Artists

wanted a Batman hat. Over time, she discovered her love for free-form crochet.

Adriana presents her works on Instagram as @aradaniso – mainly crocheted, but also embroidered and painted with watercolours. The organiser of an international Yarnbombing Festival in Mexico has also been a participant in such events herself in Italy, Brazil, Switzerland and New York.

Her theme is the connection of women with nature. What Adriana loves about crochet is that she can feel the material. For a long time, this handicraft had been considered something that people do who can’t do anything else, especially women: It was all the more important for Adriana to make a conscious decision to do it.

For the Woolinale, she is creating a work of art that is meant to express all of this – connection, strength, the fragility and the power of nature: a being, half woman, half nature, represented by an insect and an amphibian.

their daughter.
When Adriana saw a friend making amigurumi twelve years ago, it was love at first sight for her.
The couple mainly showcase their work on Instagram under @tejelaarana and on their own website tejelaarana.es. The two work on ongoing art series around octopuses and birds and share a particular enthusiasm for granny squares. A pattern they find “beautiful, versatile: we like to try out what you can do with it”. They want to give crochet and other traditional textile techniques a new meaning beyond the stereotype of “feminine and delicate” by placing them in public spaces.

Adriana and Alvaro’s contribution to the Woolinale is entirely composed of Granny Squares and is part of their “Mynah Birds” series.

However, her enthusiasm for knitting and crocheting did not really take off until later in life, not least with the support of her mother-in-law.
On Instagram and Ravelry, and also on the geocaching portal geocaching.com, Alena can be found as “FlinkeNadel“. “I do what I like and what I feel like doing,” she says and finds inspiration on Instagram, Ravelry or in podcasts like the Frickelcast. She is a big Yarnbombing fan, calling herself an “ambitious amateur”.
Since Alena likes to knit wearable things, she prefers soft yarns, preferably regional wool from Heidschnucke or Rhön sheep. For the Woolinale, Alena has chosen a larger project: she wants to transform one of the lampposts at the fairgrounds in Cologne into a tree – a dead specimen, but one that comes alive with all kinds of mushrooms and magical creatures.

Sustainability, resource conservation and social justice are very important to Alexandra, “which is also reflected in my work”. She also did not buy any material for her Woolinale contribution, but only recycled leftovers. She found the “fireworks of colours” very appropriate to “enliven a trade fair hall with a bit of anarchistic yarnbombing”.

neighbourhood, pride and a desire to inspire others inform her. “Art has always been a refuge for me, a place to create a connection between feelings and sensual experience,” she says.
Online, Alisha can be seen on Instagram (@alishanicole.arts and @littlenuggetworkshop), on TikTok (@AlishaNicoleArts) and on her website (www.AlishaNicoleArts.com).
Alisha learned to sew from her grandmother, a seamstress, and later learned to crochet from a teacher in primary school. Since then, she has worked a lot with textile art. She loves to use it to create three-dimensional structures by combining foam, wire and other materials.
Her favourite themes are Puerto Rico’s culture, feelings and self-determination. With yarn in her hand, she finds a better connection to herself and to other people, she says.
Her interactive Woolinale entry, “Walk with Purpose”, is designed to allow visitors to leave a positive, inspiring message for themselves and others.

in the life of my city by installing small crochet artworks there.” Anne crochets left-handed and loves the possibilities this needlework technique opens up. She got into yarnbombing when she happened to notice small flowers crocheted from plastic bags in 2010 or 2011: A group of women used them to protest against single-use plastic bags, which were not yet banned at the time, and wanted to draw attention to the fatal consequences for the environment.
Anne’s projects can be found online, on Instagram (@yarnbombingbruxelles), on her blog (yarnbombingbruxelles.blogspot.com) and on the website (www.gendersteunescochair.com).
For the Woolinale, she has taken up the theme of peace – with eight crocheted doilies in the colours of the rainbow.

Darmstadt-Dieburg. She learned handicrafts from her grandmother – but was never interested in it until she rediscovered crochet in 2014. Since 2016, she has also been knitting again and is committed to social causes with her hobby together with her sister.

You can see her work on Instagram under her name Annettstrickt. She knits exclusively for social causes, as she emphasises: “Socks for the homeless and the green socks campaign against ovarian cancer. And lots of little things for the Children Helping Children campaign. You can always donate money, but this way I combine the beautiful (knitting) with the useful. And a lot of love and lifetime goes into every piece of mine.”

For the Woolinale, she is creating a project called “Path to Peace” – a participatory project with which she wants to invite every visitor to take a moment for wishes and thoughts in a very turbulent time.

rediscovered crochet and developed a real passion for this technique: “With only one needle, I’m more flexible and can go really wild in terms of shape and colour,” she says.

On social media, you can find Antonia on Instagram and Facebook under the name Arachnes_Faden, but also on her website www.mondcatze.de. Apart from that, you can see her works in the streets of Hamburg – or in places where she goes on holiday.
Antonia is also involved in fundraising activities, mostly for the homeless charity. She feels that this is a way to help and bring joy to other people with her hobby and talent. She discovered Yarnbombing as a way to draw attention to social problems.

