A post box topper is a crochet or knitted hat or bonnet for a pillar box designed as a tribute, commemoration, or for public enjoyment. In the United Kingdom they have been used to pay tribute to NHS workers during the coronavirus pandemic, for Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, [1] [2] [3] and in September 2022 as a tribute upon her death. [4] [5]
In June 2021, the Warrington Guardian reported that "yarn bombers" had placed numerous toppers or bonnets on post boxes in the area to mark local events or connections.
Seasonal toppers for Christmas and other events are popular. [6]
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said "We first began to see these toppers in 2012 over the festive season, although this soon spread to other key times of the year such as Easter. [7] More recently, we have noticed decorations celebrating various frontline workers during the pandemic, including postal workers." [8]
On Christmas Day 2022, a knitted post box topper created by a woman using the pseudonym Syston Knitting Banxy appeared on an edition of Coronation Street . [9]
In March 2023, Daily Mail journalist Jan Moir branded those who make post box toppers as "Woolly Delinquents," a label that the topper community, also known as "Yarn Bombers", has embraced. [10]
Crochet is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term crochet, which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made from different materials, sizes, and types. The key difference between crochet and knitting, beyond the implements used for their production, is that each stitch in crochet is completed before you begin the next one, while knitting keeps many stitches open at a time. Some variant forms of crochet, such as Tunisian crochet and Broomstick lace, do keep multiple crochet stitches open at a time.
Knitting is a method for production of textile fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine.
A knit cap, colloquially known as a beanie, is a piece of knitted headwear designed to provide warmth in cold weather. It usually has a simple tapered shape, although more elaborate variants exist. Historically made of wool, it is now often made of synthetic fibers.
Knitting is the process of using two or more needles to pull and loop yarn into a series of interconnected loops in order to create a finished garment or some other type of fabric. The word is derived from knot, thought to originate from the Dutch verb knutten, which is similar to the Old English cnyttan, "to knot". Its origins lie in the basic human need for clothing for protection against the elements. More recently, hand knitting has become less a necessary skill and more of a hobby.
A post box, also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box, is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a country's postal service. The term post box can also refer to a private letter box for incoming mail.
Craftivism is a form of activism, typically incorporating elements of anti-capitalism, environmentalism, solidarity, or third-wave feminism, that is centered on practices of craft - or what has traditionally been referred to as "domestic arts". Craftivism includes, but is not limited to, various forms of needlework including yarn-bombing or cross-stitch. Craftivism is a social process of collective empowerment, action, expression and negotiation. In craftivism, engaging in the social and critical discourse around the work is central to its production and dissemination. Practitioners are known as craftivists. The word 'craftivism' is a portmanteau of the words craft and activism.
Elizabeth Zimmermann was a British-born hand knitting teacher and designer. She revolutionized the modern practice of knitting through her books and instructional series on American public television.
Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee, also known as the Yarn Harlot is a writer, knitter, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and doula living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Knitta Please, also known as simply Knitta, is the group of artists who began the "knit graffiti" movement in Houston, Texas in 2005. They are known for wrapping public architecture—e.g. lampposts, parking meters, telephone poles, and signage—with knitted or crocheted material, a process known as "knit graffiti", "yarn storming" or "yarnbombing". The mission is to make street art "a little more warm and fuzzy."
Hand knitting is a form of knitting, in which the knitted fabric is produced by hand using needles.
Ravelry is a free social networking service and website that beta-launched in May 2007. It functions as an organizational tool for a variety of fiber arts, including knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving. Members share projects, ideas, and their collection of yarn, fiber and tools via various components of the site.
Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk. It is also called wool bombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting, or graffiti knitting.
Knit the City is a group of "graffiti knitting and crochet" street artists founded in London, England in 2009. The collective is credited with being the first to go beyond the simple 'cosies' of early graffiti knitting to tell 'stitched stories', using knitted and crochet amigurumi creatures and objects in their public installations. This practice has been taken up by groups internationally.
To commemorate British gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, various post boxes in the home towns of the medal winners around the United Kingdom, plus one each on Sark and the Isle of Man, were repainted gold. It marked the first occasion in modern times that the colour of post boxes in the United Kingdom had been changed from their traditional red. Originally intended to be a temporary measure, due to the positive public response it was later decided the colour change would become a permanent tribute, with boxes additionally receiving their own special plaques.
Yoshi's Woolly World is a 2015 platform game developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The game is the seventh main entry in the Yoshi series of games and the first home console title in the series since 1997's Yoshi's Story, as well as the spiritual successor to 2010's Kirby's Epic Yarn. The game was released worldwide throughout 2015. A port for the Nintendo 3DS, known as Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, was released worldwide in early 2017. Both versions received generally favorable reviews, with reviewers praising the art style, gameplay, and innovation, but criticizing the easy difficulty.
The Sapphire Jubilee of Elizabeth II on 6 February 2017, marked 65 years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The longest-reigning monarch in British history, Elizabeth II was the first British monarch to have a sapphire jubilee.
The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was the first time that any monarch in British history celebrated a platinum jubilee, as is the case in the histories of the other Commonwealth realms.
The Platinum Jubilee Pageant was held on Sunday, 5 June 2022 near Buckingham Palace, as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Conceived and directed by David Zolkwer with Pageant Master, Adrian Evans, it featured over 10,000 people from across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and combined street arts, music, puppets, carnival and costume to celebrate the Queen's reign, as well as honouring the collective service of people and communities across the United Kingdom.
Kirk Andrew Dunn is an actor, writer, and fibre artist best known for his use of texture and colour in knitting. Some of his notable works are the giant triptych installation, "Stitched Glass," and the one-man show he co-wrote and tours about that work, The Knitting Pilgrim.
A bun throwing is held in Abingdon-on-Thames, England, to mark special and royal occasions. During the event thousands of currant buns are thrown from the roof of the County Hall by members of the Abingdon Town Council. The council states that the event has a 400-year history, though the first known throwing took place in 1760 or 1761 to mark the accession or coronation of George III and Charlotte. The buns are sometimes marked with insignia related to the event being commemorated and are often kept as mementoes.