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KnitWell

KnitWellKnitWellKnitWell

What is KnitWell?

KnitWell, a practice-based project, examines a particular avenue of knitting practice within an approach called ‘free knitting’. Free knitting explores the choices you can make within knitting, such as yarn, colour, gauge, and stitch choice, in an open-ended and creative way. This approach is more creative and complex than the repetitive forming of identical basic knit stitches but more open-ended and exploratory than the practical projects a knitter would typically undertake. 


Somebody exploring the KnitWell approach might knit once a day for a month to capture their emotional state at the time of knitting like a form of daily journaling. KnitWell poses the question: what opportunities and limitations can this style of knitting offer as a means of recording an emotional state, and what (if any) effect this activity may have (when undertaken daily) on mental well-being?


This doctoral research explored the KnitWell methodology with 12 participants who have taken part in three iterative phases of activity, creating a daily knitted journal for a period of one month in each phase. Participants were issued with a yarn palette of varied texture, colour and thickness that enabled them to express their emotions and cater for different moods.  

Doctoral Researcher, Emily Joy Rickard

KnitWell Analysis

Participants

Participants

Participants

See each participant in turn and their Daily Knit Journal for each phase, with helpful insights gained through interviews and the Daily Wellness Knit Scale.

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Stitches

Participants

Participants

Specific qualities of the Daily Knit Journals are explored here, for example, stitches, colour choice, yarn choice, with insights into participant choices through interviews and written entries. 

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Emotions

Participants

Emotions

Emotions taken from the Daily Wellness Knit Scale are explored through choices made in the Daily Knit Journal with insights gained through interviews and written journal entries. 

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Be part of KnitWell

KnitWell's participant study has shown that through the process of keeping a Daily Knit Journal and workbook that 'free knitting' has enabled participants to engage with how they feel and express this through stitch and colour (not always at the same time).  It has given participants a safe space to express themselves as the knitting is in code, it can only be read by the knitter. 


This doctoral research is a starting point to developing KnitWell further. I am looking for community partners who might be interested in working with me. Could this be you? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

Participant 12, Phase One, Daily Knit Journal


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