Though Illenberger does know how to knit, this heart was also ultimately made by granny. Illenberger chose the wool and made the sketch, then added the woven-thread veins on at the end. Meant to accompany an article about the softening and inactivity of contemporary society, the yarn heart — which was shown in a series with a brain and lungs — wasn't her first idea. "I think it was cotton candy," she says.