Strathaven Combat Crochet and Knitting Ninjas yarn bomb town for Easter weekend

A small town in South Lanarkshire has been given a wonderfully woolly makeover after a crafty group ‘yarn-bombed’ the area for Easter.

Residents in Strathaven were delighted when the creations appeared throughout the town overnight, with railings decorated with knitted bunting, crocheted hats sat on top of bollards and scarves wrapped around trees.

The piece de resistance, a knitted topper decorating the local postbox with bunnies, chicks, daffodils, easter eggs and carrots, took around 80 hours to make from scratch.

Strathaven Combat Crochet & Knitting Ninjas Stewart Daniels

The outlandish artwork was created by the Strathaven Combat Crotchet and Knitting Ninjas group, who regularly knit up a storm to decorate the town with handmade items.

The group first began yarn-bombing the town in 2017 after being inspired by a similar event at New Lanark Heritage Village, creating pieces for Strathaven’s Gala Day.

Delighted by the response, the group of anonymous knitters got to work on a Remembrance Day piece, creating thousands of handcrafted poppies and raising £1000 for PoppyScotland in the process.

Other projects have included hiding hand knitted angels around the town at Christmas for people to find to decorate their homes.

Local Linda Mitchell said: “I love that they brighten up Strathaven. They make everyone smile. People stop to take pictures and then start chatting.”

Dr Lisa Cameron, MP for the area, added that the group’s work was “absolutely fantastic”.

Mrs W, who is one of the founders of the group, told STV News that the knitters will be back later in the year to create something to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee, which coincides with Strathaven’s Gala Day.