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Nowadays knitting can hardly be called a grandma’s hobby. Since 2004, it’s been developing into a new street art phenomenon – yarn bombing (or yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting, graffiti knitting and even grandma graffiti). It employs colorful knitted and crocheted yarn or fiber on different displays, such as hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, bicycles, cars or any other ordinary urban objects. Though these yarn bombs (or yarnstorms) may last for years, they are considered non-permanent and technically illegal.
First examples of yarn bombing were recorded in the Netherlands and from there spread all over the world. The movement got a boost, and a manifesto, in 2009 with the book “Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti” by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain. According to most of the artists, yarn bombing is a very feminine art, transforming cold and urban landscapes into warm and cozy surroundings. Ms. Hemmons, one of the mostly known yarn bombers, says: “Street art and graffiti are usually so male dominated. Yarn bombing is more feminine. It’s like graffiti with grandma sweaters.”