She made her work “Songs for freedom” especially for the Woolinale’23. “It’s a tribute to street musicians who, with their art, manage to break down walls through music … walls between people, as well as walls in their own heads.”

Most of the group members had their first contact with textile art as children and have remained connected to it. Since many of the Yarnbombers retired, art has taken a larger place in their lives. The Australians present their work on their Facebook page – and of course on the main street of their home town.

Fun is their leitmotif: anything that makes their city more colourful after the end of winter.
Their material is wool – which represents Australia’s most important industry. In their entry for the Woolinale competition, the Benalla Yarnbombers focus on the wonderful landscape of their home country, with Australia’s special colours, flora and fauna.

working with wool and cotton for a long time and enjoy participating in charity campaigns with their work. They also present this on Instagram.
At the Woolinale, Biblioknitcaffè is represented with two works – one represents the lily, the symbol of the city of Florence, the second is a knitted QR code behind which visitors can discover something.

The four of them have been working together for five years, mainly on joint crochet projects. They present their Yarnbombings in their hometown, currently also in the museum there, but also on Facebook and Instagram.
The group’s favourite theme is colour and cheerfulness – they want to spread moments of happiness with their art and are happy that it is interpreted very differently by viewers.
While the group initially worked more figuratively, they have recently become more involved with abstract works that express the power of colour. Their Woolinale artwork “ColourScape” is composed of circular pieces inspired by the planets, representing each group member’s individual way of working: A work to show what we can create when we work together.

who crocheted, knitted and sewed traditional quilts. But also from her, a musician in various traditional salsa bands. The murals in her multicultural home neighbourhood of El Barrio/East Harlem were also an inspiration for Carmen. This evolved into her own mixed media works that reflect her experiences and impressions of her surroundings – and the inspiration that comes from living in a melting pot of cultures.
Her work has been exhibited in the US, as well as internationally. Paulina is known for her large crocheted murals in the western part of New York City – most recently, she paid tribute to Sonya Sotomayor, US Supreme Court Justice, with one such work, created in collaboration with representatives of her borough and the NYC Parks Department.
Her contribution to the Woolinale is called “Together we can evolve” and was created in the midst of the pandemic and also in connection with the Black Lives Matter movement: In it, two women grow their hair together and grow wonderful sunflowers as ideas.

crochet. She learned this from her mother when she was 15 years old. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook as katia mochi.
Katia loves colours, but in knitting and crochet she is also fascinated by textures, she enjoys “feeling every stitch”: that’s why the process of creation is more important to her than the result. Her work has already been shown at the Yarnbombing Festival in Trivento and an amigurumi exhibition in New York. For the Woolinale, she is creating a work of art that is particularly close to her heart: Her contribution, named after her recently deceased aunt Therese, will embrace the visitors of the Yarnbombingfestival and the h & h. Katia sees it as an invitation to allow closeness again after the pandemic that forced everyone to keep their distance.

Father Christmas boot in an embroidery magazine, which she then embroidered for her daughter. “Since then, the embroidery fever has never let me go.”

In 2018, as a commuter, Claudia knitted a scarf “out of frustration about the delays of the train”, which colourfully represented the daily (un)punctuality. It was auctioned off for more than 7500 Euros for the benefit of the Bahnhofmission München and even made it into the news programme Tagesthemen as a short article.

During Corona, Claudia put up many Yarnbombs in Moosburg “to cheer up the walkers a bit”, mostly rather directed at children. “I love street art,” she says: “When you unexpectedly encounter works of art in public space in everyday life – great.”
You can meet her on Instagram as @stitch.a.smile. Claudia’s Woolinale contribution is an adaptation of a Banksy artwork, “which I think is great. I couldn’t block out the current war situation in Europe, but I didn’t want to focus only on Ukraine, as there is war in so many parts of the world.”

Claudia “It is important to make a clear statement with my art and to draw attention to the problem of violence against women.” She does this with the project “Roses against violence”: crocheted roses placed in public spaces as a sign against violence. Because they often only stay for a short time before disappearing, Claudia photographs the roses and posts the pictures on Instagram and Facebook with #rosesagainstviolence. The roses now exist on every continent and in over 60 countries.

For the Woolinale, Claudia is putting her artworks in a frame for the first time. “Otherwise they can only be seen in public spaces if you look closely.” In Cologne, her three different types of roses are united in one place for the first time: the two “Roses against Violence” (violence against women and against gender-based violence) and also the “Roses for Peace”.

the last three years. She learned to crochet and knit from her grandmother, but has been doing it excessively since 2014. The result – “everything that comes to mind, sometimes crazy stuff” – she can be found as fraeuleinwollwunder on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and on her blog.

Her contribution to the Woolinale is the earth, held by two hands of different skin colours – a symbol for the fact that we all live together on this earth and have to protect it, nature and resources. Denise made this piece especially for Woolinale – it is the first time she has participated in a yarnbombing festival.

work with the knitting machine.
Even as a child, she was always surrounded by wool because her mother was always knitting too. “I can’t imagine living in a house without boxes and bags of wool, stitch samples and needles,” she says.
In 2017, Donatella started her own knitwear business, For Me. Online, she has her own website www.for-me.design and social media presence on Instagram as @forme.design and Facebook ForMebydonatellamassoli.

