Stitches Galore

Photograph by Alba Turnbull (official wedding photographer - @albaturnbull) This time last year I was putting the finishing touches to my first commissioned design – a bridal cardigan. Claire asked me to design and knit her a cardigan that she could wear on her wedding day and afterwards, that would represent memories of my Mum, who had died the previous year before Claire and Karl were engaged. The cardigan was to be knitted in Shetland wool (my Mum was from Shetland) and was to have specific design elements. We settled on a minimalistic shape, no buttons, no lace, but with beautiful shaping that allowed the drape of the fabric to be appreciated. There were to be fair isle elements (as this was what my Mum knitted). Since the cardigan was to be simple and elegant, I decided that statement cuffs in fair isle would work best. They could stand out as a design feature against the rest of the garment. They would also complement any flowers but also could be hidden behind the hand-held bo...

Almost a year ago, I was busy planning flowers for a very special wedding. My cousin’s daughter, Claire, was getting married and there were to be flowers. Lots of them. I was excited to catch her vision of what she wanted, but also anxious as this was only my second experience of planning and arranging wedding flowers. I worked closely with one of my cousins who, like me, had handled flowers before as we planned out our strategy, which was thwarted once by the coronavirus-COVID19 restrictions (the wedding date had to be moved from July to September) and was shadowed by an increasing number of cases and the potential of further last-minute changes right up to the last few days before the big day. Thankfully everything worked out the day proceeded as planned and was beautiful – but back to the flowers… First up there was the floral arch. Providing the backdrop to the ceremony, this was to be colourful and bright and was to use silk flowers as it had to be transported to the venue thr...