Queen of Knits and Pearls
Oozing into the title of Eugene’s 30th SLUG Queen, Sadie Slimy Stitches put a lot of hard work, and yarn, into her slime trail. Having spent over 400 days knitting her costume, Queen Sadie (otherwise known as Maiya Becker of Eugene) was inspired by the Broadway show, Wicked. Becker, who also works as a costume stagehand for the Hult Center had seen Wicked’s Emerald City gowns backstage in April 2011. Another stagehand made the offhand remark that SLUG Queens would die for those costumes and Becker decided to take the challenge to heart. An accomplished knitter, Becker used close to 40 different kinds of (mostly donated) yarn to knit her gown. She also used donated t-shirts that she cut into strips of yarn and knit it into her train. There are 30 little knitted slugs on her train- one representing each SLUG Queen. Possibly the most noticeable part of her costume is her hand-knit one of a kind lace parasol. It’s the attention to detail that makes her costume spectacular.
During the competition, Queen Sadie slimed onto stage with her three Slugettes- Shorty, Sporty and Posh Slugette. Performing an unimaginable feat of dancing and hula hooping while knitting, Queen Sadie knit her way into the audience’s heart. At the finale of her talent, Queen Sadie and her Slugettes tossed glitter and hand knit slugs into the crowd. Previous to the competition, Queen Sadie had knit a 60 foot garland consisting of knitted hearts, stars and slugs and hung it from the stage’s eaves. Creating one giant bribe for all the Old Queens.
A veteran of street art, Becker founded the knit guerrilla or yarn bombing group The Eugene Knotty Knitters. Using yarn, knitting and crochet to decorate industrial and inanimate objects in Eugene and Springfield, Becker is very passionate about encouraging community art. Queen Sadie’s focus during her “rain” will be for MECCA: Materials Exchange Center for the Community Arts. “The Eugene Knotty Knitters are about taking donated or scrap yarn or what would otherwise be thrown away and turn it into art that anyone can appreciate it. Seeing a cozy on a door handle, or knitted stripes on a parking meter make people smile,” Becker says. “For me, working closely with MECCA is along those same lines. They take scraps and garbage and encourage people to make art with it. It’s a beautiful thing.”
