This is my weblog. I write about projects and stuff I build in my spare time, be it code or tinkering with physical objects. You can find out more about me on my Finally knitting the bunny
For months I’ve been knitting a very simple pattern and there are several reasons why it took me so long. I started at the annual EasterHegg event this year, a workshop weekend during Easter, organized by the Chaos Computer Club. Inspired by Rose White’s talk on The History of Guerilla Knitting at the 24th Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin in December 2007, pallas of the CCC Cologne offered a series of knitting workshops.
Hacking and crafting have a lot in common. Making and breaking things and the wonderful stuff you can build in your basement or garage is one of the most noticable trends among traditional hackers and coders. There are quite a few reasons for that, but one reason, which is certainly not the worst, is that it’s fun to both learn some new skill and create something, even if it requires neither code in an editor nor a soldering iron. Since the workshop was over Easter, our task was to knit a bunny.
Originally I had planned to finish the piece during that weekend, a goal so ambitious that I completely failed. My first attempts looked ugly and several stitches were just wrong. While knitting is no IQ test, it does require some skill that comes with experience. After starting over at least 5 or 6 times and leaving the poor bunny in a corner for months, I decided to finally finish it. This blog post is part of my attempt to motivate myself to get it done.
The pattern couldn’t be any simpler: It is nothing but a square done with a stockinette stitch, just one row of knitting and one row of purling. Once it’s finished, it will be sewn together in a very clever way to make a bunny. I’m also thinking about giving the bunny blinking red eyes with LEDs, but let’s see how things will turn out. It certainly helps that I’m currently commuting by train and carry the wool and needles with me all the time. I’ve have got much faster and more skilled in a matter of days, so I’m confident that the project is finished soon.
