LOCAL officials in Orkney are unlikely to get worked up about the recent spate of "graffiti" appearing around Kirkwall and beyond – despite the fact the annual St Magnus arts festival is well underway, attracting visitors from around the globe.
This isn't graffiti of the paint variety but something that uses knitted and crocheted yarn to decorate urban features such as trees, lampposts and railings.
Better known as yarnbombing, or guerrilla knitting, these multi-coloured pieces of wool have been popping up everywhere around the town – in front of the library, on the town's main street and just about anywhere.
Adding much-needed colour to public places, this has become quite the local talking point.
So who is doing it? Apparently it's the work of Ripples The Crocheter, according to the Facebook page which says they are part of team Yarnbombing Orkney.
While locals and artists have praised the efforts of these knotty knitters, BBC Radio Orkney has gone so far as to ask if this makes Orkney the yarnbombing capital of the north?
It's not the only place yarnbombing has appeared, reportedly first springing up in the Netherlands in 2004 before spreading globally to places as far-flung as London, Texas and Australia. It has even prompted books on the subject.
Most recently, the Saltburn Yarnbomber knitted a colourful canoeist to make a huge scarf lining Saltburn pier in North Yorkshire, as a tribute to the Olympics.
I would become a graffiti knitter myself if, in fact, I could actually knit. Instead, I hope to see some yarnbombing in Glasgow. Colourful, urban and crafty – I love it.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article