As our resident crafter and the environment artist for Close Knit, I wanted to pull in a lot of crafting inspiration into the game design, even if they weren't directly knitting related.  Hand crafts of all types are hugely influential to many people -- working on them can sooth anxiety and stress, learning and teaching them can be important family bonding across generations, and creation and gifting something you made is an act of love. These are all things we wanted to evoke within Close Knit's mental-health focused story and it's knitting-based gameplay.

I myself delve into a lot of different crafts -- I knit and crochet, sew and embroider, and I like trying other things like linocut, sculpy clay crafting, and all sorts of painting and illustration (as evidenced by the hundreds of background illustrations in Close Knit). I remember as a young girl, my mother taught me to crochet. Her grandmother before her taught her to crochet and knit, and a knitting project from her grandmother was one of the few things she brought with her when she immigrated to America. Fiber arts, and crafting in general, spans generations and is woven into our blood.

I drew upon my crafting experiences and passions to develop the setting of Close Knit. Visually, all sorts of crafting details are woven into the world. Right from the get-go, ufolily's button and sewing needle UI for the dialogue box set the stage. And as you explore uptown, you'll note patchwork quilt-textured hills in the background and an art market with handmade baskets, pottery, and more.

I took a lot of inspiration from Kim Possible's gorgeous abstract background art, which I loved as a kid. Although Close Knit is a lot more grounded in physical objects because of the interactable nature of the game, I still wanted to push heavily into broad, interesting patterns and textures visually. A lot of sprites in the games, like the trees and bushes, don't even attempt to be shaded, but instead are given a scribbly, abstract texture and an almost paper-craft feeling, heightened by the parallax effect.

The library has a fancy wallpaper, which I hoped would evoke feelings of a regal brocade. Every room in grandma's house has a fabric-inspired texture. The living room and grandma's room have a subtle ribbed knit texture, while the kitchen and stairs have a gingham pattern. Fern's bedroom has a classic argyle pattern, which is frequently knit in sweaters, vests, socks, and more. The dining room has a houndstooth pattern, which is traditionally woven, but can be made in knit and even crochet pieces! The bathroom again evokes classic knit and purl stitches, but arranged in a checkerboard pattern for visual interest.

There is so much rich history to crafting and its ties to our relationships with each other. Close Knit only touches upon a tiny fraction of that, and we hope that when you play, you experience some of the bonds that crafting forges between us.