Tag Archives: susan crawford

Shetland Wool Week in pictures, part 2

October 21, 2012 By in knitting, Shetland, wool, yarn Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 15 Comments


Mel at Aithsetter


Mel and Hazel McKenzie, our Wool-Week landlady.




Sandra and Ella at J&S (if you are wondering about their cardigans, there’s a free pattern here)


Eric Stewart, showing us around the impressive textile facilitation unit at Shetland College


Knitters from six nations enjoying a trip to Unst (yoohoo ladies! It was lovely to meet you!)


Hazel Tindall, teaching Fair Isle


Gudrun, teaching lace


Susan, looking fabulous


Chris Harrison, Operations Director of Vi-Spring, receiving an award from Eric Wilson, past-master of the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, and one of the directors of the Campaign for Wool


Oliver Henry, telling us about the development of the new Shetland Heritage Yarn

(if you look at the window-reflections in the previous 2 photographs, you’ll see Misa and Deborah — the organisational geniuses behind Shetland Wool Week, to whom we are all incredibly grateful for this fantastic event! I think I can also spot Jane’s back in a rather pleasing cardigan . . .)


Me and Bess Jamieson – both wearing Fairisle – at the Shetland Textile Museum.

(Big thanks to Cathy Scott for permission to reproduce her photos of the Unst trip and Hazel’s workshop)

a winner . . . and a request

March 21, 2012 By in competition, textiles, textisles Tags: , , , 9 Comments


(Sonia Delaunay swimsuits, 1928)

The winner
Comments on Jean’s interview have now been closed, and we have a randomly selected winner in the giveaway to receive a copy of Sweet Shawlettes. Gabriela (whose favourite garden flower is the peony) it is YOU! Congratulations! I have sent you an email so that you can let me know your contact details.

The request.
Susan Crawford, author of the wonderful Stitch in Time volumes, and contributor to issue 2 of Textisles, is doing some more research on knitted swimsuits. If you have – or have worn, or have a picture of a family member wearing – a knitted swimsuit, she would really like to hear from you. Please get in touch with Susan directly – you’ll find her contact details at the foot of this post.

Textisles is out!

March 20, 2012 By in History, Kate Davies, Kate Davies Designs, textiles, textisles Tags: , , , , , , , , 35 Comments

WHOOT! I am exceedingly happy to report that Textisles Issue 2 is now available!

In this issue you receive:
Two patterns (for the Betty Mouat sweater and the BMC)
and four feature articles (three by me, and one by Susan Crawford). There is also a “meet the maker” interview with Griseldis Schmitthuber, who, with a little knitterly-know how and a few skeins of Lana Grosa sock yarn, whipped up a truly fabulous swimsuit.

And there’s more!

Thanks to the unstoppable Melanie Ireland, there are 3 video tutorials available to help those of you who want to knit the Betty Mouat patterns, but are unfamiliar with the techniques that they involve. The videos look at: 1) no-purl garter stitch; 2) working with several colours; and 3) cockleshell lace. You can view the tutorials here.

Both patterns were test knitted by Melanie Ireland and tech-edited by Jen Arnall-Culliford. I love working with Jen and Mel. I love my work! Seriously, I have had a blast putting this whole thing together.

So what are you waiting for?

Download your very own copy of Textisles Issue 2 today!

now forthcoming!

March 14, 2012 By in Kate Davies Designs, textisles Tags: , , , , 59 Comments

I’m hard at work here at the moment, putting together the next issue of Textisles. It is shaping up really well, and I’m very excited about it! Among other things, this issue contains everything (well, almost everything) you will ever need to know about the history of the modern swimsuit, including a guest-feature from the brilliant Susan Crawford on the hand-knitted variety. (If you don’t know Susan, she is a knitwear-history expert, and produces wonderful vintage designs, most recently those included in A Stitch in Time vol.2 ).

The issue also includes the Betty Mouat sweater pattern, and another surprise design, which I will show to you in a few days. I’m hoping to release the issue in a week’s time, around the twenty-first of this month.

For those who are wondering what on earth Textisles is, here are some FAQ:

What is Textisles?
It is a digital magazine, containing original designs and writing, produced and edited by me.

What is in it?
In this issue you’ll find two of my designs, and four substantial feature articles, (three researched and written me, and one by Susan Crawford). If you like reading about fashion and textile history, these features will be of interest to you.

Why is it different?
The content is what is important to Textisles, and the magazine includes no advertising. Each issue is carefully produced around a particular theme. The research, writing, and the designs all speak to this theme, and they also creatively inform one another.

Can I buy the features without the patterns? Or the patterns without the features?
No you can’t. Textisles is available at a flat cost of £3.95 (about $6). You might want to read the features, or just to knit the designs, but perhaps you might be interested in both. This issue will run to around fifty pages. I consider this a reasonable price for the content.

Can I subscribe to Textisles?
At the moment, this is not an option. As you know, it is very important that I work at my own pace, and each issue involves a lot of work! Because I can’t produce issues to set deadlines it would be wrong of me to accept subscriptions for a publication which may not regularly appear. I may reconsider this in the future, but for the time being, each issue will be available on a stand-alone basis only.

More Soon!

news &c

November 25, 2011 By in design, Kate Davies, knitting, Shetland, textiles, wool, Wovember Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 27 Comments

A miscellaneous post:

First, a reminder that there are only five days remaining for entries in the Wovember competition. You could win some amazing things! One grand woolly winner will be selected by our friends at Jamieson & Smith, and there are other great prizes too: Blacker Designs are offering three runners-up awards for the best photos of sheep, and the Wovember team will also be choosing three “3 bags full” winners for the entries that best capture the creative use of wool. Above you can see some of the contents of the “bags” – a selection of lovely British wool in appropriate colours!

Next, I don’t know if you have had a look at the Wovember blog recently, but if you pop over there you’ll find some great posts from our wonderful woolly guests. For example, in from Sheep to Skein, talented British designer Susan Crawford tells us about the development of Excelana, a superb new breed-specific wool. You can also hear Diane, the Spinning Shepherd, talk about her woolly year, see Deb Robson’s take on endangered sheep breeds, learn about the different meanings of wool from inspiring artists and makers, and read some truly beautiful woolly stories, such as Rachael Matthews account of Walter’s Crook. But I am particularly excited today, as our guest blogger is none other than Oliver Henry — world expert on Shetland wool! You can read Ooey Ollie’s account of what wool means to him here.


(Oliver Henry demonstrates sorting Shetland wool. Photo by Billy Fox.)

Finally, on a personal note, things have been quite busy round here. There’s apparently a discussion of my work in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, and, (just as exciting) on the pages of the new Shetland sheep magazine. I’ve yet to see either, but several folk seem to have found me having encountered Sheep Heid in the latter publication, so a big welcome to all you Shetland sheepy folk. Also, I’m pleased to say that some of my patterns will soon be available on the shelves of several UK retailers. I’ll be “launching” my new range of printed patterns at Baa Ram Ewe in Leeds on December 3rd. Just pop along between 4 and 6 if you’d like to have a chat! I’m not exactly sure what a pattern launch usually involves, but I’m pleased to say that this one will also feature my Ma and my sister, and perhaps a mince pie or two.

If you are a UK retailer and are interested in stocking my patterns, then do get in touch with me at the email address you’ll find over here. Meanwhile, I am working on two new designs which, all going well, will appear next month. One takes my Shetland sheep obsession to new levels, featuring over a hundred of them, and the other is inspired by this:

more anon.

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