Every knit is a love letter

In an industry that’s always racing towards the next trend of the week, we’re here to be slow. Declarative is full-fashioned knitwear that’s handcrafted by artist Kristine Rodriguez. Using soft yarn and her vintage knitting machine, Kristine meticulously knits each garment one row at a time out of her cozy Seattle studio. Note: This is not your grandma's knitwear.

ART MADE IN AN ARTISAN WAY

Working with a vintage knitting machine is a completely manual and engaged process using good old-fashioned arm strength. Basically, everyday is arm day. Each row is a push of the carriage. Every color change manually threaded. Shaping and textures are from transferring and manipulating stitches. Declarative knits are love letters. You cannot help be feel the time and care that went into each of these pieces.

Each knit is made-to-order just for you and produced with luxurious yarn of either natural or regenerated-natural fiber. We honor eco-conscious practices in as many aspects of our studio as possible. This includes material, as well as production and packaging. Learn more about our sustainability practices here.

MEET KRISTINE

Kristine Rodriguez was finishing up a graphic design degree at Rhode Island School of Design when she discovered the knitting machine in an elective class. It was immediate love. Her whole semester (including her degree project) became dedicated knitting, and it’s been her path ever since.

Kristine graduated that spring with this one class under her belt and knitwear as her new direction. Unfortunately, she entered the industry completely unqualified to pursue it. Somewhere out there is a stack of unanswered job applications as proof. However, what used to be feel like failure turned out to be a gift. Unable to get a knitwear job, Kristine decided to create one for herself and started Declarative (originally called RESPONSIVE TEXTILES) in 2014. As she explains, "I'm a knitter, whose graphic design training shapes my creative voice into what Declarative is today. It continues to inspire my most fulfilling projects and enables the work that makes me love knitting the most.”