Knit

The knit workshop is focused on knitted textiles and fashion knitwear.

While any student is welcome to visit us, our studio is primarily used by students on the following courses: BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Knitwear, BA Textile Design, MA Fashion Knit and MA Material Futures.

We have a range of domestic knitting machines, industrial hand flat machines and a digital multi-gauge Stoll machine in the workshop and a finishing area containing knitting linkers and pressing equipment.

In this space students can produce knitted fabrics in various gauges from 2.5gg to 14gg. This includes structured, patterned or multi coloured work. Students can link fabrics and finish garments using our linking machines. Students have previously produced knitted fabric for final garments for their BA and MA Fashion collection, creative knitted textile samples for interiors, fashion and fine art outcomes.

The workshop is equipped with the following:

• Dubied knitting machines zone
  There are Dubied handflat knitting machines ranging from 2.5 gauge (chunky) through to 14 gauge.
• Domestic machine zone
  This zone consists of Brother Punchcard standard gauge machines and Silver Reeds knitting machines, each can be adapted to incorporate a double bed to produce ribbed and jersey fabrics together with accessories such as colour changers and intarsia carriages. There are available on request a few automated electronic machines for the production of fabric lengths and more intricate fabrics.
• Finishing zone
  There are industrial linkers within the finishing area (Complett and Hague), suitable for joining fabrics from fine gauge to chunky. There are also two industrial 4-thread overlockers.
• Stoll CAD/CAM knit workshop
  A fully automated digital knit system capable of producing intricate fabrics and garments. The Stoll machine is operated by trained technical staff only.
• Yarn Store
  A selection of basic yarns available for students on the Fashion and Jewellery, Textiles and Materials programmes for sampling on the knitting machines and hand knitting. The yarn store is open between 10am and 11am.