The Designers in 52 Weeks of Shawls
In 52 Weeks of Shawls, we present patterns from 50 designers from around the world. You will find both established, known knit and crochet designers as well as completely new names. Read more about them on this page.
STELLA ACKROYD
Stella Ackroyd works from her home in Northumberland, the most northern county in England. She is surrounded by beautiful countryside and beaches, so it’s very easy to find design inspiration. Stella loves fashion, language and maths, and all of those things are combined in knitting patterns. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Stella designed the Cragside shawl.
ANDREA AHO
Andrea Aho lives in Canada. She has been knitting for about five years and designing for two years. Andrea naturally gravitates toward natural fibres in natural colours. She loves designing basics that have a little something special to them. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Andrea designed the Everyday Collar.
Photo by Danijela Gorley.
ANNA JOHANNA
Anna Johanna lives and works in central Finland, Muurame. She learned to knit in third grade, but it really caught on at the end of ninth grade – and she has been knitting non-stop ever since. Her designs always have a hint of romance in them. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Anna Johanna designed the Limelight shawl.
@_.annajohanna._
NATALYA BEREZYNSKA
Natalya Berezynska lives and works in Las Vegas, USA. She has been knitting since kindergarten, and her first finished project was a garter scarf, about five meters long, since she just couldn’t stop. Her passion is everything rustic, natural, old and weathered. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Natalya designed the Homestead shawl.
@natalya1905
REBEKAH BERKOMPAS
Rebekah Berkompas lives in Washington State, USA. She learned to knit as a child and began designing in 2007. Rebekah is particularly fascinated by construction. She loves the challenge of designing structured items with integrated edgings and minimal seams. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Rebekah designed the Aloft shawl.
@bekah.knits
LÆRKE BISSCHOP-LARSEN
Lærke Bisschop-Larsen lives in an old house in the southern part of the Danish island Funen. She has been knitting since childhood and designing since 2017. Lærke loves to work with rustic yarns and earth tones, and she finds most of her inspiration in nature. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Lærke designed the Älv shawl.
RACHEL BROCKMAN
Rachel Brockman lives in North Carolina, USA. By day she works as the creative lead for Universal Yarn, and by night she designs independently. She always looks towards nature for inspiration, revels in little details and has a penchant for textural motifs and cables. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Rachel designed the Crosshatch shawl.
ALEKS BYRD
Aleks Byrd is located in Bath, England. Her mom taught her to knit when she was about nine years old, and she got into designing in 2015. As a designer Aleks plays with her Estonian roots, weaving it into new patterns to produce modern and unique designs with a connection to the past. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Aleks designed the Halliste shawl.
SUSAN CHIN
Susan Chin lives in Edmonton, Canada. She started knitting in her mid-teens and crocheting before she was ten years old. Susan is self-taught and has always tinkered with designing for the challenge and for personal interest. She is especially drawn to richly textured patterns. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Susan designed the Quiddity – Two Ways shawl.
@knit_frog_repeat
VALENTINA COSCIANI-TIBISAY
Valentina Cosciani-Tibisay is a former artist living in Trieste, Italy. She has been knitting since she was a little girl but started designing in 2012. Valentina likes dark and dull colours. She loves to insert complicated lace into her patterns, and she loves details like hidden increases and decreases. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Valentina designed the Frost shawl.
@tibisay1969
EVGENIYA DUPLIY
Evgeniya Dupliy was born in Uzbekistan and moved to Germany in 2003. Evgeniya started knitting in 2013 and with time, knitting became more than just a hobby. Now it’s her space to be creative and to relax. Her design style is natural and quite minimalistic. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Evgeniya designed the Skarn shawl.
@eviknitwear
STEPHANIE EARP
Montreal-based Stephanie Earp started knitting in her early twenties and started publishing in magazines in 2011. Stephanie likes to say that she’s not happy designing unless she’s breaking her brain and trying to push techniques or constructions to the limit. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Stephanie designed the Sulina shawl.
