Or in the Boston Museum of Science anyway, which on the Monday of February vacation was about as wild as I have ever seen it. The knitters were out in droves, by the way. I complemented someone on her lovely Shalom Cardigan, and no fewer than three people asked me for the name of the pattern of A’s Tulip Sweater.
The picture above is my favorite thing in the entire science museum, and it is a pretty big place. The baby chicks are sweet and the musical stairs are fun, but my very favorite thing is the knitted brain. It is just a tiny exhibit, you can find it on the wall across from the TRex.
As you can see from the placard (look closely), it was knitted by a child psychiatrist, Dr. Karen Norberg in 1992. She is quoted by the Telegraph as saying that she found it humorous “to undertake such a ridiculously complex, time consuming project for no practical reason.” I wish I knew this woman so I could hug her. Remind you of our recent conversation about Shetland lace?
More pictures of the knitted brain, from the front:
the side view:
Apparently the knitted ruffles fairly accurately represent the “rippling effect” of the cerebral cortex, better than other modeling materials can do. The different colors are used to distinguish the various structures of the brain. And this being the science museum, they provide some ruffles you can touch.
Here it is all opened up (you can’t do this in the museum, it sits all put together in a box):
My favorite part of the official museum placard is that right after the Dr. Karen Norberg’s name it says “Cotton Yarn.” I call not nearly enough information! Was it dishcloth cotton? Some lovely Rowan handknit cotton? They probably didn’t have organic cotton yarn in 1992, and whatever she used is surely discontinued and almost nobody I know has the both the anatomy knowledge and knitting skill to recreate it anyway, but for the sake of posterity did anyone ask her what yarn she used? What if I want to knit a hat that exactly matches the baby pink of the hippocampus?
I did not manage to knit while sitting with the knitted brain this trip to the MOS. But I did last time and I do like to sit and knit a few minutes and think about what an amazing thing Dr. Norberg created out of cotton yarn and pointy sticks. This beautiful work of art and science that so accurately represents the human brain could only have been conceived and created by something so marvelously complex as a human brain, one belonging to someone who saw the value in making something so “complex and time consuming with no practical purpose”.
{ 0 comments }
