Hello everyone, it’s Tom here. I’m dropping by to tell you all about my latest photographic project – Thursday I got nothing: a collection of images inspired by George Mackay Brown’s poem, Beachcomber. Together, these images ask the question, as photographers, if we look closely, do we ever get nothing? George Mackay Brown was one… Read More
Making Latitude Hello again, it’s Tom here with my third, and final, instalment about making my new book, Latitude. In my previous two posts I’ve spoken about the craft of bookbinding and the importance of the choice of materials to the finished book object. Today I’d like to tell you more about the concepts and… Read More
Hi, it’s Tom again, with part 2 of my series about my new adventures in book making – and specifically about making a particular book, which I’ve named Latitude. Latitude is a photographic project I’ve been working on for the past year or so. It’s a made-object, as much as it is a collection of… Read More
Printing is the often-undervalued final stage in producing an image. In today’s image-heavy social media age, it’s very easy to overlook printing as a creative output, and produce work with a purely digital workflow. Don’t get me wrong, I really love platforms like Instagram. I find them enormously democratic and engaging. A photographer’s feed enables… Read More
Hello – this is Tom today rather than Kate – I’m here to tell you about Ootlier 2, which has just been published today. I enjoy many different kinds of photography, and my Ootlier zines give me the opportunity to explore my ideas and practice in different ways. Last year you may remember that I… Read More
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… Read More
Our new West Highland Way book has just been published! I’m rather proud of this collection of thirteen patterns, five of which use our wonderful new Milarrochy Tweed yarn The Craigallian Hat and Mittens The Strathendrick pullover The Còinneach Cardigan and the Shieling blanket The collection also includes four patterns in our original own-brand yarn,… Read More
Many of you will know how much I love the old, twisted oak tree that grows by Loch Lomond at Milarrochy Bay: indeed, I love it so much we named our new yarn after it! Over the past year, Tom has been photographing the tree from exactly the same position, in all seasons and all… Read More
It has been an extraordinarily busy year for us here at KDD! We began the year working on, and producing the Inspired by Islay book. This collection includes some of my all-time favourite designs . . . . . as well as the wonderful work of some of my other creative friends. I’m proud of… Read More
For the past six months I’ve been designing a collection. I have developed the ideas for six garments and six accessories, made swatches, knit prototypes, re-knit prototypes, re-knit again; drawn charts, produced grading spreadsheets, written patterns, re-written patterns, written patterns once again; edited the patterns, styled the designs, and, finally, modelled them myself. I’ve by… Read More
Hiya! It is I, Bruce! As we all know, one of the most confusing things about living with humans is that the sounds they make (which they call words) can sometimes have several meanings. Today I am here to help you, my dog friends, by clarifying the double-meaning of one of these confusing sounds –… Read More
We’ve just heard that one of Tom’s photographs has been shortlisted in this year’s EEF Manufacturing Photo Competition! The theme of the competition this year is “Made by Britain, Loved by the World” and surely few manufactured products speak better to that theme than Shetland wool? A fibre raised and processed in a particular locale;… Read More
