An introduction to London's 'Knit the City' art collective

By Demi L. Gilbert

The Knit the City London-based art collective and 'friendly neighbourhood graffiti knitters' was founded in February 2009 by Stitch London founder and author Lauren O'Farrell. She originally invited five others to help her with her new innovative idea to make London more woolly, and the six original members were joined by a seventh member in October 2009. Taking on secretive identities, the sneaky seven consisted of Deadly Knitshade, Knitting Ninja, Lady Loop, Shorn-a the Dead, Bluestocking Stitching, The Purple Purl and The Fastener. But in 2010 Bluestocking Stitching, The Purple Purl and Knitting Ninja decided to call it a day, leaving the Knit the City crew to carry on their work as a crafty foursome. Here is a bit more information about the Knit the City Yarn Corps that remain today.

The leader and founder of the artistic knitters is Deadly Knitshade, known to mere mortals as Lauren O'Farrell. Since gathering the corps in 2009, she has been a very busy knitter, having quite literally created a storm by clothing London in a decorative blanket of wool, known as 'yarnstorming'. The term 'yarnstorming' was coined by none other than Ms Knitshade as an alternative the original US term 'yarnbombing'. After it was used by a BBC news reporter doing a piece on one of their public installations, the term caught on like wildfire and has somewhat replaced the 'yarnbombing' idea.

The members, or 'Yarn Corps' as they refer to themselves assumed superhero-esque identities, and the original seven were Deadly Knitshade, Knitting Ninja, Lady Loop, Shorn-a the Dead, Bluestocking Stitching, The Purple Purl and The Fastener. Deadly Knitshade, the leader and founder otherwise known as Lauren O'Farrell, decided to coin the term 'yarnstorming' to refer to the work they do as an alternative to the more aggressive sounding 'yarnbombing', which was originally coined in America. When BBC news media coverage of one of their installations in 2009 used the word 'yarnstorming' in the report, the coined term shot to popularity and is now a worldwide used term.

Lady Loop is one of the original and still practising members of the Yarn Corps. She is known for bringing a shade of her rock star glamour flair to the crew, and has been a pledged member since the very first outing. Shorn-a the Dead, another original knitting accomplice is the sneakiest of the crew, and helps them get away with secret stitching under the paranoid eye of the CCTV cameras. The Fastener may not have joined until late in 2009, but do not underestimate her. She is wise and wonderful, and is known to have the fasted glue gun hand in all of London city. She also possesses more buttons than any normal person should.

If you want to find out more about the Yarn Corps and their inner city antics, check out their book, Knit the City: A Whodunnknit Set in London, and keep your eyes peeled for more sneaky stitching!

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