Yarn Bomb Stair Railing

by Ashley Weeks Cart

It finally happened. BOOM! My first Yarn Bomb!

I’ve been eager to try this since my pregnancy with Courtland, when I first began ogling Magda Sayeg work. The greatest thing about yarn bombing is that you don’t actually need to be a knitter to yarn bomb. In fact, while I do indeed knit, I used a blanket that a friend found at Goodwill for the project. The ultimate repurpose. You could also cut up old sweaters – and if you were concerned about the pieces unraveling, you could felt them in a hot wash prior. Ah the possibilities!

When we first moved into the house, we were lacking a stair railing. James installed this super basic piece of wood that was just screaming for a make over. This seemed like the perfect project with which to test out yarn bombing.

I literally just took this blanket, wrapped it around the railing, stitched loosely along the underside of the railing to connect the two edges of the blanket. Then, I trimmed the blanket, and went back with a more thorough stitch to secure the piece to the railing and prevent the stitches from unraveling. I needed to do this three times to cover the length of the railing. And then, BOOM! It was covered in colorful, wooly goodness.

I’m quite pleased with the result. While the yarn was relatively cheap quality and some very interesting color choices (check out that Sherbert multicolored goodness) – it looks cozy and playful wrapped along the railing.

It’s also Courtland approved. She loves to run her little hands up and down the textures and grooves of the yarn.

Here is what the house looked like before we moved in. As you can see, we’ve been painting up a storm, but we still need to make the wall leading up the stairs the new grey color, and we need to put a fresh coat of white along the staircase. But slowly, it’s coming together. James and my dad installed the antique runner onto the stairs to make them less slippery and also warmer during the winter months, and now the stair railing echoes that cozy vibe. And of course, my beloved yellow door adds a punch of color.

So cozy that you could just lie down and take a nap on the step of your choosing! What do you think?