Wind Knitting Factory

101 bschne 27 7/3/2025, 8:28:57 PM merelkarhof.nl ↗

Comments (27)

jkhalaj · 6h ago
Knitting is programming. Read a knitting pattern and it's low level programming - knitters do not get enough credit.
srean · 5h ago
Same with weaving, especially the way symmetry is weft in.

Jaccard looms are too general, too unconstrained. I like shaft looms more gratifying. Their restrictions make it more interesting.

charcircuit · 4h ago
By that logic any instructions is programming and everyone on earth are programmers.
yjftsjthsd-h · 1h ago
Instructions to machines probably are. Instructions to humans aren't because humans interpret things themselves and exercise free will in execution.
2muchcoffeeman · 13m ago
Written knitting instructions would benefit from a bit of standardisation and a system for depicting unusual stitches.
gbear605 · 1h ago
I’m not sure that I’d say that it’s programming, but it is a pretty neat DSL
y-curious · 2h ago
Sources say God is actually a software engineer
danielrico · 17m ago
dmkolobov · 3h ago
Beautiful work.

As an off-topic observation, whenever I see something like the phrase “operates between the public and the private space” I immediately think: this person definitely went to art school :P

Luc · 8h ago
metalman · 4h ago
I spent a couple of days building staircases inside a rope factory, kinda thing that I would just add a glass wall and put in a coffee shop, it's an odd thing to watch something solid materialise out of a intricate repetitive motion that happens ever so slightly faster that you can track. different rig than the wind knitter but both I think are clasified as braiders
MikeTheGreat · 8h ago
I'm curious about how you 'harvest' a section of tube without it unraveling.

Maybe cut it around, remove the little bits of yarn, then unravel a ways on purpose, and knit the unraveled yarn through the edge like a normal bind-off?

MandieD · 7h ago
Thread a flexible needle (usually called "circular") or a wire through a full row near the cut, unravel the remaining rows, then take a fine crochet hook to chain the loops together.

Or just hem it, but that doesn't look like what she does.

ethan_smith · 5h ago
Circular knitting typically uses a technique called "grafting" or "Kitchener stitch" to close tubes seamlessly without unraveling - you'd temporarily secure stitches on holders, cut one strand, then use a tapestry needle to mimic the path of the yarn through the live stitches.
imzadi · 7h ago
They might be sergering the edges.
data-ottawa · 5h ago
This is delightfully weird, I love projects like this.
socki · 5h ago
Is this something that can be seen in person?
gcanyon · 5h ago
I'm very disappointed there doesn't appear to be a Tom Scott video on this.
burnt-resistor · 5h ago
This! That would be awesomesauce. I haven't seen his videos in a while.
nativeit · 4h ago
He retired the format a few years ago. Now he just does game shows and random projects with his friends, which...fair enough, that's what I'd do with a pile of passive YouTube income.
tiagod · 4h ago
MikeTheGreat · 8h ago
Is anyone else disappointed that you can't buy the wind-knitting device itself, only scarves knitted from the device? :)
imzadi · 7h ago
I doubt it would be difficult to make. You can buy the knitting machine on amazon. They usually have a handle you can crank unless it is electric. Just attach a turbine to the handle.
rkagerer · 5h ago
I missed the (obvious) context and imagined an aircraft engine turbine attached.
ashurov · 7h ago
you could, but the (original) website is from 2009...so probably not enough interest to keep that up. The old link is dead: https://windknittingfactory.bigcartel.com/
c22 · 5h ago
I'm disappointed it doesn't make socks.
radpanda · 4h ago
Every HNer knows your startup needs to maintain a moat /s