International Yarn Bombing Day Date in the current year: June 11, 2024

Yarn bombing (yarnbombing) is known by many other names: yarn storming, wool bombing, graffiti knitting, kniffiti, guerrilla knitting, or urban knitting. It is a type of street art that involves knitting or crocheting patterns and then using them to cover various objects in public spaces.

The “knit graffiti” movement was started by Knitta Please, a group of artists from Houston, Texas, in 2005. Their mission was to make street art warmer and fuzzier. Membership in the group eventually dwindled down to its founder, Magda Sayeg, who is credited with launching the yarn bombing movement.

The main goal of the yarn bombing movement is to reclaim and personalize cold or sterile public places, but various yarn bombing groups around the world can have their own agendas. Many people see it as feminist movement because yarn bombing allows female artists to partake in the graffiti scene, which is traditionally masculine and male-dominated, by reclaiming knitting and crocheting that are viewed as traditionally feminine arts.

Yarn bombing installations, referred to as yarn bombs, are typically found in urban settings. Objects that usually get yarn bombed include trees, benches, fire hydrants, monuments, bridges, lamp posts, pillar boxes, bollards, and even bicycles. Unlike other forms of graffiti, yarn bombs are non-permanent and can be removed if necessary, although they may last for years if left untouched.

Yarn bombing is mostly seen as harmless fun, but some argue that it can have a negative environmental impact when yarn bombs are placed on trees or when installations made from synthetic fiber are not removed in time and end up littering the environment.

The inaugural International Yarn Bombing Day was observed on June 11, 2011. It was created by Joann Matvichuk from Lethbridge, Alberta. She came up with the idea one sleepless night and set up a Facebook page for yarn bombing fans from all over the world.

Thanks to Joann’s fan page, the first Yarn Bombing Day was celebrated by at least 2,000 people from different countries, including Australia, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

How to join the celebration of International Yarn Bombing Day? If you’ve always wanted to try knitting or crocheting, that’s your cue! Just please keep in mind that yarn bombing is technically illegal in some jurisdictions, so it would be wise to check your local legislation on the matter before creating a yarn bomb installation in a public space.

Another way to observe the holiday is to go online and look up whether there are any yarn bomb installations near you. If you find any, go check them out, snap a photo, and share it on social media with the hashtags #YarnBombingDay and #InternationalYarnBombingDay to spread the world about the holiday and get more people interested in this unusual form of street art.