As a freelance designer for Rowan Yarns, many of the designs I submitted used beads for embellishment. This was why they asked me to put together a book of designs entitled Beads, Buttons and Lace in 2006. One of my most popular designs from that book, which had also been featured on the cover of Rowan magazine 37 was Butterfly dress.

This was a lace dress knitted using Rowan Kidsilk Haze with small glass seed beads scattered all over the lace. This dress has been particularly popular knitted as a wedding dress, as can be seen from readers’ photos on Ravelry!

Then, in 2015 Rowan asked me to design for a collaboration they were doing with Swarovski, the renowned crystal bead company, as part of their Create Your Style project.

I worked on two seasons of designs – winter and summer. The project was particularly challenging, as I knew the beads were expensive compared to the glass seed beads I usually used, which meant I could only use a few beads per item. I love using lots of beads together to get the effect I want.

The designs can be seen to the right, but sadly, the patterns are now out of print.

Photos: Nick Sargeant; Rowan