The Lookout

This is the design with which the Davaar book began.

Early one morning, I was sitting knitting in the Lookout, when I began thinking about the appeal of candy stripes. The Lookout’s decor includes candy striped blinds and curtains, and these textiles immediately lend the place a light, fresh feeling that’s entirely appropriate to it: a feeling of beach huts, cabins, cottages, vacations.

I began to consider the design and construction of a candy-striped blanket, a jolly throw that would suit the interior of a beach hut or an airy cottage by the sea. It would be knitted from muted pink and natural white. It would involve long, textured strips whose cable-y motifs would compound the maritime vibe. The strips would be knitted separately; a three needle bind off would join each strip to the next; and the whole blanket would be edged with i-cord, for a neat finish.

My next thought was that this blanket, inspired by the Lookout, had to be photographed in the same location. It was an obvious choice: the Lookout’s bold white walls and accessible balcony provided the ideal canvas from which to display a large, jolly, stripey knitted blanket. And just imagine if the sky were blue as well. Yes! I could see the whole thing! Very, very occasionally, I will visualise a design like this – from its very beginning to its end – from its basic construction, through the knitting, to the final photographed image in a book. Few of these designs turn out just like I’d pictured them. But it is satisfying when they do.

So, I developed some twisty motifs, that would work as a panel for the Lookout blanket . . .

. . .and in the months that followed, I went on to play with the rhythmic order of these motifs, using variants on several other Davaar designs.

. . . I’ve enjoyed playing with these motifs, as a way of lending this collection a certain kind of aesthetic coherence. . .

. . . which I’ve also tried to do with the collection’s styling, palette, and colourwork motifs (of which you will see more in coming days)

Developing a collection like this – from start to finish – can really be a lot of fun.

As you can imagine, I have to make an awful lot of decisions all the way through the designing, knitting, styling, photography, writing and layout process – but I never forget how lucky I am to be able to make these start-to-finish decisions at all: for many reasons, few designers – or writers for that matter – are able to do so. Anyway, the main thing is that, because I’m able to be the start-to-finish person, a clear sense of direction, a feeling of cohesion and consistency, and, perhaps most of all – the creative fun that we are all having – are apparent in projects like Davaar. And believe me, I am very grateful for this curious niche, which means that I can sit by the sea, have an idea about a blanket, and follow the germ of the idea through to its fruition.

But what is or was the Lookout?

. . . the quirky structure, with many original features . . .

. . . which provided the inspiration for this design and the location for these photographs?

You’ll just have to read the Davaar book to find out!

Many thanks to blanket supremo, Mel, for superlative Lookout knitting.