some thoughts.....

• Problem: how to build a relationship with a 1950’s Matador Knitting Machine.

• The importance of developing this particular relationship is to further the understanding of the phenomenon referred to as repetition.

The first step was to find a method in which to approach the use of the Matador. This involved a large amount of time dedicated to track down resources that specialized in manual knitting machines.

After 2 ½ months of exploration a point was reached in which patterning could now consciously be embedded into the knit.

• Analysis of three months of knitting indicates the knitting process to be a repetitive method that embeds moments of time into the linear knits. The knits document relationships between environment-user-machine. There are limitations based on the environment in which the knit is being constructed as well as the limitations of the capabilities of the knitting machine. One large limitation is the size at which the knitted panels have to adhere to.

• Some implications of Matador knitting machine may be to take the repetitive method and start to apply it at a larger architecture scale. Human scale and allowance of the skin of the knit to have a high reaction time to “others” must be taken into consideration.

• The structural dimension of the knitted patterns created by the Matador presents an opportunity to further explore structure through introduction of other structural systems that allow the knits to envelope space.

knitting sequence