My name is Kristine Berg and I am a second year student at the University of Washington's masters in library and information science program. I am focusing on knowledge organization. I am interested in the way people interact with information and ways to improve it. I want to make storage, access, and dissemination faster and have greater impact through analytics, intelligence, and strategy. I work full-time for Nordstrom as an item analyst and I've just started taking salsa lessons. I am also an avid knitter.
The Program
During August and September 2012, I had the opportunity to study abroad with about 25 of my cohort in the Netherlands -- Amsterdam and Rotterdam to be precise. While we were there, our work focused on business research methods as they are relevant to the information professional. We heard guest lectures from people active and known in the field and spent a lot of quality time at Erasmus University.
The Project
One of our assignments following up on this trip is a reflection project. Given creative license, the primary objective of the assignment is to demonstrate a thoughtful consideration of our time there and what it meant to us individually. For me, the Netherlands significantly changed how I think about creation or improvement. A pair of fingerless mittens may seem a bit frivolous considering the gravity of the previous sentence, but I believe that they exemplify it.
A unifying theme throughout our entire trip, whether we were listening to lecture, traveling on our own, or having a party with our group members, was that consideration of design in terms of utility and aesthetic vastly improve any project. This is something that the Dutch do very well. Language was barely a barrier in the Netherlands because their design was so intuitive and seemed so natural given the intended function.
This ties into the mittens that I want to make because they have a clear, intended function: keep your hands warm and your fingers free. With that goal also comes the desire to create something aesthetically pleasing and personally meaningful. I spent a lot of time in the planning stages of this project working out how best to make the aesthetic work with the function, rather than trying to make it fit or compromising on utility.
The inclusion of a thumb gusset for increased thumb mobility is an example of this consideration. The symmetrical increases while retaining a solid center line up the side not only created a very balanced looking glove, but also dictated the design and construction. Based on the ideal size of the finished product, I determined the gauge. Based on the gauge, I then decided on how large each designed tile should be. This mentality and shift in focus that I gained from my trip to the Netherlands not only made the project easier to complete, but I believe I also ended with a higher quality product.
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