Meet the designers for Laine Issue 27
In Laine Magazine 27, we present designs from fifteen outstanding designers from around the world. Meet Andrea Aho, Joanna Filip, Lindsey Fowler, Saysha Greene, Jonna Helin, Henna Ketonen, Raina Kruus, Sara Markkula, Rebekka Mauser, Camille Romano, Selena Shepard & Abbye Meiklejohn (Wool & Pine), Eri Shimizu, Elena Solier Jansà, María Uzquiano and Maaike van Geijn.
Andrea Aho
Andrea Aho lives in Quebec, Canada. Knitwear design is a passion project for her: she designs for fun in her spare time, and her main profession is data science. Andrea’s designs lean toward neutral colours and oversized silhouettes. She focuses on creating versatile pieces — things you can wear in different ways and with many outfits. Andrea loves how knitting lets her make one-of-a-kind pieces, each rooted in the memories of where she was when she made them.
For this issue, Andrea designed the Morning Light sweater with a simple but striking colourwork motif.
Joanna Filip
Joanna Filip is Polish, but she has lived in Brussels, Belgium, for almost ten years now. For Joanna, knitting goes beyond just making something to wear: it’s about building pieces that are part of daily life — practical, personal and full of comfort. Joanna enjoys playing with textures and colours to add subtle interest while keeping everything easy-to-wear and effortlessly comfortable.
For this issue, Joanna designed the Evening on the Loire cardigan that draws inspiration from high-school cardigans, reimagined with a modern twist.
Lindsey Fowler
Lindsey Fowler is a knitwear designer and author, whose second book, Trails & Valleys: Knitwear for Family Adventures, was published this year by Laine Publishing. She lives in Ohio, USA, and in addition to knitwear design, she is a supervisor in IT. Lindsey is inspired by putting her own twist on classic shapes and designs. She loves combining texture with colour and creating pieces that feel nostalgic and timeless.
For this issue, Lindsey designed the triangular Clement shawl worked in a fluffy loop stitch pattern.
Saysha Greene
Saysha Greene lives in New Jersey, USA. She spent the majority of her career as a software designer, but these days she works in a local yarn store, providing crochet and knitting instruction and assisting customers. Saysha came to design out of a desire to create something she wanted in her own wardrobe. She enjoys the process of figuring out how to make something she is envisioning come to life with yarn.
For this issue, Saysha designed the Rivulet sweater, featuring a classic shape with an engaging cabled texture.
Jonna Helin
Jonna Helin is Laine Publishing’s founder and creative director. Her design inspiration comes from many sources: nature and the shifting Nordic seasons are always present in her work, but she also finds endless ideas in popular culture and her travels, in street style and in the energy of fashion weeks. Her style leans towards androgynous, unisex and oversized silhouettes that feel relaxed but modern.
For this issue, Jonna designed Haworth: a textured raglan cardigan that features a relaxed, boxy fit and clean lines.
Henna Ketonen
Henna Ketonen lives in the small town of Mänttä-Vilppula, Finland. She teaches history and social studies at a high school, but occasionally she also turns her knitting ideas into written patterns. Knitting is both a passion and a creative outlet for Henna. She is inspired by Scandinavian style, the frosty and snowy winter landscape, minimalism, timelessness and functionality.
For this issue, Henna designed the cosy Tresse hat with bold cables running along the front and centre back.
Raina Kruus
Raina Kruus is a librarian by trade. Being surrounded by books in her daily work, she has always been drawn to quiet, meaningful creativity — and knitting has been part of her life since childhood. Raina, who lives in Kose-Uuemõisa, a small borough near Tallinn, Estonia, loves exploring new patterns and techniques. She is always eager to learn and experiment, while also cherishing timeless traditions.
For this issue, Raina designed the Kuuse shawl with a delicate leaf motif that mimics the texture of spruce branches.
Sara Markkula
Sara Markkula lives in the city of Tampere, Finland, with her husband, two boys and two cats, and designs knitwear as a hobby. She is interested in fashion and trends, and that’s where she often gets ideas for her designs. Other sources of inspiration are colours, yarns and textures — and most of all, things Sara would like to include in her own wardrobe. Simplicity and clean lines are typical of her designs.
For this issue, Sara designed the Anette dress, where the bold ribbed texture catches the eye.
Rebekka Mauser
Rebekka Mauser lives in Berlin, Germany. In her day job, she takes care of finances in a company that works in the cultural sector, but knitting is her favourite hobby. Rebekka creates clothes and accessories for adults and kids. She aims to make the knitting process as fun as wearing the finished garment: clever constructions, simple but effective stitch patterns and the play of colours keep it interesting and increase the joy of knitting.
For this issue, Rebekka designed Nika: a modern take on a classic woollen pullover, worked in a textured stitch pattern.
Camille Romano
Camille Romano is French but has lived in Finland since 2008. She divides her time between knitwear design and working as an independent graphic designer and art director. As a designer, she loves the freedom to imagine and create paired with the rigour behind construction details and fit calculations. She likes structure and “weight” in her designs, and is more into cables, brioche and fisherman rib than intricate, flowy laces.
For this issue, Camille designed Hojicha: a stockinette sweater where the colourwork creates a checkered pattern on the body and sleeves.
Photo: Henri Vogt.
Selena Shepard & Abbye Meiklejohn (Wool & Pine)
Selena Shepard and Abbye Meiklejohn are the creative forces behind the knitwear design brand Wool & Pine. They live in the Pacific Northwest in the US and work closely together from swatch to release day. They like patterns that feel intentional and fun to knit, with a few surprises along the way. They like playing with colour and finding ways to use up every last gram of yarn.
For this issue, Selena and Abbye designed the Frostline mittens with a luxurious cable pattern on the back of the hand.
Eri Shimizu
Eri Shimizu lives in a small mountain town in central Japan. On weekdays, she works at the office run by her husband, and at weekends, she does her knitting work. As a designer, Eri is drawn to refined textures, colours and forms. She wants to create knitwear that's comfortable for everyday wear and also fun to knit. In the past, she was mainly inspired by nature, but now her ideas come more from the history of art and fashion.
For this issue, Eri designed Hiekka: a cosy, oversized sweater knitted from the top down with unusual shoulder shaping.
Elena Solier Jansà
Elena Solier Jansà lives in Catalonia, where she works for her wool brand, Xolla, producing yarn from local flocks. The ideas for her designs mainly come from the surrounding nature. Elena enjoys knitting colourwork, so the different traditions of colourwork knitting also influence her designs. She likes designing fun patterns where she (and knitters) can learn something new.
For this issue, Elena designed Herbari: a cabled jumper featuring three botanically inspired embroidered flowers
María Uzquiano
María Uzquiano — known as mûmû knit — lives in Barcelona, Spain, and works as a full-time fashion designer specialising in woven fabrics, with a passion for knitwear. Knitting means many things to María: it helps her control her anxiety issues; it binds her to her family and grandmother, who taught her to knit; and it gives her the ability to create beauty from scratch.
For this issue, María designed Lempeä: a cosy sweater with a minimal but feminine silhouette, inspired by the wavy organic shapes found in nature.
Maaike van Geijn
The ideas for Maaike van Geijn’s designs come from many sources: visual arts, movies, theatre and historical knitting traditions, such as Bohus, Fair Isle knitting and traditional hap shawls. Lately, her biggest source of inspiration has been the nature surrounding her. Maaike lives in Schoorl, Netherlands, which is a beautiful small town bordered by the sea, dunes and woods.
For this issue, Maaike deigned the warm and soft Dons cardigan with saddle shoulders and a relaxed, elegant fit.
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