craft – KDD & Co

Monk’s Belt Hat

Hand-knitting and hand-weaving speak eloquently to one another in the beautiful work of Janet Bowen

meet, make, collaborate

creative, collective and protective acts of making

the Carbeth creature goes north

The Carbeth creature takes a trip to Banchory

Mimi and Gloria Onyekwere

contemporary bluestockings, Mimi and Gloria Onyekwere

my McRostie forever bag

By: Kate Davies Designs October 9, 2020October 9, 2020

craft, Kate Davies, knitting, making, People MAKE Glasgow, photography, textilesbag, Clydesdales, craft, Glasgow, handbag, leather, leatherwork, making, McRostie15 Comments

Today we released the Evendoon Cardigan – the third pattern in our 10 Years in the Making Club (come and join us for three months of knitting fun!) I really enjoyed styling this cardigan with my beautiful Mull Bag, which was made for me a wee while ago by Colin Campbell of McRostie: one of…

Knitting, creativity, mental health.

By: Kate Davies Designs May 22, 2019May 28, 2019

craft, creativity, knitting, mental healthcraft, creativity, knitting, mental health, Sarah Desmarais127 Comments

I have been thinking a lot over the past week about the difficulties of talking about the mental health “benefits” of a craft like knitting. There’s a lot of really interesting research about crafts and mental health about right now, but I often have problems with the way such research is publicly communicated or presented.…

croft, craft, creativity

One of the many things I really like about the communities and cultures of crofting is their distinctive effect on the way people work. What I mean is this: in towns and cities, jobs tend to become more and more specialised, people do what they do within smaller and smaller categories, individual work occurs in…

Odradek

By: Kate Davies Designs May 2, 2017May 2, 2017

knitters, knitting, spinningcraft, making, Odradek39 Comments

Thankyou for all your comments on the Albert Anker post. I have to say that I find his work deeply moving – as someone who knits and makes, as well as someone who knows what it means to recover their creative abilities following a stroke. I should also mention that I too was very interested…

Helen Robertson

If you’ve read my introduction to The Book of Haps then you’ll already have come across Helen Robertson – a Shetland artist and craftswoman whose work I deeply admire. Working with silver wire and other precious materials, Helen has developed a uniquely thoughtful aesthetic which celebrates, commemorates and reflects upon Shetland’s history and heritage –…

a handmade wedding

Thankyou, all of you, for your lovely comments and congratulations! I thought you might appreciate hearing a little more about the handmade elements of our wedding. A few years ago, Tom decided to have a kilt made. His surname is Barr, and the tartan of that name is also associated with a popular Scottish soft-drinks…

Great Tapestry of Scotland 60 – 92

There have been some interesting questions in the comments on my previous posts about the Great Scottish Tapestry. Elaine and Deborah asked what materials had been used in the creation of the tapestry – well, the stitchers used Peter Grieg linen and Appletons crewel wool throughout. Terry asked why it was called a tapestry at…

Great Tapestry of Scotland 24-59

Some more details of the Great Tapestry of Scotland for you this morning. You’ll find the first post in the series here. Panel 25: Duns Scotus. The feet of Duns Scotus, the medieval philosopher for whom we have to thank for the concept of Haecceity Panel 26: Somerled, first Lord of the Isles A beautiful…

Great Tapestry of Scotland 1-23

On Sunday I finally got to see the Great Tapestry of Scotland. I was completely blown away by the vision of Alistair Moffat (who produced the tapestry’s historical content and context), Andrew Crummy (the superb artist who designed these 160 panels) and perhaps especially by the skill and beauty of the work of the thousand…

A chat with Tom of Holland

I am sure that many of you may be familiar with the work of my good friend and woolly comrade Tom van Deijnen, also known as Tom of Holland. Tom is perhaps best known for his expertise in, and celebration of, darning, which he puts into practice in his classes and workshops, as well as…

Made things

By: Kate Davies Designs April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

Iceland, makingÁrbæjarsafn, black houses, carving, craft, driftwood, folk objects, Iceland, icelandic turf houses, making, material culture, Skógar, turf houses, vernacular architecture, wood50 Comments

Since returning from Iceland, and absorbing myself in the novels of Halldór Laxness, I have found myself constantly musing on the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Icelandic people. In contemporary terms, geothermal energy might lead us to regard Iceland as relatively resource-rich, but until recently it has been in many other respects, incredibly resource-poor. Growing…

illustrating knitting

By: Kate Davies Designs March 22, 2014March 22, 2014

design, tea towels, textilescraft, design, drawing, Felicity Ford, felix ford, illustration, Kate Davies, Kate Davies designs, making, Tea Towels21 Comments

While I am ironing and packing up Tea Towels this morning, I thought you might be interested to read more about how they were created. I interviewed the amazing Felicity Ford about the process she goes through when producing illustrations of my designs. 1. I know you have many artistic skillz in all kinds of…