Project:

This was my final project and exhibition at the Royal College of Art. This body of work was made because I felt many forms of needlecraft are slowly disappearing. I wanted to represent this but through the craft I knew best - knitting. I felt displaying the knitted pieces in a museum setting, behind glass with labels, taking away the ability to touch the objects would encourage more curiosity and investigation. I added labels with detailed technical knitting information for the more curious viewers. Although I wanted to move away from garments, I thought about where knitting came from and even after many centuries, knitting is still deeply rooted in garments. I looked at knitting patterns in vintage craft books and became very engaged with the construction and techniques ; details in sock heels, pockets, gussets, ribs, etc. I felt they were such beautiful objects and were lost within garments. These details play a different role when separated from the rest of the garment. The idea for repeating each detail with different colours came from looking at the current trend of manufacturing garments which usually are massed produced, and repeated again and again in different colours. But ultimately the main aim was to create an atmosphere for people to reflect and look at knitting in a different way.