A Q&A with knitwear designer Veronica Shaw of Fishtail

I’m so pleased to introduce you to an amazing knitwear designer Veronica Shaw of Fishtail. Her unique and individual patterns are instantly recognisable to me, and yet they are wonderfully straightforward knits to pick up, with quite a few of her projects being able to be completed in one quick sitting. I have had the pleasure of testing one of her knitting patterns over the Christmas break and found I’d completed my triangle shawl in just two short hours! Veronica is driven by a passion to introduce as many people as possible to the beautiful craft of knitting through her stunning knitwear designs, which in my opinion can be picked up easily by the complete beginner through to the expert crafter.

I want you to get to know this independent knitwear designer as well as I do, so Veronica very kindly agreed to take part in my latest Q&A. You can find Fishtail knitting patterns frequently featured in Let’s Knit magazine and new patterns will be launching on Ravelry very soon, so keep your eyes peeled and knitting needles at the ready…

Fishtail viscose and silk tee top with felted ball ‘pearls necklace’ | Shortrounds Knitwear Continue reading

Knitwear designers 101

Google ‘knitwear designers’ and you get thousands of links directing you to mega fashion houses and large retailers. The large brands that pop into your head every day of the week. Not what I really wanted to see.

When I think of knitwear designers, names like Pam Allen, Jared Flood and Olga Buraya-Kefelian come to mind. Knitwear designers that inspire me to pick up my needles, purchase their wonderful patterns, or even get creating my own. Sadly, Google didn’t agree with me.

I’m not-so-secretly waiting for the day when slow fashion really takes over and these become household names not just for knitters. It’s slowly bubbling under the surface. Non-knitters are beginning to see the influence making-your-own is having over our generation, that even ready-to-wear companies are getting on board. Knowing where your fibres have come from, the farm where the sheep were reared, the dyer that dipped the skeins of wool…the list goes on. And whether I buy my yarn or patterns in the UK or across the pond, provenance is increasingly important for me.

The reward I get from taking time over my own clothing and homewares is entirely the reason I knit. And I’ve rounded up the list of knitwear designers who are (for me) synonymous with the slow-fashion movement.

Michelle Wang

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Ravelry Faves – part 1

After starting my ‘Knitwear Faves’ series, I’ve been inspired to branch out into a new series exclusively on my ‘Ravelry Faves’. I thought I’d share my stash of ‘to knit’ projects, because let’s face it, after four years of full-on knitting I’ve developed quite the list – on an epic scale! Each month, I’ll run through a selection of both free and paid for projects I have on my Ravelry ‘Favourites’ page, starting with these five absolute beauties for this installment.

Gaptastic Cowl – Jen Geigley

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Ridgeway scarf wrap – free knitting pattern

I made something for myself!!! This is a momentous occasion. Not that I don’t love making things for anyone else, but it’s lovely to make something and know I’m going to be the one wrapping up in it. So I really treated myself this time. I invested in two massive skeins of amazingly soft, super chunky Cascade Magnum in my favourite colour Camel, which I picked up online from Loveknitting.com

Ridgeway scarf free knitting pattern - Shortrounds Knitwear Continue reading

Knitwear faves – 08/09

A lot of exciting things happened this week! WOOL AND THE GANG revealed their awesome team-up with Aurélie Bidermann for their new collection, Woolfolk launched their AW15 collection and Bonnie Sennott announced her latest Neckwear KAL!

The previous knitwear faves was dominated by retailers and their new AW15 collections, but I’m pleased to balance the scales with designer/makers leaping forward this week with their handmade patterns and goodies!

Wool and The Gang and Aurélie Bidermann collection

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Knitwear faves – 31/08

Right now, our blog and social media feeds are being filled with up-to-date AW15 knitwear trends. So it’s no wonder that this week’s knitwear faves features some of the most cosy, warming pieces of knitwear. It’s a good mixture of retail and make-your-own this week, so I hope this inspires you to buy or handmake some lovely knits – because these are just heaven! I have a feeling this autumn is going to be a good one.

Free People Split Turtleneck pullover - Shortrounds Knitwear
Image source: Free People

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Half-and-half scarf – free knitting pattern

I was thrilled to be asked to make another garter stitch hat for my friend Sarah. But as well as a hat, she wanted a matching infinity scarf to be paired with it. Challenge on!

half and half hat and scarf set, knitting blog uk,

As much as I love garter stitch, you can have too much of a good thing, and I wanted to create something a little more interesting than a plain garter stitch hat and scarf set. Inspired by this pin on Pinterest back in 2014, I set about recreating a bulkier ‘half-and-half’ pattern myself. It’s a lovely mixture of basketweave and garter stitch, which look like they were made to be knitted together in my opinion. The original pin has me yearning for a mint green scarf now, but I have to push that thought to the back of my mind and get on with more pressing things!

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