Award-winning Scottish publishing and design
Today we released a new pattern – the Let Glasgow Flourish blanket. Inspired by the work of textile artist, educator, and suffragette, Ann Macbeth, the blanket echoes a civic banner Macbeth created in 1910. The pared-back colourwork and abstracted motifs I’ve used speak to Macbeth’s own Glasgow Style and makes a wonderful showpiece! Knitted at…
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We released another pattern with our friends at Shilasdair today – Ringle Based on the very first, very simple, yoked pullover that I ever designed and knit, Ringle features Shilasdair’s Coara Worsted — a springy blend of Blue Faced Leicester and Shetland fleeces that’s now available in some beautiful naturally-dyed shades. Ringle’s yarn is dyed…
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It’s a very busy week here at KDD! On top of our usual work on a new book and collection, we are launching our seasonal product range before the recommencement of Knitting Season on September 6th. Whew! You may remember that last year we began producing new pullovers using fantastic Shetland yarns spun by Scotland’s…
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I’m really excited to reveal something which has been a long time in development and of which all of us at KDD are really proud – Coracle. Before I became a manufacturer of yarn and knitwear I was a consumer of both these things. And, as a consumer, I often found myself deeply troubled by…
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Meet Ester, the new hat I’ve designed with Shilasdair Ester is a comfortable, slouchy beanie, designed to make the most of three beautiful shades of plant-dyed Coara – a springy blend of BFL and Shetland. The three natural dyes used here are birch, madder, and alder – whose soft and subtle palette I really wanted…
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As the summer draws to a close, I thought I’d round up some of the many inspiring projects that have been knitted in recent months from KDD patterns, and show you a couple of new designs in our yarns. Last week, Melanie Berg revealed a stunning shawl in Àrd-Thìr, which reminded me of the beautiful…
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Today, I’m delighted to introduce Melanie Berg as the next participant in our European Yarn Community conversations. Melanie is a German designer whose work will, I’m sure, be already very much admired by many of you. Melanie is best known for her shawls, but she also creates gorgeous modern garments, and everything she makes is…
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This interview with talented ceramic designer-maker, Catherine Mountford, is brought to you as part of our “chain” celebrating the interconnected work of interesting and inspiring creative women. Catherine was nominated by illustrator / embroiderer, Reena Makwana, whose interview you can read here. Hi Catherine! Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your…
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Kate here! I’ve just about recovered from all our Xpo north fun, and am now back at my desk, finishing work on our latest book project Bold Beginner Knits – a collection of 6 intriguing, wearable, and simply knit-able designs in our beautiful aran-weight yarn Àrd-Thìr – which I created for my friend, and KDD…
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Downstream, a simple top-down cardigan with raglan shaping, is a sleek and wearable knit.
Progressing through the Bold Beginner Knits patterns, I find my confidence in my knitting has grown…
A few months ago, when Jane decided to learn to knit, I thought it might be nice to design a few things just for her. Simple patterns aimed at beginner knitters are sometimes not terribly exciting, either in the making or the wearing, so I set myself the challenge of designing some simple patterns that…
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If there’s one thing I’ve had time for over the past few months, it is my knitting. I think one has to be very, very careful when talking about knitting and mental health, or discussing craft activities in association with terms like “mindfulness”: mental illnesses are varied and complex, and craft is not, in any…
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