KNITTED TEXTILE AWARDS

2009 WINNERS

Click here for the 2009 Finalists

Congratulations to all the Finalists whose work was selected to appear in The National Knitted Textile Showcase at both Alexandra Palace and Harrogate. The feedback from all the judges and visitors alike was extremely complimentary and as ever this year's work has been truly exceptional.

The judges involved in the initial selection process and the showcase judges were: Sandy Black, Erika Knight, Debbie Bliss, Sasha Kagan, Jean Moss, Emma Kennedy, Nicky Epstein and Ruth Lee.

For the first time this year, we have included some individual 'Highly Commended' acknowledgements which have been endorsed by renowned designers and authors including Louisa Harding, Sasha Kagan and Jean Moss.

In total, over 100,000 people visited the Knitted Textile Award showcase at Alexandra Palace and Harrogate and viewed this stunning showcase.

Winners:

Winner of the Gold Award went to Anna Wilkinson, Silver to both Te Chien and Harriot Smith and Bronze to both Helen Metcalfe and Patimarkorn Tangsakul.

The following finalists were awarded Highly Commended: Laura Wooding - Jean Moss Award, Laura Walsh - Sasha Kagan Award and Angela McBride- Louisa Harding Award.

All the finalists work will be included in Knitting magazine.

Highly Commended

2009 FINALISTS

Pandora Bahrami	Georgina Bavalia	Emma Beischer
Nottingham Trent University	Nottingham Trent University	Bath Spa
I looked at my Iranian heritage for the inspiration of my collection. In particular the way metal coins were used in traditional Iranian clothes. I designed body conscious dresses as the female body is heavily censored in Iran. My collection shows the contrast and conflict between my Iranian and British background.	My collection explores the relationship between hard technology and soft fashion. This is illustrated by the use of stretch sensor and LED circuit technology within one garment to create a soft electronic wearable. The concept of developing a technological and functional textile that has an unexpected fashion aesthetic influenced my collection. The stretch sensor technology informed the novel yarn choices, from nylon coated elastic; nylon monofilament and metallic lurex. The technology and idea of the circuit also inspired the innovative vertical tube stitch and fabric development, to create a forward thinking, innovative fashion collection	Hand Knitting and the domestic cat are the combined themes for these jumpers. I took the connotations of these themes that are typically linked to subvert them into non typical garment forms. Based on illustrative drawings of my own cats and the mixing of colour, imagery, shape and yarns, these combine to create juxtapositions and explore my interest with the versatility of knitwear.

Sarah Burton	Te-Chein Chen	Karin Coley
Manchester Metropolitan University - School of Art	Central Saint Martins	Chelsea College of Art and Design
My knitwear collection came about through studying the drape and contours found within imagery of ropes and knots, and also looking at the neat silhouettes of uniforms. This developed into an exploration of how the body can be enhanced and adorned using techniques such as fringing, knotting and plaiting, adding movement to my designs.	The aim of this project was to explorenew ideas in fashion knit and to develop and create 3 Dimensional knitted fabrics. I have used soft repeats on my fabrics to achieve the sensation of Melody. The scenery of a factory site in London has been my point of interest and inspiration. On the site I have found objects such as metal, pipes, pipe's handles and vacuum tubes (valves) which I considered that they resemble string and pipe instruments. From this thought I have developed ideas on fabric effects and shapes of dress. The collection presents very high quality sculptural shapes and metal effects of colour range.	'Wish you were here' is a youthful and fun women's wear collection - capturing the care-free feeling and excitement of being on holiday. Inspired by the bright colours of fishing boats in San Francisco Bay, Santa Monica Pier and the beach huts in Brighton and Hove, the fabrics allude to sun-kissed beaches and a myriad of sea blue.

