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    The West Highland Way - Kate Davies

    • By Kate Davies

      Knit, Read, Walk: The West Highland Way

      Kate Davies and Tom Barr live by Scotland’s best-loved long-distance walking route: the West Highland Way.

      In this collaborative creative project they celebrate their home, their workplace, and the landscape which inspires them every day. Kate began by creating a collection of twelve hand-knit designs, each with its own distinctive story to tell.

      Balanced equally between garments and accessories, you might choose to knit a tweedy cardigan which echoes the mossy palette of Conic Hill, a delicate jumper recalling a favourite plant found on Rannoch Moor, or a shawl sparked by the energy of the Highlands’ first “electric village”.

      Each design is paired with an exploratory essay which sets Kate’s designs and inspiration in their richer context.  From Rob Roy’s romantic (mis)representation to the beautiful songs of Donnchadh Bàn; from Loch Lomond’s built environment to ways of seeing Rannoch Moor, Kate’s writing reveals the West Highland Way as, first and foremost, a social landscape with an important cultural history. Kate’s words and designs are accompanied by Tom’s stunning photography, depicting the West Highland Way in all seasons of the year. 

      Why not turn these pages to walk, read and knit with Kate and Tom? Open up this book, join them on their journey, and make your own West Highland Way.

      Print book plus complimentary digital download. 

    • Paperback:
      128 pages

      Dimensions:
      26 x 21 x 1 cm

      Publisher:
      Kate Davies Designs

    • My name is Kate Davies. I live by Scotland’s West Highland Way where I love writing, knitting walking, and swimming in the wonderful landscapes that surround me. I find that each of these activities has a creative and a critical dimension and the best of possible worlds is one in which I productively combine them all.

      Knitting is one of my greatest loves, and in 2010 (when a stroke at the age of 36 ended my academic career)  I began Kate Davies Designs (KDD) creating digital patterns for hand knitters. The business lent me a platform to combine my skills in research, writing and design, and rapidly grew into a small publishing company through which I began to produce my own books. In Colours of Shetland (2012), Yokes (2014), Buachaille: At Home in The Highlands (2015), The Book of Haps (2016), Shetland Oo (2016), Inspired by Islay(2017), Happit (2017), West Highland Way (2018) Shore (2018) and Milarrochy Heids (2018) I bring my passions for historical writing and practical creativity together.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing knitters all over the world enjoying my books and making and wearing my designs.