Pattern developing with rise of the guerrilla knitter (From Oxford Mail)

Pattern developing with rise of the guerrilla knitter

9:40am Wednesday 6th March 2013 in News

WITH a mystery yarn bomber still at large in Chipping Norton, the craze for knitted graffiti has now spread to Oxford.

So-called ‘Guerrilla Knitter’ Asli Tatliadim is busy leaving ‘purls’ of wisdom on the city’s lampposts.

Miss Tatliadim, 27, is originally from Istanbul in Turkey, where knitting is a tradition passed down from mothers to daughters. When she came to study at Brookes University four years ago, she taught many of her fellow students to knit.

But then she discovered a way of getting her ‘art’ to a wider audience during a trip to America.

A mystery yarn bomber regularly leaves knitted graffiti in Chipping Norton – most recently on St David’s Day – to the delight of many.

Miss Tatliadim said: “As it’s a kind of graffiti, yarn bombers tend to stay anonymous. “I’m not sure whether I need a licence, but I don’t do it secretly and I like to think it is quite beautiful. I put a sweater around a lamppost in St John Street, Jericho, and it stayed there for a month, but then someone tore it down.

“My most recent sweater is in Holywell Street. I chose the location because it is a beautiful, colourful street.

“But I don’t put things in front of monuments or important college buildings – guerrilla knitting does not harm public property, but just changes people’s perspectives of their urban environment.

“A lot of people smile and walk on past. Some people stop and say they like it, and some say it is beautiful. Unlike painted graffiti, I can just remove it.”

A spokesman from Oxfordshire County Council said: “This clearly isn’t vandalism or graffiti in the traditional sense.

“There would only be an issue if property was damaged or signage was obscured.”

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