Knitta Please
{{Short description|American textile art group}}
Image:Knitta on Delancey M-cropped.jpg street corner.]]
Knitta Please, also known as simply Knitta, is the group of artists who began the "knit graffiti" movement in Houston, Texas in 2005. They are known for wrapping public architecture—e.g. lampposts, parking meters, telephone poles, and signage—with knitted or crocheted material, a process known as "knit graffiti", "yarn storming" or "yarnbombing".{{cite web
|author = Harper, Marques
|title = Artist adds color to city's fabric
|work = Austin Statesman
|date = April 20, 2010
|url = http://www.statesman.com/life/style/artist-adds-color-to-citys-fabric-592370.html?imw=Y
|access-date = May 2, 2010
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607062002/http://www.statesman.com/life/style/artist-adds-color-to-citys-fabric-592370.html?imw=Y
|archive-date = June 7, 2011
}}
The mission is to make street art "a little more warm and fuzzy."{{cite web
| title = Houston, Texas Cries Out 'Knitta Please'
| date = January 6, 2006
| publisher = Wireless Flash News
| url = http://www.flashnews.com/news/wfn1060112J14341.html
| access-date = December 23, 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070609084127/http://www.flashnews.com/news/wfn1060112J14341.html
| archive-date = June 9, 2007
| url-status = dead
}}
Knitta grew to eleven members by the end of 2007, but eventually dwindled down to its founder, Magda Sayeg, who continues to travel and knit graffiti. Internationally, as many as a dozen groups have followed Knitta's lead. Sayeg and the group have shown their art across the United States and around the world.
History
The group began with a self-taught knitter known as PolyCotN. She founded the group with anonymous member AKrylik in October 2005 as a way to deal with frustration over their own unfinished knitting projects.{{cite web
| author = Karlin, Susan
| title = Urban Graffiti Knitters Are the New, Cozier Christo and Jeanne-Claude
| publisher = fastcompany.com
| date = March 25, 2011
| url = http://www.fastcompany.com/urban-graffiti-knitters-yardbombing
| access-date = March 28, 2011
| archive-date = March 29, 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110329065032/http://www.fastcompany.com/urban-graffiti-knitters-yardbombing
| url-status = live
}}{{cite news |author=Bjortomt, Olav |date=March 11, 2006 |title=Knit Wits |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/whats_on/listings/article738388.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517102000/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article738388.ece |archive-date=May 17, 2011 |access-date=December 20, 2007 |work=Times Newspapers, Ltd.}} It started with a doorknob cosy for the front door of Sayeg's Houston boutique. She loved it and, unexpectedly, so did the passersby. That inspired them to make more.
The name of the group and the nicknames of the members were inspired by a desire to "resemble graffiti, but with knitted items". The group mixed crafting terminology with a hip-hop style, then changed the spelling "to represent traditional street art monikers". PolyCotN and AKrylik came up with their own names, then invented names for other members. Some former member names include Knotorious N.I.T., SonOfaStitch and P-Knitty.
By 2007, Knitta's membership had grown twelve members and there were an estimated five to twelve copycat groups internationally. By 2009, there was a groundswell, according to Sydney, Australia author and academic Emily Howes, who identified groups in Scandinavia, Japan, South Africa, and the United States.{{cite web
| author = Creagh, Sunanda
| date = January 14, 2009
| url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/guerilla-knitters/2009/01/13/1231608708374.html
| title = Graffiti artist spins a new kind of yarn
| work = Sydney Morning Herald
| access-date = January 14, 2009
| archive-date = November 3, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103204300/http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/guerilla-knitters/2009/01/13/1231608708374.html
| url-status = live
}}
However, membership in Knitta eventually dwindled, leaving only the founder.
Art
Usually tagging on Friday nights and Sunday mornings, Knitta taggers would leave a paper tag on each work, bearing the slogan "knitta please" or "whaddup knitta?".{{cite news
| author = Plocek, Keith
| title = Knitta, Please! Hitting the streets with Montrose's craftiest taggers
| work = HoustonPress
| date = December 15, 2005
| url = http://www.houstonpress.com/2005-12-15/news/knitta-please/
| access-date = December 20, 2007
| archive-date = May 12, 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130512233052/http://www.houstonpress.com/2005-12-15/news/knitta-please/
| url-status = live
}} They tagged trees, lamp posts, railings, fire hydrants, monuments and other urban targets,{{cite news
| author = Miles, Amber
| title = Guerrilla knitters tag Houston with yarn
| work = San Antonio Express-News
| date = August 9, 2006
| url = http://www.mysanantonio.com/salife/stories/MYSA081006.01P.Knitta.4f24589.html
| access-date = December 20, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070225023617/http://www.mysanantonio.com/salife/stories/MYSA081006.01P.Knitta.4f24589.html |archive-date = February 25, 2007}} Retrieved from Internet Archive.
