Tuesday 15 March 2011

Street Knitting

Continuing on the theme of street art, and staying in the same neighbourhood as the 3 Murs, I was surprised to come across a first for me - urban knitting! These polychrome woolen hearts have been stitched into place on a wire fence, and bring a touch of fantasy to this patch of wasteland.

The creation seems to be signed 'Val Rex', but I can find no information relating to this online. If anybody has any information about the artist or the mysterious world of urban knitting, please drop me a line!

Update: Reader iBecks (who has her own knitting related blog) has informed me that this kind of creation is known as yarn bombing or yarn storming, and advised me to check out this website for more information on the genre: http://knithacker.com/. After a little further research, she has discovered that the wonderfully named Les Tricoteuses de Belleville are responsible for this creation. Looking at their photos, it seems as if there were originally far more hearts on the fence. Perhaps people are now taking home a souvenir!
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11 comments:

  1. iBecks15 March 2011 at 22:59

    It's known as Yarn Bombing or Yarn Storming and commonly believed to have originated in Houston, Texas with a group called Knitta. I can't find any info about Val or Rex, but try asking knithacker.com

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  2. iBecks15 March 2011 at 23:14

    ...a bit more research found this group - it looks like they are responsible for this particular yarn bomb: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=134585566555957

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  3. Adam16 March 2011 at 09:50

    Thanks iBecks - fantastic information! I'll add it to the post.

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  4. Kiki16 March 2011 at 17:22

    any kind of hearts are welcome! even knitted ones!!! like the idea and goes well with the locks on the Pont des Arts :)

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  5. Tim16 March 2011 at 21:24

    Excellent - and they even have weekly meetings, no doubt to plot their next Yarn Bombing campaigns (and no doubt to swap tips about stitches and needles and things). I think we need to organise an Invisible Paris readership outing to one of their sessions to see this kind of operation from the inside!

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  6. Cergie18 March 2011 at 16:09

    Très drôle d'autant que c'est du point mousse. J'ai vu que des artistes emmaillotaient des troncs d’arbres avec du tricot (mais où ?).

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  7. c'est Jeff ici20 March 2011 at 02:23

    Yes, but what does it all mean? Locks on Pont des Arts, knitted hearts, tree trunks with sweaters! This stuff is to cities what tattoos are to people.

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  8. Anonymous20 March 2011 at 09:57

    Bravo

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  9. Anonymous20 March 2011 at 12:38

    This is utterly bizarre!

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  10. PeterParis20 March 2011 at 23:58

    Very original!

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  11. PeterParis21 March 2011 at 00:00

    Very original!

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