Come and join us at Origin 22nd – 28th September 2011 and be the first to see the new collection – ‘East Isle’.

‘Far East Fair Isle’ follows on themes from my final MA RCA show exploring a printing process which fades and distorts colour and draws inspiration from my travels to the Himalayas and my love for traditional knitting ‘Fair Isle’ patterns.

More info to follow soon but in the meantime here’s a sneek peek:

It has been an exciting journey working with a variety of talented creatives to get this project off the ground. First of all I would like to thank Tait and Style with whom I have been working in collaboration to establish the collection. I met Ingrid Tait in 2007 when I spent a month in Orkney as an intern at Tait and Style. We stayed in contact ever since and it has been a fantastic opportunity to work with her again and combine our shared passion for colour, pattern and wool.

I would also like to say a special thank you to the amazing photoshoot team who had an early start last week – photographer Rick Hanley, Toni and Guy’s Essensuals hair stylist Claire Higgs, make-up artist Laura Keen and models Elena, Suzanna and Gemma.

The amount of support and encouragement throughout this project has been overwhelming and a lot of love goes out to Tim Greaves, Mum and Dad, Jelly, Mary Restieaux, Angela Hunt, Trudie Middleton and Sue Clarke.

I’m excited to announce that I have been invited to take part in Wool Week in Shetland – 10th – 16th October 2011.

Shetland has a very special place in my heart. Last year I spent five weeks working and living in Shetland where I taught Knitted Textiles on the BA Contemporary Textiles course at Shetland College. Shetland, in my opinion, is the spiritual home of knitting. Dotted throughout the island are knitting factories, designer knitwear outlets, wool brokers and yarn spinners with plently of opportunities to purchase traditional Fair Isle ganseys and Tam hats or Shetland wool and patterns to make your own. If, like me, you are fascinated by traditional knitting techniques, vintage knitting samples and the history of the knitting industry in Shetland then the Shetland Museum is worth a visit for all knitting enthusiasts. The knitting archive is a must see.

I am very much looking forward to visiting Shetland again in October and to be a part of Shetland Wool Week.

August is a busy month getting ready for Origin in September. I am currently artist in residence at Jelly.The Jelly take on empty shops, office spaces and buildings within the town centre and turn them into pop-up galleries, workshops and music venues. They have kindly allowed me to take over part of the ground floor of a disused pub – The Coopers Arms in the centre of Reading where I can paint my scarves. It has been very enjoyable working on the scarves for Origin in this amazing and unusal space.

Thank you Suzanne at Jelly for all your support and encouragement.