Oct 17, 2025

Knitting the Garden: West Yorkshire Spinners Meets William Morris

There is something poetic about knitting with yarn that carries a story, and this is a good one! With their new Morris DK collection, West Yorkshire Spinners invite us to step into William Morris’s world, a place filled with gardens, intricate motifs, and a reverence for craft.

This is a meeting of British art and British wool: the visionary designs of William Morris paired with the character of three beloved British breeds: Bluefaced Leicester, Kerry Hill, and Masham. It feels like a partnership knitters were meant to enjoy, celebrating heritage and handiwork together.

And here at The Woolly Thistle, we are thrilled to share it with you. This collection feels like it was spun for Thistlers who love their wool sheepy, storied, and rich with meaning.

The Man Behind the Motifs

The Morris DK collection feels like a thread unspooled from history itself, carrying with it the colors of Victorian rooms, the patterns of gardens, and the ideals of a man who believed beauty belonged in every home. William Morris was one of those rare people whose creativity spilled into every corner of life. Born in 1834, at the height of the Victorian century, and passing in 1896, his creativity touched nearly every corner of life in those sixty-two years. He painted, wrote poetry, designed textiles, campaigned for workers, and even founded a printing press. Many call him the father of the Arts & Crafts Movement because he believed the things we surround ourselves with should be both useful and beautiful, made with care rather than indifference.

Raised in the English countryside, Morris grew up among flowers and storybooks, and that childhood wonder never left him. Birds, blossoms, and winding vines crept into his patterns, many of which you’ll still recognize today: Strawberry Thief, Sunflower, Golden Lily. His homes, especially Kelmscott Manor on the banks of the Thames, became sanctuaries where he could sketch, write, and dream. He once described Kelmscott as “the loveliest haunt of ancient peace,” and it is easy to imagine him there, inspired by the same natural rhythms that still calm us as knitters today.

But Morris lived in a century of restless change. The Victorian era was transformed by factories, mass production, and crowded cities. While industry brought speed and profit, it often stripped both workers and objects of dignity. Morris answered with another vision, one that placed nature, handcraft, and community at the center of daily life. In 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to safeguard historic architecture from destructive “restorations.” Only a few years later, he poured his energy into the growing socialist movement, speaking and writing for a society where beauty, honest work, and justice could belong to everyone.

That is why this collaboration feels so fitting. By bringing together the wool and art of Britain, West Yorkshire Spinners and The William Morris Society have created something we can both admire and use, just as Morris intended. As knitters, we can carry his ideals forward stitch by stitch, making things that are practical yet filled with artistry, grounded in the very ideals that shaped his life.

A Palette from the Victorian Parlour: The Yarn

Blending the character of time-honored breeds with the richness of Morris & Co. design, this yarn is a bridge between British wool and art history. It combines the shimmer of Bluefaced Leicester, the soft resilience of Kerry Hill, and the rustic strength of Masham. Together they create a yarn that is smooth in the hand while offering the strength needed for lasting wear.

As if they lifted straight from a Morris & Co. wallpaper sample book, the shades recall the beauty Victorians chose to surround themselves with every day. Parlours, bedrooms, and drawing rooms were adorned with Morris’s richly patterned wallpapers and fabrics, filling everyday spaces with vines, blossoms, and birds. The colors of Morris DK echo that same atmosphere, turning a knitter’s basket into a Victorian home of its own.

Reds glow in Pomegranate, Strawberry, Saffron, Rhubarb, Chrysanthemum, Pimpernel, and Rose. Golden tones shine in Marigold and Daffodil. You’ll find blues in Blackthorn, Bluebell, and Hyacinth, while greens flourish through Clover, Mint, Sage, Yew, Artichoke, and Orchard. For grounding, there is Linseed, highlighting the wool in its natural state, and the bright clarity of Daisy.

It is a painter’s palette made woolly, inviting endless combinations. It’s difficult to put these skeins down! The way Marigold glows against Blackthorn *cue gasps!* We can’t wait to see what Thistlers will create from these colors!

Designs That Bloom on Your Needles

Now for the good stuff: the garden of patterns, each drawn from Morris’s world and reimagined for knitters today. They tell stories and invite us to carry his philosophy forward with our own stitches.

