Womb Pattern FAQ

Pattern: Womb, published by Knitty, Winter '04/'05 issue.

I will update and alter this post as events occur and questions are asked.  My contact info is available on the pattern at Knitty and on my blog.

Knitty.com is not my personal website.  Knitty is a free online knitting magazine, published quarterly.  If you haven't taken a few minutes to check it out, please do!  You can read the rest of my fiber addicted blog to see what else I get up to with yarn.

The elusive round 23 should read: k all sts. 
I also recommend adding two more rounds (k all sts)  before the increases begin.

* Modified versions of the pattern:

Womb: pattern variation, worked flat
Original pattern published in Knitty, Winter 2004. And before anyone asks: you can't sell this one either.
Glossary
CO = cast on
st st = stockinette stitch (one row knit, one row purl)
k = knit
p = purl
m1 = make one (increase)/lifted bar increase
k2tog = knit two stitches together (decrease)

PATTERN
Body
CO 6
1-4) st st (row 1 = knit)
5) p all
6-11) st st (row 6 = knit)
12) *k1, m1, k1* = 9 sts
13) p all
14) *k1, m1* = 18 sts
15) p all
16) *k2, m1* = 27 sts
17-19) st st
20) *k1, m1, k7, m1, k1* = 33 sts
21) *p2, m1, p7, m1, p2* = 39 sts
22) *k1, m1, k11, m1, k1* = 45 sts
23) p all
24) *k1, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k1* = 39 sts
25) *p1, p2tog, p7, p2tog, p1* = 33 sts
26) *k1, k2tog, k5, k2tog, k1* = 27 sts
27) *p1, p2tog, p3, p2tog, p1* = 21 sts
28) *k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1* = 15 sts
29) *p2tog, p1, p2tog* = 9 sts
30) k all

Cut yarn, leaving a 25” tail, and thread tail through remaining stitches. Use tail to sew seam.

Fallopian Tubes (make 2)
CO 6
1 – 4) st st (row 1 = knit)
5) k1, k2tog, k3 = 5 sts
6) p all
11) k1, k2tog, k2 = 4 sts
12) p all
16) k1, k2tog, k1 = 3 sts
17-24) st st (row 17 = purl)
cut yarn, leaving a 30 inch tail. Using a darning needle, thread end through remaining stitches and pull together. Use end to stitch loops (like a whipstitch, but wrapping yarn around a finger). Sew sides of tube together. Tie a small knot with the yarn end around a stitch and draw end through tube. Cut and tug tube so end disappears.

Crochet Pattern (pattern variation by Mary Sue Renfrow; for personal use only).  photo in this post - scroll down
fallopian tubes done mitten thumb style and around the pipe cleaners (thank you Stacie!)
Crocheted Womb, no photo but Madame Fabulous says it's more anatomically accurate (based on the written pattern, I'm guessing she means the shape is more pear-like and less cartoony).

*The Buying and Selling of Wombs
[January 2008 update: I am working on a Womb v.2 menstrual cup cozy pattern which will be for sale under a Creative Commons license permitting the sale of finished objects. If you are interested in test-knitting or just being alerted to when the pattern is ready for sale, please email me.]

I have had requests from non-knitters about purchasing Wombs.  I recommend finding a knitter in your area - try your local yarn shop or forums like knittyboard.com and craftster.org.  Or, of course, you could learn to knit!  There's also a crochet version of the pattern, if that's more your thing.  If you'd like to knit a womb for someone else, please do!  The wombs knitted from the pattern cannot be sold.  If you are knitting for someone else, you may charge them for the cost of materials and postage (if applicable).  If the recipient would like to give you a tip, that's fine.  The Knitty.com FAQ is quite clear, and as the author of the pattern, I'd like to keep things simple for Knitty.  Let me say it again: the wombs cannot be sold.  Why you are interested in selling them will not influence my decision.  And, honestly, wouldn't it feel strange to put a womb up for sale?  Bit o' commentary on the commodification and sale of the female body, eh?  If you have your heart set on using the Womb pattern to raise funds for a non-profit organization, I ask that you consider selling kits and/or lessons instead of finished product.  Knitty has a no-sell policy on printouts of the pattern from the site, so if you are interested in putting together kits, please email me so I can fill you in on the specifics.  For a limited time, you can purchase kits that were put together for the Alt Fiber art show in Cleveland, OH, at Anezka Handmade.  The kits include handspun and/or handdyed yarn from independent artisans, a hand-beaded stitch marker from Rachel-Marie of Knitty Dirty Girl, enough polyfill and wire for one Womb, and the URL for the pattern.  If there is sufficient interest, I am willing to have postcards printed up with images like the one at the top of this page - please contact me if you'd like to buy/sell postcards.

