Love Knitting for Babies - UK (2019-08)

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The last word

Meet Angela Turner, the designer behind

many of our favourite baby patterns...

Who taught you to knit?

Like many people, my mum taught me

to knit when I was young. Knitting was

very common in my family, so it was no

surprise that I caught the bug too!

How did you start designing?

When my baby nieces and nephews

came along I knitted up as many baby

clothes as I could. Once they were grown

up a bit, I looked around for baby charities

to knit for. I stumbled across Bonnie

Babies, who donate premature baby

knits to hospitals. I tried a few different

patterns but was never happy with the

results, so I tried a few designs of my

own. I still didn’t think of myself as a

designer at this time. When I won second

place in a design competition in a knitting

magazine for a little teddy cardigan, I

received a note from the editor wishing

me luck with my designing future. That’s

when I thought ‘why not?’ and continued

to create some more baby knit designs.

But the real beginning of designing

for me was when Love Knitting for Baby

came out. I to wrote to the editor to tell

her how much I loved

the magazine, and

wondered if they would

consider including

one of my patterns.

The loveliest email

came back a few days

later saying that the

magazine would be

honoured to include my design!

Can you describe your design style?

My designs are modern but with a hint

of the traditional at times. I enjoy using

pastel colours but like to use some reds

or deep blues too.

Any advice for a new knitter?

Give yourself time to practise, and then

practise and practise some more; it will

be worth it in the end. Start with small

knits so that you will get the satisfaction

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and then you can work your way on to

larger projects.

Who do you admire in the knitting world?

Where do I start? There are so many

talented people out there. I love the toys

designed by Little Cotton Rabbits and

the bears from Mary Jane’s Tearoom.

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colourful and modern. And I am very

grateful to Lynne Rowe. She is not just

a fabulous designer but someone who

inspires and encourages others.

Favourite yarns for baby knits?

A merino cashmere mix is a favourite for

me when knitting baby clothes. Not only

are they lovely to knit with, the natural

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cosy to wear in the winter as well as cool

on warmer days.

See more of Angela’s designs, and

buy her super-sweet patterns, at

http://www.angelaturnerdesigns.etsy.com

Do you think there are any new trends

emerging in baby knits?

As the everyone becomes more eco

conscious, I feel that the knitting world

will make more progress in this area. We

will see more wool and less acrylic, with

a greater selection of cotton, bamboo

and silk. Knitters will want to know more

about the source of their yarn such as the

breed of sheep it came from and where in

the country it was from.

What’s next for you?

I have so many ideas and patterns to

try that I would love to work full time

on knitting and designing in the future.

I envisage a beautiful workshop in

the garden with full length windows, a

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beautiful yarns and an area set up for

photography! Maybe one day...

Angela Turner (above)

particularly enjoys creating

knits for premature babies

Angela’s sweet

farmyard friends

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