BRAIDED TRADITIONS: ARM KNITTING WORKSHOPS

Black Girl Knit Club (BGKC) invites participants to take part in creating a public knit yarn bombing installation in the heart of East London. Exploring arm knitting techniques (no needles) to create pieces that will decorate Endeavour Square Pavilion public viewing platform, steps, and railings.   

The large-scale arm knits incorporate upcycled industrial scaffolding material, ribbon, netting, rope textures and other repurposed textiles some sourced locally from East London based textile reuse hubs such as the Childrens Scrap Project and Yodomo, a Hackney Wick based business that identifies waste materials that can be reused by the maker community.
This series of 5 workshops will allow participants to explore arm knitting and braiding techniques, inspired by various hair textures during the workshops. The workshops will be led in collaboration with a facilitator and will involve reflecting on the historical and cultural significance of hair within the Black community and references to the Hair: Untold Stories exhibition and the hair shop installation curated by Korantema Anyimadu at the Horniman Museum.

Take a look at our gallery below - We can’t wait to announce the final project on Monday 8th Jan!

Plese use hashtag: #StratfordCrossxBGKC

A second set of BGKC yarn bomb tree designs is to be launched on 16th January 2024 at Endeavour Square, in collaboration with five individual knitwear designers.   Seven tree trunks will be yarn bombed by five BGKC knitwear designer members.  Each designer has responded to the brief of “ Braided Traditions: Common Threads.” Exploring various yarn textures and techniques to showcase their individual relationship with the subject of “hair” through knitting.