Winnie Edgar-Booty
Taking Care: A Genealogy of Knitting
Knitting as archive
A key motivator for my research has been the recovering of hidden histories within the craft of knitting. These histories, manifested in the form of specific tools, garments and techniques, tell not only about knitting but also reflect upon women’s work and the sexual division of labour. I am forming my own archive through the re-making of anachronistic tools and practices.
Knitting as epistemology
Knitting is a processual becoming – the becoming of the garment through the repetition of each stitch, as well as a becoming of self/identity. Knitting can tell how we know what we know, in cultural terms, as well as through an emphasis on embodied knowledge.
Knitting as genealogy
What value can be found in reclaiming lost practices from within knitting? What is and isn’t lost when connections to this knowledge are severed?
