Colour and texture are where every GS collection begins. Before a sweater takes shape, I think about the yarn: the hues within it, how they twist together, and the character they will bring to a knitted stitch.

I create all of my lambswool marls, twisting Scottish-spun yarns together into colour combinations exclusive to GS. It’s a part of designing that I love, bringing different tones together until they become something unexpected, full of depth and movement.

These unexpected twists of colour and texture are what make GS unique and so recognisable. That signature begins with the yarn itself, carrying through into every stitch of the finished piece.

Inspired by Mother Nature

So many of my colour ideas come from looking closely at the world around me. Fallen leaves, lichen growing across stone, the changing colours of the Hertfordshire countryside. What looks like one shade from a distance can reveal a whole palette when you move closer.

I want to capture that complexity in my marls. Colours can be vibrant and surprising, with subtle contrasts that reveal themselves through the texture.

Twisting those colours together allows me to build a hue with its own personality. A brighter strand brings a flash of colour; a darker tone grounds the combination. Each changes the way you see the others.

What is a marl?

A marl is created by bringing differently coloured strands of yarn together. I select and twist those strands to develop the combinations you see across the GS collection.

The individual colours remain visible, winding around one another and moving through the knitted fabric. From a distance, you see an overall hue. Up close, you discover the colours that create it.

Creating a new marl involves a risk. A small yarn wrapping gives me a glimpse of how the colours might work together, but it will look different once knitted. I can’t fully test the result before committing to the twist.

So much of it comes down to a gut feeling. It draws on my experience of working with colour and yarn, but there is always that moment of trusting my instinct. How will the tones balance? Which colour will come forward? How will the texture change what I see?

That uncertainty is part of what makes the process so exciting. The yarn becomes part of the design long before the knitting begins, and seeing a new marl knitted for the first time is when the combination truly reveals itself.

Beginning with Scottish-spun lambswool

The quality of the starting yarn matters enormously. I work with beautifully fine Scottish-spun lambswool, drawing on the knowledge and skill of the people who make it.

Visiting the yarn mill beside Loch Leven gave me the opportunity to see that care first-hand, from the colour library to the traditional machinery. Their love of colour was infectious. It was at the centre of everything they did, alongside the quality of the fleece and the care taken at every stage of the process.

I loved being surrounded by people who shared that enthusiasm, who understood how much the starting fibre and each stage of making contribute to the finished yarn. It’s a connection I carry into developing my own marls.

You can read more about that visit in For the Love of Wool: Scottish Yarn Mill.

Bringing texture into the twist

For the slub marls in this collection, texture adds another dimension. Slub yarn has variations in thickness along its length, giving the knitted fabric its distinctive, gently irregular surface.

Creating this Scottish-spun slub lambswool is a slow, specialised process, with a limited quantity produced each year. I develop my colour twists to celebrate that texture, allowing the changing thickness of the yarn to bring different tones to the surface.

Fine lambswool strands are twisted with the slub yarn to build a fuller marl, creating that sumptuous, substantial feel while keeping the fabric comfortable to wear.

From yarn to the final piece...

You can see these twists come to life in Hadham and Mora. Hadham brings the marl to a classic men’s sweater, with combinations including mustard, charcoal grey and black. Mora pairs the yarn with moss stitch in lilac and burgundy marls, bringing colour and knitted texture together.

The same approach continues through our slub lambswool winter accessories, including ribbed scarves, beanies and fingerless gloves. They’re pieces to wrap up in every day, with enough detail in the yarn to make even a simple rib feel special.

Colour and texture take a core wardrobe staple to another level. A familiar silhouette becomes an enduring piece with its own character, something to style effortlessly through your capsule wardrobe and reach for year after year.

The beauty of a marl is how it responds to the fabrics and layers you wear alongside it. Different tones come forward against denim, a crisp cotton shirt or a wool coat, making the same knit feel subtly different each time. That complexity makes the colour surprisingly versatile and wearable, with so many shades within the yarn to draw into an outfit.

For me, this is the pleasure of creating a GS signature: unexpected colour entwined through texture, bringing something distinctive to everyday dressing. It’s how that unique GS look begins, with the first twist of yarn.

Discover the Lambswool Marl Collection.