About Penelope Cream

I design true limited editions. Every one of my hand-knitted ties and scarves is different from the next. Designed individually by me in London, the items are inspired by travels, conversations and textiles of wondrous colours. I use beautiful, fine wool hand-dyed in small batches by artisan dyers in Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Italy and beyond. I work both with wool and on silk and paper, translating my colour combinations into unique ties and the illusory textures of silk scarves, bespoke wool wraps and notebooks. I am touched by how a simple, traditional craft and a clean, pure design can evoke such nostalgia in my customers. Each sale and each commission teaches me more about how my designs carry personal meaning for their purchasers and their wearers. I am fascinated by colour and texture and the way in which the two combine to unfurl and spill across the fabric of each stitch pattern. Since my very early childhood I have pored over fashion catalogues from the 1930s, and would carefully turn the fragile pages of my great-aunt’s knitting patterns that had been passed on to my mother. People pick up my ties and spontaneously talk of their memories. I watch with happiness as they reach out to touch my scarves and trace their myriad colours, and they tuck under their arms a set of my trompe-l’oeil illusion ’knitted’ notebooks. A small piece of my studio goes home with them and becomes interwoven in their days. Read their story