Over the past few years, since having children, my creative practice has shifted in ways I never expected — shaped as much by sunlight, curiosity, and the small rhythms of everyday life as by yarn, needles, and stitches. This summer, with my two little ones busy exploring the garden, I found myself experimenting with a process that feels both ancient and utterly alive: cyanotype printing.
These prints have become a kind of bridge between motherhood, art, and time itself — capturing the fleeting textures of knit lace in deep indigo blue, all created in those in-between moments when my children were laughing, playing, and bimbled happily nearby. Engaging with this process has been invigorating. Rediscovering the joy of making, experimenting, and just being creative has transformed my days, offering new direction, inspiration, and, honestly, a lot of joy. Finding a way to work alongside my children has been so uplifting, and given me a lot of hope for the future.
What is a Cyanotype?
Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic printing processes, dating back to the 19th century. Using light-sensitive chemistry, natural sunlight, and a simple wash in water, it produces vivid Prussian blue images — almost like magic, like a blueprint come to life. Capturing knitted lace felt especially satisfying. Knitting has always been about texture for me, and now those textures live in light and color, frozen for a moment but alive with the memory of hands, yarn, and sun. There’s something magical in translating something so soft and pliable into a vivid, permanent impression.
Working in bursts between the rhythm of family life has been both a challenge and a joy and something I have been trying to figure out. Short, scattered pockets of time became my creative playground. My children played nearby, occasionally fascinated by the prints drying in the sun or the little production line I had set up on bathroom floor. Their laughter and curiosity and “helping” became part of the process and so forever wrapped up in the memory of making these pieces
This practice felt transformative. It has reminded me of my own beliefs that the importance of curiosity, experimentation, and play in my work give me life. And this medium has given me the confidence to just have a go when a moment presents itself. I was reconnecting with a sense of wonder, learning again through trial and error, and finding inspiration in moments I might have once considered “too small” or “too chaotic” to be productive. Cyanotype became a way to honor both my creativity and my life as a mother — capturing fleeting patterns, textures, and light while life continued in its lively, unpredictable way.
I had so much fun knitting with lace, ladder, long stitch and partial knit techniques. It felt wonderful to just sit and play and think about how different stitch combinations and constrasting yarns might play with the light, as well as texture. It felt very free to embark on this as a way to be creative, but once I got stuck in I realised this was meant to be something.
For me, cyanotypes have become a way of translating my love of machine knitting and textiles into a new medium. By laying knitted lace onto the prepared paper, I can capture its intricate textures and let the sun draw them into indigo. Each print is unique — a one-off moment, impossible to recreate exactly. There have been plenty of failures but all have helped me learn, and I’ve got something planned for the prints that didn’t make the cut.
The finished prints are mesmerizing. Delicate knit lace structures are preserved in crisp detail, and show off the quality of each yarn so beautifully. I was amazed at how the finest of yarns has been picked out and preserved by the sun. Each print feels uniquely handmade — full of texture, depth, and a whisper of the moments in which it was created, like a little bit of history. I love the idea of the knitting becoming the art, the beauty of the stitches being blown up and showcased. I also love a many layered process, I sat at the knitting machine whilst my youngest napped, my eldest with me having a go with the tools and helping me move the carriage. Then taking that swatch and playing with the light and creating a print. Knitted sunlight, how gorgeous is that?!
I’ll be releasing my first small collection of knitted lace cyanotype prints and original textile/print artworks very soon. Each one is handmade, created with machine knitted lace, sunlight, and indigo blue. They’re intimate, delicate, and deeply personal — an imprint not only of the textile but of this chapter of my life.
I’m so excited to share this new chapter with you. These prints feel like both a continuation and an expansion of my practice — rooted in knitting, but reaching into new mediums. I hope when you see them, you’ll also feel the sunlight, the stillness, and the play woven into their indigo forms.
Stay tuned — the full collection is coming very soon.