Tree cozies mysteriously appearing in one New Jersey town. Photo: The Press of Atlantic City

Looks like Granny's stitch-and-bitch is taking it to the streets.

The New Jersey town of Cape May has been thrown for a "loop" after an anonymous knitter embellished a local park's trees and lampposts with colorful knit garments, the Press of Atlantic City reports.

The knit sleeves (or leggings, if you like) started appearing in late February, and the sartorial stitch-up has townspeople on the hunt for the "midnight knitter," according to the paper.

"We don't know who it is," Mayor Pam Kaithern told the paper. "Technically, they shouldn't be doing it. The police are asking about it, but it's fun and it's a mystery."

This isn't the first time we've seen a case of renegade craftism; in 2007 we reported on Stockholm's illegal street knitting scene. (Now there' are four words we never thought we'd see in the same sentence again.)

Fortunately, most residents speaking to the paper seem to approve of the night knitting.

"I think they're actually going out and knitting in the middle of the night," local artist Diane Flanegan told the source. "That's weird and that's why people like it."

"It doesn't bother me," resident Jamie Smith added. "It's better than somebody spray painting all over the place."

Of course, the mystery may soon be unraveled; one resident told the paper that she knows some of the guerilla knitters, who reportedly receive yarn donations from a group of senior citizens.

Hey, they've gotta do something to liven up the ol' knitting circle.

For more on fashion hijinks, check out this flying cat at the Vivienne Westwood show.