'wind knitting factory'
image © designboom


'wind knitting factory' developed by merel karhof is a mechanical wind-powered knitting
machine. it sustainably produces long tubes of knitted material which is then harvested
to make individually packages scarves.



'wind knitting factory' has a windmill diameter of 1.2 m
image © designboom


the idea initially came to karhof during one of her walks, noticing the strong wayward
winds blowing through the surrounding streets.

'while I was trying to walk in a straight line from the royal college of art towards
kensington olympia, I was confronted with lots of cul de sacs. interesting to me was
the way the wind blows in and out these spaces, unlike in normal streets where the
wind blows only in one direction. looking at this phenomenon, I set myself the brief
to use this ‘free’ energy source and create a product with it. I created a mechanical
wind powered knitting machine, which knits fast when there is a lot of wind and slow
when there is not a lot of wind.' - MK



back view
image © designboom


'wing knitting factory' was part of the hotel RCA exhibition, hosted by royal college of art
which presented the work of students and recent graduates of the MA course. the exhibition
was on show at ventura lambrate during milan design week 2010.



detail
image © designboom



demonstration of 'wind-powered knitting machine'



'wind knitting factory' installed on the facade of RCA










detail of interior knitting loom mechanism







components used for 'wind knitting factory'



rounded off individually labeled scarves. the labels describe how much time the two-meter scarves took to make,
and which day they were produced