Yarnarchy 2023, an Ōtautahi yarn bombing festival, launches tomorrow Saturday 10 June (Worldwide Knit in Public Day)!

The Yarnarchy crew will celebrate the installation of more than twenty yarn bombs around Ōtautahi’s central city tramline by joining Knit Around the Tram for a morning knitting session on wheels.

Knit Around the Tram has been organised by Amy Hewgill and the Ninja Knitters - and they're calling for others to join them! Anyone who brings a knit or crochet project can hop on the first tram from Cathedral Junction on Saturday 10 June at 10am for free. Meet some friendly crafters including many of the artists from Yarnarchy, check out the yarn bombs then head to Tūranga where the library is hosting some special knit/crochet activities, and have a cuppa in good company.

Yarnarchy runs from 10-24 June and is part street art, part craft, part graffiti, and a whole lot of colour and positive vibes, brightening up the central city with fun and playful yarn bombing installations.

Keep your eyes peeled for lots of flowers, monster feet, a statue sporting a giant walkman and earmuffs, street furniture turned couches, a giant snake, a taniwha on Worcester St bridge, a knitted bulldog called Cinnamonbun and more!

Cinnamonbun the knitted bulldog made by Oxford-based fibre artist Salvo hangs out near Rollickin' Gelato on New Regent Street.

Lynne Lawson, a long-time yarn bomber, will install four large tree wraps on Cashel Street near the Bridge of Remembrance, each with a different theme. “It’s great to see them all up and to see everyone coming to look at them and take pictures,” she said. Lynne has been known to yarn bomb overseas, even spending part of an Italian vacation yarn-bombing her way across the country!

Local Yarnarchy Coordinator Deb Robinson first got involved in yarn bombing project Bombardments last year. “I started by helping to make a large crochet butterfly last year with Gap Filler, and now I'm hooked!” she said.

Gap Filler’s Urban Play Coordinator Kate Finnerty is happy to see people coming together to play with the city in a new way. “We often think of the city as finished, but yarn bombing gives us a really easy way to shape our environment in a way that’s playful, and maybe even a little transgressive,” she said. “It’s fun for all ages and a reminder that Ōtautahi belongs to us as a living city, continuously evolving to reflect our community”.

So what’s a yarn bomb? Yarn bombs are temporary knit or crocheted installations covering a natural or human-made structure often in magical and unexpected ways. Generally brightly coloured, yarn bombs are quite literally a warm and fuzzier version of graffiti. Yarn bombing is a form of ‘craftivism’ that aims to bring life, warmth, playfulness and a feeling of belonging and community.

For the next two weeks, post a picture of your favourite yarn bomb to social media with the tag #Yarnarchy2023 to go into the draw to win one of two $50 vouchers to Knit World, and give yarn bombing a go yourself!

This is one of many Gap Filler projects working to connect people in playful ways and promoting Christchurch as a fun, and unique place.
…

Gap Filler’s Pae Tākaro Place of Play programme is supported by the Christchurch City Council.

© Scoop Media