After months of agile knitting by a concerted group of volunteers hundreds of metres of colourful acrylic yarn were stitched onto the limbs of a large tree to launch Rotorua's first Yarnbomb Tree Project.
The public art installation at The Arts Village has been in the making since the New Year and yesterday marked the culmination of many hours of work, project leader Annette Bates said.
A group of volunteers, including Rotorua MP Todd McClay, methodically stitched and wrapped hundreds of pieces of design patterns around the tree limbs to create a vibrant covering.
The installation copied similar yarnbomb, or guerilla art, projects in Europe and United States in which buildings, vehicles and trees were wrapped in various material.
The Rotorua yarnbomb installation would remain in place for 18-to-24 months, Mrs Bates said.