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 that remind you of a certain time and place. Sometimes we keep hold of knitted items because of what they mean to us, perhaps a baby’s first hat, a jumper bought on holiday, or something that was made by someone we hold dear.
Textiles have always played a part in how we say things about ourselves and what’s important to us. The words ‘text’ and ‘textile’ even share a common root in the Latin ‘texere’ (to weave). Over time, though, the written word has gained prominence and, more recently, rapid developments in communication technology have allowed us to explore the world and keep in touch more quickly and across greater distances. Many of us benefitted from this over the recent pandemic. As these technologies have developed, people have also continued to make with yarn. Alongside the digital worlds we increasingly inhabit, people still value physical threads and what they can connect us to.
In a recent research project, I spoke to knitters about what their craft means to them. I was also interested in finding out what it might be about making with yarn in particular that contributes to this. One of the most significant things to come out of these conversations was the importance of material factors: where yarn comes from, where we keep it, how it looks, feels, smells, and behaves are all entwined in what matters to knitters.
This is where the Knit and Matter research project comes in. It is funded by The British Academy, and seeks to find out more about how and why these material factors contribute to what knitting means.
Why is this important?
- Words, and how they work, get a lot of attention in education and public life. There is no doubt that words are important, of course. But people have always made sense of their worlds through more than just words: we use colours, patterns and images; sounds, smells, textures and tastes; relationships, feelings and values, amongst many other things. Developing understanding of the ways we make and share meanings in everyday life contributes to greater awareness of what’s important to people, and how society can work better for everyone.
- This attention to words has historically meant that some people’s voices and experiences have not always been recognised or valued in wider society. We know that fibre craft is a hugely popular and skilled creative activity, and yet it can still be stereotyped and carry derogatory connotations (we only need to think of the media’s excited response to a celebrity like Tom Daley knitting, when so many other people have been doing it all along!) We need to keep talking about why crafts such as knitting and crochet are important, so that the voices and experiences of those who practise them are heard, and what they know and do continues to be valued.
- We’re living in challenging times which ask us to carefully consider our relationship with the world around us and how we might better recognise and respect the materials we use in our everyday lives. It is important to think about what happens when we use natural materials such as wool: how we shape it, but also how it shapes us.
What’s going to be happening?
There will be a series of four workshops held at the Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, Nottingham. Led by professional textile artists and educators, the workshops will focus on different stages of making with yarn, from working with fleece through spinning and felting, to dyeing, designing and making. At each workshop, we will be thinking about what’s involved in each part of the process. This might include:
- how the material looks, smells, feels, and what this means to us
- how the material works and behaves and why that might be
- how the choices we make shape the material, but also how the material shapes us in the process
- how a close focus on a material we commonly use might influence what knitting means to us
The first workshop on March 5th will be led by Sarah Wheatley from Weaveknitit in Cromford, Derbyshire, and will focus on working with fleece. We will start by exploring how the quality, colour and feel of fleece differ across sheep breeds. We will be shown a raw fleece, told how this is skirted and washed, and there will be an opportunity to work with fleece through wet felting. We will also be shown the simple process of twisting something soft and breakable so it turns into a strong and continuous length of yarn. There will be spinning wheels to pedal and drop spindles and spinning sticks to have a go with.
The next workshops will be on March 12th, March 26th and April 2nd.
Get involved
Watch this space for updates on the workshops and to share your own thoughts and experiences.
In the meantime, you can get involved in Knit and Matter by commenting below: how does knitting matter to you?
- What do you like to make and why?
- What factors influence that? Is it colour, yarn type, who you’re making for? Or something else?
- If you mainly knit or crochet, have you ever tried spinning or felting? What was it like? Did it make you think differently about what matters when you make?