TAG IT
Knit Caution Tape
Police line: do not cross-stitch.
BY MICHELLE KEMPNER

Photograph by Steve Lambert

In the days before mass production, things had to be made
by hand. From stockings to gloves, knitters worked long
hours making beautiful garments and accessories. Who’s
to say that the earliest cops didn’t knit their own police tape?

I first knitted police tape in 2006 as an experiment. I wanted to learn how to knit with color, incorporate text into my craft projects, and design something that my partners at the Graffiti Research Lab might find useful for urban pranks and hijinks. The result is a simple pattern for knitted police tape that’s perfect for crafty barricades, marking a crime scene, or wearing as a unique urban-inspired scarf. Experiment with your own color-switching technique and customize your version for the protestors without permits in your town.