Sheep of Steel

I took a much-needed break from the studio this morning to pop over to Islington and check out this year's New Designers exhibition at the Business Design Centre. There were some beautiful pieces of knitwear on show by various graduates but my main reason for going was to see Irem Arig, who I worked with on the Future Cities project last summer.

She has set up a new collective of UK-based spinners called Sheep of Steel and their HQ, conveniently enough, is just down the road from our own in Dalston. Their mission is to create unique, experimental,  yet beautiful yarns using all manner of fibres, colours and textures. In Irem's own words: the possibilities are endless.

We're hoping to work together again, perhaps on some yarn for A/W 2014 - I am particularly excited about some of the incredible fibres I saw this morning that I have never come across before; banana, soya and corn to name a few. These are all by-products of the food industry which makes them completely sustainable and eco friendly. They are as soft as silk and I can't wait to spin some up and see how they knit.

A welcome distraction

Friday afternoon in the studio:

Sample sale success!

Saturday's sample sale was a roaring success, with people coming by from all over town. The Invisible Line gallery in Dalston looked great and was the perfect venue for our little pop-up. We teamed up with Feather M and, leather & knit being one of my favourite combinations, it was a perfect match. If you couldn't make it down on Saturday, you'll be pleased to hear we still have one or two pieces left over, which can be found in the clearance section of our online shop.

 Ready to start receiving customers...

The sale in full swing:

TV presenter Anita Rani does a spot of shopping:

Click here to see the new A/W 2013 lookbook

Leathery knit

As anyone who knows me will attest, I am a big fan of leather and knit. So imagine my glee when I came across this amazing sweater by Les Chiffoniers. It's leather. It has embossed knitted stitches on the front. It is surely perfect?

Needless to say, it's on the shopping list.

[Image taken from the Les Chiffoniers website].

SAMPLE SALE 27th April

After the huge success of our last sale, we've decided to host another! This time at the Invisible Line gallery on Dalston Lane.
We'll be selling off press samples and stock from A/W 2012, as well as pieces from S/S 2012 and other very lovely knits, all at bargain prices. If the weather refuses to warm up, there's plenty to keep you cosy. If the sunshine suddenly arrives (here's hoping....), we can kit you out in something suitably summery. Here's just some of the pieces we'll have on sale, prices start at £30. Arrive early to avoid disappointment.

New press coverage: Absolutely magazine

Our Arambol shorts feature in this month's Absolutely magazine, on page 31. They're very complimentary about the collection as a whole and had the following to say:

"Knitting is officially cool. Dalston-based knitwear designer Amy Hall’s stylish, hand-knitted pieces are big sellers at Wolf & Badger. She and her team use high quality, predominantly British yarns to knit a wide variety of pieces that go far beyond the simple jumper or scarf, and it’s not all about a winter warmer either. The new collection takes inspiration from Goa, with a yellow Anjuna vest, Hampi joggers, Marari gown and these lilac Arambol shorts (left). It’s knitwear, but not as you know it."

The Nicolette skirt

One of my all time favourite bands is Massive Attack. I listened to them from around 1991 onwards and still can't get enough of Blue Lines. But it was Nicolette's (pictured below) voice that I really loved when I heard her on their second album, 'Protection'. I subsequently bought her album 'Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head' when it came out a couple of years later - which is an amazing, slightly bonkers CD which sounds as fresh to me now as it did when it was released.

The Nicolette skirt is the star piece of the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. A ribbed panel wraps the waist and hips and supports more panels which are heavy, intricate layers of hand crocheted lurex, cashmere and brass chain. It took around 60 painstaking hours to make and the image below does not do it justice! For the time being, you will have to take my word for it that it feels amazing to wear.