Ep 110 - An Interview with Jane Murison of Yarnison

Jane Murison of Yarnison joins the show this week, talking about knitwear design, fish and chips and the urban landscape as an inspiration.

Jane began designing a couple of years ago, and has several knitting patterns now, that are a homage to the post industrial landscape of Manchester, that she sees every day on her walk to work. A UX designer by profession, Jane enjoys bringing together design inspiration, techniques and the user (knitter) experience in her designs. Not one for 'quiet' yarns, she enjoys working with bold colours and neons to create striking pieces.

Her approach to design is to make things that she herself likes to wear, but struggles to find in the mainstream pattern world. This results in quite quirky and recognisable pieces that can be made as bold or as quiet as one desires, depending upon the colours chosen to make the pattern.

One of my favourite of her patterns is the Urban Hero shawl, which was inspired by the neon yellow flashes of hi-vis vests on the builders working all over the city. There is almost constant construction work, and these vests pepper the (often grey, it's Manchester) landscape with pinpricks of colour.

We discussed the juxtaposition of chevron lace, hi-vis and Batman's cape in this pattern and Jane explained how her approach has ben reflected in other designs, such as Boomtown Beanie.

Builders came up again when discussing how the domestic arts and quite traditionally male construction roles are actually very similar skills when you break them down. Plastering is, in fact, exactly the same thing as buttercream icing.

We also discussed the traditional Friday meal that is fish and chips. Eye-opening.

Jane's favourite yarnies to work with are Countess Ablaze, The Knitting Goddess, Five Moons, Riverknits and Rainbow Heirloom.

In terms of tips for embracing the crazy bright and variegated, Jane recommends pairing with a semi-solid or solid, and avoiding too much detail in the stitches, if you want the detail to be seen. Texture can sometimes work well if you are wanting to play with the colour and create unexpected pops, as she does with her Manhole Cover sock pattern.

In terms of designers that make good patterns that are suitable for pairing with variegated yarns, Jane recommends Curious Handmade's Helen Stewart and Martina Behm (Strickmich).

From her own designs, Urban Festival was specifically created to work with the variegated yarns.

You can find everything about Jane's patterns over on Ravelry and she is @Yarnison on Instagram.

Full show notes, images and links for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/110