Knitting Matter
– Thinking beyond the needles

What makes a knit a knit?
Is it the structure?
Is it the material?

Perhaps it has to do with the context — does it depend on where and by whom the question is asked?

Or is it the scale — is a fine knit jersey still a knit or just a fabric? And if the scale is increased, if the loops are as tall as a building — is it still a knit?

When does a knit stop being a knit and become something else?

Or does it depend on the embodiment — the act of forming loops with knitting needles?

I am searching for a core and want to suggest:

Knitting is the construction, the system, the formula of loops interlocking with each other with a continuous thread. And the single loop is the essence, the necessity, of the formula. Not the material, nor the scale. Not how you produce a textile with a pair of hands or with a machine.

A knit is a knit by its formula, not because it is made with knitting needles.

Hand knitting needles or knitting machines are the conventional goto tools for the physical embodiment of a knit, which starts with a thread that is shaped into loops and interlocked with each other.

I asked myself: Can I use a 3D printer as a knitting tool? Turns out yes.

By Louise Christiansson, 2019.