A Chat with Designer Jule Kebelmann
We’d like to introduce you to Jule Keblemann, the designer behind the stunning Hops and Meadow Shawl in our Annual (issue four). Not only does Jule create fabulous patterns, she also teaches knitting and yarn dyeing and is the creative director for Hey Mama Wolf and Erika Knight Yarns. That’s one busy lady! Jule studied textile design and has worked in the wool industry since 2007. In 2015 she founded the yarn brand Hey Mama Wolf which specializes in sustainable, local and plant dyed wool. Jule has let us in on her creative process and shares her inspiration behind her design for our Annual.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the design biz?
My grand-aunt Agnes taught me knitting and gave me a sewing machine when I was about eleven years old. She was a garden architect and art lover. We often went to botanical gardens, art exhibitions and museums. Places where I still love to go. She died when I was 16 but she had a huge impact obviously. I think she would be proud that I went to study textile design at art school and founded my own crafts/design business. After art school I worked as a freelance knitwear designer for independent fashion designers and film costume. In the last years I worked on films like Cloud Atlas, The Matrix and John Wick as a textile artist. Now I do knitting pattern design with great pleasure. I love the idea that knitters make and wear my designs and make them their own.
Tell us about your beautiful Hops and Meadow Shawl design, featured in our Annual (issue four). What was your inspiration?
In my wild garden there are a lot of plants who take a lot of space for themselves and don‘t care about anything – bramble, wild rose, virginia creeper and hops among them. They climb and wind themselves around other plants or building parts. I tried to translate this into the cable+lace patterns of the edging. The middle/upper part of the shawl is made with a simple slip stitch pattern in two colours which reminds me of the meadows in my garden and around the house. With spots of colourful flowers in the green grass.
What do you get up to in your spare time, when you’re not designing?
During the pandemic I got heavily into pottery. It’s such a different craft than knitting. The three dimensions, the material, the glazing, the firing. Very different process. I love it and wish I had more time for it. Also we’ve been renovating our old water mill for many years. There are a lot of crafts involved as well here. Clay plastering the walls, tile floors, building stoves/ovens, restoring windows, wood working…
Our Annual this year is inspired by cottage gardens, are you a gardener yourself?
Kind of. This year I finally decided that our huge garden isn’t a garden anymore but a wilderness. Which is fine. It gives a lot of space for wildlife this way. I love watching the kingfisher, the deer and nutria and the many insects buzzing around. I have a small patch behind the kitchen that I tend and where herbs and flowers grow. I used to be a plant dyer and many of my dyes were gathered here at the water mill in Northern Germany. Just this year we moved back to the big city, Berlin. We have a balcony and I will grow some plants there too of course. And the wildlife at the mill will have even more time to grow.
What do you love most about being a designer, what are the challenges?
What I love most about designing knitwear are the endless possibilities. Even after 20+ years or so I can still learn a new technique or better a new way of doing a certain thing. Until today it amazes me what you can do with two sticks and a string. When I’m designing I think about what I would like to wear and what I would like to knit. Unfortunately that sometimes means that putting it into words for a knitting pattern can become quite complicated. I’m endlessly grateful for the great tech editors out there.
Do you have a favourite snack to munch on when you are working?
Chocolate, always chocolate. I even used to work in a chocolate store that is how much I love it.
Let us know where we can find out more about you and your designs.
You can find me on Ravelry as Jule Kebelmann/ slowwolfknits and on Instagram @theslowwolf Sometimes I teach at yarn festivals.
