Claire-Anne is a textile designer specialising in knitting. Originally from Ireland she has recently graduated from the Royal College of Art and is working from a great little warehouse space in East London. Her work plays with technique and scale creating playful and tactile fabrics for interiors. There is a definite sense of her heritage in the work and wonderful use of colour.

It was very chilly in the warehouse but the tea was warm.

I was always drawing as a kid…   lots of Fashion Wheel and Spirograph! I learnt to knit in primary school and made some jumpers for teddies but that was it. I rediscovered knitting whilst doing a diploma in fashion and then went on to do a degree in Knitted Textiles at Central Saint Martins in London.

I would definitely consider myself a designer/ maker. The making part is crucial to my design process as I mainly design through making and playing with the materials. It’s always exciting to get a new yarn or piece of knitting and to see how it performs, it’s all very hands on! At the moment I am processing every part of my work, but as things progress I will need to outsource. Time has become more of a defining factor as well so I have broken the process down into different stages which I continually refine.

I enjoy the assembly part the most, once all the pieces have been made, as this is when more ideas come. I also like the fact that no two pieces are ever the same.

I would say I approach textiles in quite a sculptural way exploring form and texture through the properties of knit for example circular and tubular knitted fabrics. My textiles samples have always been quite 3D and suggestive of forms so it seemed natural that they would be for product and interiors.

Sure.

I take inspiration from lots of different sources. I look at sculpture, architecture and vintage interiors a lot. I really like the Memphis group for their colour and form and also traditional textiles like Irish lace. As a textile designer, I am always inspired by the tiny details from my everyday surroundings - urban and nature - and translate these into fabrics.

My favourite tool is a darning needle. I use it all the time for joining and grafting pieces of knit together. I've had the same one for over six months now which is a bit of a record!

As a knitted textile designer I am definitely between two worlds. Knitting has so many associations with craft and hobby that as a designer I really need to be pushing the boundaries of knit! There are scores of ladies out there with amazing knitting skills which is a great resource to have - it keeps the production local, provides employment and keeps the industry going on a small level at least.

Favourite colour is definitely yellow. I am a bit obsessed with yellow and am always drawn to it. I have quite a collection of yellow yarn now having spent a lot of time trying to dye the perfect shade. Yellow works great in interiors - a ray of sunshine!

I do look at fashion, especially fashion knitwear. There are lots of great knitwear designers out there like Sandra Buckland, Mark Fast and Vikprjonsdottir and Irish designers like Tim Ryan and Inis Meain Knitwear. I love looking at 80’s knitwear in vintage stores as well as they are always pretty wacky!

I am working on some poufs and cushions at the moment. I think the next natural step is to explore form more. I am hoping to have a large extended family of knitted forms in the future.

Yep, wrapped and ready!