Wendy Keith Designs
Hand knitting on 4 needles
Contact
Truro
Cornwall
United Kingdom
TR2 4HL
About
Wendy Keith Designs specialise in entirely Hand Knitted, unique Shooting Stockings and Kilt Hose. With an instinctive and deep love of the countryside, Wendy has combined her flair for design and her commercial experience to become a market leader.
Hand knitting on four needles was developed for creating seamless three-dimensional tubes like stockings, gloves, and caps, with early evidence in Late Medieval paintings and archival records from the 16th and 17th centuries. Early modern records, such as an English stocking pattern from 1655, explicitly provide instructions for working on four needles. Sadly, with the introduction of modern techniques and machinery, this beautiful craft is rarely taught.
It is a complicated method for creating seamless, tubular fabric, typically used for small circumference items like socks, hats, and mittens, by holding stitches on three needles while a fourth knits the fabric. The process involves arranging the needles to form a square, with the working yarn not tangling, and then using the fourth needle to knit the stitches from one needle onto the next in a continuous round.
With a choice of yarns, such as Baby Alpaca, Possum/Merino from New Zealand and Extra fine Merino from Australia, her Shooting Stockings and Kilt Hose adapt to all types of weather and conditions.
Wendy Keith Designs is made up of a large and very talented team of expert four needle hand knitters all working within the boundaries of Great Britain. Wendy and her administrative team produce knitwear of the highest quality. Her designs are to be found in the most prestigious boutiques across the world.
In 2004 Wendy was appointed the Royal Warrant to HRH The Prince of Wales (as was) as designers and makers of shooting and kilt hosiery which she retained until 2025 when she was appointed the Royal Warrant to His Majesty The King.
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