Award-winning Scottish publishing and design
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
(top illustration: William Simpson, An Indigo Factory in Bengal (1863) I am currently completing a design project using yarn that has been dyed with natural indigo by my friends at Shilasdair. As I’ve knitted, I’ve often found myself thinking about the links between Scotland and natural indigo dye. Indigo isn’t, of course, a Scottish plant…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
On our way to North Uist and Berneray a few months ago, we stopped off in Skye to say hello to Kirsty, who now runs Shilasdair, the Isle of Skye natural dye company. I first visited Shilasdair – when it was run by natural-dyeing legend, Eva Lambert, in its old home on the Waternish peninsula…
Read More
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…
Read More
Hello! Kate here. August is the month at KDD when we all start to look forward to what’s coming in the autumn. This season we are busier than ever, with a wide range of different projects and new releases. Next month, for example, we will finally be able to begin to release the new knitwear…
Read More
Hello, everyone, it’s Kate here – to introduce a new series of conversations on the KDD blog. I was born in 1973, a year after the Treaty of Accession paved the way for Britain’s entry into the European Union. Both sides of my family are shaped by histories of European immigration, and as a teenager,…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More