My Knitted Boyfriend: Because Everyone Gets Lonely Sometimes

My Knitted Boyfriend is a life-size knitted cushion in the shape of a man. He’s a cushion with a story; a personality—a cushion to kiss! Or, well… to cuddle, to caress, to hug, and to smile with.

I came up with the idea for this project at while studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven, because, just like any other human being, I feel lonely from time to time.

Loneliness is a pretty ordinary feeling, yet nobody ever really talks about it despite its importance. We're all searching for the romantic idea of ‘the right one,' and we have very high expectations. This makes it really hard to find that person, which leads to a lot of people being alone for quite a while. I don’t think this is bad at all, but I do think there are plenty of people in the world who would rather have someone to cuddle or sit on the couch with. It’s the ordinary moments that make you feel really lonely sometimes. This is exactly why I came up with ‘My Knitted Boyfriend': to have around at home in the ordinary moments of your day-to-day life.

‘My Knitted Boyfriend’ comes with knitted accessories like mustaches, beards, glasses, watches, tattoos and bow-ties—because we all have different preferences when it comes to our men. I also created an illustrated book that acts as a manual for ‘My Knitted Boyfriend’ and a short film to expresses the concept of this project.

MY KNITTED BOYFRIEND from Noortje de Keijzer on Vimeo.

At the moment there are two ‘My Knitted Boyfriends’ in this world. Arthur was the first to enter the world through an industrial knitting machine. Steve followed him quite quickly. Arthur is white with brown hair. Steve is a darker man. The industrial knitting machine gives lots of opportunities when it comes to the look of your ‘Knitted Boyfriend,’ you just have to change the color of the yarn, depending on who you want your boyfriend to be.

I did not make this project to provide a serious solution. Of course I understand that everyone needs to solve the feeling of loneliness for him—or her—self. But I do hope that my project brings some recognition, and awareness that everybody feels lonely from time to time, and that it's fine to talk about it, or even laugh about it. Basically, I tried to make a humorous project about a serious subject. I believe that laughing about a negative feeling is already the beginning of a more positive feeling. When you feel positive and happy on your own, the right person will come along in the end.

If you would like to know more about ‘My Knitted Boyfriend’, please have a look on my website or Facebook page ‘Studio Noortje’. I’m still busy developing the ‘My Knitted Boyfriend’ project and I would love to keep you updated.