LaceMaking

Making lace on a domestic knitting machine for Summer 2003 collection.

Recycled Shopper

I've given some shredded plastic bags a new life.

Artificial Fibres

Not a huge fan of synthetic fibres usually, but I gotta love the colour density and slinkiness of rayon; not a yarn I'd recommend for handmaking either. New designs for Aurelio Costarella S/S09.

CrochetKill

Spring/Summer 03.

Pleat Detail

Variation of the Pleat Theme for Winter 05. Here the pleats are uniform, and the mix of two yarns and felting create some interesting draping.

Pleats

Random pleating and tucking is as much fun as random cabling or lacemaking. Why not!; that's the joy of making by hand, you don't have to repeat the pattern; stuff it up and see what happens! Winter 05.

Rod McNicol

Winter 2006:
Another rare photoshoot opportunity from the elusive Portrait Prize Winner, Rod McNicol.

Aurelio Costarella

Working with the true master, Aurelio Costarella is no easy feat. The development of this latest piece took days handknitting that lace, and many scribbles on the drawing board writing that pattern. Also very sore fingers, there was a lot of ouch manipulating that leather cord into lace (on the collar); But there is joy at the end .......... and relief that it worked.

Knitted Seating

Squashy stripy knit wool beanbag that resembles a giant beanie (felt & leather base), and the striped 'daydreamer' daybed; wooden frame upholstered in knitted wool, on page below; Both were one-off commissions, but I put them into production after they were featured in Vogue Living in 1998. The beanbags are still available to order.

Landscape

I'm inspired by any material I can get my hands on, and any opportunity to doodle outside of 'work' stuff keeps me interested in making. This was once old craftboard from a miniskip bin.

Dreadlocks

This was a bit of an experiment. This technique I developed by a jaquard stitch knitted in wool on a domestic machine; using the wrong side of the knit, I felt it, and the thread floats all matt together. The result was this heavily textured fabric, yet light in weight, and soft. This piece was part of the W03 collection that Rod McNicol photographed; see earlier post: "A Portrait".

Latte Warmers

I think if an egg can do with a cosy, then a latte definately can. This was another commission for Inside Out Mag '98.

Egg Warmers

People have bought these for their grandma's, mum's, brother's & their kids. But just about everyone should have one; the humble egg-warmer. Originally a commission for the launch issue of Inside Out Magazine in 1998, They've thouched the hearts of many I believe.

Akira Isogawa

This experiment captured the imagination of Akira, where he invited me to work with him on a knit collection. It's a distressed cable, which means the cable goes in all different directions, and the stiches inbetween the cables are dropped so just the thread floats hold the cable together. Made on the domestic knitting machine, the fabric turned out to be resilliant and tencile, and the raw slub silk was challenged; as this could otherwise be quite a fragile fabric. This collection was for Akira S/S03.

Lace

This was my very first collection Summer 2002. Knitted on the domestic machine with cotton thread, this was pretty labour intensive, and so became a very limited edition production.

Lovely Lace

My favourite work is handknitting lace; I know its a bit nanna, but I loved this yarn, and thought it was the best way to use it. It's linen wrapped in a polymide, and one could easily mistake it for suede. I also enjoyed sourcing the vintage buckles for this production, and met some charming characters in the 'buckle oldeworld'. This was Summer06.

Marie Claire Hong Kong

This collection caused tears. (research thy material!!). Industrially knitted stainless steel and hand knitted mohair. I was chuffed to have it featured in Marie Claire HK though.

The Madder Dye

I know theres a lot of reference to madness as part of the making. But this process is a joy, I love the natural dye from the root of the madder plant, and use it a lot. This was a collection of silk & wool felted scarfs made back in 2005.