Andrew, a local yarn bomber here in Vancouver, BC, contacted us with a few picture of his recent bright orange tags!
I’ve been crocheting for about 5 years now and sewing for the past year. I totally support the arts and am going to be yarn bombing all over Vancouver, so hopefully you can spot some of my bombs, mainly going to be downtown and on public transit. I’m going to only be rocking a hot orange yarn for my signature to make them stand out, and for orange being my favourite color, ha ha. Just on the way downtown to the library today I did 3 bombs, 2 mini ones on the bus and Skytrain, and I’m in the works on covering a bench arm rest at the library. Here are some shots!!
We appreciate his daring -he’s managed to tag public transit here several times, which is no small feat, as it is heavily patrolled during hockey season. And his work has been spotted all over the Vancouver Transit System – we’ve been getting many reports of sightings.
Andrew was kind enough to take some time out from tagging to answer some questions for us. Some details have been changed to protect his identity:
Tell us about yourself. What’s your name (or code name)? Where do you live in? How old are you? What’s your day job?
Hello all you yarn-bombers out there. My name’s Andrew and I am from Vancouver, Canada. I’m 20 and a full-time business student. I like to think of my employment as crocheting
and sewing. I like to call it a little side project, but I’m in the works of starting up a custom skimboard bag company since all I do, breath, and dream about is skimboarding. I also sell toques* and have
been crocheting for 5 years.
How did you get into textile graffiti?
Funny enough, a friend showed me some pictures of knit/crochet graffiti a while back and didn’t think much of it. After doing a custom crochet project with Complex (graffiti associated) , which was dubbed “The Fray Project”, he told me yarn-bombing was happening right here in Vancouver. I couldn’t believe it and had to get in on the action. I just started yarn-bombing, doing little tags on transit, and covering an arm on a bench at our DT public library, which is still there haha. I mainly do it alone since I don’t know any other yarn-bombers, and am usually on the go.
I’m trying to get a few friends together and do some big missions and get creative, but so far it’s been all talk and no walk.
Where do you create your tags?
I do my tags on the spot in broad daylight, full view for bystanders to see. Typically they are small, going as fast as I can for 15mins on a bus or skytrain with a 7mm hook around a pole isn’t that easy I found out. I plan to only use red-heart orange yarn, as my signature color, since I’m a red-head. I plan on doing some big pieces soon, so watch out for those orange Yarn-Bombs!
I scope out my spot, making sure no authority is present, or anyone who I think would intervene and get to it. I crochet only. I plan on tagging a lot of skytrain and bus poles, just to jazz them up and bring some life to their cold hard surfaces.
I tag whenever I feel the need to crochet or whenever I feel like doing it, lately school has been running my life so I try to do it once in a while.
How do you get your inspiration for tags?
I love seeing what other people do on this blog. I would even be more stoked if I saw some yarn-bomb’s in my city.
What is your craziest yarn graffiti fantasy?
To yarn-bomb a cop’s gun handle while it’s right in its holster!
Does your family know you do this? Do your co-workers know?
Yes, I’ve informed them and my mom think’s its rad. I don’t have any co-workers but I’m sure they would want in no doubt.
What do you say when people ask you what you are knitting?
First of all, I tell them it’s crocheting, big difference. Secondly, I tell them I’m making art. If they continue talking, I do the head nod until they stop since they usually take away time from my precious yarn-bombing.
Have you ever been caught in the act yarn-bombing? What did you do?
Not yet. But if I was, I’d run I think….
Do you document your work? Do you photograph it or keep a blog?
I always try to take photos of all my yarn-bombs. I just usually upload them to Facebook to my “sweatshop” album where I do all my craft. Keep up the yarn-bombing everyone, especially all you Vancourites!
Thanks Andrew – for answering our questions. We’ll be keeping an eye out for your bright orange tags as we move around the city!
*If you are interested in sporting some of Andrew’s hand crocheted work; he sells his toques at Complex, El Kartel, and
Headquarter in Downtown Vancouver.
