Tag: Kate Davies

  • yoke collection

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    One of the many fun elements of researching my book has been seeking out yoked sweaters on eBay and in charity shops. I have learned a lot from these garments, which are often a hybrid of machine and hand-knitting, and thought I’d share a few of them with you today. I think I showed you…

  • . . .to meet a yoke hero

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I have been excited about this for weeks – and can’t quite believe that tomorrow I am going to Göteborg to meet with Kerstin Olsson. For those of you who don’t know, Olsson was one of the group of talented and accomplished women who designed for Bohus Stickning, and the Wild Apple (above) is perhaps…

  • Interview with Jen Arnall-Culliford

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    (Jen Arnall-Culliford in her Puffin Apple hat design) As part of our Cross-Country collaboration, Jen and I thought it would be interesting to interview each other about our different approaches to producing our different designs. (You can read Jen’s interview with me over on her blog today.) Jen is a sharp, focused and highly professional…

  • Cross-Country Knitting is here!

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I am very excited to announce the publication of Cross-Country Knitting, Volume One! Cross-Country knitting is a collaborative venture between myself and my lovely designer-comrade, Jen Arnall-Culliford. Jen and I live at opposite ends of the UK: she’s down there, in Somerset, and I’m up here, in Scotland. Yet the internet has enabled us to…

  • illustrating knitting

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    While I am ironing and packing up Tea Towels this morning, I thought you might be interested to read more about how they were created. I interviewed the amazing Felicity Ford about the process she goes through when producing illustrations of my designs. 1. I know you have many artistic skillz in all kinds of…

  • We made a Tea Towel!

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    The time has come to reveal something I’ve been extremely excited about for some time. The Kate Davies Designs tea towel! My pal Felix (AKA KnitSonik artiste extraordinaire, Felicity Ford) has been hand-drawing schematic illustrations for me for a while. Now, I may be able to design a sweater, but I really am totally rubbish…

  • my tam – at Gawthorpe!

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    While I was away in Lancashire I popped over to Gawthorpe to see preparations for the new season’s exhibitions. Excitingly for me, my Richard the Roundhead Tam is included, – the first time my work has ever been displayed in a museum or gallery context. I can tell you that the thought of the tam…

  • Goodbye, Dolly

    Goodbye, Dolly

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I often receive requests for copies of features and articles I’ve published. Hard copies of individual magazines can be hard to find, and many publishers don’t make back issues readily available in digital formats. So, in the spirit of open access, I’ve decided to “reprint” some of these pieces here, where everyone can find them.…

  • Puffin Post

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    One of the many things that makes me very happy as a designer is seeing different interpretations of a sweater I’ve created. I often learn a lot from the modifications knitters make to my patterns, and sometimes a simple change of shade can make a design look like a completely different garment. The Puffin sweater…

  • First Footing (Ceilidh Oidche Challain)

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I’m really pleased to introduce my first sock pattern, which is now available as a kit in my online shop. I knit socks all the time, but for some reason have never yet designed a pair…until now! This very seasonal design celebrates the Scottish New-Year tradition of First Footing, which, in Gaelic is known as…

  • Port o’ Leith

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Here is the third garment in my Edinburgh series – the Port o’ Leith gansey. This garment has twisted stitches and cables, that are reminiscent of maritime nets and rigging. It also features a deep, cowl-like collar, which is great for warding off North sea winds. . . . but which is also detachable, for…

  • Firth o’ Forth

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Ahoy from the Firth o’ Forth! This cardigan is the second in my series of my Edinburgh-inspired designs, and it is named after the important estuary that marks the city’s northern boundary. The Firth was a major feature of the decade we spent in Edinburgh: we lived in sight of it – just up the…

  • Fred Perry Knitting Patterns

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    If you are like me and have long admired the longevity, distinctive mod styling, and careful brand aesthetic of British retailer Fred Perry your heart may have skipped a wee beat when you read those words. Fred Perry Knitting Patterns? Really? Yes, really. The gorgeous golden cardigan on the left currently retails on Fred Perry’s…

  • um, a tea cosy?

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    For reasons completely unfathomable to me, knitters have been contacting me asking me to provide instructions to modify the Tea Jenny hat pattern into a Tea Cosy. I am frankly at a loss to understand exactly why one would prefer put teapots on a teapot rather than a human heid, but what can I say:…

  • Tea Jenny

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    So, no prizes for guessing exactly what I was reminded of when, some months ago, I first opened the package containing seven tasty balls of Magnus and Justyna’s Foula Wool . . . TEA! Maybe I was feeling particularly parched or something, but it really did occur to me just how tea-like the familiar Shetland…

  • The Shepherd and The Shearer – together!

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    (Photo ©Susan Gibbs and reproduced courtesy of Juniper Moon Farm) The Shepherd and the Shearer is live! So, if you would like to purchase one of a limited number of kits to knit either (or both!) of mine and Kirsten’s designs, please pop over to the Juniper Moon Farm Shop. Or, if you’d just like…