Edinburgh Yarn Festival
The UK's Premier Urban Hand-Knitting Show
Meet the EYF Teachers!
ANNIKEN ALLIS is a Norwegian knitwear designer living in Cornwall, UK and the author of Beaded Lace Knitting. yarnaddict.co.uk
JEN ARNALL-CULLIFORD is an editor, designer and author (with her husband Jim) of A Year of Techniques. Alongside editing work, Jen writes Masterclasses for The Knitter, as well as moderating a growing number of Ravelry groups, and she even finds time for a bit of her own knitting too. Jen is a reluctant designer, but sometimes an idea is just too persistent to be ignored. She's led by a fascination with techniques in combination with a love of her local area and bird life. www.acknitwear.co.uk
KATE ATHERLEY is Knitty.com’s Managing Technical Editor, and a seasoned designer and teacher of all things knitterly. Her book 'Custom Socks: Knit to Fit Your Feet' was released summer 2015 by Interweave Press to great acclaim, and her latest book, ‘Beginner’s Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns’ is proving very popular among both new and experienced designers. She’s known for her attention to detail in her patterns and her classes, and she regularly teaches at stores and events across North America, including Interweave YarnFest and Vogue Knitting Live. Her work has appeared in many books and magazines, and her next project is a book about custom fit mittens and gloves. Although she was born in the UK, Kate now makes her home in Toronto with her husband, an adorable but difficult dog and an unfeasibly large collection of sock yarn.
www.kateatherley.com Ravelry: Kate Atherley
OLGA BURAYA KEFELIAN draws her inspiration from industrial and architectural fields, combined with her passion for European and Japanese design, resulting in knitwear designs infused with innovation. Olga is a contributing designer at Brookyn Tweed and Quince & Co amongst others, as well as author and co-author of many titles. olgajazzy.com
RENEE CALLAHAN is the London-based designer, podcaster and teacher also known as EastLondonKnit. After studying fashion design at Central St Martin's college, she fell in love with textiles, the technical challenge of knitting, and finding real joy in producing something both useful and beautiful. On Instagram and Ravelry as EastLondonKnit. eastlondonknit.co.uk.
JANE CROWFOOT specialises in contemporary hand knit and crochet designs. Her mission is to inspire crocheters and knitters across the world with a range of exciting project designs and products, many of which are not available elsewhere. Jane specialises in designs for the home interior, including cushions and throws and regularly teaches workshops to pass on her passion for the crafts of knit and crochet. janiecrow.co.uk
KATE DAVIES is a prolific author, designer and is the creator of Buachaille yarn as well as a new range of ready-made accessories. She'll be reading from and introducing you to some of the key themes of her upcoming book, Handywoman, an autobiographical exploration of her own experiences of making, design and disability following her stroke in 2010. Tickets for this talk will be available in early 2018. katedaviesdesigns.com
CLARE DEVINE discovered her passion for knitting as she wandered along the trails of the Bibbulmun track in Western Australia back in 2011. Since then, wherever she’s wandered she’s taken her yarn and a pair of pointy sticks with her. Originally from South Africa, Clare was born with a wandering spirit and has spent most of her adult life on the move. After immersing herself in the wonderful Scottish knitting scene she started moving south, first to near London and then on to Brisbane, Australia – her new home. She is passionate about creating beautiful designs that inspire knitters to try new techniques and expand their knitting repertoire. Clare has shared her love of knitting, through workshops in Scotland, England and Australia. She believes there is something uniquely wonderful about a group of knitters coming together to develop new skills and share their passion for fibre craft. When she is not knitting Clare can be found, fulfilling her two other creative passions, writing about knitting or taking photographs of knitting. knitsharelove.com
FELICITY FORD AKA Felix likes celebrating everyday contexts in knitting and sound. In 2014 she self-published the KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook with the help of 447 backers on Kickstarter; in 2018, she is launching the KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Playbook to provide knitters everywhere with further tools and opportunities to turn normal, everyday stuff into life-affirming hand-knits. Felix loves all the colours and all the sounds: brickwork, factories, biscuit tins and tarmac are some of her favourite inspirations and if she’s not translating them into stranded colourwork for her knitting, she can often be found making field-recordings of them for her sound projects. Felix's favourite things are helping other knitters to celebrate life in stranded colourwork and making field recordings of sheep. www.knitsonik.com (Photo credit Fergus Ford Photography: http://fergusford.com)
DEBORAH GRAY is a hand spinner, knitter, teacher and all-round fibre obsessive working throughout Scotland and in Italy too. Read about her adventures at perfectweatherforspinningandknitting.blogspot.co.uk or find her on Ravelry as deborahgray
ELIZABETH JOHNSTON is a Shetland spinner and knitter. She learned much of her craft as a child, observing and learning from family and friends. She uses these age old skills, handed down through generations, to turn Shetland fleece into beautiful soft yarns, and knitted Fair Isle and lace items in her business, Shetland Handspun. Elizabeth has demonstrated, lectured and taught workshops in Spinning, Lace and Fair Isle knitting in Shetland, through the UK, Europe and in the USA.
