DESIGNERS : Turning Up the Volume : Sweaters: Lainey Keogh’s in-demand featherweight designs pick up soft colors of the Irish landscape.

Anyone who has owned an Irish knit sweater might be surprised to see what Lainey Keogh has done to the tradition. Her cardigans and pullovers are featherweight and frothy compared to the tightly knit, heavyweight classics. And instead of the cream color of typical Irish knits, hers are the colors of peat moss, bogs, lichen and granite from the cliffs along the country’s western coast.

While some things have not changed at home--”Ireland is not supportive of the arts”--Keogh counts herself among a growing community of young artists and craftsmen who chose to stay and renew the country’s artistic traditions. And it seems the world is waiting.

Tourists first found her designs in the small Dublin shops she supplied with a few styles at a time. This summer, she added two U.S. stores, Charivari in New York and Ultimo in Chicago. Fred Segal in Los Angeles will carry her fall collection, with sweaters priced at about $500.

Fashion is skintight and aggressive this season, but Keogh’s wide, slouchy styles are not. “Tactile, feathery, curvy, wooly, wearable and very friendly, with a bit of the woman’s touch,” she said of her designs.

Dressed in painted velvet stretch pants and a yellow crocheted pullover from her summer line, her red hair cascading across her shoulders, Keogh was the image of the new Dubliner during a recent trip to Los Angeles. But the brass-heart pendant she wore tied to a strand of black leather was an award she collected in France, not Ireland. Paris couturier Christian Lacroix presented it to her during a young talent competition, because her work was judged as showing the strongest sense of direction for the ‘90s.