Rachel John, Extreme Textiles, broke records by knitting with a 1000 strands simultaneously! This video shows the set up of the event and the event itself. This event took place at the Southhill Park Unravel Textiles exhibition in October 2006. – - – - – - –

It is a challenge for all of us to take the waste products that our society produces and to put it to good use. This video was made in order to stimulate that process.

The comments on this video have been an insight into how people view things when taken out of context. For instance – should I be knitting blankets for charity? I do much charitable work – I cannot increase the hours on this as I wouldn’t have time to earn the basics for living. I am happy if this stimulates others to find waste and turn it into blankets for needy. Especially as – using my tools – you can make blankets in a twentieth of the time it takes to make one in squares. If you feel there should be more knitting for charity, join your local group, set one up if there isn’t one, and see what you can achieve. You may find a whole new community that brings you joy and a feeling of worthiness. I am one person with the same number of hours in my day as you and they are pretty full already!

No yarn was wasted in the making of this installation – the yarn will be put to good use when the piece has finished circulating as a 1st in the world example of taking multi strand to the limits. – - – - –

Over half the yarn in the installation was deemed as waste for shredding – this is normally made into felted pads which is then used in applications such as padding/stuffing for sofas, mattresses etc. – - – - – -

The rest of the yarn was out of fashion yarn that was sitting on the manufacturers shelves. None of the yarn was of the good to best quality that stuff is kept for very practical purposes. – - – - – -

In the making of this we were taking the waste yarn and turning it in to a mattress without the need for reprocessing. – - – - – -

We are very eco conscious and would never waste materials as a matter of course. All trimmings – no matter how small – are collected for use as filler for a variety of purposes such as cushions, so not even a centimetre of yarn is considered waste in this studio. – - – - – -

We also have what we call a spinners collection of fibres. We were very inspired by a lady from New Zealand who collected every single hair, every bit of fibre, all possible spinning material and when her stash was enough she would spin it in to yarn. She would then use the yarn in the normal way. The work she produced was wonderful and always, always practical. She never bought yarn she always made it from sweepings. – - – - – - -

In due course, and when the working schedule allows, we shall be expanding on the theme of finding and making yarn.

Duration : 0:6:59

Technorati Tags: 1000, Catwalk, Extreme, Fashion, John, knit, knitting, Rachel, Rugs, show, strand, Textiles

25 Comments

• At 2010.01.27 15:17, breimalislobodnoime said:
  

  the beautiful thing …
  the beautiful thing about knitting is that you can always undo it and make something different. I have a sweater I don’t like? I rewind the yarn and make another… Same with this, if it is ever needed It is there (unless somebody felts it by accident)

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, zoeymattoo said:
  

  That’s sooo neat!
  That’s sooo neat!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, haptotrope said:
  

  I would love to see …
  I would love to see who the mattress turned out as a final project~ was it comfortable?

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, DieBardinAodhan said:
  

  This may not be …
  This may not be Sparta – but it´s MADNESS nonetheless!!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, Bunnyboops1 said:
  

  wow dats is so cool …
  wow dats is so cool! i like it

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, librerati said:
  

  I love the …
  I love the stranding of the yarns – really gorgeous. Looks more like wrestling than knitting.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, child0fgod68 said:
  

  where did you get …
  where did you get those huge knitting needles?

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, angel292005 said:
  

  Talk about a …
  Talk about a workout! Really quite amazing.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, Kiqroqzputa01 said:
  

  i wonder what the …
  i wonder what the finished product looked like

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, heduanna said:
  

  Um, I think that * …
  Um, I think that *was* the how-to video… Really cool, btw. Really awkward-looking, but really cool!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, AylaCale said:
  

  What an inspiration …
  What an inspiration this video is! Wait until I show my hubby this and I say: I wouldn’t mind all that yarn and then he would say: You have enough yarn as it is then I would reply: You can never have too much yarn!
  Thank you so much for posting!!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, diedwardo7 said:
  

  An inspiration!
  An inspiration!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, Lataniaslr said:
  

  More than scheiße!!!
  More than scheiße!!!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, cosnowmomma said:
  

  I was thinking that …
  I was thinking that the colors were nice as well. My daughter would love a knitted mattress like that. What is with all the jealous haters on the comments? Get over yourselves.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, boscombefun said:
  

  beautiful colours, …
  beautiful colours, looks great as a work of art & or furniture. the applications are endless.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, oliviajj said:
  

  that’s probably the …
  that’s probably the coolest mattress i’ve ever seen. i want to make one. haha.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, ezimme21 said:
  

  Wow, talk about a …
  Wow, talk about a waste of time.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, lizzard9233 said:
  

  haha true.
  haha true.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, glegleglo said:
  

  quite frankly I …
  quite frankly I found myself fast-forwarding through most of it

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, Sims2freakazoider said:
  

  Wow would I love to …
  Wow would I love to beat that record by 1 strand.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, Sims2freakazoider said:
  

  But you have a nice …
  But you have a nice mattress with what she did!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, isthatmymoon said:
  

  Awesome project, …
  Awesome project, but this video sucks. Quit with the stupid special effects, jerky cuts, and dumb music, and let us see the process.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, puratouch said:
  

  Go Rachel! Really …
  Go Rachel! Really cool to meet you the other day, I’m on my 3rd scarf now!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, gracefulvintage said:
  

  More like Extreme …
  More like Extreme Waste of Resources!!!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:17, lizzard9233 said:
  

  i think it is a …
  i think it is a waste of yarn tho, i mean thats about 500 projects that couldve been done

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