Mystery knitters add warm touch to Naperville statue
By David Sharos For The Sun February 15, 2013 4:08PM
The Cat in the Hat statue in Naperville has a new yarn vest and hat, thanks to a group that "yarn bombed" the statue in front of the Naper Boulevard Library in Naperville. | Submitted
Updated: February 19, 2013 8:18PM
It wasn’t exactly an all-out ground assault, but the Nichols Library in Naperville was “yarn bombed” Friday morning.
Hours later, library officials were remaining close-lipped regarding the famous Cat in the Hat statue that was discovered to be decorated in multi-colored yarn garments when the library opened.
“I came in today and saw that the Cat had clothes on, including a vest, a covering for his tail, and for his top hat,” said Sue Prindiville, library manager. “We have a couple of very fast knitters here on the staff, and we think we know who the perpetrators are, but no one so far has officially fessed up.”
Liz Londe, a children’s services associate at the library, confirmed the “bombing.”
“There were clearly some guerrilla tactics involved, but we all found this to be a pleasant surprise,” Londe said. “We’re not sure if we going to be able to make a public statement about who decorated our cat.”
“Yarn bombing” is an urban art form where people put sweaters, hats and other knitted items on statues and other public objects.
Prindiville said staff has been buzzing about the newly decorated statue all day and that folks from the Century Walk Corporation that oversee the area outside the library are fine with the latest enhancement.
“We’ve talked to them about it, and they told us they are fine with leaving him decorated as long as it continues to look nice,” she said. “Patrons of the library haven’t said anything as yet to me, but we think he looks wonderful.”
