Experiments in Knitting Screen Time during a Pandemic​

On October 22, 2025, the colloquium "Amateur Craft as Method-in-the-Making: Experiments in Knitting Screen Time during a Pandemic" took place. During this meeting, we were able to reflect on knitting from a different perspective. This exchange was facilitated by Denise Petzold, Sally Wyatt, Ruth Benschop, and Anna Harris, and was held at FASoS, Maastricht University.

In this context, knitting served as a methodological experiment to question how we investigate and experience digital life.

During the pandemic, lockdowns and physical isolation, along with remote work and online classes, meant that much of daily life unfolded through screens. The frenetic pace and abstract nature of data in the digital world contrast sharply with the practice of knitting, which, in addition to being manual and therefore embodied, is characterized by being slow, repetitive, and sensory.

In this way, knitting was presented as a means of materializing and making tangible the data related to screen time, allowing us to reflect not only on the use of technology during the pandemic, but also on new ways of producing knowledge and representing digital experiences.

During the colloquium, we were able to discuss and reflect on the traditional way of working with data and how, on many occasions, it is presented in a way that is distant from human experience. Through knitting, it was proposed that data be transformed into sensory experiences. In this way, the knitting process allowed us to question new research methodologies.