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6 years ago Max was first hooked by knitting. He stumbled across the craft whilst working on a children’s book as an illustrator. The book was through the eyes of a character in Reykjavik, Iceland, a country whose culture has knitting woven throughout. Reykjavik is a city shaped by knitting, as shown by the Lopi sweater, a traditional Icelandic sweater which is hand knitted in wool from the unique Icelandic sheep. For the book, Max wanted to include a skill for his readers to practise… loom knitting. After a short demonstration for the purpose of the book, Max has yarn to spare which he didn’t want to waste. This was where his passion began.
Now Max is a world renowned knitwear designer, co-founder of Les Garçons, and inspiration to thousands. His Gradient Descent Shawl is the latest of his hit patterns and features linen stitch through a fade of 7 different colours. Max says he loves “how the linen stitch mimics weaving without having to learn another craft!”. We adore the elegant simplicity of the shawl, which Max explained is for “adventurous beginners - the pattern is intricate but beginner friendly”. Most of all, if Max himself doesn’t enjoy knitting up a pattern, he won’t release it - it's all about the enjoyment of the craft for him!
As someone who loves nothing more than colourwork, it was only fitting that Max’s shawl would be full of the colours of the season. He chose 7 of our Preseli skeins which he’d had sitting in his office, just waiting for the perfect pattern. The colour and texture couldn’t have been more ideal for his Gradient Descent shawl - a match made in heaven. Max used our Cinder, Heron, Cadet, Kettle, Holly, Copse, and Lichen shades for the most beautiful mint to grey fade.
The shawl is a simple triangle shape which Max described as “a recipe for a shawl - you just add colour!”. It's his go-to shape and perfect for easy, fun stitching - once you’ve stitched the first 2 rows it's the shame from there! We love that it's the perfect base to put your own stamp on through colourwork. The shawl is a great opportunity to partner unexpected colours and play with the diversity of our Preseli range - we have 36 beautiful colourways to choose from, making it a dream for colourwork.
In the future Max plans to release a pattern book to marry his two creative outlets together - illustration and knitting. His goal is, and has always been, to express himself through knitting, and help foster an inclusive and supportive knitting community. We love what he’s doing and couldn’t be happier to work with him on creative projects, such as his Gradient Descent Shawl.