The Itch to Stitch: Yarn Bombers and Their Motivations

Abstract

This chapter turns its attention to the practice of yarn bombing. Beginning with an overview of the origins of yarn bombing, including some of the criticisms of the practice, the chapter then goes on to consider what motivates yarn bombers to do what they do. Drawing on interviews with ‘everyday’ yarn bombers, the chapter presents a thematic analysis of these motivations and, in doing so, demonstrates the intersections of the personal, community, and political logics of craftivism as they play out in the activities of yarn bombers.