Tag: research

  • An egg at Easter

    An egg at Easter

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    The inspiring work of Venetia Newall

  • a chat with Nicole Pohl

    a chat with Nicole Pohl

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Nicole tells us more about her work on the women of the Bluestocking circle

  • the fabric of memory

    the fabric of memory

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Do you dream in textiles?

  • Etac and me

    Etac and me

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    One of Handywoman’s central themes is the importance of tools and made-things in everyday life. I have a different, and much more nuanced, understanding of well-designed tools and objects post-stroke simply because my own physical deficits forced me to notice, and to reflect upon, how such objects addressed (or often failed to address) my body…

  • thankyou, KCG

    thankyou, KCG

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    A few weeks ago, I visited the home of the UK Knitting and Crochet Guild – a fantastic organisation that exists to support and promote the crafts of knitting and crochet. The KCG is supported entirely by charitable donation, and is staffed by a group of wonderful volunteers, who administer a growing international membership; organise…

  • Have you knit this pattern?

    Have you knit this pattern?

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Do you recognise this pattern? Did you knit it or do you know someone who did? You may know it as Patons 893, or 1085, or H283, or simply as the tree of life pattern (under which name it is still being sold today on eBay). Did you knit it, or receive it in its…

  • generosity

    generosity

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    What an amazing week I had in Shetland! It was a complete privilege to see and talk to so many amazing knitters, who generously shared their work and thoughts with me. Mary Kay, at the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers, shows us an incredibly fine lace shawl, knitted in Unst around 1930. Joan…

  • Brilliant women

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Hello! I’m back again after a fantastic (and productive) couple of weeks research. I’ve had an amazing time in Sweden and Shetland, but what has really stood out to me about this past fortnight is the number of brilliant women whose company and conversation I’ve enjoyed. It has been a very long time since I’ve…

  • A conversation with Hélène Magnusson

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    (Hélène, Hiking and Knitting between Fire and Ice, against the spectacular backdrop of Eyjafjallajökull.) When I visited Iceland I had the very great pleasure of finally meeting Hélène Magnusson, whose research and designs I have admired for many years. I visited Hélène in her lovely home in Reykjavik, where we drank tea, ate some delicious…

  • a day at Gawthorpe

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Some days I wake up and I feel massively, incredibly lucky to have somehow landed here, in this curious new life, as a designer of hand-knits. Last Thursday was one of those days. Because I had been invited — along with Debbie Bliss , Jane Ellison, Claire Montgomerie, and Emma Varnam — to visit Gawthorpe…

  • heading north

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I’m packing my bags for a trip to Shetland! Its been a while, and I’m itching to be back. I’m particularly excited this time, as I’m about to begin a new research project. Here’s a hint of the kinds of things I’ll be exploring. . . . These are details from a recent vintage find…

  • my kind of day

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Familiar paths. An archive within walking distance. Happy hours spent researching old things. Food for thought.