Award-winning Scottish publishing and design
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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We are five weeks in to the Knitting Season Club – a three month exploration of creative making (and handknit design), following a format that’s a little different to previous clubs, with weekly essays and creative assignments as well as the usual collection of new patterns. These essays have been one of the most enjoyable…
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I find it fascinating how a different set of colours can change the feel of a garment. Here’s the Weel Riggit pullover, in four very different shades of our lovely new Àrd Thìr yarn . . Camusdarach (grey); Firemore (mauve-ish); Kintra (dusky pink) and Husinis (khaki-ish). This palette creates a softly muted gradient – very…
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We are now over half-way through our Milarrochy Heids reveal. Pre-orders of the book will remain open until Friday 30th November – which is the last day for purchasing with free shipping. The book will be published this coming weekend (hurrah!) and we will begin shipping out your orders early next week (3rd). I’m so…
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Back in 2015, when Tom left academia and began working with me, I took a decision to only design with my own yarns. The reasons for this should be obvious: I’d taken a huge risk developing and investing in Buachaille. Buachaille was what I hoped would enable us to shift from a single-person enterprise to…
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During our Hebridean break last week, we took the opportunity to photograph the results of my latest ready-made knitwear project: the North Star Snood. I loved designing my snoods last year, and also really enjoyed the process of working with William Lockie. Last year I used stitch patterns which had been previously featured on my…
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Now I can introduce the second of the two yoke styles we’ve developed with Harley of Scotland – Finnich. Like Duntreath, the garment is knitted using Harley’s innovative seamless technology and, like Duntreath we’ve used JC Rennie lambswool, but worked at a heavier weight and gauge. Finnich is a super-cosy aran weight sweater, featuring simple…
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