While the actions of guerrilla knitters may seem spontaneous and daring, they actually take a lot of planning and man hours.
It is this behind-the-scenes work which Ann Savageau sought to explain to University of California students, who were recently tasked with creating their very own yarn bombing installation.
As part of her Design 70: Introduction to Textile Structure class, pupils were asked to express their creativity within the Australian section of the Arboretum, allowing them to explore the relationships between this whimsical art form and nature.
The California Aggie reports that, unlike many yarn bombing events, there was no political message attached to the project, rather it was an opportunity to educate people and encourage them to push their artistic boundaries.
Ms Savageau told the student newspaper: "I had two main purposes, one was for my students to learn to crochet and knit, and the other was to make an outdoor installation as a nice way of transforming natural objects."
Each of the students were assigned trees to work with, either alone or in groups, and wrapped branches with colourful sections of knitted fabric, crocheted spider webs and strings of pom-poms.
Stones were also wrapped in wool, transforming them into 3D objects such as flowers and mushrooms.
Carol Shu, a master of fine arts graduate in design, facilitated the installation of the students' fabrics in the Arboretum and has hailed it as a huge success for everyone involved.
"It was a fun project where the students could do whatever they wanted, pick any trees they wanted to cover, with very few restrictions," she said.
"They were encouraged to be flexible and creative, and the lack of restrictions resulted in a whimsical explosion of colours."
The yarn bombing project has been hailed by university staff and students for highlighting new elements of nature and encouraging a caring attitude towards the environment.
