Before 3D printing, CNC routing, laser cutting and the tools of ubiquitous “making,” there was yarn and needle. For centuries, the earliest makers knitted things into being. Blankets, sweaters, gloves – all took shape by combining just a handful of basic stitches. Now a team of researchers at Drexel University is translating those loops and twists into a digital architecture of knitting — a key step in the process of incorporating new technologies into textiles.

Alisia Lipsey, a fourth-year Drexel University dance major who worked at two different locations for the Young Children’s Center for the Arts during the fall/winter 2020 co-op cycle, spoke with DrexelNow about building relationships with the Center’s young students and older faculty as well as what it was like to complete an in-person co-op at the pandemic’s pre-omicron peak.