How did you come up with the idea for Knits and Notes, and how did the idea get started?
After the pandemic, I noticed that many people (especially young ones) took up new hobbies like knitting or crocheting. However, their main learning source was usually YouTube videos, and the activity itself was often done solo. For me, Knits and Notes started because I missed having a creative handcrafting community in Amsterdam.
Like handcrafting, music is something you can enjoy alone, but it also has a strong communal aspect. I Personally love listening to music while crafting, as knitting and crocheting help me focus more on the music, giving me a deeper listening experience. When I started exploring the connections between handcrafting and music, I kept finding more similarities and seeing how the two could enhance each other. This led me to organize the first Knits and Notes event at listening bar Murmur Amsterdam.
The first event was held on May 11, 2023, and it quickly became clear that I wasn’t the only one in Amsterdam who wanted a community around handcrafting. Thanks to all the enthusiastic crafters in and around Amsterdam, Knits and Notes has grown into what it is today. We’ve since organised our first festival at Der Hintergarten, an event at Paradiso, and our first ADE event at Volkshotel.
How did the idea for the Freedom Blanket come about?
For some time, I’d been playing with the idea of a collective handcrafting project to visualize the communal nature of our events. When we were asked to contribute to the freedom celebrations in Amsterdam Nieuw-West together with De Steek, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for that idea. At our events, artist Rosa Mol often takes Polaroid photos of attendees, and I wanted to incorporate this element into the blanket to showcase the people behind the handwork, a detail often overlooked in the fashion industry. This would also put a face to the diverse group of people who contributed to the project. When Natalie, the founder of De Steek, mentioned the freedom skirt by Mies Boissevain-Van Lennep, everything fell into place, and we decided to continue the tradition in the form of a Freedom Blanket.
What does freedom mean to you?
Lately, with events like the oppression of the Palestinian people and the war in Ukraine, I’ve become increasingly aware of the importance of freedom. What a privilege it is to wake up every day without fear for the lives of your loved ones or your own, to move freely, to have access to healthcare, and to be able to speak up for what you believe in.
On a smaller scale, I feel free when I can cycle through the city with the wind in my hair, spend time with friends and family, and have the space to pursue creative projects like this, connecting people along the way.
How did you start with crafts like crochet and knitting?
I’ve always had an interest in creating things, especially in fashion. For my 10th birthday, I organised my first “sewing party,” where we made a top that could also be worn as a skirt, and at the end of the day, we showed off the results on a makeshift catwalk with Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” playing as background music.
Later on, I developed an interest in secondhand fashion, which I often found at flea markets in little villages in Brabant, where my mom and I would wander around on Sundays. To adjust these secondhand clothes, I started using the sewing machine, and during the pandemic, I took up crocheting, followed by knitting.
The fun thing about handcrafting, as opposed to, say, using a sewing machine, is that you can do it anywhere, in the train, a café, or just at home.I really enjoy this flexibility.
You can also easily combine it with listening to music, having a conversation, or watching a show. At our last event at Volkshotel, people even started dancing by the DJ booth while knitting; it was so funny to see how spontaneously it happened.
These days, I pretty much always have a project in my bag, and learning new techniques and challenging myself creatively gives me a lot of energy. But what I’m especially grateful for is the wonderful community I’ve become part of and the close friendships that have come from it.
What are the future ambitions for Knits and Notes? Are there any plans for new projects like the Freedom Blanket?
On the 9th of December, we have an really fun event planned in the main hall of Paradiso called “Knits and Tits”. This event will be all about music, crafting, art, and “sexiness.” There will be a performance by the band De Klittens, and we’ll be releasing our 2025 Knits and Tits calendar, featuring 12 women posing in their handmade creations in an intimate setting.
We also have an ongoing project titled “KXTOG.” Artist Rosa Mol has designed a piece of knit work that multiple people can work on simultaneously. We first introduced this at our Knits and Now festival last summer, and continued it at our recent event at Volkshotel. The project is envisioned as a tree that grows more rings as it get’s bigger, symbolising the communal aspect of our crafting community. The fun thing about this project is that the more it’s knitted on, the more people can join in. At the moment, there’s space for four knitters, but eventually, I hope to have space for 20 people knitting together. Our next performance will be on November 15 during Fashion Clash in Maastricht.In terms of ambitions, festival programming seems like a natural next step, especially given the success of our recent ADE edition of Knits and Notes at the Volkshotel. We’re also considering offering a workshop outside of our usual events for people who can’t yet crochet or knit but would like to learn in a welcoming setting.
Imagine that the budget for your next event would be unlimited, what would that edition of Knits and Notes look like?
Maybe on a boat, Knits on Boats? Or taking everyone to a sunny destination, like a kind of Dekmantel Selectors knitting edition, with cozy knitting on the beach and nice ambient, female DJs playing in the background. Or maybe a massive knitting rave, where everyone can knit and dance around the DJ booth? Plenty of ideas, in any case, though I’m also really proud of everything we’ve achieved so far with the resources we have.
The Freedom Blanket is still on display in Canvas so be sure to check it out while it’s here! www.instagram.com/knits.n.notes
Photos of the freedom celebrations were made by Marc Roodhart
