DO YOU LIKE KNITTING??

I remember my grandmother always knitting in the warm evenings during the winter......

YARN BOMBIING

Knitting seems to be having a moment. That lamp post that you never noticed before … suddenly, it’s multicoloured. Trees, statues, even buses and bridges are finding themselves decorated with a warm, brightly coloured knitted woollen cover. It’s called yarn-bombing.

It’s believed to have started in the United States, but is now a global phenomenon. In Paris, a yarn-bomber has filled the cracks in the pavement with brightly knitted wool. In Poland, well-known yarn-bomber Agata Oleksiak has covered her grandmother’s country house with a loose knitted cover. And in Mexico City, another yarnbomber, artist Magda Sayeg, has specially designed a perfectly fitting cover for a city bus. It’s a kind of street art, a little bit like graffiti, but

considerably,  less damaging as it can be easily removed. Nonetheless, many local governments don’t like yarnbombing, and therefore it is often done secretly at night. Yarn-bombing is very quiet. The yarn-bombers then take photos of their creations and post them online for others to admire. It’s very much a social thing, with groups of knitters working together to plan and create something. Even the well-known yarn-bombing artists, such as Oleksiak and Sayeg, have teams of people to assist them with the bigger projects. So, why do they do it? Unlike much graffiti, yarn-bombing is often very much about making an ugly public space or object more beautiful. It’s about putting something personal and handmade into an urban, industrial environment. And, of course, it aims to put a smile on people’s faces.