The Technical Designer: A new craft approach for creating seamless knitwear. Jane Taylor A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. September 2015 Copyright Statement. This work is the intellectual property of Jane Taylor. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the intellectual property right. List of Contents. 1. Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Technology Skills Gap. ................................................................... 2 1.1.1 An Overview of The Current Approach to Seamless Knitting Within the Contemporary Fashion Market. ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2 The Communication Bottleneck. .................................................................................. 10 1.1.3 Organisational Culture. ................................................................................................. 12 1.1.4. The Creative Use of Seamless Knitting Technology. ................................................... 14 1.2 Digital Craft. ..................................................................................... 15 1.3 Defining Seamless Knitting. ................................................................ 17 1.4 Training Knitwear Designers. .............................................................. 17 1.5 Research Approach. ........................................................................... 18 1.5.1 The Role of the practice. ............................................................................................... 19 1.5.2 The Role of the interviews. ........................................................................................... 20 1.6 Research Question and Aims and Objectives. ....................................... 21 2. Framing the research .................................................................... 29 2.1 Knit Programming as a Digital Craft. ................................................... 29 2.1.1 Distributed Knowledge. ................................................................................................ 30 2.1.2 A Pragmatist Approach to Programming. .................................................................... 31 2.1.3 A Craft of The Mind. ...................................................................................................... 31 2.1.4 Background Knowledge and Influence. ........................................................................ 32 2.1.5 Control Over The Process of Power Knitting. ............................................................... 33 2.1.6 Flow and The Intrinsic Value of Process. ...................................................................... 34 2.2 Methodology. .................................................................................... 35 2.2.1 Experimental Design Practice. ...................................................................................... 36 2.3 Multiple Methods .............................................................................. 37 2.4 Conclusion. ....................................................................................... 41 3. Seamless Knitting Technology. ....................................................... 43 3.1 Seamless Knitting: The fundamental principles of shaping. ................... 43 3.1.1 Raglan Shaping .............................................................................................................. 44 3.1.2 Decreasing Stitches by Hand. ....................................................................................... 45 3.1.3 Decreasing Stitches (Narrowing) on a Power Machine. .............................................. 45 3.1.4 Extreme Three-Dimensional Shaping ........................................................................... 47 3.2 Implications For Training Knitwear Designers. ..................................... 51 Part Two. .......................................................................................... 52 3.3. The Evolution of Seamless Knitting Technology. ................................. 52 3.3.1 The Original Knitting Industry. ...................................................................................... 52 3.3.2 Key Developments. ....................................................................................................... 55 Part Three. ........................................................................................ 59 3.4. Shima Seiki WHOLEGARMENT®. ......................................................... 59 3.4.1 Four-Needle Bed Technology. ...................................................................................... 59 3.4.2 The Compound Slide Needle. ....................................................................................... 62 3.4.3 Stitch Control Systems. ................................................................................................. 63 3.5 SDS-one APEX 3. ................................................................................ 67 3.6 Seamless Technology: A production tool. ............................................ 69 3.7 Conclusion. ....................................................................................... 69 4. Analysis of The Semi-Structured Interviews. ................................... 71 Part One. ............................................................................................... 71 4.1 The Participants. ............................................................................... 71 4.2 The Design and Technical Roles in Industry. ........................................ 73 4.2.1 The Design and Technical Roles: The Pressures of Production. .................................. 73 4.2.2 The Design and Technical Roles: Communication. ...................................................... 75 4.2.3 The Design and Technical Roles: The Dynamics Between Designers and Technicians. ................................................................................................................................................ 76 4.2.4 The Design and Technical Roles: Middlemen. .............................................................. 77 4.2.5 The Design and Technical Roles: The Design Process. ................................................. 78 4.2.6 The Design and Technical Roles: End Note. ................................................................. 79 4.3 Seamless Knitting in a Commercial Setting. ......................................... 80 4.3.1 Seamless Knitting: Increased Dependence on Technicians. ........................................ 81 4.3.2 Seamless Knitting: The Space to Learn. ........................................................................ 82 4.3.3 Seamless Knitting: Constraints. .................................................................................... 83 4.3.4 Seamless Knitting: Consumer Perceptions. .................................................................. 84 4.3.5 Seamless Knitting: Concurrent Design Practices. ......................................................... 85 4.3.6 Seamless Knitting: End Note. ........................................................................................ 85 Part 2 ............................................................................................... 86 Managing Creativity. ........................................................................... 86 4.4 The Three Components of creativity. .................................................. 86 4.5 Managing the Creative Use of Seamless Knitting Technology. ............... 87 4.5.1 Four Scenarios for Knitwear Design and Sampling. ..................................................... 88 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 93 5. Flat-Knitting Technology Available to Design Students and The Emergence of a New Techncal Design Role. ........................................ 97 Part One. ......................................................................................... 98 5.1 Tools of The Trade: Flat knitting technology as a resource for design students. ......................................................................................... 98 5.1.2 Industrial Knitting Technology. ..................................................................................... 99 5.1.3 Computer Aided Design. ............................................................................................... 99 5.1.4 Design Focused Literature on Flat- Knitting Technology. .......................................... 100 5.2 Towards a Holistic Understanding of Flat-Knitting Technology. ............ 103 5.2.1 Knitting Languages ...................................................................................................... 104 5.2.2 Knitting Languages: Hybrid terminologies. ................................................................ 105 5.2.3 Knitting Languages: Symbols and notation. ............................................................... 106 5.2.4 Teaching seamless principles.