A popular way of combining design and textiles is in the field of typographic design and type design: Typeknitting (as it is sometimes known as). The pixel-like nature of construction in knitting grids and the possibility of color changes basically offer a pixel grid for various designs that can be realized in knitted matter. Although, with consideration for the fact that the “pixels” in knitted pieces resemble a “V” more than a square, which can mess with the contrasts and contours of shapes.
This specific interest in knitting letters relates to the growing interest in alternative materials for typography and type design. There have been experiments hand lettering with sauces, melting ice cubes that shape glyphs, text etched into fruits and decomposing, etc. – the text itches to leave the canvas and make its way into our lives. While text on textiles is a traditional concept, there have been projects transforming the practice into more concept driven pieces, or even projects that use the limitations of the medium as guidelines for new type design.
Ismahane Poussin researched knitted type for her masters thesis and started designing a font for herself to knit with, inspired by football scarfs (so called Jacquard knitting).
“As she continued her experiments, she began noticing the ways the knitting machine contributed its own abstract aesthetics and quirks to her designs. ‘The letters are played around as if my machine was also a type designer: the letters are wider if we knit vertically, for example.’” The project culminated in a series of wearables that thematized fast fashion, an example of textile work referencing its own history and process.
(https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/ismahane-poussin-graphic-design-140422)
Another designer that was inspired by football scarves is Rüdiger Schlömer, author of “Pixel, Patch und Pattern”, a book on type knitting. He designed the “Knit Grotesk” font, basically a low resolution pixel font inspired by Futura, that was created to both be knitted and used regularly on screens and printed matter. In the making of the font, the process of knitting was considered, so that even if the font is used on regular designs, there should be a tactile and textile quality to it – the font existing both in design and craft, and in the inbetween. (https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/rudiger-schlomer-knit-grotesk-graphic-design-project-230424)
There are a number of downloadable fonts that are either inspired by textiles and knitting, made to look like textiles and knitting, or actually serve as direct patterns. Some examples include Yarndings, StitchinKnit, and CrossStitch.
