My friend Audrey (the one who designs jewelry) sent me an interesting photo that seems a perfect followup to the creepy polyfil bag.
The photo is from a 1988 issue of National Geographic, from an feature titled “Wool: Fabric of History.” (I cropped out a flash reflection, but there was also a knitted tea set in the photo.)
Here is the caption that Audrey also passed along:
The cat’s alive, but the rest of Noeline Black’s friends are stuffed. Created by Black and other members of the Fabric Art Company in Wellington, New Zeland, they reflect the humor and ironies of domestic life. Taking yarn from her own leg, the woman at her far right is unraveling herself to make the baby she has always wanted.
It seems as though the Fabric Art Company no longer exists (at least not to the internet), but there are a couple of photos from a 1983 gallery installation they did on the Art New Zealand website.
Thanks Audrey!
That is the most amazing photo I think I’ve ever seen!
P.S. my friends love the patterns for the knitted hearts and cats (:
Ok i feel compelled to comment on this one being from NZ! Amazing photo . Imagine the hours of work!!
lol. I love how the woman is unraveling her own leg to make herself a baby. it speaks of recycling, reusing, and of creating a special project that we have spent time on and imbued with our own personal touches.
Happy Burfday Anna!!!
Many happy returns, Sweetie! You are unique and much loved. The card’s in the mail.
Thank you for the birthday wishes!
It was a good day—I made it to the closing day of the Takashi Murakami exhibit in Brooklyn. Crazy stuff!
Wow–there are too many words to describe this photo!
The idea of the baby illustrating reusing yarn is a great way to put it, Miki. 
We live in a throwaway society so that’s a great metaphor. I just undid a partially-done-for-years afghan and started redoing it as crocheted granny squares. Sometimes projects that don’t seem “quite right” can be reworked into something we really enjoy!
Thanks Anna. I’ve been hunting out examples of scary wool for a debate we’ve been having at work. This is wonderful.
http://dumbledad.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/can-knitting-terrify/
http://dumbledad.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/more-scary-knitting-is-it-the-uncanny-valley-again/