And ƤREPP]ŷ
The last word
Meet Alexa Ludeman, who creates fab family
designs with Emily Wessel as Tin Can Knits
Who taught you to knit?
Emily learned from her aunt when she
was young and I learned from a book. I
told my Mum when I was 15 I wanted to
learn to knit and she was always super
supportive of all crafty endeavours so she
picked me up a stitch dictionary, needles,
and yarn and away I went!How did you come to form Tin Can Knits?
We met while working at a yarn shop in
Vancouver. We had the big idea to write
a book of patterns together and it was
so much fun we did it again... and again!
Actually, Emily suggested something
reasonable like “we should design a
pattern together” and I said “NO! We
should do a WHOLE BOOK”. That’s pretty
indicative of how things go with us, one
partner has an idea and the other takes
MXXSXLIRI\XPIZIPCan you describe your design style?
I’d say we are going for a modern riff on
a classic. We are both drawn to things
that are fun to knit; things that aren’t toofussy, but with maximum effect. One of
our favourite recent designs for little ones
is the Beloved Bonnet – it’s minimal, but
has carefully considered details, and is a
pleasure to knit.What do you enjoy about designing for
babies and children?
The size! Kidding, kidding, but it is nice
to have a wee sweater just fall off the
needles. There is something wonderful
about being able to dress your little one
in a hand knit sweater, knowing they are
wrapped in warm wool with a lot of love
knit in. I can also view my handiwork,
unlike when I knit for myself! We love
to work out design ideas on little size
sweaters, before grading the pattern over
our ‘baby-to-big’ size range. Our designs
for Strange Brew, our colourwork yoke
GSPPIGXMSR[IVIORMXMRPMXXPIWM^IWƤVWXHow do you choose your colours?
I think all colours look great on babies,
soft pastels, bold brights and neutrals
too. We aren’t fans of the intense ‘pink
is for girls and blue is for boys’ we are
inundated with. It’s fun to hit the stash
and pull out whatever inspires!What are your favourite baby yarns?
For my own kids I knit with anything and
everything (I just hand wash my knits),
but if I’m gifting, I use superwash wool,Find Alexa and
Emily and view more
of their stunning
designs at http://www.
tincanknits.comthat way it won’t be destroyed if a parent
tosses it in the wash.Do you think there are any new trends
emerging in baby knits?
I am seeing a colour expansion for sure.
Sometimes a simple classic sweater can
get a bit of an update in a new palette.
Knitting for babies is exciting because
it’s a small project, and you can try
something new. If you haven’t done lace
or cables before, you can try them out
and see whether you like them.What’s next for you?
More designs for sure! We are always
working on something exciting and new- because the next project/design is
always more exciting than the one on the
needles, right?!
This stunning sweater
comes in sizes from
newborn through to adult!Their designs often use
texture and colourwork
to great effectBaby knits are ideal
for trying out new
colour combos!