Under the cover of darkness on November 30, six teams were dispatched to the streets of St Albans in Hertfordshire. They skulked around corners, determined to stay hidden while they completed an operation so covert, locals had no notion of it until the sun came up the following morning. And then, as residents ventured out of their houses on December 1, one thing was immediately clear: St Albans had been yarnbombed. 

That experience is far from unique. A spate of yarnbombing is ripping through the country. If you haven’t the faintest idea what I’m talking about, let me illuminate you. A yarnbomber is someone who knits, crochets or needle-felts (no idea) something, anything – a nativity scene, a large woollen helicopter, Tom Daley’s face – and attaches it to some sort of public property. This Christmas, postboxes up and down the country have been taken over by crafters, bringing cheer to street corners by topping them with knitted festive scenes. 

“We do it for a little bit of Christmas joy and magic, and to raise lots of money for a local charity,” says Roselle Ambrose, 36, who orchestrated this year’s St Albans operation. “Six teams were sent out. We co-ordinated it all centrally […] There are 82 up this year across St Albans and Harpenden.” 

A whole team of crafters had been working on this year’s toppers for months. They use acrylic wool because “real wool will shrink in the rain” (this is Britain, remember, where it’s vitally important to consider the impact of wet weather when knitting your postbox a hat), and are given free rein when it comes to design. It’s a tradition that was started four years ago, and this year’s collection includes such classics as a large crocheted gingerbread house and a plate of knitted mince pies. 

If it all sounds rather quaint and old fashioned, think again. The St Albans postboxes come complete with a QR code that you can scan with your phone in order to donate to a local charity; this year they’ve already raised more than £20,000. In Balham, south London, yarnbombing has become political. A group of “craftivists” are using their postbox toppers as a way to teach people about social issues. “We use craft for activism to prod people gently to do good,” says Kate Hudson, of the Woodfield Craftivists, who meet in a pavilion on Tooting Common once a week to chat and knit over a glass of wine. “During the first lockdown when we heard about the rise in domestic abuse, we did some embroideries around the common which highlighted the domestic abuse helpline.

“We were saving the bees in the summer so we had lots of [knitted] bees flying around the common with messages about what you could do, like using less chemicals in your garden.” 

Hudson adds: “One of our members works for a food bank so we decided the purpose of the Christmas campaign would be to encourage people to donate to a food bank.”