Sustainability is important to Donatella. And social issues are always at the heart of her artwork. Her Woolinale contribution “Good Ideas Always Win” is a plea to listen to the next generation, the children: “They always have good, simple, unbiased and honest ideas.” This is important to make the future and society better.

passion for mermaids and crocheted summer dresses – when she feels particularly creative, such works come into being. She uses whatever she feels most comfortable with at the time – everything from the thinnest thread to rope.

Ednitalandia, who can also be found under this name on Instagram, has already exhibited many times: Good Luck Gallery Los Angeles Ca. (Yarn bomb LA) 2013, Rose Hills Cemetery Whittier Ca. (Dia De Los Muertos) 2013, Pío Pico House,El Pueblo de Los Angeles Ca (Sacred memories ) 2015, Smart Museum , Chicago Illinois (welcome blanket project) 2017, LaBand Gallery, Loyola Marymount university Los Angeles (A piece of me) 2018, YBF Yarnbombing Trivento, Milano Lambrate Italy 2021.

generation in which feminism also meant criticism of needlework as a symbol of the oppression of housewives. She is all the more pleased that the younger generation is revisiting these old techniques in a cheerful, unifying and also provocative form.
Elena shows her work on Instagram and is particularly interested in art that addresses social issues – as she does in the topviolenceagaisntwomen /stopgenderviolence project: crocheted roses are placed in public spaces.
Her Woolinale work “Bed in the street” takes up an important theme, as Elena says: having a roof over one’s head, a sheltered place to live, is a human right. With it, she also wants to support the “Housing First” project, which helps homeless people in many major cities around the world.

She has been knitting and crocheting since she was young and describes herself as a curious person who loves to learn new things. Most recently, she participated in the Yarnbombing Festival in Trivento, Italy, with her own and a community artwork. In February, she was a guest at a crochet art exhibition in Milan with a collaborative project as a tribute to the artist Jeff Koons.

For the Woolinale, she is creating a cheerful, colourful three-dimensional artwork that she says is meant to express her serenity after a difficult time for her.

she also learned to crochet. She still thinks of those special moments with her grandmother when she sees accessories and garments that she has created on the catwalk.
Elena’s artistic career began in 2007: back then she experimented with different techniques and materials. She loves to rework textiles, to reuse them, to change them in such a way that new things emerge from them. She presents her works on her website elenamuscardini.wixsite.com and in social media on Instagram as @myfreakyzoo and @fiberslab.
The central theme of her art is respect – respect for life on our planet and for human beings, which she has addressed, for example, in works on gender-based violence. Her contribution to the Woolinale deals with the invisible border between the necessary and the insignificant in our lives, with the decisions we make every day in our lives – and with the consequences of these, which can be loss-making or also profitable.

all about crochet for me,” she says.
Eleonora grew up in a “handmade home” – with typical Dutch crochet curtains on the windows, homespun jumpers and crocheted toys. Eleonora learned to crochet as a child. In 2015, she started her blog Coastal Crochet. “I wanted to share my passion for crochet with others.” She does this on her website www.coastalcrochet.com, on Instagram @coastalcrochet and Facebook coastalcrochetdesign. Eleonora’s designs have been published several times in English crochet magazines and she also gives regular workshops.

She is inspired by her seaside surroundings, the colours, smells, textures and ever-changing scenery she encounters when walking with her dog. She is also creating an artwork for the Woolinale with inspiration from the coast.

While working in childcare, she began designing and selling children’s craft tutorials. Her move to Brooklyn grew her understanding of public art: walking into a dark, filthy street at night, she began an experiment: knitting a large lion covered in flowers. She enjoyed it – “and it made walking home after work in the dark at least feel a little safer”.

Ellie has been using needlework for street art ever since. During the pandemic, it was her way of spreading joy in public spaces and “providing a smile in a dark time”. She shows her work on her website www.elliedeustachio.com and on Instagram @MadeByEllieBKLYN.
Ellie likes to use images familiar from childhood to convey adult messages. Sometimes they are political, sometimes they are about current events, sometimes they are to encourage others to go on and help others.
For the Woolinale, Ellie has created a bad wolf that is lying in wait for two birds in a flowerbed. One of them flees, the other faces danger to defend his friend. This work incorporates several recurring themes in her art. “Many of us know the wolf as a villain from fairy tales. I use him to critique the gentrification of Brooklyn – and racism in American politics.”

used “Bombardowanie włóczką”, the Polish word for Yarnbombing. An installation that addressed the presence of Ukrainians who had fled the war in Lublin led the group to change its name: they felt that “bombing” could evoke bad associations in this context.

