The continuous line - transcoding knitted stitch patterns through painting in an investigation of the affective potential of pattern

Through practice-based research, this project investigates the visual, structural and affective properties of knitted stitch patterns. Various methods of transcoding stitch patterns through painting constitute the practice-led inquiry into knitting as both material and cultural practice. The project engages illusionistic painting, with the aim to represent accurately the physical appearance of knitted patterns, and explores more abstracted representations of pattern and repetition. The project also engages the practice of knitting, using non-traditional materials, to facilitate an unexpected encounter between knitted objects. The resulting body of work will be exhibited at ADspace at UNSW Art & Design in March 2015. This paper sits alongside the exhibition, discussing the methodology, theoretical framework and outcomes of this painting-led inquiry. In particular, this paper looks at affect theory and the ongoing importance of pattern to cultural practice. The project argues that knitted stitch patterns, many of which have been in use for several centuries and are interlinked with women's social and political history, continue to have agency through their affective potential