writing – KDD & Co

twenty titles

It’s the launch day of our twentieth book!

black teacher

Celebrating the work of a trailblazing black British woman writer

other people’s stories

On time, memory, and what it means to tell someone else’s story.

mend

We celebrate the new edition of Wheesht with this essay exploring the creative work of mending and Celia Pym’s inspiring practice

serendipity

By: KDD January 5, 2021January 5, 2021

business, landscape, writingattention economy, happenstance, ideas, privacy, serendipity, Shoshana Zuboff, social media, surveillance capitalism, technology, writing56 Comments

A few of you asked about the changes KDD has made to the way we use big tech and social media – and about where to begin when considering making similar changes. As a starting point, I would suggest reading Shoshana Zuboff’s The Rise of Surveillance Capitalism, which I read back in the middle of…

the closing year

By: KDD December 18, 2020December 18, 2020

books, design, Kate Davies Designs, publishing, review, seasonal10 Years in the making, colour moves, design, Glasgow, knitting, publishing, Warm Hands, writing33 Comments

As the first copies of our 10 Years in the Making book arrived in the KDD warehouse yesterday, I thought (not for the first time) about what a very weird year it has been. We published four brand new titles . . . . . .and created 23 new patterns – the majority of which…

working through winter

By: KDD October 6, 2020October 6, 2020

landscape, seasonal, writingAutumn, bipolar, depression, mental health, SAD, seasonal affective disorder, winter, writing51 Comments

It is that time of year in Scotland when the clocks are about to “go back” (when our time reverts to GMT, rather than BST). My bipolar has always had seasonal triggers (generally in very early spring, and then following the autumn equinox) and for me, as for so many other people, this time of…

Glasgow’s atelier economy: then and now

By: KDD September 28, 2020September 28, 2020

History, making, People MAKE Glasgow, photography, Politics, writingbook, Glasgow, History, People MAKE Glasgow, photography, Politics, publishing, slavery, writing8 Comments

Today I thought I’d share with you the introductory words I wrote for People MAKE Glasgow . For me – a former eighteenth-century specialist – the connections between Glasgow’s eighteenth-century past and its twenty-first century present have always been apparent, and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to write about those connections here. People MAKE…

four writing tips

By: KDD July 15, 2020July 15, 2020

writingtips, writing36 Comments

I’m in full-on, heads down, focused writing mode right now, completing our People Make Glasgow book. Someone sent me an email a couple of days ago asking about my approach to writing, and it occurred to me just how much I love to write, and that my approach to it was probably pretty simple –…

this oak is

By: KDD July 5, 2020July 5, 2020

landscape, photography, poetry, seasonal, walking, writinglandscape, nature, oak, oaks, photography, poem, poetry, seasons, trees, writing15 Comments

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really struck by how colourful the oak trees I see on my morning walks are at this time of year, with their wild orangey-red foliage so different to the surrounding trees heavy green. So here’s a poem I wrote in my head about those oaks this morning. The…

dressing up . . . 1970s style

By: KDD May 28, 2020May 28, 2020

costume, Family, making, Politics, process, writingchildhood, costume, dressing up, fancy dress, Handywoman, Politics, writing15 Comments

I’ve been suffering with a migraine, and am still feeling very ropey, so thought I’d just follow on from yesterday’s post about masks and performance, with a few images (and words) about my childhood – in which costume and dressing up played a significant role – and which Pilar is now drawing on in the…

over again

By: KDD May 18, 2020May 18, 2020

books, Politics, reviewcritique, disinformation, History, misinformation, Peter Pomerantsev, Politics, review, This is not Propaganda, writing33 Comments

When do you read something over again? There are crime novels to which I frequently return (those of Josephine Tey and Marjorie Allingham are particular favourites) and, when I’m ill or low, I often pick up books enjoyed in childhood (Paul Gallico, Giovanni Guareschi). My main reading for pleasure now tends to be non-fiction, and…

a reading week

By: KDD April 19, 2020April 19, 2020

art, birds, review, writingart, birds, nature, review, sleep, theory, writing24 Comments

Eric Ravilious, Cuckmere Haven (1939) Thinking about what I might write about here yesterday, it occurred to me that, despite the fact that reading takes up a fairly large proportion of my time, I’d never used this space all that much to talk about the different books that I enjoy. I think that part of…