There are currently eight women in the group: Elżbieta, Hanna, Irena, Krystyna, Ewa, Teresa, Mirosława and Joanna. They are also involved in social projects. Most of the members learned to crochet and knit when they were young – in the 70s and 80s, handicrafts were not only popular in Poland, but also needed because there was a lack of many things.
“Otulanie włóczką” presents itself on Facebook and Instagram and, since 2022, also at Yarnbombing festivals. Mandalas are a trademark of the group. Their Woolinale artwork is called “Lublin landscape with the Magician” and is meant to pay homage to artists and landmarks of the region.

knit and crochet in primary school.
She has been making props and equipment for theatre productions in Trier for ten years – since then, upcycling has been an important topic. Her typical figures, “the Geiaeyes, came into my life many years ago via my daughter from a holiday camp as dream catchers and now I make them myself, exclusively from donated, used T-shirts or bed sheets.”
“Since I contributed crocheted objects to the ‘Baden-Baden Reef’ in 2021, I have ventured into the public with my objects,” says Geia. She had her first exhibition of crocheted Popeias in the garden of her husband’s gallery. This was followed by a pop-up event in Trier’s Palastgarten and music festivals where her exhibits delighted people. That is also Geia’s main concern: “To make people smile.”

For the Woolinale, Geia is designing an “abundance stele” that – like nature – overflows with colour and shapes”. In contrast, only isolated objects are to grow on a second stele. And “who knows, maybe there will also be a few Popup-Popeia activities in Cologne parks…”

considers herself a “mixed media” artist who has tried almost everything except oil painting. The pandemic brought her back to knitting and crochet, and specifically to Yarnbombing: “I wanted to help myself and others through this pandemic and its mental challenges.” In 2019, she launched a mental health project, Bonker Bears, at a major street art festival in Vienna.
As a form of expression, Helen always chooses the one that best represents the chosen theme. Most recently, for example, knitted and embroidered banners as a political protest against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Helen is present with three Instagram accounts (@bonkersbears @welshwand @womensartgang), on Facebook (Helen Wand) and YouTube and has an online shop (etsy.com/shop/HelenWandArt). Her main theme is what art created by women can be – much more than just making clothes or nice, innocuous things for the home. Her contribution to the Woolinale is an almost life-size mermaid, “Woman from the Sea”. For her, it was a challenge to see if and how she could realise this idea.

started crocheting in 2014 – with a boshi hat. She also uses her hobby professionally, working in a therapeutic residential community of addicted men and women.

In the meantime, she has crocheted more than 200 projects – from amigurumi to beanie, with pleasure also very crazy, funny and unusual. You can find Ina on Instagram (@scardanelli88) under her artist name scardanelli88. She had her first experience with Yarnbombing in a joint project with Woolinale initiator Elke, which the two installed at the Brandenburg Gate on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2020.

At the Woolinale, she participates with the “inneren Schweinehund”: The viewer can fight him, give him a kick (“kick me”). Or he can hug him (“hug me”), in order to feel comfortable with the “inner pig dog“.
“I hope it will not only make you smile, but also make you think,” Ina says about her work.

relaxation, however, she sometimes creates normally large things like accessories or clothes.

Photos of micro crochet on the Internet sparked her enthusiasm in 2020. She taught herself to crochet. Once she had mastered the technique and dexterity, Karin began creating micro crochet animals herself in the summer of 2022. Because these works “became more and more fiddly and smaller, the name FiddlyMinis” was born.
She also presents this special art at the Woolinale, for which she has created a miniature scene with tiny crochet animals enjoying life and peaceful coexistence. The message behind this is “that the smallest, most inconspicuous things and moments in life are often the most beautiful and important and should be enjoyed more often”.

Like many street artists, she wishes to remain anonymous. Kern taught herself to knit, initially knitting garments. When she moved to Miami, with its subtropical climate, in 2018, she learned to crochet. She actually wanted to make decorative items for the house, but in the process she unintentionally created some pieces that then became her first street art pieces.
She started with small, abstract figures that reminded many viewers of jellyfish. Currently she is experimenting with huge granny squares as the basis for wall graffiti.
Kern Myrtle’s art can be found on the streets of Miami, especially in the Wynwood district, but also online, on Instagram (@kernmyrtle) and on her website (kernmyrtle.com). She has been featured in national and international exhibitions.
For the Woolinale, Kern Myrtle is making a new, very large work out of yarn in combination with spray paint – something she hasn’t tried before.

usually gives away what she makes. She started 15 years ago with hats, blankets and accessories for photos. She used the latter for the photo studio she ran for ten years. Her project Knotty Harts was born in the pandemic – to do something good for herself, but also for others: “I wanted to create something unique, something that would encourage people to go outside, something they could talk about and still keep their distance.” For Knotty Harts, inspiration comes from artists like Banksy. She usually installs her works at night when everyone is asleep – and she wants to remain anonymous: “I want my art to get the attention, not me.”
She shows her works on Instagram @knottyharts. At the Woolinale, she presents a work that was created before she became active as Knotty Harts: She had not found the right place for this work until now. “Maybe it was waiting for the Woolinale!” It is made in the American colours red, white and blue and represents what Knotty Harts is all about in her deepest heart: peace, love and art.

crocheted, colourful coral garden accompanied the fools as a stage set at their session. And now it can also inspire visitors to the Woolinale – we have the artistic underwater world as a guest at the fairgrounds in Cologne from Friday to Sunday.

