Tanya Evans-Lawes: ‘Ropes And Ladders’

BA (Hons) Fashion Knitwear and Knitted Textiles, Nottingham Trent University

Knitwear designer Tanya Evans-Lawes has fuelled her graduate collection with twenty years of hand knitting experience and a particular interest in Fair Isle and Ganseys. Enjoying the technical side of garment making and fabric creation, Tanya has explored Stoll and Shima Seiki knitting techniques alongside her hand-crafted making. Victorian photographs by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe of fishermen and their knitting families in Whitby (where Tanya used to live) formed her initial inspiration.

Re-purposed knits such as Fair Isle from Shetland and sone Ganseys have been combined with hand knit techniques such as ‘steeking’ to secure and cut the knits, piecing and patchworking them together in unusual ways. Lace developments on Shima Seiki machines are combined with laying in techniques to emulate the feel of woven fabrics.

Fibre choice was inherent to the origin of Tanya’s project, “It was important for me to use only wool. When knitting a collection inspired by the traditional knitting of the British Isles it seemed appropriate. I enjoyed using 5 ply Gansey yarn as it’s spun to be durable and almost feels like cotton.”

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