Saturday, May 22, 2010

Shut Yo' Mouth!

Have you ever seen something new in knitting that just leaves you talking to yourself, shaking your head, and your mouth dropped open?  I just had one of those moments, and maybe you will too:  Know It All (Use THIS LINK to see the whole business + YouTube explanation.)

Yep, this bag knows everything. It knows your row number, the chart for your stitch pattern, and where you are in that stitch pattern. Unlike the other know-it-alls in your life, it will gladly share information with you by displaying your row number and a chart for the current row of your stitch pattern in lights! (Though of course there are limitations; you can generate a custom chart for the bag, but only for stitch patterns up to 10 stitches wide that use k, p, k2tog, ssk and sk2p).
The bag is part of a growing project category called “computational textiles.” Computational textiles is a scary phrase often applied to projects that are complicated, difficult and fun but don’t do much. Still, I found myself obsessed with the idea of mixing knitting and technology after making an origami crane with light-up eyes at a computational textiles workshop at Indiana University.
This bag is the result of that obsession. The 10 LED lights act as a row counter and a charted pattern. And more important: just about any knitter could pull this off.
Really. Any knitter with a thirst for adventure and a few projects under their belt can do this.
You can make and use this bag if you can:
  • Knit
  • Purl
  • Seam using whipstitch (not even mattress stitch!)
  • Thread a needle without poking yourself (for the sewing, and my weakness)
  • Poke yourself while threading a needle (for the needle felting; in fact, this was my first-ever needle-felting project!)
  • Read knitting charts
  • Sync an iPod or cellphone with your computer
It's just so out there that I need to try this!

By the way, I have startitis...  I'm trying to limit myself to an hour of websurfing because I come up with new ideas every 15 seconds...

1 comment:

  1. Hi!
    Thanks so much for the nice comment on my blog! My son Mathias did get to dance the role of Benno in BRB's Swan Lake! He went to the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC where all ballet classes were taught with an accompanist too. He graduated with a girl name Seia (actually, his best friend) who is originally from Tuscon and has convinced him that this summer he and his girlfriend absolutely must vacation in the southwest!
    Susan

    ReplyDelete

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