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A good yarn? West Cape May tries to unravel the mystery of the midnight knitter
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It’s a dark winter night and the park is empty. Or ... is it? Suddenly, movement. Yes, somebody slinking through the entrance gate, armed with long metal spikes of some sort. They’re pulling something out of a pouch. It looks like a ball of some sort, kind of like a ball of yarn, pink yarn. Before long another tree, signpost or lamp standard is covered with brightly colored yarn. Yes, the midnight knitter has struck again. And officials are stumped again.
“We don’t know who it is,” said Mayor Pam Kaithern. “Technically, they shouldn’t be doing it. The police are asking about it, but it’s fun and it’s a mystery.” Kaithern said most people enjoy the adornments that have brought blues, pinks, teal, yellow, reds, purples, lime green and other colors to Wilbraham Park, which tends to be pretty bland this time of year. It looks as if someone is trying to keep the trees and lamp standards warm by wrapping them up in leggings and scarves.
Fans of the work argue it is an art form, a whimsical one at that. The area is known for its artists, including potters, painters, woodworkers and, now, knitters. “It’s typical West Cape May art. It’s so quirky. It’s like the green magnetic fish at the Flying Fish studio,” Flanegan said. There is at least one difference between famous artists like Christo and the midnight knitters of Wilbraham Park. “Christo does it with permission. These guys do it in the dead of night,” said Richmond Shreve, while lunching across from the park Monday at the coffee shop Higher Grounds.
Regulars at the park love the handiwork. Susan Longacre, who lives at Victorian Towers in Cape May, takes her daily walk in the park to see the latest attack firsthand. Longacre admitted senior citizens at Victorian Towers have contributed yarn to the midnight knitters, some of whom she knows. “I think it’s wonderful,” Longacre said. Others are indifferent. “It doesn’t bother me. It’s better than somebody spray painting all over the place,” said local resident Jamie Smith.