Another popular piece involved hanging knitted-bagged sneakers over aerial telephone cable. The crew would mark holidays by doing themed work, using, for example, pink yarn for Valentine's Day pieces and sparkly yarn for New Years. When Knitta was not working with a theme, they would work on projects, tagging specific targets or specific areas.{{cite web
| author = Maltby, Anna
| title = Knitta, please!
| publisher = VenusZine
| date = June 14, 2006
| url = http://www.venuszine.com/stories/diy_my_diy_life/3017
| access-date = December 23, 2007
}}{{dead link|date=March 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
The group and their followers consider their graffiti "a method of beautifying public space". However, such work is considered vandalism in some U.S. States.
File:Old Japanese trolleybus in Mexico City temporarily covered in knitting as public art, Dec. 2008.jpg in Mexico City covered in knitting by a Knitta Please crew, 2008]]
In 2006, the group decided to visit New York City, where they did their first large scale piece.{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} Later that year, using more than {{convert|50|ft|m}} of knitted material donated by volunteers of the crew's mailing list, they wrapped the top half of a Seattle monorail column.{{cite web
| author = Reighley, Kurt B
| date = August 1, 2006
| url = http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=45208
| title = Daylight Broads
| work = The Stranger
| access-date = December 28, 2007
| archive-date = March 30, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120330202554/http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=45208
| url-status = live
|author=Martinez, Mario
|date=May 14, 2007
|url=http://www.subvertmagazine.com/blog/2007/05/14/grafitti-knitting-its-warm-fuzzy-colourful-and-illegal/
|title=Grafitti{{sic|hide=y}} knitting it's warm, fuzzy, colourful and illegal
|work=SUBvert Magazine
|access-date=December 28, 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201122139/http://www.subvertmagazine.com/blog/2007/05/14/grafitti-knitting-its-warm-fuzzy-colourful-and-illegal/
|archive-date=December 1, 2007
|url-status=dead
}} Knitta also called on others across the U.S. to get tagging and send in their images.
For another large project, the group tagged all 25 trees in the median of Allen Parkway in Houston for the annual Art Car parade in May 2006, wrapping them in blankets measuring two feet tall by two and a half feet long. A year later, they were invited to the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles, which caters to an edgy clientele, to tag a glass box featuring trendsetters' designs and concepts.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bergère de France, the first manufacturer of French yarn,{{cite web
| title = Who is Bergère de France?
| publisher = Bergeredefrance.fr
| url = https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.bergeredefrance.fr/qui-sommes-nous/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DBergere%2Bde%2BFrance%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DG2H
| format = French (translated by Google)
| access-date = December 23, 2007
| archive-date = May 14, 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150514192652/http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.bergeredefrance.fr/qui-sommes-nous/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DBergere%2Bde%2BFrance%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DG2H
| url-status = live
}} the company invited Knitta to Paris to "revitalize urban landscapes with knitted pieces".{{cite web
| author = Matroka, Bernadette
| title = Knitta, The All-Girl Knitting Graffiti Tag Crew, Hits up Paris Turning Urban Detritus into a Fiber Enthusiasts Dreamscape
| work = Label Networks - Arts & Events
| date = December 2007
| url = http://www.labelnetworks.com/entertainment/knitta_07.cfm
| access-date = December 23, 2007
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103054649/http://www.labelnetworks.com/entertainment/knitta_07.cfm
| archive-date=January 3, 2008
| url-status=dead}} While there, they also tagged the Notre Dame de Paris.{{cite news
| title = KNITTA PLEASE: Graffiti You Can Cuddle Up To
| publisher = inhabitat
| date = January 11, 2007
| url = http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/01/11/knitta-please-graffiti-you-can-cuddle-up-to/
| access-date = December 22, 2007
| archive-date = November 30, 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071130045720/http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/01/11/knitta-please-graffiti-you-can-cuddle-up-to/
| url-status = live
}} Knitta's work has also been seen in London, Sydney, Rome, Milan, Prague, Sweden, Montreal, Mexico City, El Salvador, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and atop the Great Wall of China.{{cite news
| first=Nicole
| last=Saidi
| title=Urban knitters spin yarn into graffiti
| date=December 4, 2009
| publisher=CNN
| url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/04/knitting.irpt/index.html
| access-date=May 2, 2010
| archive-date=April 21, 2010
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421112441/http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/04/knitting.irpt/index.html
| url-status=live
}}{{cite news |date=April 2009 |title=Soft sculpture |url=http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/softsculpture/pdf/EVENTS.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603173958/https://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/softsculpture/pdf/EVENTS.PDF |archive-date=June 3, 2011 |access-date=July 7, 2009 |work=exhibition events program |publisher=National Gallery of Australia}}{{cite web
|url=http://www.magdasayeg.com/knitta_please_gallery.html
|title=Knitta Please Gallery
|publisher=magdasayeg.com
|access-date=March 29, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105184132/http://www.magdasayeg.com/knitta_please_gallery.html
|archive-date=January 5, 2011
|url-status=dead
}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/knittaplease Knitta photo gallery]
- [http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/ Knitta blog]
{{Knitting}}
{{Street art}}
{{good article}}
Category:Knitting organizations