Knit a Neuron - on tour!

Good news at Knit a Neuron towers. We've had so many offers of support for the artwork that we're going on tour.

We'll be unveiling the piece as part of the University of Bristol's Changing Perspectives event at the Grant Bradley Gallery. After a month in Bristol, the piece will head up to Glasgow for the month of June and a tour round a few venues as part of Glasgow Science Festival. Staying in Scotland, Stirling Youth Services are hosting for July and August and using the artwork as a springboard for a series of activities for young people in the area.

And finally, Headway are keen to host the installation on a permanent basis once it returns from Scotland.

We couldn't be more delighted with how things have turned out, and how much support there is for the project and the artwork. Thanks everyone!

[I'll update this post with weblinks when things go live.]

Knitting & Multiple Sclerosis

What exciting news for a Friday evening. We have another KAN spin-off project.

We've been approached to help the British Society for Immunology to help out with a Knitting & Multiple Sclerosis project as a contribution to the Cheltenham Science Festival. The exact details are still be worked out, but one of the first things we need is some artistic advice. Are you a knitting/crochet/fibre artist who would be interested in talking with us? Do you know someone who is? We'd love to hear from you.

Knitting Neurons in Newcastle

Ah, we love an alliteration here at KAN Towers. Why Newcastle we hear you ask? We've been invited to have a stand at the fabulous Maker Faire. We like Maker Faire very much - not only is it hosted by our friends at the Life Science Centre, it's full of creative inventors with amazing contraptions.

Come along to our stand where you can knit a neuron and have a natter about neuroscience. We should have a fabulous display of neurons by the end of the weekend.

If you can't wait for March, then head over to Tyneside Cinema next Tuesday. You'll meet fellow knitters and Jennifer Read will be there with all her brain expertise. Bring your neurons to the Maker Faire and add them to the display. Go on, you know you want to!

STOP PRESS! If you're a knitter (or crocheter) from Newcastle then why not join the Yarnbombing activities? Check out the “maker faire guerrilla knitting" group on Ravelry for more information. Neuronal network across Newcastle anyone?

New Year, new neuron...

Happy New Year to all our supporters! And that's a lot of supporters: we've had over 10 000 views of our blog from all over the world - woo hoo! In a rather satisfying link: if all those hits were connections we'd be like one single neuron.

We're sure you'll be pleased to hear that we've several offers of support for hosting the final piece. We're just going to take a look at it all and see what we can do.

We're delighted with the level of support for the piece - thanks to everyone who's offered thoughts, recommendations and physical space. Watch this space for more information.

We know the nights are getting shorter, but summer still seems a long way off. So here's a picture of some of our Green Man knitters enjoying the Welsh sunshine!

The final artwork - your input is needed

We're at an interesting point in Knit a Neuron. We've got all the neurons in, we've been speaking with Catherine and we are all set to create the final artwork. But we've hit a snag, well, it's more than a snag, it's a problem.

As you know, when we started the project we got the go-ahead to house the final artwork in the Clinical Research Imaging Centre (CRIC). The CRIC will open in Easter next year, and we've only just been able to see the space. It turns out that it's not somewhere that can handle several hundred woolly neurons. We didn't realise just how popular knitting neurons was going to be and we now have too many (far too many!) to create an artwork that will fit into the space available. Particuarly as there are other artworks to go into the space.

This leaves us in a very uncomfortable quandry - what do we do with the finished piece? We want to hear your suggestions and have a few of our own too. Do use the comments option or email us directly to let us know your thoughts.

We've thought we could do the following:

1. Find one (or two, or more) temporary exhibition spaces that will host the installation (we have some in mind, but if you know anywhere that would be interested do let us know) and raise money for charity at the same time
   
2. Talk to a brain injury/rehabitalion charity who would like the display for their office
   
3. Use the neurons for outreach eg doing talks for adult groups, schools etc where each group creates their own temporary installation while finding out about neuroscience, brain injury and therapy and about the project overall
4. Create a book using photos from events and include some of the amazing stories we've heard from knitters all over the world.

We are incredibly sad that CRIC is unable to host Knit a Neuron as we, and we know a lot of you, were excited that the piece was going to have such a relevant home.

Do let us know your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Knit a Neuron at the Thunderbolt

Well, it's the end of the Totterdown Arts Trail and our little installation of neurons has gone down well. Here are a few pictures so you can get an idea of how it looked. A great big Thank You to Dave and Sophie at the Thunderbolt for giving us the opportunity to create the display.

Installations

It's exciting times at Knit a Neuron Towers. We've been having more chats with Catherine about installing the neurons. Lots to think about: how to join the neurons and how they could be shown off to their best.

We are also making preparations for the Totterdown Arts Trail next weekend. We've got a little corner in the Thunderbolt where we'll be displaying some of the several hundred neurons we've received. We were at the Thunderbolt sussing out our allocated space and hatching some plans. You can see it was thirsty work!

Thanks to the Stitch and Bitch group at the Thunderbolt for their ongoing enthusiasm and commitment for the Knit a Neuron project. We're looking forward to the space-themed launch party on Friday night - see you there!