 

* The lack of ovaries:  The pattern does list beads for supplies, but there aren't any in the photos and it's not mentioned in the finishing instructions.  I'm still shopping for ovaries with my Womb, who is probably going to have a whole wardrobe of them.  The bead store has some interesting options.  Proportionally, the ovaries should be a little wider than the fimbria (the fringe around the ends of the fallopian tubes).  I recommend going with the ovaries your Womb prefers - if she wants Swarovski crystals, give them to her.  Pearls?  Nothing is too good for your womb.  Diamonds?  I'll draw a line and ask your Womb to choose faux or antique.  Gemstones and diamonds in particular are a bloody in a bad way business these days. 

*The Blythe Thing:
Blythe dolls. I'm fascinated by what people do with them - modifications, outfits, carefully composed settings, photographs. The facial expression is pretty blank, which allows the viewer to project their own ideas and feelings onto the doll, or interpret from the setting what the doll is "thinking" or "doing."

We're used to giving inanimate objects human qualities and personalities (in cartoons and animated movies, for example, and we all know someone who talks to their car). Womb is intended to be part of a larger project similar to Gina Garan's This is Blythe book. I'm very interested in the qualities and personalities people give to the womb doll.  If you still don't get the connection, don't worry about it - sometimes my degree gets in the way, and I start sounding like an article in ARTnews.

*Why a womb? 
Why not?  It's an internal organ that can be pretty easily recognized out of context, unlike, say, the spleen.  It's also an organ that we have all spent time in and which many people have strong feelings about: as Amy said on the front page of the Winter 2005 issue of Knitty, it's "everyone's first cozy home."  I find it especially well-suited to knitting - strong, warm, cozy, nurturing.  And playful!  The womb is for growing babies in, and growing babies need security, warmth, nourishment, cuddling, and play.  I'm not knocking the pancreas, which has an important job (we should all appreciate it more), but it doesn't stimulate the kind of discussions that a uterus does (well, not at the dinner parties I go to, anyway).  I have sketches of other organs and systems in my notebook that may or may not become knitted objects.  If there's a particular organ or system that you think needs a knitted representation, you could lobby for it, but I'd recommend designing and knitting it yourself.  Why should I have all the fun?

*Why not a [male/female reproductive/sexual organ here]?
Because I wanted to knit a womb.  If you want patterns for particular bits, here are links to items worked up by other designers.  Some workplaces may consider the images unsuitable for a workplace environment.
Vulva Coin Purse
Knitted "Hoo Hoo" (vulva)
Crocheted Penis
Knitted Penis (pattern available for sale)
And, as it happens, there is another knitted uterus out there, used for demonstrations in birth classes. 
knitted uterus for sale,
pattern to knit a uterus, no photo.  I've seen a photo somewhere - try googling if you really need to see it.  As I recall, it looks like a pink bag with a doll head sticking out of it.
Cries and Whispers, a giant felt womb for "a child whose mother is absent", from HJR Studios.
For those who say "but what do you do with it after you knit or crochet it?"Pan Peckers and Booby Lid Lifters from Bawdy Body Parts. 
I'd been assuming everyone knew about the Knitty Fall '04 Surprise, which includes a pattern for a boobie scarf.

A little bit of trivia for you: some have asked why I didn't design a male counterpart.  There is no male corollary for the uterus - it is unique to the female.  The cells that develop into the uterus exist in the very earliest stages of fetal development; if the fetus is female, the cells continue to develop.  If the fetus is male, the cells disappear.  I could do a knitted representation of the male internal reproductive system, but would you recognize it if you saw it? [update: if I get my hands on one of those gadgets that let you crank out miles of i-cord with just the turn of a handle, I just might]

*C'mon, really, what can do you do with it?
- Go to the bead shop and try on ovaries. My womb is not interested in having knitted ovaries, and is thinking either hand-blown swirly silver glass or swarovski crystals. Or both, really. Why not have a wardrobe of ovaries?
- Knit your womb a sweater. Hey, it gets cold outside of the abdominal cavity!
- Go for a walk. Go to the park. Have a picnic. Have tea. Have fun.

*If you are interested in other fiber-based anatomy and science stuff:
Print magazine had an embroidery pattern of the heart and lungs by Andrea Deszo in their European Design Annual 2004 issue (also featured on the cover).  FiberARTS magazine had an article in the Sept/Oct 2004 issue about pieces based on human anatomy as well.
Becky Holtzman has beautiful artwork (including etchings and drawings) including images of internal organs.
The DNA cable Seaman's Scarf by June Oshiro is one of the most awesome knitted things I've ever seen.  The crocheted Lorenz manifold is FABULOUS (link to the .pdf pattern on the Crochet Me blog).
There was an excellent entry on Geek Knitting over at the Making Light blog.

