The Covid-19 pandemic left the world on a hiatus resulting in less work and more free time. Lockdown in the UK meant that more people were working from home or on furlough until further notice. This left many in a time of reflection, thinking about what we enjoy and how we wanted to spend our time, resulting in a rise in creativity, revealing hidden interests and new talents.
As a creative person, I found that lockdown was a great time to focus on improving my existing skills while also trying new methods that would help link to my textile practice. For someone who has always been interested in creative subjects, it was great to see so many people using their time to try something new and show many how important the arts are. I took to creative subjects from a young age and was met with the argument that it was not a viable career choice, but I wanted to prove them wrong. I look around me and the majority of what I see was created by someone in the industry, so the argument that the arts cannot provide a comfortable future shock me. Therefore, it’s been great to see that in a time of uncertainty, the arts provided inspiration and helped create a virtual community.
While also seeing an increase in creativity, the impact of lockdown also saw a shift in current and future trends, with emphasis on comfort, home offices and sustainability. Through my studies have access to trend forecasting and analytics company WGSN, which allows me to see what materials and trends may influence future design. As many production sites had to close due to lockdown, current and future trends have been affected and we now see how these have adapted in response to the pandemic. I looked at a few textile trend forecasts for A/W 20/21 and A/W 21/22 and found that an occurring theme was a focus on comfortable knits, sustainability and wellness, the centre of that being ‘seasonless’ yarns.
I am a person who prefers comfort over most things. Autumn and winter are my favourite seasons as it means I can get cosy. I find myself wrapped up in a blanket with a hot drink, reading or watching a film or creating something new, so for me, seeing that comfort will be a focal point honestly excited me. Finally, a trend I could get on board with 100%!
With free time after my first-year hand in, I began a ‘lockdown clear out’ getting rid of objects that were no longer needed/were in use. From doing this I found knitting equipment, incomplete tapestries, my mum’s wedding dress and christening clothing (handmade by my nana). This provided me with a variety of inspiration. I haven’t knitting since I was very young and after choosing ‘knit’ as my specialism at university, I thought now was the perfect time re-learn how to hand knit. Knitting provides a lot of benefits, it provides stimulation for the brain, a creative outlet and also provides health benefits which I will explore further in another post. At first, I found knitting challenging. Trying to re-learn the techniques and finger work took time, but once I knew what I was doing it was fun and I also saw the health benefits. I had limited equipment and limited spending money due to Covid, so I worked with what I had. From clearing out the loft I had found a tapestry that had been half completed by my great grandma. In theory I should have finished it, but I didn’t want to ruin the beautiful work she had created. Therefore, I used the additional Tapisserie wool to knit with. Although the skeins were not enough to create an actual product with as they were made to be used for tapestries and canvas embroidery, they provided a good starting point.
I began by learning how to cast on, cast off and create a garter stitch as seen in the images. As a creative, I didn’t want to start simple and decided to try changing colours with my first knit. I was optimistic to begin with, telling myself I needed to master the basics before trying anything else but it payed off and I created this ombre knit. I had limited wool for certain colours which is evident in the sample but despite this, I was pretty proud for my first try. From research, its known that knitting is a therapeutic craft from its repetitive steps to the textures and colours of the yarns used. This was created in the evening as I was watching the sunset which inspired my colour choice while also using colour to energise a basic stitch. Personally, the atmosphere, the soft handle and the repetitive movements did provide a calm mood. Since lockdown, comfort has become an important quality with the desire for ‘cocooning’ knits with future trends focusing on this. I think my colourful, chunky knits link well with this trend and the oversized surface texture trend which looks at chunky, sculptural looks.
Following this, colour plays a key role in the wellbeing associated with knitting while texture has proven to be more important for raising mood (Corkhill, Riley, Hemmings and Maddock, 2015). In terms of texture, I only had wool yarns to hand to begin with. I love the soft, sponge handle of the yarns and I agree with the survey carried out by Corkhill and Riley (2015) that texture is important in making us feel comforted and to raise mood. As I have previously said, I value comfort over most things, so I found myself ‘stroking’ my knits and yarns. There’s something therapeutic about it. I found that it was calming and relaxed me when feeling stressed or anxious. Seeing trends emphasising the desire for ‘cocooning’ knits, my use of wool yarns fit well within this as well as the colour palettes I used.
I noticed that the colours I chose for my knits (as pictured below) were dependent on many factors including my mood, surroundings and trends I had previously researched. The weather in Cumbria during lockdown was temperamental, one week it would be as if we were abroad soaking up the sun and the next it was pouring down and I’d be wrapped up in jumpers. I found myself knitting with bright and pastel colours. The bright colours lifted my mood and helped make me feel summery when the weather was dull. Pastel colours, link to the upcoming trends as the pastel shades are ‘seasonless’. Looking at the colour palette from Pitti Filati Connect A/W 21/22, I noticed that there were a lot of bright and pastel shades suggesting that textiles will focus more on properties and include colours that can be used all year round.
Although it has been a troubling time and nothing any of us expected, all we can do is look at the positives. Lockdown has inspired people, whether they had an existing interest in the arts or found a new interest in it over the past few months. The industry has shown its resilience in adapting to the many changes and are adapting to fit with consumers new priorities. Virtual communities helped many stay connected whether these were craft based or not. Hopefully, you have stayed safe and well and maybe even tried something creative during lockdown!
Below I have added links to sources used in this blog. (Please note that WGSN is only used for businesses/ professional reasons and is not available to consumers.)
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