2019-07-01_Simply_Knitting

KNITTERS’ WORLD

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T

heweirdandwonderfuldesignsavidknitterscreatearealwaysa delightto

discoverandonethatcaughtoureyewasthefabulousfibrousreplicaofa

humanbrain,createdbypsychiatristDrKarenNorberg.WespoketoKaren,of

theNationalBureauofEconomicResearchinCambridge,Massachusettstofindout

whatinspiredhertocreateTheKnittedBrain.

Aswellashavinga stronginterestinneuroscience,Karenhasbeena keenknitter

froma youngage.“Mymotherandgrandmothertaughtmehowtoknit,”sheexplains

“ButI wouldn’tsayI’manexpertknitter!”It’sKaren’slife-longloveofknittingthat

ultimatelyledtohermind-bogglingcreation.Whileworkingona personalknitting

project,theideafortheknittedbrainsparkedinhermind.“I’dbeenworkingona

small,humorousproject,whichinvolvedanelaborateknittedrue.”It resultedin

somethingthatremindedherverymuchofthesulci,or‘wrinkles’,onthesurfaceof

thehumanbrain.“Ijusthadtocreatemyvision,”shesays.

Karenwasdelightedtobeabletocombinehertwopassions.Sheused100%

cotton,exceptfora metalzipperatthecorpuscallosum,whichis“thebridgethat

connectsrightbraintoleftbrain,”sheexplains.“Itisalso100%hand-washable.Use

milddetergent...butbrainwashingisdiscouraged,”Karenjokes.Thefinishedprojectis

around25%largerthananactualhumanbrainandcolourcodedinmuchdetail.“The

partsoftheknittedbrainareallconnectedinanatomicallycorrectways,buttheyarn

makesit flexible– onecanpoke,pullandlookunderneath;it’sa feastforthesenses.

Tosaythebrainwasa labouroflovemightbeanunderstatement.“Iwouldsaythis

tookabout1,000plushoursofwork,aswellasconsulting2Dbrainatlasestofigure

outtheactualshapeandlikelyconnectionsofoneparttoanother,”saysKaren.”

“Ididpictureit beinganobjectthatcouldbeusedasa teachingtoolina

neuroanatomy class and in fact, it has been used for that.”

But that’s not all it was used for; the knitted brain was on display at

the Museum of Science in Boston from 2014 until 2017 as part of

an exhibit about brain imaging. “That exhibit has since been taken

down and the brain was returned to me in early 2018.” So, where

is the knitted brain currently? “During the month of March 2019, it

was on loan to the Georey Young Gallery in Great Barrington, MA.

I haven’t shown it in a gallery setting before, so it was an interesting

new chapter.” In the meantime, Karen is conjuring up what to

do with her knitted marvel next. “I am thinking of writing a short,

humorous book entitled The Travels of the Knitted Brain,” she laughs.

“Who knows where it’ll end up next!”

Welove hearing about the weird and wonderful in the knitted world,

soif you have an interesting knitting story to tell, drop us a line at

[email protected].

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Psychiatrist and avid

knitter Karen Norberg

Written

by

Colette

Earley.

Images:

Karen

Norb

r

(

2

The idea of a knitted

brain appealed to Karen’s

sense of humour

Karen wanted the knitted

brain to appear cuddly,

bright and cheerful

The Knitted Brain

took a whole year

to create!

“My brain is

100% hand

washable!”

Psychiatrist Karen Norberg knitted an

anatomically correct human brain and colour

coded it with dierent shades of cotton...

The brain is one of the most

complex human organs

Over 1000 hours

worth of work went

into this project Karen was able to combine

both her passions for

knitting and psychiatry

A close up of Karen’s

colour-coded creation