Being a Knitwear design student I have found that Nottingham Trent University is definitely the place to be.
Knitwear design as a degree can seem too specialised when you are choosing courses and unsure what to do, its an important decision which can feel rushed. As student ambassador I see most students don't know what they want to do, and I myself remember being confused by all the choice. Although I have a passion for both textiles and Fashion and have enjoyed knitting as a hobby, I also felt during sixth form that choosing knitwear design would be very specialised. It wasn't until my foundation course that my drive was garment construction and fabric design. There is something about taking a final garment completely from the start. We can spin, make our yarn, dye our yarns, experiment with fabric development and how this will look like on a garment. It is all considered from the start to the end which means a knitwear designer has a huge amount of skill.
NTU has given me great opportunities and contacts. During the summer and some days during my time at university I volunteer at frame works knitters museum to keep the traditional skill of Frame knitting alive. Developing my skills on the lace bar, and feeding this into my university work.
We are soon to be visiting Florence to see the yarn trade show "Pitti Filati".
It isn't all so easy but it is all fun, we are currently working on fundraising for our final catwalk show! This will be costing us £20,000 which will be in May 2018. We will be making an instagram account for our course and the work we will be producing. Everything from fashion illustration to knit samples and garments!
JoJo