As the Stunksitzung reports on its website, many helpers have created this impressive work of art from scraps of yarn and wool. As an eye-catcher at the Stunksitzung, but also as a reminder and artistic exclamation mark that the coral gardens of this world need protection. The crocheted coral garden is intended to contribute to this as an exhibition, as part of the proceeds will be used to protect coral reefs worldwide through sponsorships.

studio, an advertising agency and a recording studio. The Munich native (65) is left-handed: that’s why she founded an association for it. In 2011, tree scarves and a knitting event with multicultural women came into her life for the first time. Together with other wool addicts, Maria founded the association “KulturVERSTRICKUNGEN”, which has opened a sewing room in Munich.

She was able to crochet and knit even before she started school, but to this day she still does it right-handed, “because when I was at school there was no thought of left-handed knitting”. You can find her on the website www.kulturverstrickungen.de and on Facebook at KulturVERSTRICKUNGEN, on Instagram without the “en”, i.e. @Kulturverstrickung.

“Handicrafts connect people,” says Agnes. And with the refugee situation came “the idea of giving people a thread for their new lives”. For the Woolinale, KulturVERSTRICKUNGEN are contributing a yarn art lady, combining crocheted flowers with photos of colourful works by KulturVERSTRICKUNGEN and wearing a flower umbrella by MeeCrochet.

But each of them also explores the endless possibilities of other textile techniques, as well as other forms of expression such as collage, painting and sculpture. Las Enganchadas present themselves on Instagram. Last year, the two took part in a street art competition for the first time: Their large crochet artwork made of plastic bags can still be seen on the Plaza del Dos de Mayo in Madrid.
Las Enganchadas work with upcycling: they use plastic and objects that would otherwise have ended up in the rubbish so that they don’t have to waste resources for their large-scale works. However, they secretly hope that they will run out of this material because people’s environmental awareness is growing.
In their Woolinale work “Botanicum” they also express their thoughts about nature. From plastic bags they have crocheted a botanical study with five typical plants of their home region: In this way they want to convey how the use of such materials can destroy something we take for granted.

The four Guerrilleres met in a crochet group and discovered the fascination of yarnbombing for themselves.
The Guerrilleres have been crocheting together since 2015 – just for fun, as they say, and to make their city even more beautiful. But sometimes they also use yarnbombing as a statement against gender-based violence or discrimination against women.

Two of the Guerrilleres work as teachers and in an import company, the other two are retired. The four present their works on Facebook and Instagram.
The quartet does not have a specific theme, but the four love colours because they are an expression of happiness.
They are participating in the Woolinale with an existing artwork: it was part of a growing architectural Yarnbombing project in which a total of 60 women installed 44 artworks in the city from 2019 to 2020 – made of a total of 30,000 colourful circles.

later adding crochet.

She shows photos of her work as @la.leti__ on Instagram and has also presented them at some Yarnbombing festivals in Italy. Letizia doesn’t have a special theme, “I just like to make colourful creations and funny monsters,” she says. Crochet is a way for her to express herself, even if she has little time for it. She appreciates all the more that she can take her project bag with her everywhere to work on a new piece.

At Woolinale, Letizia is showing an exhibit inspired by the Brazilian street artist @tinho23sp: “I love his style and wanted to create a tribute to him.”

Knitting and crochet became a special bond between mother and daughter. Mariela sells her creations in Colombia, Linda’s work can be seen on Instagram under the name @linlinschoen. She was a participant in the Marzano Yarnbombing Festival in 2022 and is also active as a Yarnbomber for the #rosesagainstviolence movement.

Textile art fascinates both of them. Mariela and Linda create artworks that give women a voice. Since they use upcycled yarns or buy from small production sites, it is also a way of socially and ecologically responsible and sustainable consumption for the two of them.

Mother and daughter are sending two artworks to the Woolinale. One has already been on display in Berlin: “We believe that French fries are a perfect symbol for a united world,” say the two – no matter what religion, gender, ethnicity, age or country: “Everyone loves French fries.” The second work, “Eternity”, deals with the love between mother and daughter, which overcomes distances and is about life and death.

evenings when she is no longer crocheting “professionally”. The trained educator now writes crochet books for publishers and runs an Etsy shop with instructions and DIY sets as Häkellobby. Her enthusiasm for crochet came rather late: when she saw a crochet tutorial for a little amigurumi mouse on YouTube in 2019, it sparked. In the meantime, the author and designer presents herself on Instagram. Her favourite topic is called amigurumi. A quote by the artist Keith Haring was the inspiration for her contribution to the Woolinale: “Nothing is as refreshing as a courageous leap beyond one’s own limits” – Linda found this very fitting for her personal, past situation.

but when she encountered yarnbombing 25 years ago, it led her to textile materials. Her favourite means of expression is crochet, but she also works with fabric, paper and wood – happily combined with each other.

Maite presents her work on the street, in exhibitions and on Instagram as part of the group @missmaloyaartprojects – where she also shows what she and her friends create as a contribution to the Woolinale Peace project. Last year Maite participated in the Yarnbombing Trivento festival. Maite’s artistic themes include gender-based violence and women. For the Woolinale, she has created the work “Like a fish in water”, in which everyday things such as a fish bone, an envelope or a house appear.

when she was she was five years old – from her grandmother, an enthusiastic needleworker.

