Crocheting and knitting for good
Anna Lewis, BSc (hons) Mathematics with Professional Placement, Department of Mathematical Sciences, and Social Secretary, University of Bath Crochet and Knit Society
Anna Lewis and fellow members of the Crochet and Knit Society, including Asina Sethi, Melissa Fillet, Jace Puskas, Amy Gibbs and Parm Evansa, discover that yarn bombing in Bath goes back fifty years.
The Crochet and Knit Society at the University of Bath has been running since 2022, teaching beginners how to crochet and knit, encouraging community between crafters and carrying out fundraising events such as annual crochet flower sales for Mind. Since its establishment the Society has taught hundreds of beginners the basics of fibre arts, raised hundreds of pounds for mental health charities, and completed community projects such as a community blanket with squares from society members.
The most recent community project was inspired by the celebrations for Earth Day 2026. Throughout the year, committee members had been involved in University sustainability initiatives, and wanted to combine this interest with the popular trend of ‘Yarn Bombing’. Yarn bombing is essentially graffiti with yarn, as crafters create beautiful pieces to sit atop post boxes, benches and lamp posts. Following talks by Love The Oceans, a charity in Mozambique doing work to protect reefs, committee members were inspired to focus their yarn bombing piece on coral reef bleaching.
In order to make our reef as sustainable as possible, we used secondhand yarns, fabric and cardboard, as well as plastic bags. The piece was completed over the period of a month, with the help of 10 volunteers, taking over 40 hours to complete. We wanted to demonstrate the shock between the vibrancy of the healthy reefs and the stark whiteness of the dead reefs. They used white yarn and crocheted plastic bags on a fabric and cardboard base to demonstrate this change, adding a variety of sea creatures, from jellyfish and seaweed to anemones and reefs. The piece was then installed in the Library foyer for Earth Day, and will take up permanent residence in the Edge.
The goal of the project was to inspire people to consider their impact on the environment, as the piece also contained informational posters about reef bleaching and how we can help prevent it. The beauty of the reef encouraged people to take pictures and share it online, and to want to protect the beauty it demonstrated.
