NZ Designer Spotlight: Purl Foundry
Meet Katrina, the designer behind the beautiful Purl Foundry Patterns
For those “OG” Loopine subscribers, you may remember our “Dyer of the Month” series from the lockdown era, well we wanted to extend the spotlight to an NZ Designer this month! 😊
Pattern design is a key part of bringing amazing wool to market (just think Andrea Mowry and Spincycle), and we always love finding new NZ designers! So with that in mind, let us introduce the wonderful Katrina Robinson from Purl Foundry!
Based in Nelson, Purl Foundry has been creating patterns since 2019, and to help highlight her work we’ve compiled a number of beautiful yarn recommendations to compliment Katrina’s patterns.
We hope you find something you like, and if you can, give Katrina a follow on her socials to support the work she’s doing.
Holey Moley Sweater
This beautiful textured sweater features all over eyelet stitches, drop shoulders, crop length, volumous sleeves and balloon cuffs.
The merino/alpaca blend of Sesia Pura Lana Ecologica, the soft heathered fibres of Wild Earth Yarns Aspen Polwart 8ply, or the silky Zealana Kauri are some lovely yarn alternatives. With a bigger needle size and airy fabric, this could work up quickly!
PelongPelong Dress
The Pelongpelong dress (which means “Twinkle twinkle” in the Jeju Islander’s dialect) is knit in the round using a leaf lace pattern from the hem to waist.
This adorable dress would look great in any of our 4ply merino yarns Baby Haven NZ Merino, Wild Earth Yarns Ashley Merino or Sesia Mistral Merino.
The Simple Sweater
A classic relaxed-fit sweater that can be knitted with either an 8ply/DK yarn or a strand of 4ply/Fingering and laceweight yarn held together.
To knit with one strand of 8ply, the Amano Puna Alpaca, KiwiYarn-A Merino DK, Malabrigo Rios or Woolly 8ply are great options. For something a little fluffier, you can opt for the Alpine Possum/Polwarth range, Brushtail 8ply or Happy Go Knitty Āhuru 8ply.
To knit with a strand each of 4ply and lace weight, the Sesia Mistral 4ply pairs beautifully with Sesia Vivienne Mohair or Rowan Kidsilk Haze as you can colour match them while getting a soft halo, or you can try pairing it with the super soft Indiceita Baby Suri or the newly-arrived Lana Grossa Setasuri brushed alpaca/silk blends.
The swatches above are knit using a strand of Sesia Mistral with Sesia Vivienne, and on the right using Indiecita Baby Suri. Take a look at this amazing video by @knittingforolive showing how different colours of the fluff can complement the base colour.
Albizia Gloves
Inspired by the foliage of the Albizia tree, these fingerless gloves create a delicate lace pattern on the top and plain stockinette.
You can knit these gloves with many of our 4ply yarns. Sock yarns could be a great option, such as Alpaca Sox Easy Wash, Rosarios4 Meia, Prosper Sock. For something with a soft halo, try the lovely yak/silk/merino Happy Go Knitty Mardi, Zealana Rimu 4ply, or Brushtail 4ply, or woollen-spun polwarth Wild Earth Yarns Aspen 4ply.
Linear Socks
Keep your feet cozy and warm in this top-down pattern with crisp lines and graceful shaping.
The Linear Socks are knitted in Zealana Cozi and we happen to stock this exact yarn! Some great alternatives are also the Meia sock yarn in beautiful solid colours, the lush hand-dyed Prosper Sock or Alpaca Yarns Sox Easy Wash range.
Love Bomber & Mini Love Bomber
Made with thick yarn on chunky needles, this drop-shoulder cardi knits up in record time, especially if you are knitting the mini pattern for kids!
Make it cosy and fun with the Malabrigo Rasta or Rowan Big Wool Super Bulky.
Make it cosy and fun with the Malabrigo Rasta or Rowan Big Wool Super Bulky.
A bit more about the designer (from her bio):
I started out as a small-time sewing blogger where I posted my makes and shared pattern hack ideas (I still love a good pattern hack). From there, I found work at a local sewing pattern company helping to write tutorials, pattern instructions and respond to customer queries. It was the best job ever! Watching collections come together was fascinating and I loved seeing the design process, the photoshoots, styling and product development. The job was an incredible opportunity that I'm still very grateful for and it made me realise what a great fit that kind of work was for me. So when my role at the pattern company ended in 2018, it was just the push I needed to take a leap and launch Purl Foundry. And here we are! Six years later and I'm still loving it. This is absolutely where I'm meant to be. Of course there are tough days too but I'm so encouraged by seeing knitters empowered to make something beautiful for themselves.
That buzz keeps me going.
— Katrina from Purl Foundry
Katrina has also published a few brand new patterns that we don’t yet carry in-store, which you can check out here: Purl Foundry’s Ravelry Store.
We hope you enjoy the Purl Foundry patterns as much as we have! It’s always inspiring to see local knitwear designers bringing patterns to market.
Happy knitting! 🤗
xx The Loopine Team
xx The Loopine Team
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