Knitters transform data into tangible art
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Across online communities, knitters, crocheters, and other textile artists are creating “data textiles”, handmade crafts that visualize information.
Researcher Sydney Purdue of Northeastern University discovered this network while investigating new forms of data visualization. Purdue and collaborator Eduardo Puerta contacted craft stores and online forums, ultimately collecting over 200 examples of these projects. Crafters are using yarn and other materials to represent data in diverse ways.
Some knit “temperature blankets” where yarn color reflects daily temperatures, creating a year-long visual record of weather patterns. Others are tracking personal data, like Wordle scores or migraine severity, through their crafts. One artist created a cross-stitch project tracking her and her wife’s Wordle results. Northeastern researchers are now studying these data textiles to understand how physical, handmade visualizations impact people’s emotional connections to data.
Professor Melanie Tory believes that engaging with data slowly through crafts like knitting can be more meaningful than viewing traditional charts and graphs. Tory plans to host workshops for people with type 1 diabetes, exploring whether creating data textiles can help them better understand their health information.
