Renee and Bali of the Yarncorner collective decorate trees on Rathdowne Street, Carlton, for Yarra Council. Photo: Justin McManus

When crafty street artists head out at night to festoon public places with reams of knitted wool, they used to be the recipients of council edicts telling them to take down their work or risk a fine.

But in what must surely be a sign that yarn bombing - also known as graffiti knitting or yarnstorming - has gone mainstream, local councils are now paying these artists to decorate their streets.

On Sunday, members of the Yarncorner collective ''bombed'' trees on Rathdowne Street, North Carlton, part of a larger commission from Yarra Council for non-traditional Christmas decorations to be sprinkled across the area.

Next week, they will do something similar to trees on Bridge Road, Richmond, and smother about 30 bikes racks in wool outside the Fitzroy Swimming Pool.

Advertisement

This is the collective's eighth council commission in the last year, including Frankston and the City of Moreland, and their diary is already full for next year, including a large installation at the Melbourne Show.

The group's co-ordinator, Bali, who doesn't reveal her last name, said yarn bombing's change of status had surprised her: ''It's a bit strange to think that we were getting told off and now we're getting paid.''

''We more see it as a way of beautifying something that's a little bit dull, rather than a political thing.''

The collective formed last year and now has about 350 members - about 50 of them in Melbourne - including people overseas who send their work by post and get the group to install it. It charges clients for labour and materials, with all profits going back to the collective or donated to a local charity.