This project came to fruition through using the process of knitting as a cathartic exercise for anxiety. Using a humorous approach to what can be a very serious and misunderstood subject matter, the play on words title describes the transformative nature of creativity. 

 

Using the ‘waste’ material as a metaphor for a negative state of mind, the knitting process symbolises the complicated mental ‘weaving’ we undertake when engaging with our mental health. 

 

The resulting samples from the knitting show loose, interlocking threads that are ambiguously marked and knotted demonstrating the trials and tribulations of mental states and the psychological ‘knots’ we encounter.

 

Using material that would typically be regarded as waste and repurposing it allows the project to be both environmentally conscious and psychologically positive. Taking something that is commonly regarded as an aspect of life that many people do not want to engage with (such as mental health and the issue of recycling), here we can subvert that issue and prove the validity and merit of transforming our mental states through an artistic practice.

 

By designing a product that could be sold and marketed the project aims to further impart the value of reusing and repurposing waste materials and alternative thinking when it comes to recycling. It also carries the message that engaging with our mental health and working through those ‘knots’ brings something useful and of real significance.

 

By helping our environment by making informed material choices and engaging with mental health we can begin to heal both the mind and the environment.