knitta, please! (and thanks)

'Grafknitti' ... 'Graffiti Knitting' ... 'Urban Knitting' ... whatever name you know it by - do you have this happening where you live, too? I know it's not new, but here in Ottawa, I'm really impressed it's around at all.  Among scores of conservative, decorum-focused play-it-safe-ers, is a small but steady crafty uprising. And I love it!

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. If 8(?) years of living here has taught me anything, it's that there's a seriously funky soul beating in the heart of Ottawa .... you just need to have interest in digging to get at it.

I started noticing knit adornment of public property a couple of years ago here, but in very sparse and sparing numbers. It's been a long time that I've seen evidence of the knitter's uprising in Ottawa, but my lunch-time walk the other day had me spotting a few(!) colourful wool-covered sign posts like this one (blackberry camera, forgive the quality):

As a fan of graffiti in general  - not the lame tags (see background of photo above) and jumble of random expletives - but the true artists who enhance an otherwise bland place or give people pause for thought, I really appreciate the 'urban knitters' for the burst of colour and whimsy in this otherwise grey time of year. Plus, it's a great little reminder to lighten the eff up, already!

In case this 'grafknitti' is something new to you, just check out some beautiful (and thought provoking) work that these knitting fiends have gifted us with:

entitled 'Tree cozy', this incredible crocheted outfit was made by carol hummel, took 500 hours from start to finish

'Tank Cozy'  by Danish artist Marianne Jørgensen. She gathered knitted pink squares from knitters
around the globe to create this - a criticism of  Denmark's involvement in Iraq.

I adore this movement, just brilliant! Read more about 'urban knitting' and check out the infamous knitting group 'Knitta Please' for photos and projects taking place around the world. It's a woolly revolution, yo!