Meet the designers for Laine issue 24

In Laine Magazine 24, we present designs from twelve outstanding designers from around the world. Meet Julia Exner, Reetta Haavisto, Sophie Hemmings, Heidi Kästner, Rebekka Mauser, Cheryl Mokhtari, Paula Pereira, Sarah Solomon, Veera Välimäki, Vivian Wei, Julia Wilkens and Rui Yamamuro.

Julia Exner

Julia Exner lives in a small town on the edge of Berlin, Germany, designing knitwear alongside her day job. She finds it extremely fulfilling to see how something grows and takes physical form through the work of her hands. Julia designs in various styles, from simple, almost minimalist garments to more playful ones.

For this issue, Julia designed Reversi: a striped cardigan worked in squishy half-brioche.  

@frl.staedtisch

Reetta Haavisto

Reetta Haavisto lives in a small coastal town in Finland. In addition to designing, she works as a physiotherapist, massage therapist and sound healer — professions that balance creativity and well-being. Her design style is simple, rustic and grounded, focusing on effortless silhouettes, textured details and subtle colourwork.

Reetta’s Hiekassa pattern is a feminine sweater worked in a loose gauge.

@aalloillaknit

Sophie Hemmings

Sophie Hemmings is a full-time knitwear designer based in Hampshire, south England. Mostly, she gets ideas for her designs from gaps in her wardrobe (and she says she is very good at finding these gaps!). For Sophie, knitting is play — it’s a way to find self-expression and explore new ideas. She is drawn to texture and small details.

Sophie’s Selsey sweater is a highly textured piece with an engaging stitch pattern.

@the_knit_purl_girl

Heidi Kästner

Heidi Kästner lives in Leipzig, Germany. She has a day job as a media designer, and knitting is her hobby and passion. Heidi draws inspiration from many things: nature, everyday objects, works of art, films... She likes textures and enjoys trying out new stitch patterns, but also tries to balance busy stitches with simple shapes.

For this issue, Heidi designed the Flecks of Sunshine sweater that combines lace and stockinette stitch.

@heidschnucke_heidi

Rebekka Mauser

In her day job, Rebekka Mauser takes care of finances in a company that works in the cultural sector, but knitting is her favourite hobby. Rebekka lives in Berlin, Germany. Her designs are modern, wearable and comfy with clever constructions. She is fascinated by the countless ways to combine colours and textures, and the feel of wool and other fine, natural fibres.

Rebekka’s relaxed Dagdrøm top is all about the stripes, worked sideways in intarsia.

@patsy.55

Cheryl Mokhtari

Cheryl Mokhtari comes from Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently lives in London, UK. She splits her time between being a yoga teacher and a knitwear designer. Cheryl describes her designs as “modern classics focusing on a great fit and wearability”. She wants her garments to be versatile pieces that look great dressed up or worn casually. 

For this issue, Cheryl designed Amber: a short-sleeved, V-neck cardigan with a classic raglan construction.  

@cocoamourknitwear

Paula Pereira

Paula Pereira is a Brazilian knitwear designer based in Rio de Janeiro. Her work often features inventive ways to combine different textures, such as cables, colourwork and embroidery. Paula is also the author of Textured Knits (2023), a thoughtfully curated collection of contemporary and timeless handknits.

Paula’s Bambuzal sweater features vertical stripes, created by a column of stitches where one strand stays in front while the other is used for the background fabric.

@paulapkl

Sarah Solomon

Sarah Solomon is a full-time knitwear designer and teacher based in New York City. She loves creating knits that solve “problems” in terms of fit, comfort or style and enjoys making pieces with certain moods, events or places in mind. Sarah’s focus is always on fibre, fabric and purpose before the decorative elements.

Sarah’s design for this issue, Thuja, is an open-front, drop-shoulder cardigan with a slightly cropped silhouette.

@intothewool 

Veera Välimäki

Veera Välimäki is one of the most renowned Finnish knitwear designers. She lives in Karjalohja, southern Finland. Lately, Veera has been drawn to simple but refined styles, knitwear that looks well-thought-through from start to finish. Veera loves to explore how different textures work on different colours and fabrics.

Veera’s Blue Hour sock pattern was inspired by the textures simple stitches create.

@veerarain 

Vivian Wei

Vivian Wei lives in Tianjin, China. In addi­tion to designing knitwear, she runs a yarn shop and a coffee shop. She describes knitting as her meditation and says she doesn’t have a specific design style: she just designs whatever comes to her mind!  

The shape of Vivian’s Flores collar is reminiscent of a flower, and flowers were also the inspiration behind the design.

@romamorvvv

Julia Wilkens

Julia Wilkens originally comes from Germany but moved to Amsterdam some 20 years ago. She is a part-time knitwear design­­er, known for her urban, eclectic and colourful knits. In addition to designing, Julia works in contemporary art, and she gets a lot of inspiration from artworks.

Julia’s pattern for this issue, Modernist, is a striped, half-pi-shaped shawl worked in garter stitch.

@wilkens_julia

Rui Yamamuro

Rui Yamamuro was born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan, but now lives in Paris, France. She used to work as a wedding-dress maker, doing everything from pattern-making to sewing and embroidery, but last year she decided to become a full-time knitwear designer. Rui designs timeless knits that she would want to wear herself. She describes them as “simple yet witty”.  

Rui’s modern and versatile Valo vest can be layered and combined in multiple ways.

@luiyamamuro

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