I really need somebody to explain the 3rd image to me.

The third image is a home designed by an artist named Olek. Not sure what his intentions were...

Anywho, all but the legwarmer are crocheted. Crochet gives yarnbombers more freedom to shape if they're doing intricate work. It also seems to go a LOT faster than knitting. While I would never do something like this, I do respect the amount of effort put into it.

jenn_y: Usually these things are knit/crocheted in pieces off the object to be wrapped, then assembled and sewn on in the dead of night.

These are great and beautiful - just one exception, the trees. Very bad idea. Trees use their bark to regulate all sorts of things and some trees such as striped maple even photosynthesize using their bark. Never do this to a tree unless you're trying to kill it.

From the NY Times article Alysha links to (which was published a few months ago) it doesn't sound like the pieces usually stay up very long, so I think the bark is probably safe. I've seen this sort of thing on random telephone poles and such. Love it.

Yarn bombing has 'hit' my area, and I could not be more pleased!

I can just imagine the faces on the folks at Merrill Lynch when they came into the office Monday morning to see their bull in a purple knitted bodysweater

They do this a lot to bike racks on the street in PDX. The only problem is, after it rains, they stretch out terribly. Is there a yarn with lycra in it that guerrilla knitters can use?

This is AMAZING! ("Knitta Please" hahahahaha)

I'm actually not all that into this. Whenever I see yarn bombs, they've already been rained on and just look like they've turned into mildewy trash. Ones I see stay up for months, until someone (I don't think it's the knitter) takes them down. So yeah, the trees probably are harmed.

This may just be my personal dislike of disposable crafts that serve no real purpose, but it seems like such a waste. Maybe you could get together with your hardcore knitting friends and knit a bunch of really cool looking clothes for a homeless shelter in your town, instead?

WOW the pothole 'graffiti' looks so so so beautiful! I wish all potholes looked like this!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/headshake/5923412347/in/photostream

A lot of parking meters in my college town have "post-warmers" these days.

Guerilla knitting of the 00s is the streaking of the 70's.

Don't forget Prague!!

This is my favourite:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocketfarm/5099066859/in/set-72157625056828049

http://www.flickr.com/photos/komankova/4755945282/

http://girlinczechland.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/guerilla-knitting-czech-style-girl-in-czechland-goes-stitching-and-bitching/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/headshake/5854702415/in/photostream

I agree with LizU....this seems like such a waste of good yarn. Make me a cute sweater instead! Or at least use your time for something that is not going to mildew in the rain and be thrown away within a few days or months.

We have a very liberal town in Ohio called Yellow Springs where the entire community yarn bombs together. It's refreshing on a gloomy day or in the day of winter. :]

This was covered not too long ago in ReNest, which was the second time one of the AT sites got excited about yarn bombing. The first time AT covered KnittaPlease, community members commented on the racism/ classism of the name. Here we go again and again! Good idea, bad form. More info at http://www.studioist.com/knitta-please-and-resisting-racist-handicraft/

Sigh.

Also check out wild knitting in a zoo: http://wildbreien.nl/ (the second movie)

some of this stuff is interesting but that "yarn bomber" Bansky balloon girl is so stupid. What a seriously unoriginal waste of time and effort. Also.. it's pretty lame to try and act like this is some covert, illegal "mission" when in reality the illegality of doing something like this probably equal to what? littering?

The pothole is the best.

Wow, they do have a lot of spare time!

the amount of negativity/criticism around the name of the collective is amazing to me. i wish more people could take the knitting for what it is. i know i saw the knitted bike in my neighborhood, smiled, and got on with my day. i'm assuming it provided a nice moment of appreciation for many others, as well. the accusations of racism/classism are (unfortunate) background noise to me.

on a side note, i do agree that the knitting is better suited to non-living objects (not trees).

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the "post warmers" I see on bike racks or parking meters here in West Philly. It seems like a waste of yarn. But I do appreciate the quirky, fun intentions of their creators.

It would be nice if they just knit scarves, socks, or sweaters for the homeless instead.

I have mixed feelings -- as a conceptual art movement, it's a riot! I love the colors and unexpectedness of it all. But I also agree that in a time when we maybe all should be more eco-friendly and not waste materials, this concept is a bit insensitive.

Some people enjoy spending their evening’s scrapbooking, video games, going to basketball games, watching cars go around in circles for hours on tv, lounging by the pool, or sitting reading a book. People spend hundreds of dollalrs on ipods, gadgets, golf clubs, books/magazine subscriptions, season tickets for games/entertainment, video games but woe betide someone who uses scraps of yarn, donated yarn or cheap yarn for outdoor art.
I continue to be astonished by the presumption that how I spend my time, how I donate, and the materials I use as an artist are a waste??? Does the same rule apply to my paint, canvas, wood, beads, paper and glue. Do these same rule apply to others, or just yarnbombers?
Have any of you checked the needs lists of homeless shelters, or looked at what is really damaging our trees? Have any of you been homeless?
jafagirls in yellow springs, Ohio
http://jafagirls.wordpress.com/about/

I am with spuggy.

The tree is so cool!!

http://statementpiece.blogspot.com/

I don't feel it is a waste of materials. The group here in Wilmington, NC the I head, Port City Yarn Love, we yarn bomb poles and other everyday ugly objects. I used to do trees, but I get such flack about it that I stopped ( although the birds down town LOVE them. they tear them up for nests! really colourful nests!) We are an eco-conscious and social conscious group. Using leftover yarn from charity projects so that there is no waste... SOme yarn bombs look great for a year, some a month... And for all my fellow yarn bombers, an Idea-old yarn bomb scraps? stitch them together in a mini quilt for a shelter dog... they love them!
Seriously, yarn is less detrimental to the environment than paint or chemicals and it brings a smile to some faces! sit back and enjoy it... Before you bash it, ask a yarn bomber what they do wit the bombings... they will tell you!

Interested parties should check out http://yarngraffitidocumentary.blogspot.com/. Sarah Gonzalez is working on a feature length doc about the yarn graffiti movement.

geeky, yes, I like the using old yarnbombs for dog shelter blankets:) We have used ours for other yarnbombs, local fundraising projects and the traveling storybox project.

Just the other week as my husband and I were passing through Piccadilly Park, I saw the work of a yarn bomber! At first I thought it was a pretty crocheted hat that someone had flung up into the tree, but upon further inspection,(I was planning on taking it), the colourful band had been crocheted around the tree trunk! so sweet-I loved it-although, at the time, I didn't know what I was looking at! And now I do thanks to AT!

"this concept is a bit insensitive."

so is sitting at your computer surfing websites for hours a week when you could be (1) not using the electricity, (2) working at a homeless shelter, (3) chilling the f*ck out about stuff that doesn't matter

Since I just came home from volunteering, I feel that I can write my opinion. It sucks and it’s wasteful! A true bomber would inspire….

Since I also do a lot of volunteering, I feel I can write my opinion also. You asked if a true yarn bomber would inspire? Yes, yarnbombing has been very inspiring in a variety of ways, but the one that really sticks with me are the children. Inspiring children is never a waste of time.
http://jafabrit.blogspot.com/2011/06/international-yarnbombing-day-inspiring.html

Way to go spuggy! Kudos to everyone who volunteers for something. Those that preach without doing; shut up.