profiles + projects
from knitting’s
new wave
Published
in 2007 by Steward. Tabori & Chang.
An imprint
of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
This
excellent resource book is a great mash-up between an exploration of knitting
in a current and modern context and interesting projects contributed by all 27
“artist-crafters” profiled in KnitKnits pages.
I am
particularly interested in this because Sabrina Gschwandtner initially wanted
to create…
“…a zine, a
new art project, and a way of exploring the link between knitting and fine art
practices like sculpture and performance….”
I like the
expansive view she takes of knitting and its involvement in not only the craft
world, but in the art world too.
Kiriko
Shirobayashi travelled with Gschwandtner to take photographs of the featured
women and men in “settings that represent where and how these knitters live and
work”.
When I want
to start a new project or I am looking for encouragement to keep going, I will
often look at books like this. I feel it shows a world not bound by convention,
it shows a world full of experimentation, skill and self-expression. I’ll let
the author herself have the last word on what KnitKnit is all about.
“This book
is not just a presentation of knitters and their projects; it is also a profile
of a medium as it exists today. Knitting can be clothing, gift, sculpture,
therapy, protest, graffiti or performance…..you choose.”
*All quotes
were taken from the introduction to “KnitKnit” by Sabrina Gschwandtner
Front cover
photograph: Debora Small
Jacket
design: Kevin O’Neill
“Knitted
teacups and saucers” by Debbie New, photographs by Kiriko Shirobayashi.
KnitKnit #6 zine by Sabrina Gschwandtner
