This month, I’m interviewing Woolly of Woolly Wormhead from “across the pond.” I have been admiring her work for years, and I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that she is the master of hat design. She is the 2018 British Craft Awards winner, and her hat designs are really just amazing! I’ve been looking through her patterns to make matching hats for our youngest two boys, and let me tell you—choosing just one pattern is HARD!

As usual, my questions are in black while Woolly’s responses are in purple to make it easy to see who is speaking.

 

How did you first learn to knit? Who taught you?

My mum taught me to knit when I was 3, which is a whopping 43 years ago now! I knit my first jumper when I was about 8 or 9. I don’t think there’s been a year when I haven’t had something on the needles.

You mentioned on your blog that you have a BA in textiles, so I’m wondering whether creating patterns or creating yarn came first for you and also what led you to focus on pattern design over spinning and dyeing and other fiber arts?

My BA in Textiles covered a wide range of disciplines with a focus on fine art, and my specialty was sculptural textiles. I’d already learnt many practices before I went to art college as I’d always made as a kid, keen to explore new things. The art college I went to is well known for its conceptual approach to the art disciplines, and that fed into my work for a long time and helped me see what I made in a different light. I can’t really say that yarn or pattern came first, as creating a 3D-form came first. That’s really how I see my Hats – not as patterns I wish to design but as forms I wish to explore. I eventually settled on writing and publishing patterns for my explorations as a way to make a living over other things (I used to sell a lot of my free-form Hats, amongst other things) as it was a more reliable income.

Fascinating! By the way, your blog post from something like 12 years ago on dyeing in the oven inspired me to try dyeing that way in the first place. Thank you!

You’re most welcome! That feels like such a long time ago now…

It certainly does, doesn’t it?

 

I think you are the first designer I have interviewed who focuses so completely on one article of clothing. What made you decide to make hats “your thing”?

Hats are the most 3-dimensional garments we can wear. They’re the perfect project for exploring technique and form. They’re portable, relatively quick, and there’s only one of them. I’ve no interest in designing garments or flat surfaces; Hats are little wearable sculptures. What I do now – publishing Hat patterns –  is the perfect marriage of my engineering, sculptural, and educational backgrounds.

 

I’m curious about the name, “Woolly Wormhead.” I love it and it makes me smile, but when I hear it I think of a combination of Woolly Ragwort from Sarah, Plain and Tall, and Wormtongue from The Lord of the Rings. Where did the idea for your name come from?

I used to have a mass of dreadlocks, and when I was an art teacher, one pupil in my form class tried to get smart with me and called me “Ms Wormhead.” I liked it and it stuck! And I’ve always been Woolly in one way or another, it’s been my favourite fiber to knit with forever. So when I first started blogging and needed a name, there it was.

That’s hilarious! I love it!

 

Where do you find inspiration for your new designs?

Structure is my thing, and architecture can inspire that as much as natural form. I like the technical knitty-gritty that goes with the structural side of things, as well as the form itself. I should probably also mention that I’m constantly drawn towards circles and spheres.

When you’re working on a new design, does the yarn inspire the pattern or is it more the other way around?

Hmm. Sometimes it’s both, but of late it’s definitely been the pattern first.

 

Do you have a favorite weight of yarn to work with?

I’m having a good run with DK right now, it’s a really good Hat weight. Sport, worsted and aran are good Hat weights too.

How about a favorite fiber or combination of fibers for your hats?

Wool, always. I prefer a worsted spun to woollen and tend to err towards superwash mostly because it’s a practical yarn for a Hat but also because it’s a common yarn type for indie dyers to work with. Indie dyed yarn, colour with a personality and story to it, is my happy place when it comes to yarn.

What is your favorite design that you have made so far?

That’s an impossible question to answer!

You mentioned that you tend to construct the hat idea in your head and then make it. That fascinates and astonishes me, especially since you make a lot of hat patterns that are knit flat, right? Do you picture how you want the finished hat to look and envision how to make that happen?

I’ve pretty acute spatial awareness and can easily visualise the finished Hat along with it’s construction method. I guess I tend to see the finished Hat first and work out how I want to do it…but then a fascination with a method of construction will just as easily lead me towards a particular form. It’s a perpetual habit of mine to try to deconstruct then reconstruct in as many different ways as possible. And then some days I’m happy to play with texture and surface design, and go with that.

You mentioned that you do a lot of traveling. If you could be anywhere in the world right now (presumably out of the awful heat I hear you are having), where would you be?

I’m itching to get to Peru, but could just as easily be chilling in Portugal. I prefer the heat to the cold 🙂

What’s next for your work as a designer?

I’m currently finishing up a new collection that will be published in October (#lateralishats), that’s based around a construction method that I’ve been working on for a while, sideways without short rows, with short row colourwork to emphasise the form. After that, there’s another construction method I want to get working on that’s a mix of different sideways methods, and those designs are developed already. I’ve always got more ideas than time which I guess is a good problem to have?

I have the same problem with my yarn colorway ideas. Never enough time!

Where can we obtain your amazing hat patterns?

My website – woollywormhead.com – is my home on the internet, and you’ll find my patterns and eBooks there as well as all of my tutorials. You’ll also find me on Ravelry, where we also have an active and very helpful forum. LoveKnitting, Etsy, Makerist. And besides the blog, the best way to keep up with me is on Instagram.