Aksellr/ Special Issue 27
Special Issue 27
14.04.2025
- What does it mean to be on time? Are you on time often? Why or why not?
- Being in time means respecting other's time. It means setting up a common structure for life for multiple people. As much as I want to, I have a hard time being on time when it comes to group meetings or class, because I feel like it's a shared responsibility, and if I'm the one late, there will always be someone present there before me, so I won't leave 1 person hanging. However, if it's a one-one meeting, I will be on time. And since I know I have a tendency to be a little bit late (never more than 10-15min I think, except in exceptional cases), I'll force myself to be extremely early to anything more serious, like travelling, catching a train, etc..
- Do you find yourself in conflict with standardized time?
- Yes when it comes to social construction, like being productive in the morning. I'm very much a night person and I'm super productive at night/in the evening, meaning that if I need something while I'm productive (help for instance), no one will be available to help me, and it will cut my stream of progress. Today it seems like everything is made to accommodate morning people. It was especially hard for me in High School, as school started at 7.30am, and I could never have a good night of sleep. It's getting better now, but I'd be insanely happier if i only had class in the afternoon and class ended at 8pm.
- Draw a time device/tool that embodies not being on time or in other words, being on your own time.
Prototyping
06.05.2025
- Boundary objects
- Community practices
Interview with a tool: Ravelry
response-ability: Where do conversations happen? Who speaks to whom? Can you feed-back? Who can you reach out to with a question?
The website is run by 2 women (who also happened to be married <3). They do not use a third party for communication, and it's actually fairly easy to reach-out with questions and proposition. On top of that, the website includes a social space that works like a forum for users, divided by topics such as "in search of" or "help me find this pattern". It also has a built-on private messages tool, which comes in handy to contact pattern designers, yarn shops or customers! Overall, users can communicate freely with eachothers, but also with the people running the website and moderators.
pedagogical space: How does the tool invite you to learn? Where and when does learning happen? What can be learned?
The website is basically built around learning, since it's first and foremost a pattern database, and patterns are like a script or a plan to follow. Since patterns call for different techniques depending on the object you're making, you're constantly learning new ways to construct your garments. A pattern almost always first defines all the variables of the garment at the beginning, and its starts with the very basic infos of what type of yarn you should be using, and making a gauge swatch. Even by doing the swatch you're going to learn something about your yarn and needles, but also about yourself, like how tight you knit, how stress or relaxed you are, etc. Then comes the act of measuring your body to find the right size, which used to be very scary for me, but is now just a formality. You'll learn that numbers are just numbers, and nothing else. Then comes knitting and following the pattern to actually start the garment. Some new techniques might appear seemingly out of nowhere, but thankfully some patterns include links some to video tutorials. With precise product description, other fiber artists feedbacks and the open direct messages tools, it's super easy to climb your way up the most intricate patterns. While the plateforme is not super intuitive at first, it's very manageable to navigate through it once you know what you're looking for.
precarity: Does precarity play a role somehow? Which (financial or other) transactions are taking place
It's a space where you can buy patterns or can be re-directed to a third party storefront, but you can also get patterns and yarn for free on there.
cultural: In what culture(s) did this tool emerge within? Academic? Industry? Community? Artistic? And what cultural practices did emerge around this tool?
temporal: How does time play a role? What timelines does this tool cross with? How long can this tool be used?
Ravelry as a community center
TMR: What are you?
Ravelry: I am a website, but I work like a community center.
TMR: What do you mean by that?
Ravelry: Well, people know me as a place where they will find knitting pattern, for free or to buy. I'm kind of a hybrid between a library and a bookshop for knitting pattern. But I also offer much more than that!
TMR: What other services or communities do you offer or represent?
Ravelry: First of all, I don't only carry knitting pattern, but crochet pattern as well! I'm actually the world's number 1 fiber arts pattern database, so I can accommodate a huge range of people. I have some sweater patterns of course, but what about a plant pot holder? Or a pair of joggers? I have that as well! My data base also has a section solely dedicated to the art of yarn dyeing, comparing different kind of threads, and a local yarn shop directory.
TMR: This must be very intense! How do people navigate this?
Ravelry: Well, I know stepping there can be a little but overwhelming, since a lot of our content is brought in by our users/customers.
| Tessa | Ravelry |
|---|---|
| What are you? | I am a website, but I work like a community center. |
| What do you mean by that? | Well, people know me as a place where they will find knitting pattern, for free or to buy. I'm kind of a hybrid between a library and a bookshop for knitting pattern. But I also offer much more than that! |
| What other services or communities do you offer or represent? | First of all, I don't only carry knitting pattern, but crochet pattern as well! I'm actually the world's number 1 fiber arts pattern database, so I can accommodate a huge range of people. I have some sweater patterns of course, but what about a plant pot holder? Or a pair of joggers? I have that as well! My data base also has a section solely dedicated to the art of yarn dyeing, comparing different kind of threads, and a local yarn shop directory. |
| This must be very intense! How do people navigate this? | Well, I know stepping there can be a little bit overwhelming, since a lot of our content is brought in by our users/customers. We tried our best to make everything as clear as possible, but it's very hard when you manage the content of a community of 9 to 10 millions registered users. We created a tagging system to ensure a clean organisation of the products and patterns, but knitting and crocheting are such intricate art forms that the tagging is sometimes over specific and loses a little bit of it's interest. Also, a lot of our users are on the older side, so everything computer related can be challenging for them sometimes. |
Methods
PMOMMs
List of ideas: PMOMM-0
Reversed knit journal: PMOMM-1
Automatic knitting: PMOMM-2
Games and grids: PMOMM-3
To read, to explore
In-depth: Time Consciousness and Discipline in the Industrial Revolution