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For this project I designed two sweaters to highlight locally sourced, Upstate NY wool yarn from Battenkill Fibers & Laughing Goat Fiber Farm, and developed representational pointelle patterns.
Sweaters displayed at the 2025 Hudson Valley Textile Summit.
Local NY State
Wool Knitwear Line
For this project I designed two sweaters to highlight locally sourced, Upstate NY wool yarn from Battenkill Fibers & Laughing Goat Fiber Farm, and developed representational pointelle patterns.
Sweaters displayed at the 2025 Hudson Valley Textile Summit.
A bit of exposition...
My interest in local wool did not begin with this project. Several years ago I learned to spin wool and served as a teaching assistant for "Wool: Animal Fiber Production and Processing" a course in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Ever since I have looked for ways to incorporate NY wool into my work.
Silhouette Development | Sweater #1: Silver Filagree Sweater
The color of the yarn initially reminded me of cygnets, which led me to imagery from swan lake. From turn of the century ballerinas, I found myself looking at Alphonse Mucha painting. I was especially inspired by the neckline illustrated above and considered how to translate it to a tubular knit. Before settling on a sweater I considered different dress/set looks that influenced the final sweater design.
In this case, I settled on the pointelle pattern before the silhouette, so I considered a number of silhouettes to feature the motif. Here are digitally rendered (Adobe Illustrator) fashion flats of a few of the styles I considered before landing on my final look.
Silhouette Development | Sweater #2: Shabbos Window Sweater
Pointelle Motif Development| Silver Filagree Sweater
Initially I had thought that a cygnet inspired motif would be a nice way to show off the color and texture of the yarn but exploring pointelle patterns, I was reminded of antique Jewish silver filagree. I took inspiration from these pieces and mapped them into a unique amulet-like pointelle pattern.
Pointelle Motif Development | Shabbos Window Sweater
For the second sweater, I was inspired by the way light moves through pointelle knits. This made me think of the little match girl. I drew on the image of candles in windows to inspire the motif. Here are some sketchbook pages from the process of translating this idea into an image.
Experimental Swatches | Silver Filagree Sweater
Experimental Swatches | Shabbos Window Sweater
NY State Knitwear on Film
Garments worn in the state of their origin - from fiber to finished garment.
Silver Filagree Sweater
Shabbos Window Sweater
Technical Design | Silver Filagree Sweater
Schematic Drawing & Pointelle Star Pattern
Technical Design | Shabbos Candle Sweater
Tech Pack (Tech Flat & Color-Ups)
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