Knitters use yarn to make fun or subversive statements in a somewhat gentler fashion by attaching knitted forms to urban fixtures such as parking meters, bicycle locks, and port anchors. They've tagged the Great Wall of China, the Golden Gate Bridge, and New York City taxicabs, later chronicling the installations on blogs. Some get together on the social-networking site Ravelry.
The picture on the left shows a knitted lightpole cosy, courtesy of Magda Sayeg, who runs the Knitta Please Web site. On the right is a yarn mushroom that appears to emerge from the street. It's from Evelien Verkerk and Jan ter Heide of the Dutch KnitWit blog.
Guerrilla knitters also spell out edgy messages and pop-culture references within scarves, sweaters, and art pieces, sometimes with the help of software to print custom patterns. Galleries increasingly exhibit such works by artists including Lisa Anne Auerbach.
Photo by Magda Sayeg/Knitta Please; Evelien Verkerk and Jan ter Heide/KnitWit
Caption by Elsa Wenzel
