Designers' Corner

Elsebeth Lavold
July 2009

Summer is always a strange time for me. It starts off with a spurt of activity to get the new fall books to the printer. Then (in most cases) a couple of weeks to recuperate before starting on the book for the following summer, and then the summer ends with a spurt of activity, shooting that summer book. In between I try to spend time with friends and family and do some gardening.  This year was stranger than usual, because I didn't get time to recuperate. Right after sending off the books, I went on to the States to set up our travelling exhibition Knitting along the Viking Trail at the Vesterheim Museum in Iowa.  On my return, I found the first advance copies of ... [read more...]

Debbie Bliss
Happy Holidays!

Dear Knitters, We are now in my favourite time of the year, with crisp , frosty mornings, and dark ,cosy evenings,it’s the perfect time to knit ! I have 2 new yarns for Autumn/Winter, Fez and Donegal Chunky Luxury Tweed. Fez is a stunning camel hair and extra fine merino mix, it knits like a dream, shows stitch detail clearly and the combination of fibres makes it perfect for colour work . The collection of sixteen knits celebrates all of this in cables and texture , Fair Isle and intarsia . Inspired by the textiles of Morocco the designs are photographed in glowing interiors to convey the richness of the colour palette. Following the success of Luxury Donegal Aran I ... [read more...]

Jenny Watson
FALL/WINTER 2009

With summer becoming a distant memory, attention is turned to the fabulous yarns produced for the fall/winter season. This year I have published three new books, all highlighting the fabulous range of yarns and colours produced for Knitting Fever. The inspiration for my first book, an Araucania collection, was taken from my home town of Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The photography was all based in and around the town, including shots by the Cow and Calf rock formation, the side of the River Wharf and outside the famous Betty’s Tea Room. To get more of a feel for this lovely part of the world just read the introduction featured on the inside cover. The ... [read more...]

Leanne Prouse (Ella Rae)
ELLA RAE FALL/WINTER UPDATE 2009/10

Book 17: Luxury Knits A collection for Men and Women using the 'luxury' range of yarns from the Ella Rae Yarn Collection. Gorgeous yarns are always easy to work with and just to feel a ball of yarn that has an amazing mix of fibres is enough to make any knitter go into raptures! Here we add a yarn called 'LATTE', a mix of milk fibre, baby alpaca and microfibre and 'MOCHA' a blend of camel, extrafine merino and kid mohair. Whenever I put a collection together I always keep in mind that when I buy a knitting book I like to think I can knit at least half a dozen (or more) of the projects. There are pillows, socks, scarves, sweaters and cardigans for ... [read more...]

Louisa Harding
AUTUMN WINTER 2009-10

The inspiration for the new collections started as usual with seeing a strange and interesting thing………….. Near where I live is a road called ‘Little Cake’. Every time I pass that road I wonder what could possibly be at the end of it, is it a big cake? Is it a house made out of cake? Could it be the lane to the old village bakery? With this curious question began the ideas for this Autumn Winter’s collections. Taking my lead from Lewis Carrols’ ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and the beautiful landscape around where I live I have combined the idea of childhood fantasy and storytelling with introducing beautiful ... [read more...]

Jane Ellison
FALL/WINTER 2009

 For this season I have designed three books, Noro Men, The Mirasol Accessories Collection Book 6 and The Mirasol Collection Book 7. There are a couple of first times for this season, my first men’s book for Noro and my first accessory book for Mirasol!  Noro Men: I was very excited to be designing my first men’s book for Noro. I enjoy designing for Noro lovers as well as for those who have yet to discover the joy that is knitting with Noro yarns.  In this collection of hand knits I have continued with the same philosophy I apply for all my books, this is to create patterns with no complicated abbreviations or techniques, just straight forward simple ... [read more...]