SARAH BURNETT

Sarah Burnett cut her fashion teeth in the early 1960s, first working for Biba and then Ossie Clark. She moved to Dorset in 1972 and in the 40 years from 1976 to 2016, together with her team of local handknitters, designed and made some of the best known quality knitwear in Great Britain. Her workshop was a converted cowshed in the farmyard at Dovecote, Stanbridge. Silk, wool and cashmere yarn, spun specially for her in Yorkshire, was dyed by Sarah, using only natural dyes. The Crafts Council toured a UK retrospective exhibition of her work in 1989. A year later she wrote Passion For Colour, Designer Knitting with Natural Dyes. Her knitwear was widely exhibited on both sides of the Atlantic and avidly collected by her many admirers, who included members of the Royal Family and many well-known actors, artists and musicians. Thanks to the variations in the natural dyes, each piece was a one off. Those illustrated give a flavour of her work.

Sarah moved in 2022, and now lives on a small farm in the beautiful Marshwood Vale, West Dorset. Her children and four grandchildren live nearby and her husband continues to write and publish books about the county.

Sarah has hung up her dyeing gloves after 50 happy years and the knitwear illustrated is not for sale.

September 2024.