A GOOD YARN

Last year I was roped into a knitting project while interning at the Battersea Arts Centre for their production of BABEL (co-produced with Wildworks and World Stages London).

Up until that point I had never really knit in my life (apart from an attempted scarf in high school).

I didn’t know it at the time, but a whole new world of creative expression was about to open up to me.

The varying levels of expression through intricate patterns and sculptural designs as well as practical uses, weighted in a repetitive and meditative action is really interesting theatrically.  Let alone the hours of conversations, sharing stories and skills; and the sense of community it builds in a group of knitters.

For BABEL we set out to create a knitted instillation of the city of London to be included in the show which was a promenade style outdoor performance.  A patchwork of the individual expressions of one city.

Knitted city for Babel

More recently, last week I may or may not have been part of a secret loveliness mission of yarn bombing for Coney.

Yarn bombing is like a super lovely, gentle and delicate version of graffiti.

Far less badass, but no less imaginative.

In our fast moving world I think there is a special place for the handmade; in things that time has been invested in.

And a great freedom in it being one of the more accessible forms of expression.