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.
