorful covers for benches, trees, lampposts, water fountains and bikes. They even created tiny hats for the dolphins in the Village Green fountain.

The “yarnbombing” tradition began locally in 2015 with Palisadian mom Michelle Villemaire, a DIY designer, makeover specialist and content creator that has been featured on “Good Morning America” and even invited to the Obama White House.

“My inspiration for this project is my two little girls, Vivi and Pearl,” Villemaire told the Palisadian-Post. “It became something we would do together. That’s why I keep doing it—I think it’s important for them.

“When I got my idea to do the yarnbomb to cover a specific area, we needed to keep track of the things we were crocheting, so we would name each piece after a different woman, and, because it was National Women’s History month, it got us interested in the history of American women. That led to a relationship with the National Women’s History Museum, for which I’m currently an ambassador.”

Attached to every blanket, doily, scarf and tree-sweater are informational tags focusing on a specific influential American woman. Some of the tags spotted last Tuesday included Sacagawea, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Maya Angelou, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Pocahontas and Sojourner Truth.

“This year I chose to take all the bios directly from the [National Women’s History Museum] website to bring them into it a little more,” Villemaire explained. “The museum is not a brick-and-mortar site yet, which is crazy to me. We have museums for neon and donuts, and we do not have a museum to honor the great American women who built our country.”

The installation is both fun and educational. Kids and adults will be delighted to see the Village Green decked out in crazy colors and designs and will leave the installation with a newfound appreciation for the women who have shaped U.S. history.

“It’s always fun to do the installation and then watch the reactions of passersby,” Cindy Simon, friend of Villemaire’s and co-founder of local nonprofit Dollies Making A Difference, told the Post.

At the end of the installation, each piece will be upcycled into blankets for women transitioning out of homelessness. This year’s event is sponsored by the YMCA, Lion Brand Yarn, the Palisades Village Green Committee and the National Women’s History Museum.

The pieces will remain on display in the Village Green through March 25. For more information, visit homemademimi.com.