Norah Gaughan (born January 30, 1961 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
) is an American hand knitting pattern designer.
Early life
She is the younger child of Phoebe Gaughan, artist and needlework illustrator, and
Jack Gaughan
John Brian Francis "Jack" Gaughan, pronounced like 'gone' (September 24, 1930 – July 21, 1985) was an American science fiction artist and illustrator who won the Hugo Award several times. Working primarily with Donald A. Wollheim at Ace Books, ...
, illustrator of fantasy and science fiction books and magazines. Gaughan first learned to knit at the age of 14, while she and a friend avoided a heat-wave by staying indoors for the day, knitting to pass the time.
She studied Biochemistry and Art at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
and, remaining in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, was associated with hand knitting designers Deborah Newton and Marjery Winter.
Knitting career
As a freelance designer, she published designs in "Vogue knitting" and "Woman's World" magazines and the magazines and single pattern flyers of Reynolds and Bernat yarn companies. She also worked for
Adrienne Vittadini
Adrienne Vittadini (born October 9, 1943, in Győr, Hungary) is an American fashion designer.
When she was 13, her family fled Győr during the 1956 Hungarian revolution. In 1979, she started what would become a multimillion-dollar fashion busin ...
, JCA Yarns, and was the design director at Berroco Yarns from 2005 to 2014.
Design
Although previously known to hand knitters for her knitting patterns, following the 2006 publication of her book ''Knitting Nature: 39 Designs Inspired by Patterns in Nature' ''she became internationally known.
Her designs are often based upon the mathematical expressions underlying natural patterns as opposed to naturalistic visual impressions. They are complex in origin but not necessarily so in execution or appearance. She has an innovative use of texture and combination of stitches, often creating new knitting stitches for her designs. Her work is noted as very recognizable on sight;
References
External links
at Blog.berroco.com
Interview on YouTube
norahgaughan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaughan, Norah
People in knitting
Living people
1961 births