Marianne presents her work as @heegeldab on Instagram. She is inspired above all by nature: she crochets mushrooms, sea creatures and flowers. Sometimes she makes them look as real as possible, but sometimes she lets her imagination run wild.

Her contribution to the Woolinale has its roots in the small kiosk on the beach where Marianne’s family sells ice cream and drinks to summer visitors: Here she decorated three posts with sea-inspired yarnbombing last year. Marianne is now creating a new edition for the Woolinale.

The latter founded the group in 2011: “The start was a Yarnbombing event in Osnabrück’s old town.” Ute started at the age of 30 “developing knitting and crochet instructions for special stitch projects. That’s still the case today.” The Maschengilde, which changes depending on the project, is active in exhibitions, designing trade fair stands, window decorations, land art or can be found in walking acts. “Knitting and crochet are our passion. We enjoy the smiles in the eyes of viewers who appreciate our work.”

The Maschengilde is active online on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. “We work with anything that is thread-like: yarn, wire, grass, fabric strips, noodles. We like to experiment a lot,” on topics that interest many people, for example nature and environmental protection. At the Woolinale, the Maschengilde is presenting some works with outdoor patina, which they showed at the land art exhibition “New Perspectives in Nature” in Osnabrück in 2022. There, there were “tree spirits” that gave trees a “face”, as well as a call for a declaration of love for trees and an oversized vine.

six years old. And although she has tried all kinds of handicrafts throughout her life, crochet has remained her favourite subject.
She presents her work as @vihiria on Instagram and Facebook, and this year also at festivals in Finland and Italy.
Minna has no particular theme in her artwork. “I do what I love – and that makes me happy,” she says “and maybe it gives something to other people too.” Her contribution to the Woolinale is about peace of mind: “It’s a bit hard to put into words. Maybe that’s why I crochet it.”

with each other, because it means endless possibilities. She taught herself to crochet when she was about six years old – something that always seemed mysterious to her and something she thought she could never learn. Since then, she has loved textile art in general and crochet in particular.
She shows her works in public spaces, outdoors, at festivals and exhibitions as well as @mirjamiart on Instagram, Mirjami Mäkelt ART on Facebook and on her website mirjamiart.wordpress.com.
“Colour and joy” are what she calls her main themes – “that’s just who I am”, she says. Yarnbombing excites her because it allows her to bring surprise and inspiration to everyday environments. Her Woolinale contribution “Flow of extraordinary life” stands for the fact that it is important for well-being to get into a state of “flow”: It gives you energy and self-confidence, she says.

needles and yarn, she was horrified,” she reveals – “but that was long before YouTube….” She shares her work on Instagram (@threadalittlelight) and on her website (threadalittlelight.com). She likes colour and movement as characteristic of her art. “I love colour transitions and contrasts.”
For the Woolinale, she has created an artwork to share a piece of Australia with the world – “Breathe” is a peaceful scene that invites visitors to pause. “In our fast-paced world, we all need moments to take a breath.

asked for needles, yarn and a crochet book for her birthday: “The beginning of a passion,” she says.
In the meantime, she also shows her works on Instagram (@nok.nok.whos.there), “but I’m actually more active with crochet than on social media”. At the Yarnfestival in Trivento, Nokki has also already participated. “I bring Yarnbombing to my neighbourhood,” says Nokki, “so if you are out and about here, you can always see crochet work that I have done.”
Playing with colours is like meditation for Nokki and a common thread in her work, also in her Woolinale entry: for “Inhabitants of Rainboweyeland making love” she reworked and added to an existing piece.

colour and joy to the streets – and presents the subject of handicrafts from a somewhat different angle.

Paty has loved handicrafts since she was a child. She learned to crochet from her aunt when she was nine. She has been creating her own amigurumi since 2008. In 2014, her art was the subject of “Make” magazine, after which she was also a guest on TV shows and websites about handicrafts. Exhibitions, Yarnbombing in Sao Paulo and participation in the Yarnbombing Festival Trivento/Italy are part of her work as well as her presence on the internet, on Instagram @patymimmos and @crochedermiapatymimmos and Facebook @crochedermiabyPatyMimmos.
Her contribution to the Woolinale is a snapshot of her life. “Kokoro” in Japanese stands for the soul, the spirit, the psyche, the consciousness – and thus for what inspires Paty.

with autism and bipolar disorder, and my difficulties in understanding the world around me.”
When Piss and Vinegar was 18, she learned how to crochet granny squares from her mother – she has been experimenting with the technique ever since. Yarn art can be created by yarnbombing even in places where you wouldn’t normally see art, she says. On Instagram, she presents herself and her work as @pissandvinegarart.
Her Woolinale artwork “Cryptic Cryptid” combines her two favourite themes: Monsters and asemic writing, a special form of calligraphy. “I love to create works that look like they come from an unknown civilisation.”

commemoration of “50 Years of Flower Power”. Knitters and crocheters worldwide were called upon in 2015 to participate in a community project for the Fibrefest and Craft & Quilt Fair in June 2015 on Glebe Island/Sidney (Australia). In the end, over 200 participants from more than 20 countries took part: This resulted in a flower power artwork that measures an impressive 10×1.5 metres and weighs 17 kilos. First, this artwork toured Australia, in 2021 it was on display in the USA – and now it is coming to Woolinale in Cologne.

