Design notes from Niela
Drawing with wool
In my Ebb-stanes collection of knitwear, I explore the meaning and use of line, both natural and man-made.
My father was Indian. In 1947 the Partition of India suddenly separated his family, along with millions of others, from their country. They became emigrants, instantly. In the simplest terms, this was because of the drawing of a line—a new border.
An individually 'drawn' line travels across a knitted landscape, on an Ebb-stanes triangle jumper
Other lines and border can appear in a landscape: but these might be shifting, permeable, natural boundaries. Ebb-stanes is the Shetland word for pebbles revealed by a receding tide.
In this collection, suggestions of paths, boundaries and contours are created through a simple, contrasting line. On some pieces this line wanders, being 'drawn' by hand in wool. On other pieces a contrast edging is a more rigid border. And in the background, there is a pattern inspired by Shetland’s coastal landscape.
Members of my family in post-partition India
