On my blog today : Emily Platt of Lost in Knit

Featured on my blog today is the talented up and coming designer Emily Platt of Lost in Knit, who has just launched her first unique Summer Knitwear Collection.

I first met Emily on Facebook when I launched my own Facebook page Knit and Purl Garden earlier this year, and having admired her work and immediately spotted that Emily loves knitting with Rowan yarns, I have been following Lost In Knit ever since!

I always love to hear how people first became interested in knitting and crochet and Emily tells me that like me, she has always loved to make things.  She started cross stitching when she was very little and learnt to knit when she was about 10 – she has loved it ever since:

I always bought the Rowan books that came out each year and have knitted so many things from them.  Then when I went to university I decided that I wanted to focus on knitwear and hand knitted my entire final collection.

Lost In Knit was created in Emily’s final year at university when she decided to create a brand to enable her to share her knitwear designs with the public.  Emily shared her final collection using Facebook and then created her fabulous blog to show more details of her design process and showcase knitwear trends.

You can click on the link and check out Emily’s Twisted Traditions album on Facebook here.

Intrigued as to where the name ‘Lost in Knit’ came from, I received the reply that Emily felt that every knitter would love to get lost in knit so she thought it would be a good name to use.  I can certainly agree with that Emily!

The Lost in Knit Brand is all about creating up to date designs that people want to wear but making them in the traditional way.  Emily loves to experiment in colour and Fair Isles and likes to create fun Fair Isle designs.

This Zebra top really caught my eye.  Its knitted using Rowan Siena.

You can find more details of Emily’s design process on her blog.

Emily describes her new collection as having a fun festival vive for the laid back hippy in all of us.  There is a mix of bright colours and toned down shades used so that it appeals to both the party lover and the chilled out folk.

Emily’s fabulous Palm Tree Knitted top uses Rowan Panama, chosen for its drape and because it is a lightweight yarn, making it ideal for a summer garment.  The palm tree motif uses Rowan Cotton Glace which is available in some gorgeous colours and is perfect for summer stitch texture.

In the photo below you can see the lace stitch on the back of the top, which has been knitted in two parts to overlap.

The next top in the Summer Collection features an amazing neon pink and orange yarn from Bettaknit, an Italian Company with an interesting Be Kind philosophy.

I was keen to discover where Emily gets her inspiration from when she starts to design something new and she told me that she does a lot of trend research by looking at what is in the shops and also what will be in the shops next year.  Emily likes to see what people are currently wearing  and looks at a lot of street style blogs – looking at colours is really important to her when first designing to make sure that she gets the right feel for the collection.  The yarn also needs to fit into the trends that are coming through on the catwalk and high street.  You can check out Emily’s regular Knit of the Day posts on her blog where she regularly shares her inspiration with her readers.

I asked Emily which was her favourite piece that she had designed:

I think that my favourite piece is a top that I designed for my final collection at university.  It is a Fair Isle top with a women knitted on the front.  I loved developing the top and working with the yarn and how it came about.

Having noticed straight away how much Emily loves Rowan Yarns, I asked her what it was that she particularly liked about Rowan, and which was her favourite yarn and why.

I love working with Rowan yarns as the yarns are always the highest quality and there is such a range of different yarns and colours to work and experiment with.  Each season Rowan brings out an exciting range which wants me to start designing straight away.  I’m really excited to start working with the new Thick ‘n’ Thin yarn this season.

I’m a big fan of Rowan’s new Thick ‘n’ Thin yarn and you can read Knit and Purl Gardens review here if you are interested.

Emily considers her favourite Rowan Yarn to be Drift.  She loves the different colours in the range and the different tones that each yarn has.  When knitted, its really warm and the best thing to wear on a cold night.

Emily hopes to continue creating her own designs and build her Folksy shop.  She is planning to start exhibiting at Fairs next Spring and in the future she would love to have her designs published.

Do check out Emily’s Lost in Knit Facebook page.

You can find Emily’s Summer Collection in her Folksy Shop  http://folksy.com/shops/LostinKnit

where you can purchase one of her amazing one of a kind knits.

If you are interested to find out more you can also read this fabulous review from Konrad:

http://knittingkonrad.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/let-the-sunshine-in-with-the-designs-of-lostinknit-by-emily-platt/

Good luck Emily,  I can’t wait to see your autumn/winter collection!