The term “Flower Power” was coined in Berkeley/California (USA) – a slogan of peaceful protest against the Vietnam War. A few years later, in the famous “Summer of love”, the movement had already spread widely and the term “flower child” became synonymous with “hippie”. The flower children turned back to the simple life, handicrafts experienced an upswing, with free-form crochet as something new and special.

For more information, visit 50yearsofflowerpower.blogspot.com

she was determined to learn how to do it too: crochet has been her passion ever since. Sabine is known in the crochet world as meeCrochet, has had her own crochet blog (meeCrochet) since 2015 and also presents herself on Facebook and Instagram. Since 2016, she has also been active in Munich with the KulturVERSTRICKUNGEN at Yarnbombing and other campaigns and also at Frechverlag (#frechblogger), where she writes reviews of crochet books. Sabine wants to inspire handworkers all over the world and get them excited about crochet.
For the Woolinale, she created a colourful yarn art lady as a collaborative project together with the KulturVERSTRICKUNGEN. Sabine designed the figure’s umbrella with little flowers.

which she also sells her own instructions, and a small shop. Sabrina loves to create and crochet amigurumi since she taught herself to crochet in 2015.

On Instagram @sameko_design she shares her work. Woolinale is the first Yarnfestival she has participated in. Her favourite themes are nature & wildlife. “My samekos, as I call them, carry their own little stories into the world,” she says. And she has a mission: “I really want to inspire young people to take up this hobby. “When the pandemic started in 2020, Sabrina wanted to do something good as a “little comforter for families”. That’s how her instructions for a mini version of Hope, the cloud child, came about. She created a larger version for the Woolinale: “The figure should give love, hope and courage.

particular theme in her work, but likes to try out different things. “Typical of Sahar, however, are certainly the curlicue motifs that make her works unique. “They are always created without instructions,” Sahar notes.

You can and could see her works at the Yarnbombingfestival Milano 2022, but also online, @saramin_haekeldesign (Instagram) and Sahar Saramin Häkeldesign (Facebook). Sahar made her work “Feeling Freedom” especially for the Woolinale, with reference to the Woolinale’s concern to support refugee aid.

Yarnbomber decorates every four to six weeks. This has also been reported in newspapers, on websites and on the BBC. And the UK post office, Royal Mail, has shared pictures of it on Instagram. Many people ask Secret Yarnbomber to create something for a special occasion: “And I do my best to find something suitable.”
Secret Yarnbomber reports on his/her activities on Instagram @secretyarnbomber and #secretyarnbomber and on the website ko-fi.com/secretyarnbomber2022.

in bobbin lace. For her own work, Scheyla prefers to crochet. “It gives me more freedom and design possibilities,” she says. She loves colours, even in unusual combinations. She learned to crochet from her sisters. “My older sisters have always done handicrafts at home.” Scheyla’s works have been seen in various countries, in Brazil, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, at exhibitions and festivals. She also presents some projects on Instagram (@yarnberlin).
The artist likes to use things that others throw away to create something new. Scheyla is bringing four works of art to the Woolinale: A crochet-painted reinterpretation of a Van Gogh painting as a collaborative work with her brother-in-law Adilson Silva, “A Árvore da Vida”, a project by the group Renas de Bombinhas, a pendulum clock that doesn’t show what time it is, and a garment she made together with her sisters Isabel and Marcia.

the help of YouTube videos. Online, Stephanie can be found on her website (www.slipstitchhollow.com), Instagram (@slipstitch_hollow) and Facebook (facebook.com/slipstitchhollow).
Her artwork is “always brightly coloured, bizarre and strange,” she says: “I like to be unconventional and love creating weird things that get attention.”
One of Stephanie’s specialities is colourful, psychedelic faces – each one unique. She made one of them especially for Woolinale, freehand. “I started with the eyes and then worked around them.”

Artistically, Tanja uses various forms of expression, ranging from sculpture and poetry to digital and textile art. She came into contact with the latter as a child – one of the oldest women in her father’s home village in southern Italy explained needlework to her. Tanja also inherited her passion for handicrafts from her grandmother.
Tanja presents herself on Instagram @tanjamastroiacovo and on her website www.tanjamastroiacovo.com. She has been participating in exhibitions and art festivals since 2009, with textile works in Italy since 2018.
Tanja’s artistic research work focuses on cultural roots, their symbols – and their meaning in the present day. In her Woolinale work “Cosmic Seed”, she reflects on the value and uniqueness of the human being – in the form of a symbolic door as a symbol of the soul and its magic. Cologne takes Tanja herself back to her own roots, because her mother’s family comes from there.

great passion.
Over the past ten years, Thainá has tried out various forms of textile art and exhibited her first works at festivals. She has joined various artist groups. Currently, she says, one theme is to bring textile art into the museum.

Most of Thainá’s works are ephemeral: she installs them on the streets, where passers-by or the city cleaners let them disappear over time. But you can also see her works under the name Sinistrices on Instagram, on her websites www.sinistrices.com and www.langattomasti.com and the associated YouTube channels. Also on the blog of the Brazilian yarn manufacturer Rios Pingouin, for whom she writes instructions.

