“Yarn Bombing” adds colour to life

Many of you may not have heard yet but “yarn bombing” pushes the limits of imagination as a form of modern art which is based on clothing objects with colourful yarns. If you happen to develop a passion for yarn bombing which embellishes Aksa Akrilik Headquarters nowadays, you may create yarn installations with all kinds of imaginable objects.

“Yarn bombing”, art of knitting objects with colourful yarns imaginatively, has influenced the world thanks to its imposing energy since it emerged as a street art in the Netherlands in 2004. Creating a visual feast in various parts of the city, this trend is a type of graffiti that is performed with yarns rather than paint or spray. Yarn bombing gives a distinctive soul to urban locations by knitting trees, posts, bridges, bicycles and all other objects instead of walls. This trend of knitting everyday objects has become so popular that June 11 is celebrated as “Yarn Bombing Day”. Indeed, several yarn bombing exhibitions are opened one after the other in different parts of the world. As a very young form of art, yarn bombing enables us to create deep and meaningful works of art by interpreting our world and environment in a colourful way. It is possible to create joyful and attractive objects with yarn bombing that is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn. Adding vitality and colour to especially urban locations, yarn bombing contributes the warm, lovely and cosy effect of knitting to all objects. As an outstanding example of the new and creative forms of activism, it enables artists to create colourful public installations with knitted or crocheted yarns rather than paint.

First Models Emerged in the Netherlands

Yarn bombing first emerged in the Netherlands in May 2004. In 2005, knitters in Texas contributed to this street art with their knitting. Today, artists are engaged in this art in various parts of the world. Magda Sayeg, from Houston, is one of the prominent yarn bombing artists. In 2005, she covered the door handle of her shop with knitting in order to make her shop cosy and warm. This resulted in the rise of the popularity of the shop. Impressed with people’s interest in her creation, Sayeg continued by knitting the traffic post. Then, yarn installations began to emerge in the streets of Houston. As time went by, Sayeg contributed to the start of the movement by contributing to various projects and posting her creations on the internet. After that, some big companies began to contact Sayeg to ask her knit for their products. Sayeg knitted a sweater for Toyota Prius and contributed to a similar project for Mini Cooper.

Design Your Own Yarn Bombing

First, you need to choose an object to add style, aesthetics and meaning with yarn bombing. If you plan to knit or crochet a fabric, choose a 3-D object such as a tree, box or sculpture. At the second step, draw a diagram and measure your object. Drawing a diagram is helpful to calculate the measurements of each part of the object. Measure the width, height and diameter of your object with a measuring tape. Using a measuring tape will give you flexibility while measuring the arms of a sculpture, branches of a tree or other objects with weird shapes. The third step is the design. Decide how to create your yarn bombing with either knitting or crocheting. At the fourth step, you will need to create a 2-D piece of knitted or crocheted fabric to be wrapped around the 3-D object. Also, you will need to stitch the piece after wrapping it around your object. Create the pieces matching the measurements in your diagram with the method you select. For example, if you will create a yarn bombing for a tree measuring around 36 inches to 50 inches, you will need to create rectangular piece based on those measurements. After installing your piece, you will need to stitch it. If you have lots of pieces to be stitched at home, you may create a large 2-D piece by stitching the patchworks. Finally, wrap each piece around the object and stitch them simply to cover each piece and create a wholly wrapped yarn bombing. Here is your yarn bombing.