The first thing that came to your mind upon seeing E Wha Lim's designs for the 2014 edition of the Feel the Yarn competition organised during yarn fair Pitti Filati (that closed yesterday in Florence) were the punched cards for jacquard looms.
Lim, a postgraduate student from the Royal College of Art in London, created two designs in Autumnal shades using 100% cashmere yarn by Filatura Papi Fabio. The garments featured a perforated wooden panel and a series of wooden strips and Lim employed colourful yarns to cross-stitch floral motifs through the holes in the wood.
Originally from Korea, E Wha Lim moved to the UK twelve years ago. She went to school in Shropshire, then enrolled at Central St Martins and she is now specialising in women's knitwear at the Royal College of Art. This is the first time she takes part in the "Feel the Yarn" competition, but you can bet it won't be the last. You should also keep an eye on her as these designs - she announces - are just the development for a pre-collection.
Can you tell us more about the process behind these pieces?
E Wha Lim: They are mainly done by hand; I wanted to use actual wooden materials because the theme was "Earth". The cross-stitched floral motifs add a hint of colour. I wanted to emphasise the natural aspect while offering the wearer a modern style. The wood strips were cut with a laser and then I placed them together and stitched over them, planning the technological aspects first.
How was it working with Filatura Papi Fabio?
E Wha Lim: They do 100% cashmere yarns in amazing quality and I just played with different gauges of their yarns. So, even though the designs are made with just one type of cashmere, the consistency is different and the final result works really well with the wooden pieces. The contrasting textures of cashmere and wood create indeed clean yet modern styles.
Did you look at any artists for inspiration?
E Wha Lim: I looked at traditional Japanese crafts made with wood, but the palette is borrowed from natural forest shades – green, brown and ochre – and they reference Mother Earth or Gaia, the creator of the universe.
Did you find it difficult to integrate the wooden elements into the knits?
E Wha Lim: As a whole it was a long process because I wanted the designs to showcase the hand rather than the machine work. It took me quite a while to integrate the elements and cross-stitch them, but I tried to get along with the main ideas I had in mind and, in the end, I was happy with the way the designs looked.
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