Crochet project for the streets of Mullum

This week, the community decided to take over those ugly white plastic poles on Burringbar and Stuart Street by covering them with crocheted socks.

President of the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce, Jenelle Stanford, said the crocheted socks are ‘to make Mullumbimby prettier’.

The white poles were installed by Council several months ago to slow down traffic and a speed limit of 30km was installed for the main street. The project was funded by the NSW Government, and aims to share the main street between cars and pedestrians, at Council’s request.

Ms Stanford, who runs the Mullumbimby Newsagent at the corner of Stuart and Burringbar streets, said that the poles have been effective at slowing down the traffic.

However, the community of Mullum did not appreciate these ugly scraps of plastic in the pretty little town.

As Ms Stanford put the socks on, pedestrians congratulated her and marvelled at the bright colours.

‘Everyone was moaning about it’, said a passerby before adding, ‘but now it looks better’.

Crochet Goddess

The Crochet Goddess, Yazmina-Michèle de Gaye, who made these eco-sensitive socks, says ‘people are happy about it; how beautiful and colourful it is’.

Though the Crochet Goddess has been stuck in WA since the start of the pandemic, she told The Echo that she decided to take part in this local project because, ‘it is a reward to give something to the community’, and it means she still feels involved in the communal life of the town.

The Crochet Goddess made ten pole socks, but more are needed, with Ms Stanford encouraging ‘everyone’ to participate.

Paintings on the ground will soon accompany these crochet socks to make the town more colourful.

♦ Zoe Duc is an Echo intern.