Photograph courtesy of Knit Girl
It has been an exciting week – last tuesday, Mandy and I met up with local tagger Knit Girl in Chinatown for coffee. We talked about tattoos, day jobs, kids, knitting, tagging, getting caught, and everything in between.
Knit Girl has been bombing Vancouver’s east side for a couple of years. Her neighbourhood, Strathcona, is one of the oldest in the city. Heritage houses are rapidly being developed into multi-million dollar properties thanks to Vancouver’s ever expanding real estate bubble. While Strathcona may becoming popular for developers, it exists within one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods the Downtown Eastside – which has its struggles with homelessness, drug addiction, and prostitution.
Nicknaming her work “Strath Cozies”, Knit Girl’s creates tags that give a nod to other local street artists, and strives to bring some warmth and beauty to the streets. While we’ve been joking about the idea of ‘world yarn domination’, it was inspiring to meet someone who knits mostly for the community she lives in. With a determination to bring joy to her neighbourhood, Knit Girl is trying to change things one tag at a time.
Check out Knit Girl’s flickr page to see more of her work. It was great to meet her in person, and we’re so happy to include her work in our book.
hallloooooo. thanks for the words. especially “hope”
I have been on hiatus!