Data Knitualization: An Exploration of Knitting as a Visualization Medium

Abstract

While data visualization can be achieved in many media, from hand-drawn on paper to 3D printed via data physicalization, the ancient craft of knitting is not often considered as a visualization medium. With this alt.VIS paper, I explore hand knitting as a potential data visualization medium based on my personal experience as a knitter and visualization researcher.

Data, Data, Everywhere: Uncovering Everyday Data Experiences for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

“…The easiest way for these individuals to access data was usually to use physical entities and everyday objects, such as a measuring cup, handwritten checklist, or nutrition label, that supports scaffolding and self-paced exploration. Low-fi data physicalization [9,35,37] and other "unplugged" visualization techniques, such as Legos [62], kirigami [24], and knitting [59], may provide a more accessible means for people with IDD to develop a better data agency and engage with data. For example, creating visualizations with everyday materials through a constructionist approach [35] might help people with IDD create visualizations of daily activities or relevant tracking measures that could be used to communicate with caregivers or engage with data concepts in more familiar ways.…”

Datafizierung (in) der Bildung

“…Auf diese Art werden die Daten mit allen Sinnen erfahrbar. Dahingehend lassen sich bereits unterschiedliche Bestrebungen anführen: Spielerische Zugänge (Werning, 2020), physische, aber trotzdem veränderliche interaktive Formen (Bae et al, 2023) oder andere DIY-Projekte oder solche, die der Make-Kultur zuzuordnen sind, wie beispielsweise das Stricken (Smit, 2021).…”