Alexandra Day explores knitting as art and argues that the craft has been relegated due to its association with domestic labour.
“That’s a lovely hobby.” The well-intentioned, common response when certain people learn of my love for knitting. Not too threatening, not too independently creative, not too artistic. Just a lovely hobby. Over the years, knitting has developed an image problem. The quaint image of the grandmother by the fireside, knitting up clothing for some young offspring is ubiquitous. The technical ability and imaginative skill which this requires is neither here nor there and the whole stereotype is something of a joke. A synonym for the domesticated life. Few people would give the knitter the same artistic credit as they would the painter. Certain paintings have been described as “world-changing”, “awe-inspiring” and “genius”. These labels are generally not attached to handmade socks and delicate woolen shawls. Why? It’s not that knitting requires any less time or capability – it’s that it’s now seen as a woman’s work.
This was not always the case. Examples of decorative knitting have been discovered to date as far back as the 11th century BCE. (Even the Ancient Egyptians couldn’t resist the allure of the patterned wooly sock.) However during this time, knitting, like most crafts, was probably reserved for men. Women were just too incapable to produce essential clothing. Indeed, the very first knitters’ union, established in Paris in 1527, explicitly forbade women from joining. This was to change when the Industrial Revolution eradicated the need for hand knitting to create clothing on a mass scale. Following the development of the knitting machine in 1589, the ability to knit gradually became a “lovely hobby” rather than a necessity. Consequently, over the following centuries knitting withdrew into the home where it could be found with the ‘domesticated’ wife. Who would look for highfalutin, cerebral ‘art’ there?
Nevertheless, the art of knitting has quietly persisted. Certain artists have incorporated knitting into their body of work and some have even built their whole career around the medium. This includes Tatyana Yanishevsky, a Rhode Island artist whose exhibitions have touched upon themes such as the relationship between humans and nature, illness and mortality. Yanishevsky explores these lofty subjects through the medium of finely detailed yet large scale knit pieces. In her exhibition, Human, the artist created an anatomically correct heart in knit (an impressive feat in itself), along with a pair of inflatable knit lungs. These were suspended tenuously beside one another in order to illustrate the fragile physical balance which all our lives depend upon. A big idea for a “lovely hobby”. Another exhibition by Yanishevsky entitled The Knit Garden, featured anatomically correct knit replicas of plants. The process of knitting each flower stitch by stitch and row by row mimicked the natural process of organic growth, allowing each piece to slowly ‘bloom’ over time.
Another artist who incorporates knitting and other yarncrafts into his work is David Cole. Cole, also working from Rhode Island (apparently a hotbed for artist knitters), uses knitting to explore topics relating to modern America such as industry, masculinity and violence. His most famous work, The Knitting Machine, consisted of two John Deere excavators gradually knitting an American flag over a week, using two gigantic needles and acrylic felt ‘wool’. The creation of the flag was as much a feature of the piece as the completed flag, raising the physical process of knitting to an art form in itself. The Knitting Machine juxtaposed the worlds of the mechanical and traditional handcrafts to comment on the increasing industrialisation of everyday life in modern America. This message rings true across the modern world. Very few widely produced ‘knit’ garments are handmade, though many try to emulate the style of hand knit pieces. People are enticed by the idea of handmade goods, despite usually turning to the cheaper, quicker machine-made alternative – this tendency mirroring the reasons why knitting was driven to the fringes of culture to begin with.
The traditional Aran jumper, a staple of any good ‘Oirish’ souvenir shop, is an example of a form of knitting which has fallen victim to mechanised culture. The complex stitchwork associated with the style can only be achieved by patient hand knitting. Each intricate whorl of moss stitch and delicately interwoven cable is comparable in detail and beauty to miniaturist painting or sculpture. The knitter must carefully consider the weight of the wool and the pattern of stitches in order to ensure the perfect design, a feat which requires attention and no small amount of creativity. Indeed, the knitted Aran jumper is a work of art. So why is it that companies feel confident in copying these creations using a machine and selling the result under the label of ‘genuine Aran’?
So far I have discussed two knitters which would be considered to be artists in the traditional sense. They must be artists – their work is shown in galleries! However, to leave the definition of ‘knitter artist’ at this excludes the vast majority of people who create art through their knitting on a daily basis. From the humble, vaguely-rectangular scarves made by an absolute beginner to the intricate creations of an Aran Islander, all knitting is uniquely creative. The process of taking a ball of yarn and two (or more) needles to produce something new is as much worthy of the title of ‘art’ as placing paintbrush to canvas. The fact that a knitted creation might be ‘useful’ in everyday life should not remove its artistic value.
The future is bright for knitting. An increasing number of knitting groups are cropping up throughout Dublin (and the rest of the world) in order to help the art spread further. The Dublin Knit Collective and Trinity’s own Knitting Society offer beginners and seasoned pros alike a space in which they can create and design through the medium of knitting. Modern movements such as ‘yarn bombing’ are gaining greater widespread popularity, demonstrating the ways in which knitting can be used not only as a form of art but also as a means of public expression. Despite the increased involvement of technology and industry in our everyday lives, the art of knitting has not gone away over the millennia. Far from being lost to the dusty fireside, knitting is at the forefront of contemporary art to a greater extent than ever before. Artists such as Yanishevsky and Cole are developing wider connoisseurship and appreciation of knitting as an art form to broadening audiences. Most importantly, however, knitting is becoming more popular with younger generations and is slowly managing to shake off the old stereotypes associated with it. Knitting is no longer the preserve of the old-fashioned. So pick up some needles, watch a few tutorials on YouTube and make some art!
