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Conductive Yarn Used for Cool Gadget Interactions

July 9, 2014 by Sarah White

big squeeze knit juicerWe all love our gadgets, but there’s something kind of cold and impersonal about using them. Touching a screen or flipping a switch isn’t very soul-satisfying, but as knitters we know that connecting with yarn is.

Those two things — fiber and technology — might not seem to go together, but they do for Royal College of Art student Yen Chen Chang, who has developed gadgets that use conductive yarn as part of their means of operation.

There’s a juicer that works when two people squeeze a giant knit ball (pictured here), a fan that works by petting a patch of knit carpet that looks like grass and a light that dims when you pull on a knit chain.

None of these projects are likely to hit mass production, but they do offer an interesting perspective on our everyday lives and how we interact with machines. Wouldn’t it be nice if some of those things could be a little warmer and fuzzier?

Check out more on this project, including a video of the machines in use, at Wired.

[Photo by Yen Chen Chang, via Wired.]

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Comments

  1. SusanM says

    July 10, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Thanks for posting – this is fascinating!

Have you read?

Knit a Great Button Down Shirt

Just about anything you can make in fabric you can make in knitting, but there are some styles that you just don’t see that often translated into knitting. 

For example, a button down collared shirt. This is a classic design, of course, and it looks great in a knit version, but it’s just not something you see much of. 

Noma Ndlovu’s Guglethu shirt is the pattern to try if you want to knit your own button down shirt. This one is inspired by cashmere tops (though the sample was made out of yak yarn, not cashmere, and uses two strands of lace weight yarn held together) and includes lots of high-fashion details like double-knit cuffs, collar and shoulder seams. 

It has a patch pocket on the front and 10 buttons including the button band and the cuffs. 

The designer says you can also use a DK weight yarn held singly if you’d rather, and that the shirt looks good in a variety of yarns. There is another version on Ravelry that uses Berroco Remix Light, which is a mix of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and cellulose fibers. It has a more relaxed look but it still really pretty. 

The pattern has 12 sizes, with a full bust measurement ranging from 32.35 to 72.25 inches, or 82 to 183.5 cm. The designer suggests 2 to 6 inches, or 5 to 15 cm, of positive ease when you pick your size. I could totally see knitting one that’s even bigger to wear more like a jacket, because I do that a lot with button down shirts I already own.

I love all the details on this shirt, which isn’t necessarily difficult to knit, but might introduce you to some things you’ve never knit before (like those cuffs with the plackets, or a shirt collar like this). 

To learn more about this shirt and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself, head to Ravelry. 

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

Add Some Texture to Your Summer Knitting

Book Review – Knit a Dozen Plus Slippers

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