What is an Image Knit?

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IMAGE KNITS come in two varieties:

1. Knitting that looks like prints, and
2. Prints that look like knitting.

Both types are poster-size artworks, meant to hang on your wall. Knitted pieces are mounted on a rigid, custom-made internal frames, and finished with a wrapped knitted edging. Printed pieces are available in various sizes and can be ordered framed (contact me for more information) or unframed.

All IMAGE KNITS are created to tell the stories I want to tell. They can be based on photos, paintings, sketches or graphic designs, really on any visual material that sparks an idea. (Beginning in 2020, a new series even remixes well-known works of art from the past, presenting them as if they had been executed in knitting.) Some pieces are pure duotones (two colors only); some include additional colors. Lean in close to each piece and you’ll see a pleasing pattern of knit stitches, either real or simulated…but back away and the stitches meld to become a picture of near-photographic accuracy, subtly enhanced and colored to make it catch your eye from across the room.

I use a vintage knitting machine and a lot of handwork to create the knitted pieces. The prints are digital designs created on the computer and printed on a large-format printer. The same design may exist as both knitting and print. Digital designs are created following the same rules and guidelines I use when creating patterns for knitting. Any digital design can be knitted; any knitted design can be converted for print.

And why do I make both knitting and prints? The knitting came first, and beginning to make knitted images allowed me, quite unexpectedly, to find and express an artistic voice that has a lot to say. The prints came later, seeming to me inevitable because they represent the essence of what I’m doing. They are fully realized thought experiments. They cut to the chase, telling what’s important without requiring (often) weeks of handwork, thereby letting me tell more stories. And I’m making both because I love making both; they satisfy different sorts of creative impulses.

So check out the portfolio and shop. Read some of the Thoughts I’ve posted to explain some of what I’m doing. I think I can promise you: IMAGE KNITS are not like anything you’ve ever seen before.