Knitty: OpArt Blanket Pattern

posted by Jaitu at 07:45

Found on: knitty.com
Original article here: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall08/PATTopart.html

A knitting pattern for a blanket that features a spiralling square tunnel motif. This appeals to my nostalgic side as it looks like the cheap video effects you'd see in early 90's rave videos. It also has benefits for child development apparently.

This pattern also appeals to the developmental process of infant vision. Babies are born color blind, and with very poor vision (about 20/400 for a normal infant at birth. They are naturally attracted to high contrast, black and white images, since these are more distinct to them. From a distance of a foot or so, a newborn will be able to distinguish only the larger stripes on the edge of the blanket, with the thinner ones fading away into a solid gray, as the baby matures, the thinner stripes will become distinct. To an adult, however, it’s a fun, funky pattern with an optical illusion of a square tunnel spiraling away.