Beginnings
I grew up in the countryside of County Armagh, Northern Ireland, surrounded by horses, hens, sheep, cats, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs. This immersion of nature and animals has been a big influence on my work.
My Granny and Mum were and are great makers. My Granny was a prolific hand knitter and as well as making beautiful cardigans for me (I love cardigans!) she also made all the hand knitted jumpers for my BA Fashion degree show.
My sisters and I grew up with my mum making Clothkits outfits for us in the 1970’s and 80’s as well as the occasional party dress. She now produces beautiful ceramics at home in Downpatrick, N Ireland. With two such great role models how could I not be inspired to be creative!
I have always loved textiles and design - I studied fashion in Belfast before moving to London to take a place at the Royal College of Art on the fashion menswear course. I went on to design for, amongst others, Levi's European design team in Brussels where I had the opportunity to travel extensively and work with manufacturers in Europe and Hong Kong
RCA Collection
Work for Levis
I love knitwear - the colours and textures and wool as a fibre are all things that bring me joy, but I have never really been a knitter. Machine knitting to me is creating a fabric to which you can add pattern or create 3 dimensional shapes - I think this comes from my fashion training. I did modules in machine knitting while at art college and always loved it. Much later, having worked in the fashion industry and had my 3 young children, I decided to do a term at Morley College in London in experimental machine knitting. At this point I was doing it with a view to making knitted fabric to upholster with (another passion of mine!)
It was from here that I got my own knitting machine and started working with pattern and colour and making small dolls and toys. I opened an Etsy shop, which led to attending craft fairs and makers markets and suddenly I seemed to have a small business. Crafty Fox Market was a great starting point for me and continues to be a great support for small businesses offering a selling platform, marketing and advice.
Since those early days I have gained more machine knitting skills and along with working with talented knitters and manufacturers I have increased my range to include hats, scarves, gloves, cushions and blankets and have sold to shops and galleries such as Selfridges, The British Library and The British Museum.
