SOLD: Beautiful Happyzine

There are many crafty types out there who will happily sit at home/ in a café/ in the Doctor’s waiting room with their needles and yarns at the ready; creating delightful, often functional and highly colourful pieces like tea cosies, socks and cross-stitch tigers for the bedroom wall. But there are some who are into more subversive creations, using the same foundations but creating something entirely new.

Enter Guerilla Knitting – also known as Yarnbombing or Yarnstorming. This street art or graffiti is the practice of turning normal, humdrum boring parts of the landscape and cityscape into something more colourful and more beautiful, using the crafts of knitting or crocheting. These woolly warriors are taking all the traditional stereotypes surrounding woolcraft, turning them on their heads and bringing a younger, fresher perspective and motive to the art; much like the emerging popularity of the Stitch and Bitch clubs that have been popping up worldwide over the last few years. How wonderful to be walking your normal route to work and instead of the usual chain fence, you pass by a stretch of wire-strung hearts, singing out their cheer and colour to the urban world. Or you pull into a parking space and go to pay only to discover a brightly covered parking meter. Surely the joy would spread like butter throughout any town or city! I am all for making the world a more interesting and enjoyable place, visually as much as anything.

I am not sure where I first saw or heard of this, but since I have it has been growing hugely, even way down here in New Zealand. Web research will bring up many sites, blogs and photos that you can trawl through for hours, marvelling at the skill and insane creativity that these people are sharing with the world. Here are a few I have discovered just now. Check them out, take a squiz at the photos, follow the links and favourites:

Knit The City: http://ow.ly/gPoo
Yarnbombing: http://yarnbombing.com/
Outdoor Knit: http://outdoorknit.blogspot.com/
Glittyknittyknitty: http://www.glittyknittykitty.co.uk/
Art Yarn: http://artyarn.blogspot.com/
Knitta Please: http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/
Knitted Landscape: http://www.knittedlandscape.com/
Purl Interrupted: http://purlinterrupted.co.uk/

If this sparks your interest and you are a skilled craftster, perhaps check out your own town to see if there are some others who could join you on a knitting crusade. Beautify your town, challenge stereotypes, and get creative!

Tags: good news, Happiness, knitting, optimism, positive news