Behind the scenes with… Sirdar

We talk to the team at Sirdar to find out what has inspired their latest yarn and design collections, and what else is on the horizon

Here at Let’s Knit we are loving the new projects from Sirdar! What are the influences behind your new designs?
The whole team at Sirdar studies trend forecasts from the fashion industry for colours, yarn types and garment shapes. Taking all these influences into consideration, we identify what we think will be the best products for our customers then our design team start to knit samples in those yarns. Each yarn behaves differently and we believe that the best designs come from working with each yarn’s natural tendencies, rather than trying to force a yarn to do things that don’t come naturally to it. The knitted samples are used as a springboard for garment designs. We aim for a varied but balanced design range which starts with premature baby sizes and goes through to larger adult sizes, in all yarn weights. We’re also influenced by customer feedback – crafters tell the stockists what they want, the stockists pass that on to our wonderful team of sales representatives, who, in turn, pass it on to the design team.

Sirdar has a rich heritage and is a brand that offers something for everyone. What do you feel knitting and crochet enthusiasts most love about your yarns?
We asked our head designer, Julie, and ‘reliability’ was the first thing that came to her mind. Julie has been a Sirdar customer herself for over 45 years, and said: “I know that the many hours I devote to a project will be rewarded with something of long-lasting value, which will wash beautifully (and almost always in a machine – hurrah!)”

We provide products at a wide range of price points, with a vast colour palette and our commitment to developing exciting new products that are affordable is at the core of our loyal customer base. That reliability stems from a rigorous selection, testing and quality control system, which has set industry standards. To support our yarn ranges we publish new leaflets and/or books every four weeks, all aimed at inspiring crafters. We all know that “I want to knit something but don’t know what” feeling and if you pop into your local stockist on a regular basis, you’ll always find something new from Sirdar to inspire you.

Can you tell us what inspired the fabulous shades in your Colourwheel yarn?
We looked at the colour trend forecasts (which are used by all the major clothing retailers) and our fabulous product development team set to work trying out different colour combinations. Each of the Colourwheel shades has four to six colours; it can be challenging to select colours that all work together, but the team did a great job and provided the designers with a truly inspirational colour palette. When the designers are given such a great selection of shades to work with, the design process almost takes on a life of its own. The Colourwheel colour palette includes a huge variety of shades and covers every aspect of the spectrum, ranging from soft pinks and lilacs to rich autumnal shades. Everyone on the Sirdar design team has their favourite – we’re sure you will too!

Are you able to provide us with a behind the scenes insight into what crafters can look forward to from Sirdar later this year?
​This is always a difficult question to answer, as we work so far ahead and have access to so much privileged information – we can’t really give away any secrets! But we can promise you that there will be lots of exciting new yarns for you to try out, as well as fabulous new shades in our existing yarns, all backed up by the range of design support everyone has come to expect from Sirdar. There will be something for knitters, crocheters, novices and experts, chunky yarn fans and fine yarn aficionados, someone wanting to make something in a few hours or those heirloom knitters who have so much skill and patience.

See the full range of yarns and patterns at www.sirdar.co.uk