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  • The Book of Haps - Kate Davies

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    • By Kate Davies

      Join Kate Davies, Jen Arnall-Culliford, and a host of renowned designers as they introduce you to the wonderful world of haps.

      A hap is a Scottish dialect word for a simple shawl or wrap. Haps have a particular association with the Shetland islands where, for more than a century, they were knitted for everyday wear as well as for sale.

      Combining textile history with contemporary design, this book explores the story of the hap through five beautifully illustrated essays, and thirteen stunning patterns.

      While the first part of the book looks to the past for inspiration, exploring the many different contexts in which haps were made and worn, the book’s second half acts as a springboard to the future, as designers from around the world present their own interpretations of the hap.  

      From Nevada and Finland to Reykjavik, and Burra Isle, the patterns in these pages are as distinctive and varied as their designers’ locales. Haps may well surprise you: they can be square, triangular, or hexagonal, incorporating lace, cables, or colour. Though haps are, by definition, functional, wearable textiles, you’ll find they can also be elegant and fascinating, graphic and abstract.

      Whatever your knitterly interests, you’ll find the Book of Haps an endless source of inspiration and a canvas for your creativity. 

      Contributors:

      Jen Arnall-Culliford, Martina Behm, Roslyn Chapman, Kate Davies, Carol Feller, Lucy Hague, Romi Hill, Bristol Ivy,  Gudrun Johnston, Hélène Magnússon, Donna Smith, Hazel Tindall, Tom van Deijnen, Veera Välimäki. 

      Price includes complimentary digital PDF.

    • Paperback:
      121 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.