*If you would like to use any of the material published by Knitty, let me know what you'd like to use and how before you do it.  I hold the copyright to both the pattern and the photos, and I respect Knitty's policies and image.  I have loads of other photos that can be used instead of the previously published photos, and I'm always happy to do a little writeup about the pattern. 

* Assorted sightings:
Come As You Are Erotic Art Gallery
Alt Fiber: reclaiming art/craft, Assemble Gallery exhibit, Jan 13 2006 - Feb 04 2006, Cleveland, OH.
Dave Barry's Blog (my Dad is so proud!)
Boing Boing
Nerve.com Scanner by Ada Calhoun (under "Product Placement")
The TKGA forum list of Ridiculous Patterns, compiled for Jon's Worthess, Stupid Projects of 2005 list.
yoko.typepad.com
Beeline's is a drummer.
Assorted Craftster.org threads: Knitty's Womb, Knitting for Choice, A Womb for My Mummie, Good Womb/Bad Womb.  There are probably more; you can go to craftster.org and do a search.
The knit your own uterus thread over at GetCrafty's  forums includes knitters thinking about how to knit a brain (yessss!)
What Color Is Your Uterus?
Pesky Apostrophe has an idea for a Halloween costume.
Synthesis and Output knitted up two for Wombs on Washington.
Arakne Spins Yarns named hers Eunice the Uterus. 
Godawful Fan Fiction Forum and the ongoing "gross or cute?" debate
College student doing a Women's Studies project; post includes a poll. 
With Googly Eyes, by Show Me Your Knits.
Knittybird's says DC or Bust!
KnittyKnotty knitted one for her OB and says "so I guess now that this is done I can *finally* have the baby".
5 Questions with Ars Gratia Artis
A Knitty Pattern Knitting a Knitty Pattern


*Recommended reading:
The Anatomy Coloring Book, Wynn Kapit, Lawrence M. Elson
Illustrated Guide to the Human Body, Charles Clayman
How We Live, Sherwin B Nuland
Woman: An Intimate Geography, Natalie Angier
Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century, Boston Womens Health
Private Parts: An Owner's Guide to the Male Anatomy, Yosh Taguchi
Out in the Open: The Complete Male Pelvis, R. Louis Schultz
Dick: A User's Guide, Michele C. Moore

Illustrations of a normal, healthy female reproductive system and a cutaway view of a normal, healthy uterus from health.allrefer.com.

Limbs & Things sells medical education models, including interchangable uteri for the Clinical Female Pelvic Trainer.

*I created Womb as part of a larger, collaborative project - having other people take the womb out into the world and take photos or other recordings, and to compile the images into a book or a short film that lets the images speak for themselves (or with a minimal amount of text).  I wasn't really expecting the pattern to get published in Knitty (it was an "oh what the heck" moment), and I'm glad that it has been finding an appreciative audience.  I'm nowhere near getting a book and/or short film together, so best that I got the pattern published after all...

*Wombs on Washington is not my personal project.  If you are interested, have questions, etc., please join the Live Journal community, knit4choice,and/or visit the website, wombsonwashington.org  [website down indefinitely; all Wombs donated were in the Alt Fiber show]  The organizers have my permission to use the pattern for individual use. My involvement in the project is a) permitting use and b) being available for assistance with the pattern, and c) hopefully getting great footage, interviews, etc. from the event.  If you join the Live Journal community, you'll have access to information about pattern questions (yarns that can be subbed, replacements for the pipe cleaners, etc.) and instructions on alternate womb patterns, like a template to use for sewing.

*Some people think internal organs are yucky.  Would you like to take a look at Psalm 139? 
(excerpt from the New International Version)

     For you created my inmost being;
     you knit me together in my mother's womb.
     I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
     your works are wonderful,
     I know that full well.
     My frame was not hidden from you
     when I was made in the secret place.

Comments

[LadyLinoleum]

This is a great post in all of it's womb-age. I know it's not a word. Whateva!

You rock girlfriend!

[natasha fialkov]

i love my guts! they really have a lot of guts, you know what i mean? i love your blog.

[knittyknatty]

I am thinking of knitting at least one womb for my introduction to Women's Studies assignment.

[Sarah]

I absolutely love this pattern. I am in my OB rotation for my RN and will eventually become a nurse midwife. so I shall say again, I LOVE THIS PATTERN! I'm even thinking of adjusting to make it anatomically correct, and start a who;e line, 1st trimester with baby in womb, and so on. You sparked my creativity bug!

[Christine]

I'm a midwifery student and I have given a knitted uterus to a few friends in my class who have a similar appreciation for this organ!
I made a fabric liner and filled it with buckwheat so you can microwave it and use it as heating pad...warm and comforting, just like it's supposed to be! Of course, you have to substitute yarn or filling for the pipe cleaners in the fallopian tubes if you do this or else you will have fire in your microwave!
Thanks for the great pattern!