Knit and Matter: researching what matters when we make with yarn
-
Welcome to the Knit and Matter Research Project
Knitting is a popular creative activity that has a long history as a way for people to explore and express what matters to them. If you’re a knitter, you might spend a lot of time and effort planning and making things for people you care about, for example, or putting together a project using yarns…
-
Workshop 4: Making
The focus of Workshop 4, led by Philippa Larkam, was on completing our knitted and crocheted objects, using the materials from Workshop 1 and Workshop 2, and following the designs we had developed in Workshop 3. May The Fleece Be With You Our Knit and Matter journey started with raw fleece. Now freshly washed, the…
-
Workshop 3: Design
At the third Knit and Matter workshop, led by textile artist and educator Philippa Larkam, we turned our minds to how the threads we had produced through spinning and dyeing would become surfaces. We began by exploring our relationship to the design process. For many fibre crafters, this aspect of making will most often involve…
-
Books
Many of us who enjoy knitting and crochet would also say that books are an important material factor in what we make. Books provide guidance as well as inspiration and the sharing of books is often part of the communities we form through our practice. At the heart of the Knit and Matter research is…
-
The Crafting Literacy project
If you’re following what we’re doing at the Knit and Matter workshops, here’s some more information about the research that led to the project. Across history, people have used textiles to communicate things about themselves or others. More recent times have seen significant changes in how we make and share meanings, but fibre craft remains…
-
Workshop 2: Dyeing
In her book, The Secret Lives of Colour, Kassia St Clair says, ‘colour is fundamental to our experience of the world around us’ (p.13). For the knitters and crocheters I have spoken to in my research, colour is an important factor in what they make and why it matters. As art historian James Fox explains…
-
Watch us working with fleece at the first Knit and Matter workshop
You can see more about what happened at the first Knit and Matter workshop on this film, made by Finbar Lillis and Doug Smith (with thanks to Dr Kerryn Dixon). You can share what matters to you when you knit and crochet by leaving a comment below.
-
Workshop 1: Working with fleece
The first Knit and Matter workshop was led by Sarah Wheatley of Weaveknitit. Sarah is based at Cromford Mills, part of the iconic Derwent Valley, Derbyshire, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its role in the industrial revolution. This connects the Knit and Matter workshops at the Framework Knitters Museum to…