Graffiti knitting: the art of the sneaky stitch. I knit, I venture into the city, I yarnstorm, I take far too many photos, I run away giggling.
I have been a graffiti knitter (also known as yarnstorming or yarnbombing) since 2007 but took it up in earnest in 2009 after a terrifying incident involving the London Underground, a mechanical ‘Tube Sanitiser’ and several courageous Tube Mice. I escaped with my life, my yarn and eerie knitting powers.
On that day in the dingy underbelly of London Deadly Knitshade was born.
I’ve become something of a infamous sneaky stitcher since then. I even made it into the Guardian, and been on BBC News and the BBC World Service. I have exhibited my work at Tate Britain, the Natural History Museum, the V&A and the Science Museum in London, and in Germany and New York.
I also founded and continue to wrangle Knit the City, London’s sneaky stitching collective, vaguely famous for our Telephone Box Cosy in Parliament Square.
About Deadly Knitshade: Deadly Knitshade is a lone wool-hungry wolf whose knits aren’t content with lurking in the shadows of conventional knitting. They don’t stand under the woolly umbrella of quiet stitching at home in front of the TV. They do not smell of mothballs or Werther’s Originals. They do not hide in department store basements or charity shop bargain bins. They aren’t there to keep anyone warm in the winter.
Discernible by their Whodunnknit tags, they can appear anywhere. They like to get out. They demand to be noticed. They live in this city every bit as much as any of you do.
My every day self and Deadly Knitshade exist side by side, day to day, in the same body. An episode or ‘yarnstorm’ could happen at any time. In any place. Deadly Knitshade arrives without warning. Sometimes in the least convenient of places. It is my yarn-flavoured burden to carry.
And it’s often quite embarrassing at parties.
To read more about my graffiti knitting check out My Graffiti Knits page.
