Rok, nauw model, gebreid, met minderingen c. 1910

This is a narrow knitted skirt by P. Titjen-Baas, and straight away I can tell you that the process is the point. It's all about the making! Look at the texture here; it’s not just about the overall form but about the individual loops and stitches, like little gestures in themselves. The off-white yarn is soft, but the structure is tight. You can see the maker's hand in the subtle variations, the way the tension shifts. I'm curious about the 'minderingen', where the knit seems to narrow; these almost create a kind of bas-relief, a subtle surface modulation. It reminds me of Sheila Hicks’ weaving, where the materiality of the thread becomes sculptural. Like that, this skirt transcends mere function; it becomes an object of quiet contemplation. It's a testament to the meditative act of creation, a record of time and labor transformed into something beautiful and strange.