Shetland – KDD & Co

sunday links

a documentary, an exhibition, an EP, and 49,000 pairs of early nineteenth-century stockings

Colour by Ella

Shetland shades sing in harmony in the work of Ella Gordon

“where our brains and the universe meet”

By: Kate Davies Designs January 18, 2023

allover club, color, colour, Shetlandallover, allover club, color, colour, creativity, design, Donna Smith, featured, knitting, palette, Shetland, yarn14 Comments

Donna Smith talks about colour

Terri Laura talks colour

colour personalities and practical steps to plan a pallette

There is no getting away from the fact that, whatever business you are in, this year has been a very weird one. Having to change the nature and direction of what you are doing – often very rapidly – is never an easy thing, and this year there have been so many of those changes.…

a cowslip hap

By: Kate Davies Designs May 1, 2020May 1, 2020

knitting, yarnblocking, featured, hap, knitting, Lace, Lynsey Walters, Milarrochy Tweed, shawl, Shetland, Shetland Lace, The Observatory, yarn27 Comments

Hello! Friday is project reveal day, and up today is a light and simple knit I’m really enjoying wearing at the moment – The Observatory. I originally created this design for our West Highland Way book, building the pattern around one of my all-time favourite Shetland lace edgings. This edging has a wonderful, intuitive rhythm,…

reminiscent

By: Kate Davies Designs January 6, 2020January 14, 2020

amazing knitters, Shetland, Warm HandsChihiro Sato, featured, knitting, Shetland, Shetland knitting, Shetland Lace, Warm Hands3 Comments

It’s a real pleasure to introduce today’s designer to you – Chihiro Sato. Chihiro’s an experienced knitwear designer who lives and works in Tokyo, but her inspiration comes from Shetland, its landscape, its culture, and its knitting. Bringing traditional patterns, interesting construction methods, and a fresh and distinctive take on colour together, Chihiro is the…

Harriet’s hat

By: Kate Davies Designs May 19, 2019May 19, 2019

ShetlandHarriet Middleton, Harriet's hat, MRI, Shetland, Shetland MRI scanner appeal62 Comments

Have you heard about the Shetland MRI scanner appeal? I know from personal experience just how important MRI scans are, since it was inside one of these machines that my stroke was diagnosed nine years ago. Magnetic resonance imaging is an incredibly important diagnostic tool not just for brain injuries, like my stroke, but for…

Ootlier

By: Kate Davies Designs January 15, 2017May 23, 2017

photographylandscape, ootlier, photography, Scotland, Shetland37 Comments

A few of you have enquired, in the past, about Tom’s photographs, and the possibility of having them printed. I’m pleased to say that Tom has now set up an online gallery where you can view and purchase high-quality prints of many of the images he’s taken. In the gallery you’ll find several of the…

Shetland Oo: making a book

Hello – it’s Tom here – for a change. Kate is busy working on her Islay project, and I’m taking a break today from shipping out orders. I wanted to say thanks so much for your interest in our Shetland Oo book. Apart from being my first major project as a photographer, Oo is the…

Gudrun Johnston & Mary Jane Mucklestone

One of the best things about working in the field of hand-knit design is that it really is an industry which abounds with good eggs. In my view, two of the very best eggs around are Gudrun Johnston and Mary-Jane Mucklestone: great friends, talented designers, and Shetland enthusiasts. Gudrun spent her early years in Shetland,…

GlobalYell / Shetland Tweed Company

Shetland abounds with wonderful creative spaces, but surely one of the most inspiring has to be the charity that Andy Ross has established, nurtured, and developed in Yell. From its beginnings as an organisation focused on music and music teaching, GlobalYell expanded its focus a decade ago to textiles, and to weaving in particular. Over…

Helen Robertson

If you’ve read my introduction to The Book of Haps then you’ll already have come across Helen Robertson – a Shetland artist and craftswoman whose work I deeply admire. Working with silver wire and other precious materials, Helen has developed a uniquely thoughtful aesthetic which celebrates, commemorates and reflects upon Shetland’s history and heritage –…

Shetland Tannery

As part of our work researching and documenting Shetland Oo, this past August, Tom and I met Natalie Cairns-Ratter of the Shetland Tannery. I’d acquired several of Natalie’s beautiful sheepskins on earlier Shetland visits, and was intrigued to learn more about the tanning process, and how her company came about. Small-scale tanning was previously a…

Ninian

Next week (all being well at the printers) we are hoping to release our new Shetland Oo book! For those who don’t know, this is not a book of patterns, but a documentary project in words and photographs exploring the world of Shetland wool. Tom travelled all over Shetland meeting and photographing Shetlanders who work…