Monday 25 November, 2024

Welcome to the world of the yarnarchist

Yarn bombing – it’s not a great name, but it does describe the gentlest guerilla graffiti movement around…

IT’S GRAFFITI BUT not as we know it. Our inclusion of a ‘yarnbombing’ creation to illustrate this morning’s The 9 at 9 created some interest on Twitter from knitting enthusiasts.

In case you haven’t heard of it, it’s where arts and crafts types try to make the world a little less of a cold place by knitting and crocheting ‘warmers’ for street furniture and at public locations. The Guardian’s Maddy Costa went out on the trail of the yarnarchist last October for this article.

As it happens, the phenomenon is probably best chronicled by the knit wits themselves in colourful blogs such and sites such as the Yarn Bombing Facebook page, Streetcolor’s Blog, and Yarn bombing (‘Improving the urban landscape one stitch at a time’).

Here are some examples to warm the cockles…

Welcome to the world of the yarnarchist

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Tree-warmers
Trees at the University of Texas, Austin. Image: Matthew Juran/Flickr
In bloom
Images: Bikejuju/Flickr
On yer trike
Image: Sam Szapucki/Flickr
Raw materials
A giant ball of yarn shows up on a Brisbane street, Australia. Image: David Jackmanson/Flickr
Soft-touch shelter
A bus shelter gets yarnbombed. Aine D/Flickr
Round trip
Image: Dominic Bartolini/FlickrSource: Dominic Bartolini via Flickr
May pole
Outside the Crocker art museum, Sacramento Image: Robert Couse-Baker/FlickrSource: Robert Couse-Baker via Flickr
Soft landing
Smart car at Vatican City, Italy. Image: StartTheDay/FlickrSource: StartTheDay via Flickr
Game for a laugh
Nintendo get into the yarn/knit bomb trend with this installation in London. Image: Matt Crossick/PA Wire
Wooden it be nice
The Knit Knot tree in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Image: AP Photo/Skip Peterson.
Lion knit-king
A statue in Trafalgar Square, London gets a lion-sized scarf. Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Images.