Mirinae Hong	Angela McBride	Helen Metcalfe
Central Saint Martin College of Arts and Design	Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design	Winchester School of Art
Modernization in re-orie nting fashion My works are inspired by my origin, Korean beauty and culture. I reinterpret about Korean Geisha's fashion stories into my ideas, so those are classic, splendid, but also steady, elegant, charming and interesting, as I have put the meaning of 'modernization' into re-orienting fashion. Because my Geisha, who lives in this century, suggest the new developed fusion ideas.	The inspiration for my work was largely based on my own photographs which were taken while on a trip to Paris exploring the cities various flea markets. I was excited by the concoction of colour, texture and pattern that I encountered and liked the idea of finding inspiration in peoples old and unwanted bric-a-brac as I am a firm believer in taking something old and giving it a modern twist. I also drew on inspiration from key British trends from the 60's and 70's, such as, the Mod and Skinhead styles which has resulted in the design of garments for a modern, urban menswear market.	A luxury menswear collection inspired by forgotten elements found around my grandparent's farm: old chains, tyres and bizarre machinery, amongst which I found a vast range of unexpected colour, pattern and texture. I have explored traditional hand knit techniques, creating my own new structures which I've translated into a range of chunky garments, paired with fine gauge flashes of colour.

Beatrice Newman	Lois Porte	Jenny Ellen Postle
De Montfort University	University of the West of England	Central St Martins
My collection is based on the opulence of empires, the Russian Tsars and the book 1001 Arabian nights. The collection uses embellishment, pattern and prints from palace interiors and Russian carpets and relies on the mix of various luxurious yarns in diffusible textures to create elegant and contemporary fashion pieces	My collection uses the varied colours, patterns and textures of moths as its inspiration. These themes translate particularly well to knitwear. I have developed my principal structural ideas from the forms of the abdomen and wings of the moths. I have explored the many different textures achievable by using different gauges of knitted fabrics. I decided to use a large colour palette as I wanted to focus on varied patterns and clashing colours to add vibrancy and a strong visual identity to my collection."	'Illusions' is a project which does not focus on the literal definition of the word, but instead draws upon the colours, shapes and moods created by it. Textiles have been formed out of a desire to work graphically with knit and translate the striking patterns and feel of the theme into this craft.

Francesca Samm	Harriot Smith	George Strood
Nottingham Trent University	Winchester School of Art	Bristol UWE
Biologically Engineered Womenswear knitwear collection inspired by the future of human evolution - the idea of digital data taking over the human form. Lightweight, simple silhouettes with graphic yet soft pastel geometric patterns. Knitwear for everyday wear - yet with an unexpected futuristic element of hidden glow in the dark patterns.	Inspired by teacups, the porcelain white structure and the floral, intricate edges inform the development of my knitted fabrics. Porcelain from teacups becomes a material in my collection, forming buttons, jewellery and collars to create a diverse collection of garments and accessories. Exploring Victorian period clothing introduces elements of shape, structure, fabrics and construction, with the combination of a variety of techniques, fine gauge, CAD and crochet.	My collection draws inspiration from 'decades of elegance and fashion' , mainly the 1920's. I studied vintage hand knit patterns and classic underwear to form the structure to my designs. I then experimented with hand knitted textures, techniques and yarn variations, such as knotted and knitted strips of jersey to create a contemporary fusion of style.

Patimarkorn Tangsakul	Laura Walsh	Anna Wilkinson	Laura Wooding
Buckinghamshire New University	Chelsea College of Art and Design	Winchester School of Art	Buckinghamshire New University
Throughout this project my design inspiration has come from traditional embroidery stitches. This included incorporating and combining traditional handcraft with knit techniques, both working together to explore various skills with a wide range of materials. The colour pallet was inspired by my personal love for landscape and sunset scenery. With my love of these colours. I combined stripe designs into a possible colour combination which was a challenging process, but with these challenges I wanted to show that it was achievable	These knitted illustrations have been developed using traditional craft concepts such as Fair Isle knitting and American samplers. The use of illustration is essential in my work so I have tried to represent this in my work, such as knitted lined and graph paper. I have used fashion elements such as sleeves, pockets and ribs and adapted them into these knitted illustrative interior pieces to create elements of charm and humour.	My work is heavily influenced by old textiles and traditional hand knitting techniques. Inspired by individuality and style, my work is a collection of fairly simple and yet flattering garments, with lively combinations of colour and pattern. A quirky and very British collection with vintage styling has been motivated by a fascination with Edie Beale, from the "Grey Gardens" documentary. Her description of the clothes she wears not just as outfits, but "costumes", has encouraged me to celebrate this approach to dressing without inhibitions	My journey took me took through an investigation of natural flower forms; it was my intention to re-create the volume and softness of densely packed flowering blooms. I used macrame to aid the process, both structurally and decoratively. The abstract cyclical structure of multiple blooms was created by employing a domestic knitting technique with lambswool yarns.