Tag: West Highland Way
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West Highland Way book
Our new West Highland Way book has just been published! I’m rather proud of this collection of thirteen patterns, five of which use our wonderful new Milarrochy Tweed yarn The Craigallian Hat and Mittens The Strathendrick pullover The Còinneach Cardigan and the Shieling blanket The collection also includes four patterns in our original own-brand yarn,…
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winners!
During our West Highland Way club, we ran a couple of competitions: the first for interesting / creative uses of colour, using my Craigallian hat as a template . . . . . . and the second for an original hat design in our new Milarrochy Tweed. This first time I’ve arranged this kind of…
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when the work is done
A book like our recent West Highland Way project involves many different kinds of work for me: when producing a collection I spend time coming up with the design ideas, swatching, knitting, re-knitting, pattern writing, working with Mel (who tests the pattern and produces many samples), working with tech editors (who check my patterns and…
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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…
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bobbles return
One thing I’ve really enjoyed about designing my West Highland Way collection has been playing with new shapes. The Strathendrick jumper is an oversized garment with dropped, skinny sleeves, and the Shieling blanket is created modularly, with each square knitted borders-in, similarly to a hat crown. Meanwhile, this week’s pattern – Rowchoish – features an…
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shieling styling
The question of how to style handknits can be a tricky one. Any knitwear stylist might wax lyrical on the question of just how difficult hands can be (if one doesn’t have a nice mug in the props basket you know those mitts won’t look their best!). In general, I really enjoy thinking about styling…
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Còinneach
Còinneach is this week’s West Highland Way club pattern. Còinneach is the Gaelic word for mossy, and it is also the name given to the famous summit above Loch Lomond – Conic Hill. People who don’t think about the way local names have been anglicised can sometimes be confused by this hill, which is much…
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Strathendrick (and a personal note about modelling)
This week, the West Highland Way Club passes through Strathendrick and Strathblane, close to where I live. I walk through these beautiful valleys (or straths) every single day, enjoying the changing seasons and my surroundings. It is a landscape of great variety: the bare muir blooms with colourful flowers, pasture meets rocky outcrop, and verdant…
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Craigallian
The West Highland Way club has begun! . . . and the first club patterns to be released are the Craigallian mittens and hat. These patterns commemorate the “fire that never went out”, once located near Craigallian Loch at the beginning of the West Highland Way, whose beacon burned throughout the year, whatever the weather.…
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Boxing day jumper
For the past six months I’ve been designing a collection. I have developed the ideas for six garments and six accessories, made swatches, knit prototypes, re-knit prototypes, re-knit again; drawn charts, produced grading spreadsheets, written patterns, re-written patterns, written patterns once again; edited the patterns, styled the designs, and, finally, modelled them myself. I’ve by…