Knitting and Crochet Projects Taken Out Onto the Street (8 Photos)

October 16, 2026

By Vidar

When yarn bombing takes over the street

A car gets a crocheted cover, a tree wears stripes, fountain figures get new outfits, and a concrete bollard becomes R2-D2. These eight examples of knitting and crochet take yarn far beyond the sweater drawer.

🌳 “Die Trauerweide” — By Ute Lennartz-Lembeck in Velbert, Germany 🇩🇪

The crochet follows the trunk and spreads into the branches of this willow. Ute Lennartz-Lembeck documented Die Trauerweide from May 2011 to September 2013.

🔗 Visit Ute Lennartz-Lembeck’s website

🐂 “Project B” — By Olek in New York City, USA 🇺🇸

Olek wrapped Arturo Di Modica’s Charging Bull at Bowling Green in crochet on Christmas night 2010, and the cover was removed within hours. In a contemporary interview, the artist said installing it took four hours.

💡 History Fact: The bull itself began as an unauthorized installation. Di Modica paid about $360,000 to make it and unloaded it at night in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989; after it was removed, it was moved to Bowling Green.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsCrocheted Charging BullOlek (Agata Oleksiak) · 2010 · New York City, USAOlekCharging Bull, NYCChristmas 20101NPR reported the crocheted wrap was removed within hours of being found.NPR2Olek called it a Christmas gift to New York and a tribute to sculptor Arturo Di Modica.CNNMoney201026 DecNPR: Wall Streeters 'awoke Sunday' to find the bull in a neon purple crocheted sweater, removed within hours. Report.201027 DecCNNMoney report: Olek crocheted the cover on Christmas night; the caretaker tore it apart early in the morning.201027 DecArrested Motion post: the piece 'has since been removed'.20113 Jandesignboom feature with photos and video courtesy of Olek.201121 JanDNAinfo recalls the bull wrap while reporting on Olek's yarn sculpture class.Read the full file →

🔗 Follow Olek on Instagram

🐾 Sweaters for the Sculptures — Trutnov, Czechia 🇨🇿

Irena Janigová, Karolína Dvořáčková, Zdeňka Prouzová and Lucie Pangrácová crocheted outfits for Michal Gabriel’s bronze felines outside UFFO in Trutnov. The sweaters went on in December 2011.

💡 Place Fact: Michal Gabriel’s set of seven predators, titled Smečka (Pack), was bought by the Trutnov gallery and unveiled outside UFFO in September 2010, a few weeks before the new cultural center opened. The building is named after Uffo Horn, a 19th-century Trutnov native active in culture and politics.

More: The crocheted sculptures in Trutnov

📷 Photo: Trutnovinky

🧶 Striped Bicycle Rack — By Streetcolor in Orinda, California, USA 🇺🇸

Streetcolor wrapped the four-loop bicycle rack outside Orinda Public Library in striped knitting in May 2011. In the artist’s account, Betsy helped sew the pieces into place.

🔗 Visit Streetcolor’s blog

🤖 R2-D2 Bollard — By Sarah Rudder in Bellingham, Washington, USA 🇺🇸

Sarah Rudder knitted a fitted R2-D2 cover for a concrete bollard in 2012. Her project account says it took about 1,200 yards of yarn; she removed it when she left that day.

More: More views of Sarah Rudder’s knitted R2-D2

🔗 Visit Sarah Rudder’s blog

🚗 Crocheted Beetle — By Olek in New York City, USA 🇺🇸

Olek covered this Volkswagen Beetle in crochet, right down to its wheels. The car stood on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan in 2010.

🔗 Follow Olek on Instagram

⛲ Dressed-Up Fountain — By Soso of Collectif France Tricot in Paris, France 🇫🇷

Soso of Collectif France Tricot dressed the figures of a Wallace fountain in yarn outfits. The photograph was taken at Place Saint-Sulpice during La Nuit du StreetArt in May 2009.

💡 History Fact: Paris got its first Wallace fountains in 1872, after the British philanthropist Richard Wallace gave the city 50 drinking fountains following the water shortages of the 1871 siege and Commune. According to the City of Paris, sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg’s four caryatids stand for Simplicity, Kindness, Sobriety and Charity.

📷 Photo by Denis / tofz4u