Yukoners knit wooly mammoth a new coat

Life-size sculptures of ice age mammals at Whitehorse’s Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre are now wearing colourful coats thanks to industrious knitters.

Yarn Bomb Yukon stitched a wooly mammoth into a onesie and put pyjamas on a giant beaver this week.

"We had to use some ladders and draped it and sort of form-fit it around with spare pieces and then we sewed it all together," said Jessica Vellenga of Yarn Bomb Yukon.

"We took darning needles and lots of yarn and stitched it all into one big piece. The whole process, including the mammoth and the beaver, took about three hours."

Yarn Bomb Yukon says it had permission from the museum for the bombing, and it was timed to coincide with the Canadian Museums Association Conference which starts in Whitehorse next Monday.

The group's last large-scale bombing involved putting a cozy on a DC-3 at Whitehorse Airport last summer.