“Growing up I was always making stuffed toys and doll clothes, either sewn, knitted or crocheted. I guess the idea of designing my own stuff has always been there.”

This week on the blog, we’re chatting with talented knitwear designer, Susanna Winter, who has just released her Soft River shawl as part of our Yarn Support Programme. Read on for talk of maths, long-exposure photography and Meadow.

In Conversation with Susanna Winter of Talvi Knits

“As long as I can remember my mom has told me how much I take after my paternal grandmother whom, sadly, I never got to meet. We had a lot of her yarn, fabrics, notions, and tools stashed at home – even a sewing machine! I loved to go through the buttons in her old coffee jar; touching and smelling them, pairing them up.

In school, I loved math and languages and in university, I majored in a field that combines them both: international business. I’ve always been very geeky. Things like numbers, computer code, and statistics come very naturally to me – and there’s surprisingly a lot of all them in designing!”

Susanna only started designing a couple of years ago, but she already has nearly 40 knitting patterns under her belt.

“It has all come together organically; drawing from my passion for textiles as a child, my academic background and my drive to constantly learn more.”

Susanna’s Style Philosophy

Susanna’s aesthetic is timeless and elegant. She designs pieces that you’ll love wearing years after having knitted them.

“I design what I love to wear myself! They are usually fairly straightforward, but always with an interesting detail, such as clever shaping. I also love to play with contrasts, be it in colour or texture.”

Soft River Shawl Pattern by Susanna Winter

“Soft River was inspired by long-exposure photographs of running streams. Very long shutter speeds create the impression of gently flowing water over smoothed river rocks. I wanted to capture the same soothing atmosphere in this design.”

Beautiful and practical, the Soft River shawl is easy to resize and completely reversible, so you don’t have to think too hard when styling it.

“You can wear it with the stockinette side showing so that the garter stitch cables on the edges give an interesting textural contrast. Or, you can wear it with the reverse stockinette side up for a slightly different look.”

It’s a simple knit consisting of just stockinette, garter stitch, cables and shaping – a fantastic shawl project for beginner knitters.

“Once you’ve done one repeat, you already know how to do the rest of the body. The border is just a variation of the same. There’s this wonderfully rhythmic flow with the knitting, and the cable turns make excellent checkpoints along the way.”

Meadow: Rustic Luxury

As part of our Yarn Support Programme, Susanna designed her shawl in Meadow, which is wonderfully light, yet warm blend of merino, llama, silk, and linen.

“Meadow is ideal for a lightweight shawl to wear in the Spring and Summer. The unique blend of fibres makes the fabric hold its shape very crisply – yet the shawl flows beautifully, like water. I must say I fell in love with yarn whilst knitting! I kept imagining more and more new designs I could make with it.”

Buy Meadow Yarn

Susanna Winter’s Soft River shawl is now available for purchase in her Ravelry store. You can also get to know her better on her website or Instagram. Details of your local or online Meadow stockist can also be found on the Stockists page.