A yarn is a story. And the story of all those colorful and funky wrappings that suddenly materialized on downtown Southern Pines trees this past week is — well, quite a yarn.

The whole delightful “yarn-bombing” exercise is the brainchild of Broad Street merchant Holly Floyd. The main purpose is to trick out both sides of that block in charmingly whimsical fashion for this Palustris weekend. And if it also ends up giving a bit of a commercial plug to Floyd’s business, Bella Filati Luxury Yarns — oh, what the heck.

The mission apparently required planning and coordination rivaling a military invasion by the group of local knitters who frequent the shop.

“We had 47 women and two guys,” Floyd says.

The unusual decor consists mostly of brightly colored, trunk-hugging creations that look a bit like something out of Dr. Seuss, some made from original needlework and others involving things like old sweaters put to new uses. A yarn monkey hangs from a tree in front of Monkee’s, and knitted basil leaves dangle in the breeze from limbs in front of the Sweet Basil cafe.

What these creative folks have wrought is harder to describe than to go see for yourself — which we urge you to do today, while there’s still time before the whole thing evaporates like some kind of fantastic figment of an overactive imagination.