North Side
Julie Allen | St. Paul, MN
I have a strong connection to circles. Many years ago i spent many hours crocheting hats (tams). The furniture in my home is arranged in circles as much as possible, as i find it conducive to communication and connection. Circles feel like community and they can overlap. I approached this project with the intention of incorporating circles and organic construction, both of which provide an inner space for reflection, meditation, problem solving, and thinking outside of convention. And I’ve aways wanted to be involved in yarn bombing!
Mary Gentry | St. Paul, MN
Karrie Blees | North Saint Paul
About my upcycled cozy: A forgotten golden blanket becomes the canvas. Once-loved Christmas stockings now frolic as spots. [Upcycled goods from ARC’s Value Village.]
About me: Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve loved sewing: first doll clothes, then my own clothes. While in college, I reveled in the excitement of my part time job in a department store alterations shop. My degree is in music therapy, but my heart belongs to sewing. I’ve owned and operated Sewing for the Harvest: a sewing (custom, bridal, costume) and alterations business for thirty years. In 2012, I began upcycling: what a thrill to reuse vintage or discarded items and give them new life!
Cozy Dedication: “Yes! This is where I want to be.”
Kristi J. | Lowertown St. Paul, MN
I bought the yarn intending to crochet beer can hats for my friends and I to wear at the Saints games…but this seemed like a cozier way to use the yarn!
South Side
Jess | Coon Rapids
Both my Grandma and my Nana were crafters. Knitting, crochet, quilting, cross stitch, gardening and cooking. I inherited yarn and crochet hooks that had belonged to my Nana, and that went into a double strand crochet cozy with new black yarn. Bold color, warmer tones on the bottom growing cooler at the top. The majority of my yarn stash is inherited yarn, same for the knitting needles and crochet hooks. Stray yarn is always finding its way to my home, either from family or from the local yarn store, and I love challenging myself to go bigger, try new patterns and styles.
Crafting has brought me out of anxiety-induced social isolation and brought me a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie with other crafters. A friend of mine who works at CHS Field told me about this project and it fit perfectly in my determination to “stop finding an excuse not to”.
Meet the Maker! Watch video here.
Julie Ann Tsinnerpants | Lowertown St Paul, MN
Victoria Pyan | St. Paul, MN & Corinna T.
Victoria’s story:
Knitting skipped a generation in my family. My grandmother (whom I never knew) used to knit and my mother learned but it didn’t take (she’s a cross stitcher actually). One day I realized I wanted to learn how to knit. It wasn’t spurred by a conversation, or an action as far as I can remember- just a thought that floated into my mind one day and didn’t leave. So my mother slightly confused but supportive got me some knitting needles, yarn and a book. I had no one in my immediate vicinity to show me how, youtube was still almost a decade away. I learned slowly with a lot of mistakes. It took me a long time to attempt anything that wasn’t a scarf. I got better though, I read more books, went to the yarn store – I finally watched a knitting video! I’ve met some amazing people who happen to knit and crochet.
What I love about knitting is that its a physical expression of love. Its love that you put on your head or feet and people can see, smell and touch. Any knitted object is really the combination of time, skill, and wool (insert prefered yarn type actually). You think about the person you want to knit for. You think about what they might need or like. What colors they wear or are drawn too. You pick out the yarn with them in mind, the pattern with them in mind and then you sit down…and you make the thing. You spend hours upon hours upon hours of knitting this thing for them and inevitably you think about them while you’re doing it. Sure you can watch tv, or listen to podcasts/audiobooks. You can socialize while knitting – and trade stories, ask for advice, air grievances, swap recipes…find support. All of which I’ve found in my knitting groups and yarn stores.
Deep down part of you tells your fingers as they push the needles, wrap the yarn, as the object begins to take up more of your lap you are thinking about your recipient. You are thinking about them and how they’ll wear it, or share it, what coat it will match, how it will bring out their eyes. You’re thinking about their face when you gift it to them and hopefully wear for years to come. That to me is beautiful – to be able to make your thoughts and time into something they can use or wear and in turn think about you when they do. A handknit object is love in its more tactile form.
Jennifer, Boss Artist/Owner NumiSupplies | Franconia Township
I got involved in the Saint Paul Cozy project for several reasons. First, Lowertown has been a huge part of my artistic life. I studied at the Minnesota Artist’s Studio school in 1989 which was located in the Jax building (the cool old elevator worked back then for anyone who’s wondering). In 2006-07 I rented an art studio, again in the Jax. Finally, and most significantly, I currently attend Flamenco classes at Studio Sendero located in the Lowertown Underground Artists studio space. Each of these experiences has shaped me into who I am today. Secondly, I got involved, both as a maker and a sponsor, to say, “thank you” to the artists who put their heart and soul into the Lowertown community. Rage to Order is committed to keeping the arts alive and accessible. This project, in particular, opened the door for people from all over MN to get involved, myself included – and I’m so glad I did! Finally, I got involved in this project because I like to make things. I had to keep going back to the drawing board, but my fellow makers inspired me to keep making, keep progressing. I think we all got a lot more out of this experience than we put in, I know I did. Thank you Rage to Order for making this possible!
Mitzi Christian | St. Paul, MN
My cozy is a “picture” of an ice castle, which I saw for the first time in 1972. I didn’t know such a grand structure, built out of ice, was even possible. You could walk through the castle at the time and this southern gal was blown away by it. The sun and snowflakes “show” how cold it can feel up here, even when the sun is shining, and the purple flowers are for my mother-in-law. Lilacs were her favorite flower, and while these flowers are closer to roses than lilacs, the color is the same. I love to crochet, and do so as often as possible. I thought making a cozy would help me get to know my new neighborhood and the people who live near me. I’ve always loved the idea of yarn bombing (and this is close) and it also sounded like fun.
Cozy Dedication: “To Katie Layne Taylor, great grandmother, who taught me to crochet more than 60 years ago and Virginia Christian, mother-in-law, who taught me how to live in Minnesota without freezing into a block of ice.”
Veronika Schulz | St. Paul, MN
Suchi Sairam | St. Paul, MN
Wind Chimes (cozy #1) – I love making baby quilts and try new patterns. This cozy was an excuse to try a Wind Chimes pattern I’ve had on my radar for a long time.
Entwined Hexagons (cozy #2) – Though I’m an artist, I’m an engineer at heart – and quilting lets me experience the confluence of both these loves. I loved the spiral shape created by entwining hexagons, and thought it might look cool on a cozy – another excuse to try something new!
Cozy Dedication: “To those who have lovingly given me the gift of art.”
St. Paul Cozy 