Esk Knitwear

The featherish sound of snow falling across the UK must be music to the ears of knitwear designers - after a very summery autumn, and a not exactly cold Christmas, at last their woolly scarves, hats and gloves are in high demand. Esk Knitwear, based in the Esk Valley in South West Scotland* is a family-run factory with a long history of producing garments for world-famous designers - this is their own collection, which has lots of fancy stitch-work (think cable-knit etc), the right amount of chunkiness for warmth and a good colour palate of neutral and earthy colours with splashes of intense reds and oranges.

Esk Knitwear makes a range of jumpers (see pic of mustard-coloured cashmere), cardigan-jackets (see pic of the Navy Gansy jacket which I covet, though fear it would make me look v bulky), body warmers, ponchos, scarves, gloves and some excellent looking wellie-socks which would look fabulous on those lucky girls with long long legs, and cashmere bedsocks. (An essential for me, even in high summer. And they have to be red).

*not to be confused with the Eskdale valley in the Lake District from which you can access Hardknott Fort, one of my very favourite places in the world.