Research & design concepts exploration
For this assignment I have chosen to research on the Tarantulas, a type of spiders. I will relate their body structure to a knee guard that is worn by players while playing Polo. But before that I would live to provide you with some basic information about the Tarantulas. 
Tarantulas are a type of spiders which can be found throughout the United States, Mexico, South America and also Central America some of their other species occur variously throughout Africa, much of Asia, and all of Australia. In Europe, some species occur in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, south Italy, and Cyprus. Tarantulas move slowly on their eight hairy legs, but they are accomplished predators. These spiders grab with their legs, inject paralyzing venom, and then bite their prey with their fangs. They also secrete digestive enzymes to liquefy their victims’ bodies so that they can suck them up through their straw like mouth openings. Yum!
Insects are their main prey, but, the biggest tarantulas sometimes kill and consume small vertebrates such as lizards, mice, bats, birds, and small snakes. Tarantulas are burrowers and typically live in the ground whereas some reside in a silken “tube tent”. All tarantulas can produce silk. Some species of tarantulas hunt prey primarily in trees; others hunt on or near the ground. The eight legs, the two venom glands with their fangs, and the pedipalps (first pair of legs even used as jaws) are attached to the prosoma (head and the following body). The chelicerae (venom glands) are two double-segmented appendages located just below the eyes and directly forward of the mouth. The fangs are hollow extensions of the chelicerae that inject venom into prey or animals that the tarantula bites in defense, and they are also used to masticate.
Tarantulas give people the creeps because they have large, hairy bodies and legs. While these large spiders can take a painful bite out of a human, a tarantula’s venom is weaker than from a typical bee sting. The venom is somewhat to structured in a way only to harm the things which are smaller than the Tarantula.
Mood Board
Concept development, Thumbnail sketches
3D mockups
The above 3D mockups are made from paper, wire and tin sheets. The paper one was made basically to get an idea of the size and shape of the final piece. And to get an idea, as to how will the movement occur while I have my knee. The reason to make the wire one was to see if the clamps could work or whether some other idea should be thought of. The best part about these 3D mockups was that I got to work with 3 difference materials before using yarn for my final piece.
Construction of the Final Piece
To make this piece I cut two tin sheets into strips(aprox.19cm.). After that I took a 22 gauge wire and cut it into 2 pieces (approximately 18cms.) Using the plaier I locked the wire with the sheet.
After this I started weaving the yarn to the wires. To keep the yarn as well as the whole piece intact I used a tin sheet strip in the middle.
After I had weaved the entire piece I started to cover the remaining small gaps and problems. At last I used two elastic bands to use as the holders. I stitched the elsatic after which I painted it. I used mini hooks as attachments.
Final Piece
Project Reflection
For this assignment I chose to research on the Tarantulas, a type of spider. I related their body structure to a knee guard that is worn by players while playing Polo. While doing this assignment I came across various challenges. Every step I was talking I was not sure whether I was doing the right thing or not. I learnt to experiment and to take risks while doing this assignment. All what I learnt in these 5 weeks has a lot to do with problem solving and discussion making. In a way this project was a summary of these 5 weeks. Till now all the assignments I did, did not have to be very rigid but this was supposed to be worn therefore it could not have been delicate. It was interesting to weave as I was doing it for the very first time. I feel it has has come out to be a good piece if we consider the fact that is was my very first time. While I was making it I completely forgot that it would be a piece which would be flexible and movable, keeping that in mind I loosened the yarn. But I had to be careful because if I would make it more looser it could look shabby. At one point I felt that it will not meet my expectations but as I wrote before it taught me how to take risks. I look forward to doing more productive assignments and projects.
