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By Any Media Necessary: Mapping Youth and Participatory Politics

Hashtag Granny Squared

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Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

About
Yarnbombing Los Angeles is a graffiti knitting collective based in Los Angeles and currently led by Head Poncho Carol Zou. The collective evolved out of the October 2010 Fig Knit On participatory public knitting event when Arzu Arda Kosar, one of the participants, proposed another yarn bombing at the 18th Street Arts Center in June 2011. Joining in the international graffiti knitting movement but also putting their own spin on its practices, YBLA is a deeply collaborative group that aims to blur boundaries between craft, high art, street art, artists, and people on the street. They come together in monthly stitch n bitch meetings at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles, where newcomers can learn how to knit, crochet, or collage together recycled sweaters into yarnbombs. YBLA also regularly reaches out for contributions to their projects, from phrases submitted via Tumblr that the group can knit and place in LA to granny squares submitted via the mail to cover their museum home. Contributed by Samantha Close on 5/10/14
Yarnbombing Los Angeles Media
CAFAM Granny Squared: 14,000 squares
CAFAM Granny Squared: did you know?
CAFAM Granny Squared photo
Hashtag Granny Squared
About Yarn Bombing Los Angeles
Urban Letters by Yarn Bombing Los Angeles
Graffiti Knitting

About

Graffiti knitting, also called yarn bombing and yarn storming, is a loose international movement that blends graffiti and fiber arts, primarily knitting and crochet. Graffiti knitters make their pieces in private, often in groups, and then install them in public spaces. The yarn bombs are temporary, as they are easily removed by cutting the yarn with scissors, and the yarn itself deteriorates after a few weeks of being exposed to the elements. Just as paint graffiti is known to straddle the lines between art and politics, graffiti knitting groups engage with issues relevant to their local communities and spaces though in an artistic, often humorous, way. Although graffiti knitting is technically just as illegal as graffiti painting, it is very rarely prosecuted.

Artists had previously used yarn as a medium, but most agree the graffiti knitting movement was founded in 2005 by Texan Magda Sayeg and her group, Knitta Please. The movement spread via knitters and groups posting pictures of their installed pieces online and sharing them with each other. Though the groups are physically separate and pursue diverse projects, many come together virtually to install graffiti knitting and upload the photographs on International Yarnbombing Day, organized by Joann Matvichuk in Alberta.
Key Issues
Graffiti knitting is a tactic that can be used to comment on a wide variety of issues. By its nature, it is often concerned with the use and appearance of public space. Many groups also comment on issues related to gender, as knitting is often associated with women and graffiti with men, and environmentalism, via sustainable practices like re-using yarn and highlighting nature (or the lack thereof) in urban environments.
Key Organizations
Yarnbombing Los Angeles
Knit the City
Knit the Bridge
Knitta Please

Contributed by Samantha Close