About Jane

Jane Ellison is a young British freelance knitwear designer. Long before denim became part of the fashion scene, her innovative final year collection for her fashion and knitwear degree taken at Ravensbourne College of Design in Kent, included garments made with denim yarn with strips of denim fabric knit in. 

She is passionate about knitting, "I really like creating the fabric - there are endless possibilities with knitting. I love playing around with yarn and stitches in a creative way. I just feel so comfortable with it."

Jane remembers her early days as a designer. When she was seven, she designed a striped scarf for her Snoopy toy. She recalls, "It was burgundy with little tassels on the end in 100% wool. Only the best would do for Snoopy!" She still has Snoopy and he still has the scarf. She learned to knit in school when her mother came in to teach a small group of children how to knit. She would also choose a pattern for her grandmother to knit her something to wear but it never looked like the pattern because her grandmother would change the garment in some way. Jane comments, "Gran always used to change it somehow. Perhaps that is where I got my creativity. A knitting pattern was something you changed to make a really individual garment."

Jane has a very clear moral viewpoint about the knitting business developed from her early experiences. On leaving college she got a job working for a company which mass-produced garments in China and sold them very cheaply. According to Jane, these are all the 15 garments you find in the budget stores. She explains, "I didn’t agree with it. I designed on paper which was then given to the factory workers who worked in conditions that were so cold that they had to wear layers and layers of clothing and work through the night. In addition, they were only paid 50p or £1 per garment which was then sold at £15 so the profit margin was huge." Disillusioned, she left the company. Happier times followed as a design consultant to Rowan Yarns and an assistant to knitwear designer, Debbie Bliss, and then Sales and Marketing Manager for Designer Yarns. All the while continuing to design in her evenings and weekends, sending designs to yarn manufacturers and anyone who commissioned designers! This persistance paid off, and she has since produced over 60 pattern books for Noro, Laines du Nord, Filati FF, Queensland Yarn Collection, Araucania and Mirasol. Meeting knitters face-to-face as design consultant for Rowan has helped her realise what people want from a pattern. She comments, "I feel I know that knitters like this or they don’t like that: things that you wouldn’t necessarily know if you just went straight into a design office. It is important to me that knitters should find my patterns straightforward and enjoy their knitting."

Living in West Yorkshire, Jane now works as a freelance designer. Having designed for Noro, Araucania and now Mirasol.  Jane feels all three of these yarns encapsulate that extra dimension that knitting should be all about. Whilst emphasising small-scale production, eco-friendly Noro has a beauty all its own; Araucania is produced by artisans in the developing world improving their career opportunities and also takes its inspiration from nature; and Mirasol is about building a future for disadvantaged children. It is a delight to knit with the high quality Mirasol yarns to make a beautiful garment but to do so knowing that the purchase of the yarn helps such a worthwhile cause makes it extra special. Jane says, "I feel that it is good that I, like many consumers, can make a difference."

Jane has recently opened her first yarn shop, Purl &Jane Knitting Emporium in Skipton, North Yorkshire. She says "I love designing simple, easy to knit patterns and get excited about all the beautiful yarns there are to knit with. I really enjoy meeting knitters, seeing their projects and sharing ideas. It's lovely to see how my designs are received which makes me see how I can keep improving them and making sure I design garments that everyone wants!"

By Michele Matheson.