Hello, I'm Hasegawa, a YUEN support staff member.

Did you know that there is an unprecedented knitting boom these days?

It all started when a K-pop idol posted about it on social media, and it has since spread to young people of Generation Z, causing craft stores to go crazy, with yarn sales apparently skyrocketing.

"I can't believe knitting is happening in the Reiwa era..."

The news is being reported in a way that makes it seem surprising, but personally I can kind of see why it's becoming a trend.

Just because a celebrity does something can make it popular, but it won't develop into a major fad.

I think knitting fits with what is needed at the time, what young people are subconsciously looking for.

The main reason for this boom is that K-POP idols posted about it on social media.

・Easy to use and low barrier to entry

- Suitable for self-expression

People say things like this, but Hasegawa feels there's more to it than that.

We live in an age where you can buy the same things anytime, anywhere. If you want Uniqlo Airism, you can buy it online and it will arrive at your doorstep a few days later.

Naturally, there are no individual differences in the products, and you can get products with the same specifications and uniform quality.

This is something that is now taken for granted, but it has also become so commonplace that it has lost all sense of gratitude.

It is extremely difficult to maintain consistent quality in industrial products, and there are many efforts behind the fact that we can now purchase products of consistent quality as a matter of course.

I think that although it is a luxury, many people have grown tired of this fact that it is something that is normal but not always the case.

Everyone has similar items, all of which are well-made and highly refined, but among them, items with a strong handcrafted feel, like knitting, look very fresh.

Even if the same material is used, knitting can vary greatly depending on the knitter. I think that kind of originality is what makes today's younger generation look fresh.

Furthermore, we live in an age where we are overly concerned with timeliness and cost-effectiveness. We are surrounded by digital information and it is considered good to always act with efficiency and performance in mind. On the other hand, there is a stark contrast to immersing yourself in one thing, like knitting, and working silently without thinking about performance.

I think the attachment that arises from this and the time spent concentrating on one thing will also seem fresh to the current generation.

Knitted items are full of charm, and the Indian upcycling brand "PROJECT1000" that we introduced the other day is also made of knitted items.

https://yuenstore.jp/blogs/article/yuen-project1000_staffblog0828

In the previous blog, we introduced the background and inspiration behind the creation of the upcycling brand PROJECT1000.

This time, I would like to introduce not only the brand story, but also the story of the work.

The appeal of knitting and its diverse knitting methods goes beyond upcycling and job creation

PROJECT1000's products are knitted using scraps from cut and sew factories. Women in rural India are trained to work as knitters, creating jobs.

PROJECT1000's works are created using three main knitting techniques.

- Flat knitting using a wooden knitting machine, a traditional Indian method

・"Crochet" using a crochet hook

- Macrame weaving, where raw materials are knotted and woven together

is.

"Flat knitting" is a traditional Indian method that uses a wooden knitting machine and is a very simple process in which the material is crossed on a wooden frame-like knitting machine to create a weave.

This manufacturing method is highly flexible and makes it easy to create large patterns that are typical of Indian products, but it can only be made to fit the shape of the wooden frame, so only square shapes can be made.

Representative items made using flat knitting include shoulder bags and purses from PROJECT1000.

The knitting method involves crisscrossing the pieces on a wooden frame, resulting in a flat piece.

https://yuenstore.jp/products/74895340

https://yuenstore.jp/products/90145018

Popular items such as phone cases and hand totes are made using a combination of flat knitting and crochet.

A large surface is made with flat knitting, and the gusset part is then crocheted together. It is not possible to create such a three-dimensional piece with flat knitting alone, but by applying the crochet hook, a bag with a gusset is created.

https://yuenstore.jp/products/90147768

https://yuenstore.jp/products/74895905

Finally, a typical example of macrame is the bottle case.

https://yuenstore.jp/products/90147507

By tying and knitting, the stitches become complex and the patterns emerge in a very interesting way. Also, compared to flat knitting or crochet, tension is applied during the tying stage, so the stretch is moderate, and it has a thickness and weight, resulting in a very sturdy finish.

Many phone cases and bottle cases are made from the same material, but the difference between plain knitting and macramé knitting creates a completely different impression for the patterned items. Even if the same material is used, the way it is knitted can completely change the look, which is another great attraction of knitting.

◆The charm and difficulty of PROJECT1000: color scheme

Knitted items can look completely different depending on the color scheme of the material. YUEN sometimes specifies and orders the color scheme for PROJECT1000, but in most cases we leave it up to the local people.

It's not just because we want to have fun, of course, but because it's better that way.

Indians have a very unique sense of color, and have a sensibility that Japanese people do not have.

They prefer bright colors and don't particularly like the earth tones and natural colors that Japanese people prefer.

Due to religious influences, colors have various meanings in India. During the famous Indian festival, Holi, people smear and splash colorful water and powder on each other. On Holi day, the city is bathed in brilliant colors.

The traditional Indian dress, the sari, is also incredibly flashy.

India is a country full of colour.

It is inevitable that we will make use of India's colorful sense.

And another point is

"Because it's recycled material, we don't always have a wide selection of the colors we want to use."

That is what it means.

It is very difficult to coordinate the colors of the materials available at the time.

For example, in the past, there have been many works with color combinations that were very well received and sold well. However, since they are made from recycled materials, they cannot be perfectly reproduced.

Of course, it is possible to make similar T-shirts in some cases, but for example, there are many different shades of red. It is not common to keep making the exact same red T-shirt. Even if you use the same red scrap material, the color will still be different.

We have no choice but to make use of the skills of the Indian people, who are able to adapt to changes in the waste materials and demonstrate their sense of color! This means that we are increasingly entrusting them with many of our projects.

Click here to see the PROJECT1000 products packed with the charm of such a powerful India.

https://yuenstore.jp/collections/project1000