shop

The KDD online shop stocks our yarn, knitting kits, books, and knitwear (socks, snoods, and jumpers, made right here in Scotland) You can purchase Kate’s hand-knitting patterns as digital PDF downloads through Ravelry Tom’s photographic work is available to purchase as high-quality archival prints To date, we have produced sixteen books under the KDD, Makadu and…

about KDD

Kate Davies Designs (KDD) was established by Kate Davies in 2010, when a stroke at the age of 36 ended her career as a literary academic. While recovering from her stroke, Kate supported herself by designing digital patterns for hand-knitting, established an independent publishing company, and began to produce books that combined her skills as…

tutorials

Ester A tutorial to make the 5-stitch star motif that features on the Ester hat. Inside and Outside the Red Box. A Bold Beginner Knits Tutorial for the Footfall shawl Triangular shawl construction. A Bold Beginner Knits Tutorial for the Footfall shawl “Join body and sleeves into yoke” A Bold Beginner Knits tutorial for the…

oatcake recipe

By: KDD March 23, 2020March 23, 2020

food, recipe, Scotland, textilesfood, oatcakes, oats, recipe43 Comments

After we published my oatcake-inspired cardigan, Land o’ Cakes the other day, Tom reminded me of his favourite oatcake recipe that he’d included in our Buachaille book some years ago. This is a great recipe for whipping up a quick bread-replacing staple (and as long as the mill producing your oatmeal doesn’t also make wheat…

Write by the Sea

By: KDD&Co. March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

exhibition, ootlier, photography, reading, writingArgyll, disability, exhibition, landscape, nature writing11 Comments

The inaugural Write by the Sea Festival in Argyll, celebrated writing and writers exploring themes connected with the sea, food, coast, nature and place

more from Colour Moves

By: KDD March 21, 2020March 21, 2020

books, colour, creativity, design, knitting, publishing, textilesClaudia Fiocchetti, colour moves, design, Electric Ups and Downs, Gradient Mesh, Jesi, knitting, Velino4 Comments

Have you been following Claudia’s pattern reveals from Colour Moves on Ravelry and her blog? The designs shown in recent days are some of my favourites from the collection, and include: Gradient Mesh – a fabulous beanie-and-gauntlet set featuring a wash of colour across a neutral background . . . Velino – a simple mitt-and-slouch…

Land o’ Cakes

By: KDD March 20, 2020March 20, 2020

textilesbelt, corrugated rib, hand-weaving, inkle weaving, Kate Davies designs, knitting, Land o' Cakes, Milarrochy Tweed, Robert Burns, Robert Fergusson, steek, weaving, yoke36 Comments

Morning, everyone. Hope you are all very well and looking after each other. The whole team here is fine, and we feel extremely grateful for our internet connections and well-established methods of remote working. Sam is at the warehouse, in happy solitude, and will continue shipping anything you order, both locally and internationally, as long…

Colour Moves

By: KDD March 17, 2020

books, colour, design, knitting, publishingbook, Claudia Fiocchetti, colour moves, design, knitting, Make / Mark, publishing7 Comments

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all doing well and looking after yourselves and each other. We are all fine here at KDD: indeed, all of us feel very fortunate that our circumstances are such that we can continue our operation relatively uninterrupted, work from home, and have the capacity to help our families…

light by the sea

“the times of dreamy quietude, when beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean’s skin” Herman Melville, Moby Dick Hello everyone, it’s Tom here. In today’s post I’m excited to tell you more about my latest body of work, which also comprises my first solo exhibition – Light by the Sea. (Otter Ferry) Like…

light, write, colour

By: KDD March 9, 2020March 9, 2020

design, exhibition, knitting, patterns, photography, poetry, publishingClaudia Fiocchetti, colour moves, light by the sea, Make / Mark, publishing, Write by the sea10 Comments

The past few weeks have seen some rather intense creative activity, as Tom and I prepare for an exciting weekend in Argyll. On Friday, Tom will be opening an exhibition of his new work at the Tighnabruaich gallery, Light by the Sea. As well as his beautiful photographic seascapes, each of which evokes the distinctive…

Omnia Feminae Aequissimae

You may remember that last year at KDD, we celebrated International Women’s Day by designing and knitting a commemorative blanket together with our good friend, Felicity Ford. Celebrating 30 diverse creative women, our blanket was created with the central aim of using our crafty skills to educate each other about the many different ways in…

my place

By: KDD February 28, 2020February 28, 2020

competitionMy Place, yarn support10 Comments

The past few months have been a time for pursuing fruitful collaborations. I’m currently creating work for my Mexican collaboration (under the aegis of Applied Arts Scotland and the British Council); Tom and Sam are completing the final interviews and photography for People Make Glasgow; we’ve a fun collaboration in the pipeline with Ardbeg Distillery,…

Making Waves

By: KDD&Co. February 24, 2020February 24, 2020

art, craft, textilesart, craft, exhibition, West Kilbride44 Comments

Today’s post is inspired by a visit to a local art and craft exhibition and reading a chapter in Kate’s recent book: Wheesht

Post by Sam

mittens for the absent-minded

By: KDD February 20, 2020February 20, 2020

weavinggloves on strings, inkle weaving, mittens, mittens on strings, pickup weaving, textiles, weaving28 Comments

When you were a kid, did you wear your mittens and gloves on bands or strings threaded through your coat sleeves to keep them safe? I did, and have very vivid recollections of disliking the practice as I grew older, for seeming childish. My grandma knitted all my gloves and mittens, and if keeping them…

on the uses of handwoven tapes and bands

By: KDD February 6, 2020February 7, 2020

textile history, textiles, weavingband weaving, eighteenth-century textiles, inkle weaving, lanyard, Oa, phone lanyard, pickup weaving, tapes, textile history, weaving, woven bands39 Comments

I really enjoyed reading your comments on my last weaving post – especially hearing about the impressively wide range of new skills you are all currently picking up! I’m continuing to enjoy my weaving, and am finding it very inspiring. It really interests me that one of the first things many people think of when…