There's a story of love and friendship behind two pieces of colourful street art in downtown Abbotsford.
The trunks of two trees at the corner of Essendene and Montrose avenues wore heavy woolen sweaters Monday thanks to a clandestine "yarn bombing." A trendy but temporary form of street art, yarn bombing sees trees decorated with patterns of knitting, often in colours that stand out among the concrete and brick that dominates city centres.
But the two bombed trees in Abbotsford bear a deeper message.
The trees were decorated in tribute to Birkeland Bros. Wool co-owner Karyn Waters, who is receiving treatment for cancer. Patterns were donated by members of the Abbotsford Spinners and Weavers group and by Birkeland's Monday evening knitting group. They were then sewn onto the tree by Danielle Kingma, a Birkeland employee and the sister-in-law of Waters.
"It was a group effort from all the people who care about her," Kingma said. "It was kind of a sweet thing."