KATHERINE LYMER is a knitting tutor based in the beautiful and inspirational countryside of East Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders. She travels all around the UK giving classes and workshops on a wide variety of knitting topics, from Learn to Knit through to more advanced techniques such as socks, knitting with cables and colour and brioche knitting (and occasionally crochet too). knittingwithkatherine.com
NANCY MARCHANT is the Queen Mother of Brioche. For over 30 years, Nancy has studied the nuances of this European stitch, developing new and exciting stitches and techniques for achieving beautiful results. She is the author of Knitting Brioche, Knitting Fresh Brioche, Leafy Brioche and is working on her current knitting passion of developing tuck stitches. Nancy lives in Amsterdam and travels the world giving lessons and spreading the Brioche love around. www.briochestitch.com
CAROL MELDRUM is a textile designer, workshop tutor and author of many popular knitting and crochet titles. She is also the creative force behind the fashion accessories label beatknit. Since graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, she has worked within the textile industry as a designer for many High Street fashion outlets as well as internationally renowned hand knit label Rowan.
SOL RENCORET: I’m a crochet addict! Crochet is a beautiful technique but for many people it is still behind knitting in terms of wearability and style. Through patterns, workshops, tutorials and my blog I have been working towards inspiring people to grab their hook and make beautiful things they never expected could be done with crochet. www.acrochetjourney.com
DONNA SMITH was born and brought up in Shetland and was surrounded by knitting from a young age. She learned to knit young but after a long break returned to it again with a very strong interest in the techniques used in traditional Fair Isle and lace knitting in Shetland and sees the retention of these skills as very important. She was patron of Shetland Wool Week in 2015 for which she designed the Baa-ble hat and has since designed several patterns, several of which have been included in various publications. Donna has just recently released her own yarn, Langsoond that has been spun from the fleeces of her own and her neighbours’ sheep. www.donnasmithdesigns.co.uk
SUSANNE SOMMER is a passionate knitter and knitwear designer from Austria. She loves quick & easy projects. Her designs combine colors and textures with unusual construction methods to create colorful, practical and fun knitwear. www.sosu.at
NATHAN TAYLOR aka SOCKMATICIAN (on Ravelry, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter) is obsessed with double-knitting! He has been knitting seriously since 2011, and designing since around the same time. His passion is for sharing his knowledge of DK with as many people as possible, and pushing the boundaries, and furthering what is possible within the realms of this addictive and beautiful technique. His first published design was in Knit Now! Magazine, and in 2015, he was approached by Vogue Knitting Magazine in the USA to design a DK Shawl for their Fall 2015 issue. Nathan hosts a very popular knitting podcast on YouTube, and particularly champions male knitters, with a view to getting not only more men into knitting, but also getting more patterns aimed at men out there. One of the things that he is most passionate about is trying to innovate new things in the world of DK, and adapting things that are well-known in single-face knitting, so that they can also be used in DK projects. He has been teaching double-knitting classes for the last couple of years, and enjoys nothing so much as seeing that lightbulb moment, when someone’s brain clicks, and he knows that a new DKer has been born. Ravelry: Nathan Taylor
TOM VAN DEIJNEN is a self-taught knitter and mender from The Netherlands, who now lives in Brighton, UK. Technique, tradition and narrative inform much of his work. Under the moniker tomofholland, he explores these aspects of knitting and mending, and shares his enthusiasm with the general public through his blog, exhibitions and workshops. Hand-knitting has also raised his awareness of the meaning behind garments and his relationship with the clothes he wears. This has led to the Visible Mending Programme, in which Tom provides mending and repair inspiration, skills and services to people.
VITHARD VILLUMSEN - Prince of Knitting - finds knitting is like playing, an exploration of the expression of surfaces and materials. It’s exciting, challenging and can create unimagined things. He tries to pass this curiosity as to the possibilities of knitting on to the students of his workshops, the audience at his lectures or on tv. vithard.dk
EMILY WESSEL is one half of Tin Can Knits, a design and publishing company that creates modern seamless knits for the whole family. Born and raised on the Pacific coast of Canada, Emily now makes her home in Edinburgh, and has translated her design career from architecture to knit design. She loves to ride her bike, swim in the sea, drink good beer with friends, and make beautiful things. www.tincanknits.com
KARIE WESTERMANN does things with wool & words. She is a designer, teacher & general wool enthusiast. Her work combines her love of storytelling, art and woolly yarns as she is a big believer in knitting never being "just knitting". Karie relaxes by doing pub quizzes, biking around Glasgow on her red bike, and dabbling in dress-making. Her latest project, This Thing of Paper, a knitting book inspired by medieval manuscripts and books, will be released in November. kariebookish.net
WOOLLY WORMHEAD is a Hat Architect. With an instinctive flair for unusual construction and a passion for innovation, Woolly Wormhead is a designer whose patterns are trusted and celebrated by knitters all over the world. As a designer, Woolly is driven by a need to create and develop her understanding of 3D form. Communicating her ideas and sharing her specialised knowledge with her audiences is key to Woolly’s success as a designer. Woolly’s high quality pattern writing ensures perfect results, teaches new skills and encourages us all to become Hat architects. Her latest collection is Elemental - 5 fabric-bending short-row hats. www.woollywormhead.com