Saturday 11th June was International Yarn Bombing Day and Formby couldn’t help but get involved

On Saturday 11th June, it was International Yarn Bombing Day and Formby couldn’t help but get involved…

International Yarn Bombing Day is the practice of knitted works of art being added to public places.

It was lovely to see so many people enjoying the celebration for International Yarn Bombing day in Formby. A Big THANK YOU to 8th St. Luke’s Brownies for creating the “hair” for the bobblehats, they looked great!

This Brownie found hers. A huge thanks to her grandma, Carol Hunter, who lives in Blackpool, for knitting all the hats. They all looked fantastic!

Well done to everyone involved including the Imagine Formby volunteers and Paula Draper.

International Yarn Bombing Day

To understand International Yarn Bombing Day, you first need to take a look at what yarn bombing is. It is sometimes referred to as guerrilla knitting or yarnstorming. No matter what you call it, it is simply the practice of knitted works of art being added to public places. For example, a yarn bomber may design some sort of colorful knitted pattern and wrap it around a bus stop. The aim of this practice was to try and take knitting from something that was viewed as merely for creating clothes and hats to something that could add meaning and color to urban locations.

It’s not like standard graffiti where the point is to mark your territory. It’s also definitely not an act of vandalizing. It is about creating a sense of belonging and conveying meaning, as well as drawing attention to something that is ignored by most people. International Yarn Bombing Day, therefore, is simply a celebration of this tradition, raising awareness of the art of crochet and knitting while having a lot of fun in the process.

International Yarn Bombing Day started as a simple gimmick at a sewing boutique. As part of their style and personality, they knitted a sleeve for their door handle, and from there it spread like wildfire. It started spreading to cover telephone poles, put colorful socks on statues, and bike racks, even trees have received a warm and lovely sleeve to see them through the cold winter months.

The first-ever International Yarn Bombing Day actually took place on the 11th of June 2011, and it has been going strong ever since!

It’s all done in the spirit of beautification and fun, bringing a fantastically colorful display to urban areas around the world. It’s not even seen as graffiti by most people in the area, but rather an entirely acceptable and attractive form of urban art. And it’s little surprise, with all the amazing patterns that can come out of a knitter’s craft, and the warm and comfortable nature of the fabric.