Thainá loves her city Rio de Janeiro – especially because of its contrasts. That’s why she uses the urban structures for her art in order to initiate political and social discussions. Her contribution to the Woolinale “My body is mine” is meant to remind us “that everyone belongs to themselves”.

projects they also knit, wrap, sew and embroider.

The Australians have been Yarnbombers since 2012, initially as part of a large, nationwide group from which they split off in 2016 as The Glad Rappers. They have also been participants in the 2019 Yarnbombing Festival in Trivento, and their work can be seen on Instagram and Facebook, as well as in exhibitions around Australia. The Glad Rappers want to share their passion for yarn art with others and inspire them to have fun with crochet and knitting themselves.

For their work they use material, gladly recycled, that fits the project and is at hand – preferably wool, although acrylic fibres are sometimes more practical. At Woolinale, the Glad Rappers want to present some typically Australian animals. Three of them are also coming to Cologne in person to do so – and regret a little that, because they are flying, they only have limited capacity to bring their art to Germany.

works of TT Jaja are mostly crocheted. What all the members of the group have in common, despite their very different backgrounds, is that they have learned handicrafts from the women in their lives – their mothers, grandmothers, teachers, friends. Each of them has done textile work before, but when they met, it was a creative spark. In 2018, a large Yarnbombing artwork was the catalyst for the official formation of the group “Tragos & Tejido Jaja” (Drinks and Crochet/Knitting ha ha).

You can find TT Jaja on Instagram @TT_jaja, they have also been to various Yarnbombing events in Mexico and Italy. Their theme is Mexican culture.
Their contribution to Woolinale is inspired by the tzompantli, a ceremonial rack on which skulls were lined up and offerings made. A piece of Mexican identity that TT Jaja combine with another – lucha libre, a special form of wrestling.

Une knits and crochets, but artistically prefers crochet and is thinking of including felting in the future. She learned to crochet at school. When she was pregnant with her first daughter, she discovered amigurumi and then ended up on freeform crochet in 2019.
She shares her work on social media as @asesuune, and has been a participant in Yarnbombing festivals in Italy and Mexico. Her central theme is healing: “You can find my feelings, ideas and hopes in my work.” Becoming a textile artist was not her plan – until she realised that creating crocheted artworks fulfils her through and through.
At the Woolinale, Une presents her specially created work “Wind of Change” as an expression of what is happening in the world right now and the hope for a better, more peaceful world.

says. She loves crochet, “because it works a bit like plasticine: You can make all kinds of things out of it, and in 2D and 3D”.
Gaby always enjoyed watching her grandmother, “an incredibly talented needleworker”. When crochet appliqués became fashionable about ten years ago, she rediscovered the fun of crochet. And when her crocheted strawberry earrings for a strawberry festival in the village were suddenly wanted by everyone. Pictures of Yarnbombing art then brought something into play that had excited Gaby for years: street art.
Her work as Yarn Vandalette can be seen on Instagram (@yarn_vandalette) and Facebook, and she has also been featured at exhibitions and international street art and Yarnbombing events.
Gaby draws inspiration for her art from graffiti: “I like it very colourful and bold.” And she likes to try new things, loves to crochet flowers and eyes. “I really just want people to enjoy my work.”
For the Woolinale, Yarn Vandalette is creating two contributions, “Re-WOLLE-Lution”, a variation of Banksy’s flower thrower, and she is also transforming a lamppost into a rose – to cuddle, without thorns, and with googly eyes.

town. The composition of the group has been changing ever since. Yarngang can be found on Instagram @the.yarn.gang and on their own website www.yarngang.de.
Elke Hahn, the initiator of the Woolinale, was a founding member of Yarngang, but has currently retired to organise the Yarnbombing Festival. However, she gave the impetus for the Yarngang to now contribute its own artwork to the Woolinale. Ina Werner, who is also participating as an individual artist, is leading the group’s project, a butterfly: it is so big “that you can stand between its wings to take a selfie,” explains Ina. This work could be realised thanks to a yarn donation from the Schachenmayr company.

The butterfly consists of approximately 2000 granny squares made by 19 crocheters from all over Germany. Because the Yarngang also wants to participate in the community project of the Woolinale, they decorate the butterfly with peace signs. “The rainbow design is meant to bring joy into today’s dark times”, but also stands for diversity and freedom.

online on her website (www.yarnomaniac.com) and on Instagram (@yarnomaniac, #WHATaboutplastic).
Actually, she would rather work with natural yarns, but somehow she is drawn to all the discarded plastic materials – to work with them and address our unnecessary and excess consumption of plastics and their impact on the environment. In a way that is eye-catching, as she says. Yarnomanic thinks it’s great that she can raise her voice for the environment in this way and get a lot of attention – and only with the help of something as simple as a small crochet hook.
In 2022, she created her artwork “Fake Island”, also from used plastic bags: “This is my vision of an island made of plastic – as if the bags had actually all ended up in the sea. For the Woolinale, Yarnomanic created a large work of art from plastic bags collected mainly by the Red Cross. She also incorporated tinsel, a gift from a friend.