On form thinking in knitwear design

Abstract: This licentiate thesis presents and discusses experimental explorations in search for new methods of form-thinking within the knitwear design process.The position of textile knitting techniques is somewhat ambiguous. This is because they are not only concerned with creating the textile material, but also with the form of the garment as these two are created in the same process. Consequently, the common perception of form and material as two separate design parameters can be questioned when it comes to knitting. Instead, we may view it as a design process that has a single design parameter; a design process in which the notion of form provides the conceptual foundation.Through conducting a series of design experiments using knitting and crochet techniques, the notion of form was explored from the perspective of the way in which we make a garment. The outcome of the experiments showed that there are possibilities for development of alternative working methods in knitwear design by viewing form in terms of topological invariants rather than as abstract geometrical silhouettes. If such a notion, i.e. a notion of a more concrete geometry, were to be implemented in the design process for knitwear, it would provide another link between action and expression that could deepen our understanding of the design potential of knitting techniques and provide the field with new expressions and gestalts.