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We’ve baked a standout sourdough, perfected a gold-star skincare regime and bashed out loaf upon loaf of banana bread. Keen to find a new pastime to perfect? These DIY knitting kits are sure to lift your lockdown lethargy. Needles at the ready!
Para Moda
‘Knitting encourages a real connection between the brain and the hands,’ says Benedicte Holmboe, founder of Copenhagen-based knitting label Para Moda. Holmboe, who specialised in men’s knitwear design at the RCA in London, graduating in 2012, and has worked for Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney and Celine, launched her label in November 2019, after being asked multiple times by strangers where her own knitted jumpers were from. The brand specialises in DIY knitting kits for beanie hats, bibs and sweaters in tones including zesty orange and bordeaux, meaning you can start with a simpler pattern and work your woolly way up. ‘Many of the people that try out my products come back again,’ Holmboe says. ‘I’ve had people reach out to me as far as New York and San Francisco.’
Hesperios
Click on a knitwear design on the website of Harlem-based label Hesperios, and in the coming weeks, you’ll find an option to add an Artist Knit Kit to your chosen woolly warmer. These kits – featuring darning needles and 25 yards of colourful yarn – allow shoppers to customise their chosen knit with stitch formations of their choice. In celebration of the launch, the label has also enlisted 20 artists – including Jim Drain, Mengly Hernandez, Stella Berkofsky and Isa Killoran – to interpret a trio of its knitted designs with colourful yarns. These designs will be returned to the brand throughout the year, photographed and then sold on the Hesperios website. Your own DIY designs will have collectible status too. Once Hesperios' knitwear inventory sells out online, it will not be replaced.
Mother of Pearl x Wool and The Gang
British label Mother of Pearl is steadfast in its commitment to sustainability. Its mindset is shared by Wool And The Gang, a brand that celebrates craftsmanship-focused, slow fashion with its range of knitting and crochet kits, spanning the best blankets, bags, snoods, and sweaters for DIY enthusiasts. Now, the two eco aficionados have woven together their worlds with the launch of a knitting kit for Mother of Pearl's signature ‘Blake’ cardigan, an oversized slouchy style which fastens with a faux pearl-strung gold safety pin. The ‘Blake Original’ kit is a patterned XL houndstooth version for those with knit know-how, and the ‘Blake Minimal’ is a classic simplified pattern for burgeoning knitters. Both are available in customisable colourways.