YARNBOMBING

When it comes to crazy counter-culture, there's one bit of fluffy one that's taking countries by storm these days, and its called "yarnbombing".

Billed as a form of "guerilla granny grafitti", it can be found in the streets of London, Mexico City, and Vancouver, B.C. to name a few far flung places where wicked wool-gathers hang out.

So exactly what is yarnbombing?

Well, according to one the world's most creative and prolific yarn bombers, Magda Sayeg, (a 35-year-old lass from Texas and founder of Knitta Please), "It's about making people smile and bringing art out of the galleries so everyone can appreciate it". And she should know, she's been all around the globe embelleshing the built environment as she goes. Her thrilling threads can be found hanging from the Great Wall of China, blowing in the breeze at several Paris landmarks, and even on the Welcome sign to the Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Image Credit: Perri Lewis, The Guardian, UK -- Magda Sayeg in action

Merry munchkins would be well advised to toss their spray cans and take up knitting. Frankly, there's oodles more fun to be had with friends when you can paint your town whatever colors you please as long as it's made of fuzzy, furry, lumpy or bumpy yarn!

Yup, yarnbombing has become the talk of the town...it's like tagging with a twist.

First things first, forget about eating your heart out and pining over a lost love with grumbling guys or gals. The best therapy is threads, the more the merrier. Suck it up their "Stitch Witch" and "Sassy Swatch". Get cracking: It's time to cast on and off like crazy all you crochet commandos!

How about making a winter wooly scarf to wrap around a lamp post? Or, why not knit a titillating tree trunk sweater, or darn a dazzling ditty for a doorknob.

If you need more information on how to spin yarns in Lotusland or anywhere else for that matter, why not pick up a copy of a new book published by Arsenal Pulp Press entitled, The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain (who tell you all about this guerilla art and offer some great knitting patterns to get started)!

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Image Credit: Jeff Christenson@flickr.com (lamp post in the Inner Harbour facing the Provincial Legislature in beautiful downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)

Never fear, there is always a place for those who wish to contribute to the rich treasury of creative loafing in the world.

Don't complain about those ugly monstrosities commonly referred to as "unique pieces of public art". Give them a new lease on life and a ripsnorting reason for being!

Why not join a jest-in-time group of crochet commandos and leave your handiwork behind on those shabby sculptures and questionable quirks of art?

It's time to brandish those balls of yarn and dare to darn up a storm to cloack everything in sight...be it a door knob, a railing, a stop sign, or a table leg, and why not pray tell.

Frankly, if you're bored out of your gourd darning doilies, you're sick and tired of knitting socks and sweaters for people who probaby don't give a sweet tweet about your precocious personality, and you're beginning to wonder whether your passion for pink and purple pot-holders is wearing a tad thin these days...then do something different...just for the heck of it!

Take some advice from some frustrated felines...just turn your urge to spit tacks into "stealth knitting"! Organize yourself into a guerilla team of crazy craftspeople and create a bit of "shock and awe" by turning your town's tacky pieces of outdoor art into titillating tidbits with the help of some terrific tea-cozies or tasteful tuques.

How about creating a giant tea cozy to cover an entire bus (like they did in Mexico City), or sneak out under the cover of darkness and decorate a few stop signs with a snug-fitting pair of socks (like they did recently in Montreal, Quebec), or perhaps plop a friendly piece of fiber on a grumpy garden gnome!

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Image Credit: Yo! Hanna@flickr.com

Feisty freelance knitters unite...you have nothing to lose but a few balls of yarn, a couple of needles, and your sensible sanity!

Your amusing form of fun and frolic may frazzle a few fun-challenge folks, but the rest will surely chuckle, chortle, and chinwag about your wonderful woolen works of art that delightfully decorate France's Notre Dame Cathedral or San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

And frankly, what's not to like about all those damn fine doilies that have finally found their rightful place adorning a half-naked hydro pole or the worn-out welcome sign at the city dump?

Isn't it about time do something ridiculously life-affirming for once in your life...that doesn't cause harm to the environment or damage someone's precious property? What's wrong with creating a crazy crochet piece that serves no useful purpose other than to provide a few laughs for some merry-minded mavens!

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Image Credit: Ann Johns Illustration@flickr.com