About

Magda Sayeg, founder of the original knit graffiti crew Knitta Please, works to redefine a craft that has been relegated to the stuffy attic of people’s brains and dismissed by a limited vision for knitting’s purpose,

its function, its practitioners. Sayeg’s work repositions

this granny pastime in public spaces, streets formerly dominated by a hard, masculine public art culture.

The fuzzy tags invoke entirely different connotations, antagonizing expectations and initiating dialogue about community-driven art and intersections between art

and craft.

When Knitta Please first began tagging in 2005, yarnbombing was the collective’s response to the mass-produced. By inserting handmade art in a landscape of concrete and steel, they were cheekily adding warmth

to our urban fixtures. Knit graffiti reengages us with our environment: the parking meters, buses, bike racks, lamp posts, car antennas, columns, statues, exposed plumbing, all of the furniture in our urban world that goes unnoticed every day. And of course, Knitta makes the streets prettier along the way. Knitta Please is based

in Austin, Texas.

Knitta Please is…

Knitta is…

Magda Sayeg  |  Textile Artist / Creative Director

Magda has been knitting since she was a kid, but it wasn’t until 2005 that she knit her first graffiti: a small cozy for the door handle of her Houston boutique, Raye. Soon after, she founded Knitta, the knit graffiti group credited with spawning the international yarn bombing movement. Magda continues to install her work around the world in commissioned exhibitions and on her own renegade travels, in addition to hosting workshops, teaching classes, and leading community projects.

When she’s not knitting, Magda is busy as the entrepreneur behind the Houston landmark Cafe Brasil. She lives in Austin, Texas, where she is mom to three kids and her bulldog, Stella.

Catherine Smith  |  Account Director

A Houston, Texas native, Catherine first met Magda in middle school way back when. Once reconnected by the digital age and social media, Catherine joined Knitta as Account Director. With 12 years’ experience in communication and accounts, she’s the one who drives the Knitta bus, so to speak. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, where she knits, drinks Mexican martinis, and hangs out with her dog Parker.