Our Free Shipping starts tonight.....

From midnight tonight, FREE SHIPPING on the Gather online shop to all New Zealand addresses with purchases over $55, and all overseas addresses for purchases over $100.  Have a browse.....

Free Shipping on the Gather ONLINE store...

This GLOBAL free shipping offer begins on 1 November and runs for 1 week only on the Gather online store.

New Summer Collection

Linen/Cotton knits, out in stores now, at all Taylor Boutiques, Aroha & Friends, Pappilon Boutique and Est in Melbourne.  Each piece is handmade in my New Zealand workshop.
Images from Taylor Boutique online store.

Peppermint Magazine Feature

I am featured in this month's issue of Peppermint Magazine's article on NEW KNITTING, which also features Swedish Designer Sandra Backlund, who I exhibited alongside at the RMIT Endless Garment Exhibition.  The story includes a great full page image of my studio.

CONSTRUCTION KNITTING for CLECKHEATON

The Nikki Gabriel for Cleckheaton pattern is now available on the Gather online shop here, or as a complete knitting kit here.  The kit includes the pattern and yarn required to make complete garment from small to large.

Gather Online Shop

The Gather Online Shop is updated with new goodies: Hanging Macrame for Plants and Vases and Textiles from Paris designer Sophie Digard.

It's Spring again at GATHER

Kim from Lushka Flowers has created this 'wildflower installation' in our new hanging macrame at Gather.  She turned up with a big bucket of wild jasmine, roses, lavender, poppies, cornflower, grasses and other pretty stuff to conjure some Spring magic in the shop.  Imagine the scent in here - it's really wonderful.  The macrame will be on the Gather online shop soon, if you're inspired by this idea for yourself.

CONSTRUCTION NO.4 in ONLINE SHOP

My Triangle Knitting Project: Construction No.4 pattern is now available to purchase on our Online Shop, and WOOLI is back in stock.  I'm so excited about this pattern, particularly because it has the free additional Annex to it, which is an extra pattern to creatively use more triangles, with an embellishment project making braids and tassels. Construction No. 4 garments require 15mm knitting needles, and the annex requires 25mm knitting needles to make. 

Melbourne Workshops

This workshop is sailing along beautifully; it's proven that 2 days is a good length of time for attendants to really explore the idea of customizing their Construction Knitting Pattern.  So the Hellenic Republic is a few doors down for the best value lunch in town (a $12 lunch box special of 3 courses), and possibly the best coffee in town right next door at the Brunswick East Project.  It's my second last day in Melbourne, and I'm soaking up every bit in while I can.

In Frankie

In the new issue of Frankie you will find a free pattern for the Gnome Hood; which is our little teaser to get you inspired for the Construction No. 4 pattern, which will be launched online soon.  Speaking of online, Frankie seemed to have forgotten to print our website address alongside our extreeeemly generous free pattern offer, but we're hoping the Frankie reader is google savvy enough to find us J!.  I also need to desperately correct the caption that says I "make-to-order-garments"; so No, No, we don't, so pleeease do not email me with this request, ask your aunty or your mum instead!!

DIY Design with DANIEL EMMA

I'm quite a fan of the D.E. product, so when this D.E.(y) workshop popped up I jumped at the chance especially as I'm researching a new type of collaborative design practice called 'participatory design'; where the designer creates the tools and systems for the user to be co-designer, and assemble and adapt the design to their particular needs or taste.  This systems design is now something that is being used for product (see Droog's downloadable design), architecture and implementing new I.T for offices. Well if you're wondering what all this has to do with knitting, the answer is design has to do with everything, and hey, haven't you seen the Construction Knitting projects.  So Daniel Emma created a beautifully laid out set of materials and instructions that we used to make geometric shaped moulds to pour plaster into that made functional objects such a vessel, a magnetic paper weight and a wall hanger, which we then could finish to our liking with paint and and pigments.  D.E. do not consider themselves makers, so the novel experience of this workshop was being involved in their process of design thinking and problem solving, plus they were super generous hosts with their attention. 

Workshop Setup

Unpacked all the materials for the Kits for Construction 2-day Workshops, and set up in this lovely space.  This is a megakit that you get; it includes 6 balls of wool, 2 x pairs of needles, 2 x construction patterns.  Harvest Textiles will be carrying the product range thereafter, in case you don't make it to these workshops.

Construction Knitting Workshops and Walter Van Beirendonck

In Melbourne this week to set up for workshops at Harvest.  My first stop was the Walter Van Berendonck exhibition at RMIT's new Design Hub building.  I exhibited alongside WVB in 2010, at the Endless Garment Exhibition, amongst 9 other designers in this show but I recall being drawn to his work the most.  Seeing a whole body of his work again in this new show, now I know why it speaks to me.  It's that Antwerp culture of independent small practice creative communities, as quoted by Robyn Healy, "known for distinctive creative designs, marketed with little or no advertising.......... a way of thinking about fashion which is highly experimental and speculative design".

Urbis Magazine story on Hawke's Bay

The new Urbis Magazine has a spread on Hawke's Bay featuring it's famous Creatives and our usual haunts; David Trubridge, Leanne Cully, Blackbarn Gallery, and Mister D's (my morning coffee spot). I'm chuffed to get a mention from Aroha & Friends as; Things To Do in the Bay "Shop at Gather for Textiles and Homewares", amongst trout fishing in the Esk River and surf at Waimarama Beach.

For more than a snippet of Hawke's Bay life, follow the House of Aroha blog.