Thanks for your patience during our recent outage at scalar.usc.edu. While Scalar content is loading normally now, saving is still slow, and Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled, which may interfere with features like timelines and maps that depend on metadata. This also means that saving a page or media item will remove its additional metadata. If this occurs, you can use the 'All versions' link at the bottom of the page to restore the earlier version. We are continuing to troubleshoot, and will provide further updates as needed. Note that this only affects Scalar projects at scalar.usc.edu, and not those hosted elsewhere.
Knitting Data: Data Visualization and CraftsMain MenuKNITTING DATA: DATA VISUALIZATION AND CRAFTSCraft as Recorded InformationKnitting DataPattern and Pattern KeyGalleryBibliographyRebecca Michelson4a4ccee9feeebed3cb8d89cff64cd7c90a95f6d5
SkyKnit Example by Citikas
1media/Skyknit Example by citikas_thumb.jpg2020-05-04T14:01:54-07:00Bryn Zieglerf534bbc0abefbfe22920edbf88bff7be084a5b70370471The first yarn product of SkyKnit, by the Ravelry user citikas (Ravelry / citikas)plain2020-05-04T14:01:54-07:00Bryn Zieglerf534bbc0abefbfe22920edbf88bff7be084a5b70
This page is referenced by:
1media/Rainbow Scarf.JPG2020-04-02T10:59:50-07:00Knitting Data28plain9785162020-05-06T14:13:28-07:00Why Do Knitting and Data go hand in hand?
Perhaps the best jumping off point for the concept of visualizing data through knitting is project Skyknit. Optics research scientist Janelle Shane works with Neural Networks, feeding them information until they begin to create on their own, a process similar to teaching and learning language. If you give a neural network enough sentences, it will begin to string together its own. In 2018, Shane trained a neural network in the structure of knitting patterns-- a dense code that looks impenetrable to those of us who aren't in the know (a line of knitting might look something like 'Row 16: *C4B, C4F, p2* around'). Eventually the neural network began to write patterns, and a group of knitters on popular crafting site Ravelry accepted the challenge and proceeded to create them in the real world. This example of how knit patterns easily translate into codes and vice versa inspires us to look at other ways knitting and data have collided. Read more about Skyknit here.
