Highland Rogue

I’m not sure whether my approach to design is not a bit . . . unusual?

Because rather than thinking about texture or pattern or shape or colour first, I often begin with a finished look in mind – in which all of those foregoing elements are considerations – and work backwards from there.

This is what happened with this week’s West Highland Way club pattern – Highland Rogue.

I’ve had the coat (vintage Cabbages and Roses) for quite a while. It’s their signature style, and is one of my favourites.

For a long time I’ve thought just how damn good the monochrome check of this coat would look coupled with a deep, generous scarf or snood in a rich shade of orange-y red.

So I just knitted one up.

This snood is one of those fun projects which (if you are me) you can knit while paying close attention to a subtitled Swedish film, or or while travelling on a train – not too much thought is required. It’s basically a long loop, with a simple mock-cable pattern made up of knits and purls. The snood is completely reversible, and an integrated i-cord edging lends the edges a neat, sleek finish.

Happily, a cosy woolly snood in a rich shade of orangey-red spoke perfectly to this week’s club focus: the Highland Rogue himself, Rob Roy MacGregor. The Roy of Rob’s name, of course, means red – a reference to his gingery colouring. So there was definitely no other shade for Rob’s snood than Highland Coo.

This week’s essay – exploring Rob’s historic representation, and misrepresentation – was a fun one for me to write.

Each of the pieces accompanying each design speaks to a particular theme I think its interesting to consider in relation to the highland landscape. Taken together, they might be read as a cumulative cultural and social history of the West Highland Way. I’ve found writing these pieces one of the most enjoyable aspects of a very enjoyable project!

The West Highland Way book is now at the layout stage (always exciting) and will be published later in the spring. Meanwhile, if you’d like to, you can still join the club to receive all patterns and essays released so far, as well as those to come, and the book shipped to you anywhere in the world, on publication date. I can’t give too many hints, but there are two garments to be released in the next fortnight, one of which has proved to be my surprise favourite from the whole collection.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Kate x