Learning by Doing and the Role of the Body in Knitting Tasks: An Integrated Approach on Ergonomics and Social Sustainability in Fashion Design

Knitting, one of the most ancient human handworks, is transitioning from a purely manual process to a technological industrial practice supported by digital tools and advanced machinery. This transformation is challenging the learning process, traditionally based on the tactile experience, the manual interaction with the medium of creation, and the reiterative learning through mistakes. Computer-controlled machines are changing the design and learning processes of knitting, as they change the memory of the body, gestures, and thoughts. In this transition, it is essential to avoid the overcoming of technology over man, in the Industry 5.0 symbiosis between human and machine towards sustainability and workers’ well-being. This study combines ergonomics as a multidisciplinary science with knit design. Through in-depth observation of knit design students working with manual machines and digital ones, researchers investigated the two learning-by-doing processes in terms of ergonomics, observing body movements in relation to learning out-comes and students’ satisfaction. To assess the body postures the RULA method was used, while data gathering was done with questionnaires among students. Starting from results showing that the process of learning-by-doing is perceived by students as more relevant in manual tasks than in digital ones, the authors aim to understand how technology changes the relationship between the human body and the gestures of knitting, to comprehend the relevance that manual intervention keeps when working with software and power knitting machines, and to detect the memory of the body that is kept while switching between the manual work and the digital one.