Like many street artists, Lauren O’Farrell works under the guise of an alter ego: Deadly Knitshade. With her bright blue hair and colourful woollen characters, she’s carved a niche for herself as the Banksy of the knitting world, leading a graffiti movement that’s seen the capital showered in colour and texture in the most unexpected places.
Despite having knitters in the family, Lauren didn’t actually pick up a pair of needles herself until her early twenties. Diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, she was facing a lot of time spent in waiting rooms and hospital beds and so turned to knitting to pass the time.
“I’d never knitted before even though my mum, my aunt and my grandma were all big knitters,” she says.
“They had always made conventional stuff and I’m just really not interested in clothes, I’m not a fashion person. But then a book called Stitch and Bitch came out which was more up my street; it had hats that looked like animals, iPod covers, that sort of thing. So a few friends and my mum taught me how to knit in a local pub and that was the beginning of Stitch London.”
Stitch London went on to become a thriving community of knitters, all dedicated to sharing their skill for free and spreading a love of knitting. Lauren even wrote the Stitch London book – a volume full of knitting ideas inspired by the city and ran it voluntarily for eight years.
“There was a pattern to make a scarf knitted from the colours of the tube map. It also encouraged people to think outside the pattern and create something similar for their own city’s transport system. My knitting has always been about that; thinking outside the box.”
Lauren’s vibrant blue hair was part of the transformation from her identity as the founder of Stitch London to rebel graffiti artist, Deadly Knitshade. “I’ve been in love with the muppets since I was really tiny,” she says. “As art influences go, Jim Henson is at the top of my list alongside people like Dr Seuss. I’ve always secretly wanted to be a fraggle or a muppet, but before I got ill I didn’t really have that confidence. I was just a mousey-haired proofreader living in London, wanting to fit in. When I was ill all my hair fell out and when it grew back I just wanted to do whatever I liked, so I tried a few colours and when it came to blue, I knew that I’d found my colour and there was no going back.”
Now, Lauren couldn’t imagine it any other way. “When I imagine myself these days, it’s always with blue hair and colourful clothes. Getting your life back after a serious illness really gives you the confidence to live a brighter life; it definitely gave me the confidence to become an artist.”
Unlike conventional graffiti, Deadly Knitshade’s work is always temporary, with most pieces ending up being adopted and taken home by passers-by.
“It’s lovely seeing people’s faces light up. I’ve been doing this since 2007 and have never once had a negative reaction, even when my work is displayed without permission – I covered a phone box in Parliament Square with knitting once which is definitely not allowed!”
Given how much criticism artists usually receive, what does Lauren think makes knitting different?
“People have a real connection with knitting. They feel an affection for it and they’re not threatened by it; it reminds them of their mothers or grandmothers,” she says.
“I think the colour and texture of what I create makes people want to look after it and love it – it’s street art but you can touch it and take it home. I sometimes watch people wander past my pieces and it’ll prompt them to talk to strangers passing by, they’ll be laughing and asking each other what it’s all about. In a busy city like London, anything that creates that sense of community is wonderful.”
Deadly Knitshade created a bespoke bench for Valspar, decked out in neon green wool and adorned with her trademark knitted creatures, then left to the public in Portobello.
“The area has some very colourful bits when the markets are open, but also tends to have some grey corners, so it was nice to make something that absolutely popped and lit up the site.”
“There are a lot of people out there adding colour to the world so it was a real honour to be chosen to be a colour ambassador for Valspar,” she says.
“When I started graffiti knitting there were really only a few of us in the world doing it, whereas now it’s something people from all walks of life are trying, so it’s wonderful to spread the word further and get people to express themselves. I’d like to encourage people to get out there and use the world as their art gallery.”
Introducing Valspar paint
Valspar can create as many colours as the eye can see – that’s 2.2 million shades, so if your heart is set on a colour, Valspar can match it. What’s more you can save your colour preferences on Valspar’s system, so whether it’s the ideal shade for Laura’s bathroom, or dad’s study, you’ll remember for future reference.
Available exclusively at B&Q, Valspar’s Premium paints feature a super scrub formula so paint won’t fade or chip off when cleaned and it comes in a range of wide range of high quality interior and exterior paints in a variety of finishes. Visit valsparpaint.co.uk to see how you can start colouring outside the lines, or see the range at B&Q.
