Sustainable KNitwear
if you missed the initial description about what sustainable knitwear is all about you can read that back on the ventures page.
but if you're coming here from there — welcome!
the idea for the venture into this kind of knitwear came from my pursuits and interest in recent years into the art of slow, mindful and intentional living.
(if you want to read more about slow living you can do so here)
what was i consuming?
what was i allowing into my life?
what was i saying, unknowingly or otherwise, with the things that i used and wore and bought on a daily basis?
i not only wanted to practice more mindfulness in these areas in my every day life, but also find a way to embody that in my art.
i’ve been knitting for about 17 years, and designing collections for a living for five of those years.
however it wasn’t until i started pursuing a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle as well as educating myself on fast fashion, that i thought about how my knitwear played into that. i realized i had no idea how the yarn i used for my collections was made, where it came from, what affect it had on the environment or even whose pocket my dollar was going into when i bought it.
this bothered me.
that, along with attending a local fiber festival in the spring of 2014 and learning how to spin yarn, set into motion my pursuit of being involved in every phase possible of the construction of a piece of my knitwear.
if i don’t personally source the wool from a farm i’ve visited and built a relationship with, take it to the a mill to be processed (or process it in my own home) and spin it into yarn myself, i take great lengths to make sure the yarn is sourced and made by a similar minded fiber artist.
see a video of how i process a raw fleece from start to finish in this video.
while it’s my dream to one day learn how to shear sheep myself and maybe even own a few (insert all of the sheep emojis here), i am content with being as much involved in the process of the “sheep to sweater” idea of my knitwear as i can be in this current season of my life as i live in the city.
i’ve also been experimenting and learning about the incredible art of natural dying and will occasionally add that as an element to a special piece.
collecting flowers, lichen, moss, plants, and other found materials to form dyes that only add to the natural beauty that can be created when using natural resources.
as a result of this process, each piece is one-of-a-kind and a work of art in and of itself.
each caries with it a story that has many chapters, each of which is very much apart of me and my journey as not only a knitwear designer but a traveler, photographer, and an artist.
presently, pieces are available for purchase through the Folkling instagram page as well as my Etsy shop.
i also do custom orders and commissioned work so if you have an idea shoot me an email!
check out some of the process of creation in the gallery and video below.
