Ann Walker and her Wonderful World of Wool

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By Sarah Daly

Ann Walker has a passion for wool. After spending her childhood within a sheep farming community in North Yorkshire, her lifelong enthusiasm for wool and weaving has now finally developed into her own business, Kisdon Originals www.kisdonoriginals.com. Her beautiful range of large wraps, throws, scarves, wall hangings and stoles combine her passions while demonstrating hand weaving as a serious creative art form.  

In today’s modern financial climate, many are suggesting a return to the use of practical crafts and an understanding of efficient ways to utilise our surroundings. Ann Walker’s early rural upbringing gave her an awareness of the practical uses of textiles. “My mother used to undo old sweaters and re-knit them in order to keep us warm”, Ann says. “Basic textile activity was an essential ingredient for survival.” Knowledge of textiles and their insulating properties was crucial, and Ann explains how freezing houses were customary and therefore “a good knowledge of how to fashion textiles to meet a very real need was universal.” After moving to London, Ann then learnt to appreciate the aesthetic aspect of textiles, and a post-war London became an exciting environment to “huddle over the latest styles, patterns and fabrics with like-minded boarding school friends”. She tells us how at this point in her life she “gradually began to understand…how fabrics and yarns worked and which were suitable to achieve a foreseen end product”. After being inspired by her godmother to turn her passion into a career, Ann discovered her own talent for yarn and fabric design and undertook a textile degree at Leeds University. She then went on to work alongside the CEO of Lister & Co. plc where she was able to meet a broad selection of the textile industry, and learn how the various sectors were linked.

After leaving Lister & Co, Ann developed Kisdon Craft with the hope of stimulating interest in “developing small rural wool textile activity” and to provide an “alternative form of economic activity in rural regions.” Her passion for wool and an appreciation of the communities that depend on its production led her to pursue this project, however she has found more success with her own unique company, Kisdon Originals. Visiting her website, www.kisdonoriginals.com it is clear that Ann has an enthusiasm for wool as a fibre, and her beautiful creations are a perfect example of how wool and weaving are not only practical methods of textile production but can be an expressive art form. “Too few people appear to understand the amazing properties of wool fibre”, Ann says. “It is far superior in its mechanical properties to those so-called luxury fibres, such as cashmere”. “Wool is able to absorb up to 30% of its own weight in water and to keep the wearer cool thereby. And to my eye, the colour refraction of wool weaving provides a depth and richness only challenged by silk.”

It seems inevitable that a designer who has such knowledge of her fabrics, and works with precise attention to detail as a hand weaver, would consider her work as more of an art form. The development of automated machinery within the textiles industry has stimulated price reduction and enhanced supply and demand. However these advances have not helped to encourage the view of textiles as an art form and Ann is keen to use Kisdon Originals as a platform to raise awareness of the craft of hand weaving. She points out that the degree of skill, time and design flair required to produce a woven article is far longer than that of many successful painters. Ann says: “I believe that to survive, textiles must offer more than utility to justify a high price”. Indeed, her own garments provide an exciting combination of desirable textures and colours with a very practical end use, from furniture throws to soft wraps that keep you warm without covering your outfit entirely.

Ann’s work is particularly relevant to today’s society, where many people feel that knowledge of textile fibres and their properties is no longer old fashioned, but highly useful. In order to allow these values to flourish within a fast-moving society, the style and beauty of a craft is essential. Ann Walker’s designs wonderfully combine her life experiences and the abundant possibilities of wool to produce garments that are not only carefully designed and intimately hand woven, but also allow the customer to appreciate the fine craft of hand weaving. The future is bright for Ann, who says: “I believe that in the constant development of my hand weaving skills lies the key to Kisdon Originals as a business and as a vehicle for illustrating hand weaving as a serious creative art form.”