Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows knitwear specialist John Macarthur in his Sydney shop and workroom as he describes taking knitting into new, more creative directions to interviewer Lee Lin Chin. He is filmed standing in front of stacks of knitwear and then seated at his knitting machine where he talks about discovering how to use graph paper to create patterns for the knitting machine. Rapid cuts show Macarthur putting different hats and then a scarf on Chin. The camera moves around and zooms in and out, and frequently shows images at an angle.

Educational value points

• John Macarthur has helped to make the knitted garment part of the fashion industry, an unexpected development as during the 1980s handknitting largely went out of vogue in the Western world, being regarded as old-fashioned. Some of Macarthur’s handknitted garments, ready-made and made to order, have been featured in fashion magazines. From his Bondi showroom he produces garments that include sweaters, singlets, shorts and even bikinis.

• Macarthur talks enthusiastically about the artistic and creative possibilities of the knitted garment. He is aware of the limitations of knit but is more interested in pushing the possibilities. His exuberant personality, communicated in the clip, helps to promote knit fabrics as legitimate fashion materials to the viewer.

• Macarthur discusses the new technique he discovered for transferring artistic and decorative shapes and designs to knitted garments. He describes this moment of inspiration as almost ‘a religious experience’. He describes how, using graph paper, he plots his design using each square of the graph paper to denote a stitch. This design then provides a pattern for the knitting process. He demonstrates on his knitting machine how this design translates into practice.

• The clip provides a detailed view of a hand-powered knitting machine. These machines are used to produce knit fabrics on a fixed bed of hooked needles. Pattern stitches can be selected by hand manipulation of the needles. A carriage or cam box, shown in the clip, is passed across the bed of needles, producing the needle movements required for each row. The fabric produced using a knitting machine has a more even texture than handknitted fabric.

• Unusual natural fibres and novelty yarns, referred to in the clip, have produced a resurgence of interest in knitted fabrics in the 21st century, largely because of their increased availability and relatively low cost. Alpaca, angora and fine merino wool are now more widely available and exotic fibres such as silk, bamboo and even possum fur mixed with wool are becoming popular.

• Fashionista is an SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) lifestyle television show and as such the clip combines information with entertainment. The hand-held camera weaves around Macarthur and Chin, sometimes at an angle, and at times it appears to eavesdrop on the conversation. At the end of the clip the interviewer takes on the role of model, and in a series of quick edits Macarthur drapes various hats and a scarf on her. A background jazz music track provides atmosphere.