Life

Share
Published 12:47 22 Apr 2013 BST
Updated 00:58 6 Nov 2013 GMT

Are you fed up of sharing a bed with a man who hogs the duvet, snores like a jackhammer and farts the night away? Why not make like Dutch artist Noortje de Keijzer and make your own knitted boyfriend instead?
Noortje knitted a life-size man as part of her final project for design school and her unusual choice of partner has become something of an online celebrity.
Affectionately named ‘Arthur’ Noortje was inspired to start knitting when she decided that it was time for her to have a man in her life.
“I could say that’s a joke, but it is partly true. I’ve always been interested in loneliness. I felt very lonely at times, and I’m sure everybody feels lonely from time to time," said Noortje, speaking to Options design shop.
"The strange part is that it seems like it’s an emotion nobody really talks about. As if it’s something to be ashamed of, a bad feeling that should always be avoided,” she added.
![]()
Noortje and Arthur chill out in bed together
Noortje enlisted the help of her mother and grandmother in order to knit the initial prototype of Arthur. Once the prototype was made, Noortje asked Sarena Huizinga, a knitwear designer, to knit the final version.
The artist was so happy with her knitted man that she made this cute little video about him.
She even wrote a book about why having a knitted boyfriend is so much better than having, y’know, an actual, real-life boyfriend.
We’re not gonna lie, we can see the perks of having a knitted man in your life although much and all as we complain about the real deal, we don’t think we could ever replace them. Especially not for a man made of wool...