Knitwalks

I’ve been knitting for most of my life and I really like particular images of women knitting whilst walking – they’re carrying milk, balancing barrels on their heads, carrying babies, wearing clogs and walking barefoot, knitting in between gutting fish…and they’re knitting complex patterns with multiple needles and colours.

I just wanted to try knitting and walking.

I change the colour for every walk, and the knitting is informed by the weather, conversation and terrain. Too cold, dark or boggy, I drop stitches. Sometimes I’m talking so much, and gesturing with my hands instead of knitting and little gets done. If the terrain is smooth and easy, the weather warm, and I’m listening more than talking, the stitches are good and the walk produces a large section.

The knitting is a map of walks, each one defined through colour, amount and quality of stitches.

I document the journey using two cameras – one strapped to my head filming the view, the other filming my hands. It’s a kind of performance – I’m not entirely sure where its going yet, or how it will be presented – I like the idea that although I am producing an object, that it’s the walks themselves that are the main event.