O hap-py day!

O hap-py day! The Book of Haps launches today!
And we are now open for pre-orders!

During the pre-order period, Jen and I will be revealing (and discussing) one hap design each day. The haps in the book are wonderfully varied, but each was similarly inspired by some aspect of their designers’ everyday lives: from the natural world, to the built environment; from the outdoor landscape that surrounds them to the patterns of their domestic lives.

Our gorgeous cover design is called Montbretia, and was created by Carol Feller. Carol created this beautiful hap inspired by the shades and textures of her daily walks in rural Ireland. Here she is to tell you more about it.

“I live in the countryside, fairly near Cork city. Every day I feel blessed to live here; being able to walk to the top of the hill and see the fields rolling away below me. If someone had told my teenage self that sense of place was going to be so important to me, I’d have thought they were crazy! I really wanted to leave Ireland at that age. Well, I married an American, moved to Florida, got pregnant and suddenly I knew what homesick meant. I wanted family and support around me very badly. It took a few years, but we did return to Ireland and I saw it in a new light. There were so many things that had felt like a tie to the younger me, which now felt like a supportive community – and the grey misty days felt wonderful after the blazing sun of Florida.”

“Now that my children are getting older, and I have the pleasure of working from home, I try to remember to savour my environment. It is easy to get caught up in the busy everyday bustle, but my morning walk with the two dogs helps me reconnect; I get to breathe deeply and feel the landscape. I watch the seasons change; from brown barren monotones in winter into the bright green of summer. The end of summer, just before the turn to autumn, is one of my favourite times of year.”

“All along the roadside there are bright montbretia flowers growing wild, scattered with the white dots of the blackberry flowers getting ready to ripen. This roadside colour combination, as well as the wide stretches of open fields, are the inspirations for my hap. The garter stitch hills begin in the winter when the barren field ridges are covered in snow, this moves on to the gently warming greens of summer and finally the wonderful autumn berries and montbretias littering the sides of the roads in Ireland. This is my place, where I belong.”

“My hap is a style I like to wear; very wide, but not too deep. It can be bunched up around your neck but by having the extra fabric you have the option of opening it out over your shoulders when you want to wear it more decoratively.”

“The hap is knit primarily in colour blocks with bright splashes of orange montbretias running through it. I chose a textured edging to finish; I very much enjoy a tactile element combined with the visual in my knitting. This is probably why I like cables so much.”

“I hope you enjoy knitting Montbretia, and making it your own.”

Tom shot these photographs on beautiful Reawick beach, on the West side of Shetland. The model is Lauren Anderson (you’ll hear more about Lauren later) and I did the styling.

We are so excited about revealing the designs! Pop over to Jen’s site tomorrow for hap number 2!

The Book of Haps is available to pre-order here.