Meet Bronagh Miskelly
Designer, writer and teacher Bronagh strives to inspire and support the creativity of other knitters
ORIGINALLY FROM
the north of Ireland, Bronagh Miskelly is now based in London, where she works as a knitwear designer, technical editor, writer and teacher.
Bronagh has created many designs for The Knitter, and her elegant shawls are always a delight. We were interested to discover how Bronagh finds ideas for her shawl patterns, so we caught up with her to explore her design process.
Can you tell us the stories behind some of your most recent designs?
“Inspiration, especially for shawls, usually comes from a combination of the yarn I want to use, and images from nature, landscape or other areas of design. This goes back to one of my earliest shawl designs, ‘Salmon Net’.
I saw a turquoise laceweight yarn in a display with more muted shades, and immediately thought of pieces of bright blue fishing net among the pebbles on the beach below my childhood home in Donegal. I bought the yarn, and by the time I got home I had some sketches of mesh lace and cables on the back of the receipt.
“With my shawls ‘Firebird’ and ‘Héloïse’ (which appeared in The
Knitter issue 145), I picked out self-striping yarns which made me think of tropical flowers or birds. I wanted to find a way nd of using long colour changes in an interesting way, so I developed what I call my radial semi-circular shawls. These are worked in short-row wedges with a wide lace outer section. I then sketched and swatched lace stitches to find a pattern that worked with the colours. In ‘Firebird’ this reminded me of plumage, and in ‘Héloïse’ I used a vine-like lace as the colours made me think of climbing flowers.
“With my ‘Bethesda’ design for The
Knitter 137, it was a different process. I was watching the Wonder Woman movie and loved Lindy Hemming’s costume designs, with all the overlapping and diagonal lines on the Amazons’ armour. The challenge was to find a lace yarn that had a hint of steel or bronze about it, rather than a bright colour. I eventually settled on Fyberspates Gleem Lace in the Smokey Joe shade.
“At the moment I am working on a set of shawl designs inspired by the woods near where I live. A particular skein of red yarn was the kicking-off point for these, because it made me think of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. This led to the ‘Into the Woods’ shawl which is being published on Ravelry. The next two – based on the dappled light through the leaves, and on changing leaf colours – will be in The Knitter.”
Have you discovered any special yarns lately?
“The yarn that I have used to make the ‘Into the Woods’ shawl, and am using for another of my woodland shawls, is a recent discovery that I am really enjoying. It is Banshee Yarns’ Cashmere Lace. It is a lovely base for lace stitches, because it blocks and drapes beautifully and I like the rich semi-solid colours this dyer is using.
“I am also looking forward to swatching for some garment ideas in the new Exquisite 4ply from West Yorkshire Spinners. This is a blend of Falkland wool and silk, so I’m expecting it to work well for vintageinspired sweaters and lacy cardigans – both staples of my design style.”
How do you manage to juggle all your different roles and jobs?
“Luckily, I am also trained as a theatre stage manager and a TV production manager, so I have plenty of organisational skills. However, the basic ones are often the best. I have an A4 week-to-two-pages diary, which I divide into columns for different tasks, and I like my to-do lists. I put all my deadlines and regular tasks in the diary in different coloured pens. I’ll also set progress points for when I would hope to have, for example, the back of sweater sample knitted.
“If I am at home at my desk, I tend to work at the computer in the mornings – doing social media, writing and pattern editing. After lunch I usually spend a couple of hours working on samples, sketching or doing photography, and then I go back to the computer for a few more hours. Working on patterns means
a lot more computer work than most people think. It all sounds very busy, but I am one of those people who is most productive when they have lots to do.”
Do you have any plans or goals for 2020 that you can share with us?
“Having had some family matters to deal with last year, I am seeing 2020 very much as a rebalancing year. I want to improve the balance between creating my own designs, and pattern writing and sample knitting for other people. I would like to do more teaching, too, as I really enjoy it.
“As well as the new shawls I have mentioned, I am relaunching some of my favourite patterns that were previously published in magazines. I also have plans for a pattern collection using mini-skeins or yarn leftovers - I admit to having a mini-skein habit! This may turn into an e-book.”
If you were stranded on a desert island, what’s the one yarn and pattern book you would choose to take with you?
“I would go for an unlimited supply of a wool-rich 4ply yarn, because it is so versatile – garments, shawls, socks – as long as I am washed up with my needle roll. And the Japanese Knitting
Stitch Bible by Hitomi Shida would give me lots of inspiration.”
What’s the best piece of knitting advice you’ve received?
“Take it one stitch as a time. It is advice I often pass on to other people when I am teaching, and is very useful when I am working with UK Hand Knitting as the Yarn Doctor. We help beginners at big craft events and I do my very best to help people with a range of technical problems. Often, people just need a little help to take things stitch by stitch to work out what they need to do.”
What are the best things about being part of the knitting community?
“Being surrounded by creativity. From the absolute beginners to experienced knitters, everyone is thinking about what colours, stitches or patterns to use. I also love helping people build their skills so that they have more opportunities to exercise that creativity. I gain great satisfaction from someone having that ‘light bulb’ moment as they get the hang of a new technique.”
What’s on your needles today?
“Not too many things today: a cotton top; a beanie and mitten set using yarn from Irish Artisan Yarns named after the part of Donegal our family house was in; and a swatch for a shawl. Oh, and a sock – there’s always a sock!”