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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAdriana Ortiz-Stern<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Adriana (45) is from Mexico and lives in Mexico City. As a teacher, she loves to share her knowledge with others. Anything you can imagine, you can crochet, she says. She started when her eldest son was three years old: he <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n wanted a Batman hat. Over time, she discovered her love for free-form crochet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adriana presents her works on Instagram as @aradaniso<\/a> – 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Teje la arana<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Adriana and Alvaro are from Venezuela but have lived in Spain for 20 years. Alvaro is a graphic designer, director and artist, Adriana has a PhD in biology – together they run a media production company while raising <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n their daughter. Adriana and Alvaro’s contribution to the Woolinale is entirely composed of Granny Squares and is part of their “Mynah Birds” series.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n FlinkeNadel \u2013 Alena Becker<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Alena lives in a small village in Lower Saxony, between Hamburg and Bremen. The 44-year-old is a business analyst and has been knitting and crocheting since she learned it at school.<\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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. L\u00f6wenzahm \u2013 Alexandra Zaminer<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Alexandra (46) lives in Hanover. She learned to crochet at school, but only really started in 2013 – to crochet “Super Mario” figures for her son. At some point Alexandra also started making her own amigurumi and wrote <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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”.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Little Nugget Workshop \u2013 Alisha Soto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Born and raised in New York City, Alisha Soto has always been surrounded by street art and found it very expressive. As a woman with Puerto Rican roots who has spent most of her life in the Spanish Harlem <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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. Yarnboming Bruxelles \u2013 Anne le Maignan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Anne has French and Spanish roots and lives in Brussels\/Belgium. Since a stroke and the resulting consequences for her eyesight, she can no longer work in her profession as an urban planner – “but I continue to participate <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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. Annett Ne\u00dfmann<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Annett (51) comes from G\u00f6rlitz, the married mother of one son now lives in Babenhausen near Frankfurt am Main. For her, crocheting and knitting are a balance to her work at the county of <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see her work on Instagram under her name Annettstrickt<\/strong>. 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Arachnes Faden \u2013 Antonia B\u00f6hm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Antonia (48) comes from Allg\u00e4u, but has lived in Hamburg for a long time. She learned needlework from her grandmother, but “unfortunately not how to knit socks”. Later she<\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On social media, you can find Antonia on Instagram and Facebook under the name Arachnes_Faden<\/strong>, but also on her website www.mondcatze.de<\/a>. Apart from that, you can see her works in the streets of Hamburg – or in places where she goes on holiday. 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 \u2026 walls between people, as well as walls in their own heads.”<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Benalla Yarnbombers<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n The Benalla Yarnbombers are a group of artists from Victoria, Australia. The eight Yarnbombers, aged between 65 and 76, combine many creative talents. The artists knit, crochet, felt, quilt, embroider, paint, make mosaics and write.<\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fun is their leitmotif: anything that makes their city more colourful after the end of winter. Biblioknitcaff\u00e8<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Biblioknitcaff\u00e8 is a group of about 15 enthusiastic knitters and crocheters founded in Florence\/Italy in 2010. The members meet there twice a month in a public library. They have all been <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n working with wool and cotton for a long time and enjoy participating in charity campaigns with their work. They also present this on Instagram. Cambridge Yarn Collective<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Cambridge Yarn Collective is a group of artists and creatives aged 20-60 from Cambridgeshire\/UK: Clare Collier aka Tigerchilli, Dorthy Singer, Hilary Butler and Sophie Neville. <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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. Carmen Paulino<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Carmen Paulino is an artist active in clinics, community centres and retirement homes in New York City (USA). She inherited her love of art from her mother and grandmother, <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n 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. Katia Mochi \u2013 Caterina Marrapodi<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Caterina (39), who combines her nickname Katia with her enthusiasm for Japanese mochi ice cream, lives in Apulia\/Southern Italy. She loves to make things, is interested in all kinds of textile handicrafts, especially <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n crochet. She learned this from her mother when she was 15 years old. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook as katia mochi<\/strong>. Stitch a Smile \u2013 Claudia Weber<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Claudia (almost 60) lives near Munich. “My first love was knitting,” she says – she learned it as a schoolchild from her grandmother, who loved needlework. During a holiday in the USA she spontaneously fell in love with a <\/p>\n\nmore…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n Father Christmas boot in an embroidery magazine, which she then embroidered for her daughter. “Since then, the embroidery fever has never let me go.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 M\u00fcnchen and even made it into the news programme Tagesthemen as a short article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.” Roses Against Violence \u2013 Claudia Gr\u00fcnzweig<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
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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<\/a> and on their own website tejelaarana.es<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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On Instagram and Ravelry, and also on the geocaching portal geocaching.com, Alena can be found as “FlinkeNadel<\/strong>“. “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 Rh\u00f6n 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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Online, Alisha can be seen on Instagram (@alishanicole.arts<\/a> and @littlenuggetworkshop<\/a>), on TikTok (@AlishaNicoleArts<\/a>) and on her website (www.AlishaNicoleArts.com<\/a>).
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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Anne’s projects can be found online, on Instagram (@yarnbombingbruxelles<\/a>), on her blog (yarnbombingbruxelles.blogspot.com<\/a>) and on the website (www.gendersteunescochair.com<\/a>).
For the Woolinale, she has taken up the theme of peace – with eight crocheted doilies in the colours of the rainbow.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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At the Woolinale, Biblioknitcaff\u00e8 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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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You can meet her on Instagram as @stitch.a.smile<\/a>. 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.”<\/p>\n\n…less<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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