Knits for life
Two siblings are transforming Earth into a vibrant, woolly planet, one yarnbombing project at a time!
Yarnbombing extraordinaire!
Sisters Lorna and Jill Watt have been quietly taking the world by storm, using their skills to create outlandish yarn installations and bringing a splash of colour to businesses and streets. Despite this, their crafty awakenings happened independently. “My friend knitted a toy and I thought, ‘That’s cute, I can do that!’” Jill recalls. So Jill got herself some needles and a stitch holder, then bought a pattern online. “It only had knit, purl, and make one,” she says. “Every row I’d say, ‘Oh I forgot how to knit.’ And then the next row, ‘Oh I forgot how to purl.’ I had to re-teach myself how to do it every row for the whole damn thing!” For Lorna, Jill’s sister, !Ì"Ü>Ã"VÀ#V$iÌ"Ì$>Ì"V>%i"wÀÃÌ]">"Ã&!''"Ì$iÞ" both learnt as children, then set aside. After dabbling with it in high school (“I ÃÌ>ÀÌi`">"L>LÞ"L'>)&iÌ"LÕÌ"`!`)½Ì"w)!Ã$" it”), Lorna’s love of crochet took hold while at grad school in Michigan. “It was cold, there were cute yarn shops, and I would stress out. Crochet was the perfect balance of creative and cognitive, mindless and challenging, plus the cosy yarn is comforting. When I didn’t remember how to do things, I just searched YouTube clips for the crucial bits.” Each sister brought the other up to speed on their alternate crafts, “and pretty soon we had a heap of ideas we both wanted to try.”
DISCOVERING YARNBOMBING
Around ten years ago, the siblings noticed yarnbombing appearing online. “It inspired us to put our designs out in public where not only our online customers could see them, but also our community, including non-crafters,” says Jill.
The scale of the items they created meant that people couldn’t help but pay attention, and before long Knits For Life existed as a business.“There are so many tools available on the internet now that you can create a lot with research, hard work and practice,” says Lorna. “We dreamed big and made the yarn bombs we wanted to see, talked to local businesses and agencies for small opportunities and made the most of constructing and promoting them well.”
""+ÕÀ!)}"Ì$i"wÀÃÌ"V#Õ«'i"#v"Þi>ÀÃ]"Ì$i" pair “climbed a steep learning curve: researching and experimenting.” It paid off, as before long the inquiries started rolling in. “It was so exciting! Between jobs, we still feel like it was all a dream until the next inquiry comes in,” says Jill. “Every commission requires us to solve a new problem with new tools, like improvising jumbo knitting needles from PVC pipe or learning to use vintage knitting machines at a local Meetup. It’s always a new adventure!”
"""/$iÀi">Ài"Ã#%i"Ã!})!wV>)Ì"Li)iwÌÃ]" the sisters say, in working so closely
“Every commission requires us to solve a problem with new tools”
together. “When we’re designing a yarnbomb or pattern we complement each other’s skills,” Jill says, “Everyone can get bogged down in certain ways, but usually another person won’t get bogged down in the same ways. So we keep each other going.” There are advantages in familiarity, Lorna says. “I make stupid mistakes and Jill catches them. I make the cookies, and Jill cracks the whip.”
Getting into pattern design provided another element of the business, and before long Lorna set up an Etsy shop, www.KnitsForLife.etsy.com.
º-i!!"#}$w#"Ã%i`$"Ìi&Ã$"Ã$«ÀiÌÌÞ$ unsustainable so we wrote up our designs and were actually surprised when they started selling,” she says. “We do a lot of patterns by request, like our bike rack snakes and slippers inspired by our mailbox feet yarn bombs.”
The big challenges of running any business are just as true for Knits for ("vi°º)̽Ã$>!Ü>ÞÃ$`"vwVÕ!Ì$Ì+$&>#>}i$Þ+ÕÀ$ time when you work for yourself,” says Jill. “There’s always the temptation to play! The hard part is knowing when to outsource something you really don’t have the time or inclination for, like w#>#ViÃ$>#`$&>À,iÌ"#}°»
PUSHING BOUNDARIES
It’s impossible to pick a favourite project to date, but when pushed, their vivid squid tree naturally comes to mind. “It was such a fun character and really impressed us by lasting over two years!” says Lorna, adding: “Making a holiday sweater for a Chevy truck in Old Navy’s y>}Ã%"«$ÃÌ+Ài$Ü>Ã$>$%Õ}i$V%>!!i#}i$Ü%iÀi$ we learned so much. We engineered it so perfectly, then assembled it with ridiculously detailed Kitchener and mattress stitching, and even upcycled the panels into keepsake blankets, pillows, and stockings.”
The best part, Lorna says, is taking photographs at the end of a long project. “Jill is a great photographer and seeing Ì%i$w#>!$ÀiÃÕ!Ì$Ì%À+Õ}%$%iÀ$!i#Ã$"Ã$Ì%i$ goal, right from the brainstorming phase. We usually dream up an image instead of an idea, right down to the location and angle. With commissions, we’re working with a team of creative people, so that opportunity, plus bringing their vision to life, are both great joys.”
The long-term pleasure is that the siblings have yarn escapades in progress at all times. “We always have several commissions at different stages,” says -"!!°$º,iVi#Ì!Þ$Üi$w#"Ã%i`$>$Li>ÕÌ"vÕ!$ string art wall in a home and refreshed a yarn bombed tree for an old client.” A book is a working goal, too, “and we’re always popping up little yarn bombs around our neighbourhood. We have more pattern ideas than time...”
The sisters adore the opportunity to push boundaries. “You know that feeling when you are trying to write on a blank page?” says Lorna. “Creating without limits is so hard! It’s so much more fun to invent within constraints. Knitting and crochet are our constraints, and we try to experiment at each level. You can do so many weird things with them – yarnbombing is just the start – and boy, we’ve done some weird things.” What weird things spring to mind? It turns out there are plenty to choose from. “Attaching an electric drill to an i-cord mill to crank out yards at a time. Cutting fabric into thick strips and knitting it with PVC pipes as needles. Knitting each image of an animation, or some miniature costumes for a stop motion. Knitting with weird stuff like cassette tape ribbon or noodles. We’ve even knit lattice crust for fruit pies!”
The biggest adventure at present has been the arrival of an extra-special new member to join their close-knit team. “A new partner arrived in the studio, Lorna’s baby girl, so we’re looking forward to putting her to work,” Jill exclaims, then adds: “Kidding – sort of!”
“Crea ng without limits is so hard! It’s so much more fun to invent within constraints...”