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Now You Can 3D Print Your Own DIY Knitting Machine

Varvara & Mar's latest artwork 'Circular Knitic' is an open-sourced textile building machine that anyone can fabricate.
Circular Knitic. Images courtesy the artists

Varvara & Mar, the art duo comprised of Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet, have recently released an open-source knitting machine which can effectively be reproduced by anyone with access to digital fabrication tools like 3D printers and laser cutters. "By using digital fabrication and makers’ tools, like 3D printing, laser cutting, MakerBeam, and Arduino, we have designed an automated and replicable circular knitting machine." they explain.

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Previously the pair used a variation of the machine, called Knitic, for their Neuroknitting project which saw them translate brainwaves into stitched patterns. The newest iteration of the artwork is called Circular Knitic and is an open hardware tool.

Their idea is to focus maker movement efforts around textiles ("Makers' culture production of textile is kind of overlooked," they say). A movement that has grown in popularity over the last few years fueled by desktop 3D printers and more affordable—or at least accessible—products like laser cutters and CNC machines, and the availability and interest in open-sourced electronics like Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

"Fab Labs and makerspaces are a lot about hard-surface object production," the artists explain. "At the same time, the first digital fabrication tool, which is an electronic knitting machine [dating] back to 1976, has been forgotten and discontinued. Hence, with this project, Circular Knitic, and our earlier one called Knitic, we aim to integrate textile fabrication to the makers’ culture."

Five of the machines are currently on show at the DOERS exhibition—curated by Arduino co-founder David Cuartielles—at the Etopia Center for Art & Technology in Zaragoza, Spain. For the next six months, the machines will be slowly covering the ceiling with giant knitted scaves.

For the design and manual on how to build a Circular Knitic for yourself head on over to the project's Github page.

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