'Yarn Bombing' a new kind of grafitti

• By
• Andrea Tucker

Vancouver locals release inspirational book on crocheted grafitti. Enter to win your own copy!

Yarn bombing is a type of street art (graffiti) that uses knit or crocheted pieces instead of tagging with a spray can. And after reading the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, I realized that I had actually "yarn bombed" before I even knew that the term existed. 

When Got Craft? started back in May 2007, I decided to make as many knit cozies as I could to go all over the city with tags marketing our event. I knew about Knitta and their work across the US. I actually contacted them before I installed the Got Craft? pieces to make sure that I wasn’t violating anything. 

Unfortunately, when my pieces took to the streets, they were taken down faster than we could put them up. All of our hard work didn’t go unnoticed though. One day, surfing the Internet, we found a picture of one of our creations on the blog magpie & cake and it made all that knitting worth it! 

Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Vancouver locals Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain (Arsenal Pulp Press, $19.95) is divided into four general parts: 

Patterns – A how-to featuring more than a dozen tutorials suitable for all levels of knitters and crocheters, including my favourite projects: the tree sweater (pg 167) and crocheted scallop tags (pg 184). 

Interviews with guerilla yarn bombers – I had the opportunity to meet Magda, founder of Knitta, at the Austin, Texas, premiere of Handmade Nation last September, so I was glad to see her featured with a Q&A. 

How-to – Everything you need to know to yarn bomb, from where to begin to what to do if you get caught. Mandy and Leanne have all of your bases covered!

^{This piece of yarn bombing is so big the belly button is
actually a person!}

Installations from around the world – It is truly amazing what some people can do! The 200-foot knitted pink hare stuffed with straw!? (Pictured right) Wow! 

I have to admit that I’m not a very strong knitter or crocheter, but you don’t have to be. Newbies may not understand all of the technical terms, but with plenty of beautiful images and stories, Yarn Bombing is an inspirational book for crafters of all levels and those looking for a creative outlet. 

A big thank you to Mandy and Leanne for creating an A+ book and for the opportunity to review it. You can catch up on all the latest news on the Yarn Bombing blog.