hello, Fenella

Knitting Season is back today with the release of one of my confirmed collection favourites – Grèis

Grèis is a simple tunic dress with a colourwork yoke that features 9 different shades of Milarrochy Tweed.

Our friend Fenella kindly modelled Grèis for us.

We first met Fenella near Loch Lomond where she was doing exactly the same thing as us – taking a walk with her dog. When we got chatting we realised we had a lot to talk about – Fenella also ran her own business, and had recently taken up knitting again.

We are very happy to say that Fenella is now working with KDD on a few different projects after we convinced her of her modelling skills (which Gap failed to recognise when she was 17 and narrowly missed their 5′ 8″ mark). We thought the launch of Grèis was a great opportunity to introduce her to you – so here she is!

I’m an Indian Scot who loves knitting and knitwear . . .

My parents came to Scotland from India and established their home here (no, they did not know then about the Scottish weather!). I was born in Glasgow in 1984. Here in Scotland it’s just my mum, brother, myself and my dad. The rest of my family are scattered about the world (which, because I love travelling, I really can’t complain about!). . .

So I’m from an Indian (Gujarati) background but I grew up completely immersed in Scottish culture. As I got older, I began to take a much keener interest in my religion, Indian heritage and background. I was able to travel to Mumbai several times and really became hooked on Indian colours and culture. . .

When I was at school, I enjoyed blending my cultural influences together in my final year art project for which I designed a Scottish / Indian wedding dress, marrying an Indian saree together with Scottish tartan colours and a knitted train

Unfortunately, this was the end of my exploring my creative side for a while, as I went on to study for a degree in Social Sciences and Law, and finally ended up doing something that had nothing directly to do with my degrees – running a financial advisory business.

My business began from my desire to help those with chronic or complex health conditions find suitable insurance (which is certainly not always easy). The financial sector is a very tough place to work, and having carefully built my business since 2012, my key takeaway lesson is that trust means everything. The business offers the usual range of financial products and services, but my founding drive and passion remains making finance generally more accessible to those with impairments. My business is family-run, and I’m really proud of it.

And what do I like to do when I’m not hammering on my computer or advising? Well me wee pomsky puppy, Polo, keeps me on my toes, quite literally! Not only has she kept me enjoying the outdoors and the beauty of Scotland (we love taking campervan trips to Arran or going wild camping in Glencoe), she has opened my eyes to another level of patience, trust and unconditional love that I never knew was possible from a dog.

And the background to why I have a dog? Well, I was bitten by 2 dogs when I was a child and this left me traumatised to a point that I could not be in the same room as one. This fear stayed with me until 2 years ago I faced my fear head on and just went ahead and bought a puppy! The learning continues every day – for both me and Polo!

I suppose Polo sums up the type of person I am: impulsive (sometimes silly!), loving sports especially snowboarding, tennis, and squash. I would take off and go wild camping every day of the week if I could!

I have lots of tattoos, and love tattoos which represent. All of my tattoos represent someone that has been in my life or is in my life now that has truly made a difference to me.

Three Little Birds – Don’t Worry Be Happy!

Thanks for the wee chat Fenella! I’m sure everyone who reads this blog will be really happy to make your acquaintance, and perhaps we might even persuade Polo to make an appearance here at some point.

Links

Knitting Season subscription (you can join the club at any time)
Grèis yarn packs in the KDD shop
Grèis pattern page on Ravelry
Record your projects in your Knitting Season journal