WEEDS: Reimagining the Tam. A collection of patterns by Sue Beard

I admire the traditional tam design, with its jewel colours and its precise patterning, the wheel of the top shaping, the feeling that you are looking at a kaleidoscope rendered in yarn. But in this collection, I wanted to do something a little different. I don’t want to alter the structure or the shape, or the adherence to fixed geometry – six, seven, or eight segments give a wonderful canvas for ideas to blossom. These patterns do not, on the surface, look like your image of a tam, and that is what I find exciting.

I have chosen five weeds as inspiration for this collection of tam patterns. All grow very well in my garden in West Yorkshire, UK; some I leave for birds to eat the seeds (goldfinches are particularly fond of teasel, dandelion and thistle seeds), some seeds I collect to scatter in wild places (poppies are a surprising but welcome sight growing in unlikely places), some I root out when their work as foodsource has completed, and they become valuable compost additions.
Everything has a place and a purpose, even weeds.

Each of the five patterns is available singly, or you can purchase the collection at a discount. Shepherd’s Purse, Teasel and Wild Oats are available now, Poppy and Thistle will be published shortly.

eBook published in September 2023 by Granary Knits

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