London Guerilla Knitting: “My yarn is as bad ass as your spray can.”

Guerilla knitting. Street art that sings the same yarn-flavoured tune I do. Always had vague fluffy plans of releasing my knits into the city I am in all kinds of love with. Always admired those who have done it before me.

Never really dreamed I would be standing nervously in the shadow of St Paul’s cathedral, pockets full of stocking stitch and fat tapestry needles, on the lookout for ‘the filth’ patrolling the historic building front, while the American queen of knitting graffiti deftly wrapped a lonely zebra-crossing beacon in knitting I had frantically created with my sticks and string the night before.

Magda Sayek sat across the table from me in a lunchtime-loud London pub an hour earlier. At her feet was a handbag of Mary-Poppins proportions, stuffed full of pre-knit graffiti bits. Tubes and strips of every colour sprung from it like knitted vipers whenever it was unzipped.

Bag of woolly vipers

Bag of woolly vipers

Magda, who began Knitta Please much like Stitch and Bitch London, with a few knitters, a bit of wine, and delusions of knitting grandeur four years ago, was on a flying visit to the UK to be on a chat show. Yarn has wrapped itself around her life, as well as the street signs and lampposts of her city.

Madga  I can never resist a lonely cycle lock.

Madga " I can never resist a lonely cycle lock."

Knitting; so utterly inoffensive. I have used it to calm distrustful strangers on trains in spice-scented lands, and to reach across language barriers to produce ‘my grandmother does that too’ smiles. Knitting is sort of the solid (yet spongy) ground I can always stand on when things are at their shakiest. But here the purly beast at my side grows another, altogether more tangled, head.

Guerilla knitting spins the idea of grandmas, moth balls, and too-long sleeves in an unexpected direction that leaves passers by dipped in thoughts of art, graffiti, sweet little old ladies, and daring deeds.

S&B Londoners get their guerilla knit on

S&B Londoner's get their guerilla knit on

I asked Magda if paint graffiti artists ever felt she was stepping on their toes with her woolly street art. Magda shook her head and said emphatically “No way! I tell them ‘My yarn is as bad ass as your spray can.'”

Looking at what we did to London’s South Bank this chilly February morning it was clear Magda was preaching to the knitting choir.

When the adrenaline subsides and you stand back in the shadows to watch passers-by crack smiles and point excited fingers you can’t help feeling you just made the world a little more interesting through making it a woollier place.

My knitting, St Pauls, possibly disrupted traffic

My knitting, St Paul's, possibly disrupted traffic

Guerilla knitting. I can feel you tugging at my sleeve with your woolly fingers of knitted sneakiness. Not sure how long I can resist another outing. And, quite frankly, I am not sure that I want to resist.

36 thoughts on “London Guerilla Knitting: “My yarn is as bad ass as your spray can.”

  1. CarmenM

    Hahaaaa, your words and pics have truly made a good day ever betterer… Ta so much this London yarn of such fine street knittery: you do yourself wondrous proud, guv.

  2. Flaneurbanite

    This is SO cool! I never knew knitting could be a form of ‘graffiti’ – a subject I’ve been getting increasingly interested in since I did my photowalks around Shoreditch and Rivington Street last week (pictures on my blog). Can’t knit myself, but can watch others knit, mesmerised for hours:)

  3. Summer

    You should have seen the look on my husband’s face when I said ‘guerrilla knitting’ – that in itself broke a great smile. I didn’t know about knitting graffitti either, but it’s fascinating. Do the authorities give you hell? I’d expect knitting graffitti to take a little longer than spray.

  4. Deadly Knitshade

    Wow. Everyone has said such lovely stuff. I guess wrapping the world in yarn can make a difference.

    I’m sure there’ll be another outing if anyone wants to join me. Start knitting your balaclavas now… 🙂

  5. Zina

    This is great! I hardly have to post anything at all on my blog! 😉

    I sooooo wish I coulda made it, it looks like you guys had so much fun. I’m way too law abiding, though. I probably would have asked permission from the cops first. *rolling eyes*

  6. sara

    such a shame i didn’t know you were doing this last week and could have joined you as i had been using the skater graffitti park for my yarn bombs a few weeks back.
    looks great though.

  7. grrl+dog

    Not only do I adore your blog title, and your writing style, but these knit ups are as we say “totally fuck off!!”

    I reckon you could be charged with disrupting traffic with that one, and the huge shaggy rail cover is too much!

    I am blogging you as we speak!

    thanks for contacting me..

    love it love it love it.

  8. Rosie

    Absolutely fantastic!! I felt so alone up here in the north(Leeds) so if you know anyone please let me know – My little contribution (see my blog post) seems a bit pathetic next to your Brilliant brilliant brilliant contribution to the movement !!

  9. Lady P

    until just recently , I never knew that my knitting could become – subversive! two of us did a yarn bombing of a tree on our high street just in time to join in with grrl +dog’s global guerilla knit up challenge- it was exhilarating – all of our pals are still taking about it and we are ready for more!

  10. Jafabrit

    I agree, love the title of your blog, and LOVE the pics of your knits, I can’t decide which is my fave. anyway you guys ROCK!

  11. Joffrey B.

    I saw a picture of you with Luna Lovegood converse shoes.
    I was wondering if you had the identification number of the converse or if you knew where i could find some…

    I live in Canada and I have a friend at school who really is looking for them, because she’s a fan of luna…

    thanks

  12. Clare

    Hi Deadly Knitshade,

    I’m writing a feature about guerrilla knitting for Knitting magazine and would really like to chat to you.
    I met Magda Sayeg just before she came to meet you guys to go tagging.
    Id would be great if you could drop me a line.

    Thanks,

    Clare

  13. Anna Holland

    Love it love it love it. Now perhaps my partner will agree to my decorating the Dutch Barge we live on, on the Thames, with some knitted ‘stuff’ perhaps on the cross-tree or wrapped around the tiller. I’ll post pics when I’ve done!

  14. Busted

    I love this so much I might start doing it at random. It may take years for anyone to notice the little knit objects in the Northeast U.S though

  15. lucy gilmour

    Hi There!
    Im currently an embroidery student at Manchester in the UK, and I am just about to start writing my disseration. I have chosen to write it on Guerilla Knitting. I plan to focus my work on knitting myself for my final year to begin with and this is why I am massively intersted in the Guerilla Knitting world! I was wondering if I could maybe have a chance to talk to you about your work and what inspires you etc.

  16. lucy gilmour

    Hi There!
    Im currently an embroidery student at Manchester in the UK, and I am just about to start writing my disseration. I have chosen to write it on Guerilla Knitting. I plan to focus my work on knitting myself for my final year to begin with and this is why I am massively intersted in the Guerilla Knitting world! I was wondering if I could maybe have a chance to talk to you about your work and what inspires you etc. I understand you will be busy working yourself, but maybe if you have a quick minute I could email you some questions about your work. Thankyou very much and keep up the amazing work! It always puts a smile on my face