Arcadia Mittens & Beret
This set is inspired by May Morris’s Arcadia wallpaper design, a tangle of hawthorn leaves and twining stems. May, William’s daughter, was a gifted designer who carried forward her father’s love of pattern and craft. In knitted form, Arcadia becomes wearable poetry: a beret like a crown of blossoms and mittens patterned with leafy vines, linking the Morris heritage from paper to wool.
Golden Lily Cowl
The cowl takes its cue from Golden Lily, a Morris & Co. pattern of swirling lilies and acanthus leaves. The design became especially famous in the 1960s when musicians, such as George Harrison, wore jackets in its print. In this knitted cowl the same motifs unfurl in wool, creating a fabric that feels rich and romantic. Better still, it is reversible, giving two looks in one and making it wonderfully versatile to both knit and wear.
Grafton Cushion
This cushion is based on Grafton, a Morris & Co. design of vertical vines, arabesque foliage, and flowering stems. In Morris’s time, such motifs adorned furnishings in Victorian homes, showing that beauty belonged in daily life. Knitted into a cushion cover, the design feels like resting your head on a trellis in bloom, bringing both comfort and ornament into any room.
Strawberry Thief Blanket
Few patterns are more beloved than Strawberry Thief. First created in 1883, Morris was inspired by the cheeky thrushes that raided his garden at Kelmscott Manor. In this version, Debbie Bliss and Chloé Elizabeth Birch have reimagined the classic as a homey patchwork blanket. Squares of colorwork capture the mischief of the birds and the abundance of the garden, while the finished piece is perfect for spreading across a bed or curling under with a book.

The Impressions Pattern Book
Debbie Bliss and Chloé Elizabeth Birch gather four Morris-inspired garments into one volume, each piece drawn from a different corner of his archive:

“Marigold” Sweater: Originally a wallpaper pattern of large blossoms with willow-like leaves. In wool it becomes a cheerful yoke design — rustic yet graceful.
“Sunflower” Jumper: Based on Morris’s wallpaper of grapevines and radiant sunflowers, now a truly original cable-and-colorwork sweater. The two halves meeting echo Morris’s belief that beauty and usefulness belong side by side.
“Bird” Sweater: Drawn from a tapestry that once hung in Morris’s own home, regal birds and flowers are worked in intarsia. The effect is serene yet full of life.
“Woodland Weeds” Cardigan: A millefleur meadow scattered across wool, echoing the charm of wildflowers and grasses. As a cardigan worked in colorwork and intarsia, it becomes a wearable meadow.

May Morris: Carrying the Thread Forward

We love this bit of the story. May Morris wasn’t just riding her father’s coattails; she was charting her own course and making sure other women could do the same. That’s the kind of legacy worth knitting into!

She inherited William’s artistic eye and devotion to craft. In 1885, when she was just twenty-three, she took charge of the embroidery department at Morris & Co., guiding commissions, overseeing the workshop, and designing her own textiles and wallpapers. Patterns such as Arcadia, Honeysuckle, and Horn Poppy show her distinctive hand, yet in harmony with the ideals her father set in motion.

But May’s influence reached further than the family firm. She recognized that women’s contributions were too often overlooked, and in 1907 she co-founded the Women’s Guild of Arts, giving women makers a place to belong at a time when many guilds barred them entirely. It was a bold step, rooted in her conviction that creative skill and imagination deserve respect, no matter the maker.

May’s leadership and vision, original designs, and her advocacy for women secured her place as a vital figure in the Arts & Crafts movement. Today, when we knit from her Arcadia design, we carry forward not only a beautiful motif but also the spirit of a woman who believed in the value of handwork and the people who make it.

Stitching the Past into the Present

Knitting always carries a little wonder, and this collection adds another layer. It invites us to share Morris’s conviction that beauty and usefulness should belong together, and that handicraft has a value that endures.

At The Woolly Thistle, we are delighted to bring the Morris DK collection to you as a way to knit history into your everyday life, one row at a time.

So, Thistlers, which design speaks to you? A meadow of Woodland Weeds, a flock of Birds, the combination of colors and cables of Sunflowers, or the mischievous Strawberry Thieves? Whichever you choose, you’ll be stitching a bit of history into something utterly your own, which, come to think of it, is exactly what Morris would have wanted!