Frog and Cast  

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How can you not love this knitted frog and toad? Kristina McGowan, the knitwear designer and founder of Frog and Cast has made a piece of knitting come to life. It’s utter genius and their faces have so much personality. So many people make dolls or toys but this is different somehow. 

 It’s funny, I don’t even particularly like frogs and have never bought a knitted toy in my life but there is something about what she does….it’s a little bit of magic. Kristina has written about loving the saying that “reading is dreaming with your eyes open” and as a child, no book filled her dreamscape more vividly than Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad stories. Her parents would often read these books to her and her twin sister and she found an immense comfort in them. 

Several years ago, whilst visiting her parents for Christmas, she found the tattered, much cherished copy of Frog and Toad are Friends and, armed with a strong Manhattan, sat by the fire with a ball of green yarn and sock needles and succeeded in articulating her childhood memory. After completing the Frog, a stockier Toad followed, along with clothing from several of her favourite scenes including a bathing suit, a jacket and a pair of trousers. She explains that remnants of hand-dyed yarn felt particularly suited to match Lobel’s watercolour illustrations and lace weight Shetland with its rustic feel and rich colours worked well for the clothing. 

There is something very beautiful and considered about the clothes they wear, the palette, the preciseness. But really I think what she does is transport us to another fantasy world, it’s that sense of escapism which we all probably need right now…..for Kristina has created something truly delightful. 

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Eva Karayiannis