MARION EM
Marion Em lives with her two minis in a coastal town in northern France. She works at home but knits everywhere and all the time. Marion has been knitting since she was a child. She likes colours, experimenting and looking for new techniques. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Marion designed the Venus stole.
FIONA ALICE
Fiona Alice originally comes from Nova Scotia, Canada and currently lives in Helsinki, Finland. She has been knitting for over twenty years and designing since 2012. She loves repetitive textures, classic ones like seed or double moss stitch, but also more complicated ones, like intricate cables or slipped stitches. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Fiona designed the Windgate shawl.
@fiona_alice_
FRIDA FRANCKIÉ
Frida Franckié originally comes from Sweden but now lives in Switzerland. Going to a Waldorf school, she learned to knit in first grade and has been doing it more or less ever since. She often finds herself working in neutral, quite toned down colours. Her garments tend to be simple in style but with a twist in either shape or detail. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Frida designed the Heimweh shawl.
@fleurandfranckie
KATYA GORBACHEVA
Katya Gorbacheva is a knitwear designer from Siberia, Russia. Knitting has been her favorite hobby for a long time and nowadays it is also her second job – besides working as a telecommunication engineer for an electricity company. She likes to combine natural colours and textured patterns, tweed yarn and unusual constructions. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Katya designed the Wild Flowers shawl.
SAMANTHA GUERIN
Samantha Guerin lives in a coastal town in New England, USA with her husband and their two children. She began writing her own patterns after her son was born in 2016. Spending many hours at home with the kids, she felt a need to connect with others who shared her passion for knitting. Her designs often feature a mix of geometric and linear elements. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Samantha designed the Solari shawl.
JOANNA HERRIOTT
Joanna Herriott works from her home in Bristol, UK. She has been knitting for 45 years (her Granny taught her to knit dishcloths when she was five) but she only started publishing designs in the last year. She tries to balance her designs – a memorable pattern repeat with sections of garter – so that the knitter doesn’t have to think all the time. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Joanna designed the Stiperstones shawl.
@jojobutler
SARAH HEYMANN
Sarah Heymann lives in Germany. She used to work as a kindergarten teacher but is now planning on studying fashion design. Sarah learned how to knit in school when she was only six years old and immediately fell in love with it. She loves graphic patterns and is amazed by what structure you can create with just a knit stitch and a purl stitch. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Sarah designed the Ruiskaunokki shawl.
JONNA HIETALA
Jonna Hietala is the editor-in-chief of Laine who lives in Tampere, Finland with her husband, two children, two cats and two dogs. Jonna doesn’t actually consider herself a knitwear designer: usually she just knits and makes up the pattern as she goes. That also makes Jonna’s garments approachable and easy to knit. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Jonna designed the Hanki cowl.
@jonnahoo
ERIN JENSEN
Erin Jensen lives i Kansas City, USA. As a long-time knitter, she always wanted to design but couldn’t seem to carve out the time and mental space to do it. After losing her daughter 24 months ago, Erin didn’t know what to do with her life – so she began to knit as she grieved. Erin strives for classic shapes that are clean and shine in modern colour palettes. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Erin designed the Kostner shawl.
SVEINA BJÖRK JÓHANNESDÓTTIR
Sveina Björk Jóhannesdóttir lives in Akureyri, Iceland. She graduated as a textile designer in 1997 but started designing knitwear just over a year ago. Sveina is obsessed with nature, and you can find it in all of her work. She likes textures and the colours of anything distressed and old. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Sveina designed the Moss Cowl.
MALIA MAE JOSEPH
Malia Mae Joseph lives in the English countryside with her partner. She works between the UK and Amsterdam where she owns the yarn boutique Stephen & Penelope. Malia Mae loves a knit that makes you stay up an hour past your bedtime because you just have to get to that next pattern repeat or finish the yoke. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Malia designed the Turnrow shawl.
@maliamaejoseph
SUSANNA KAARTINEN
Susanna Kaartinen is an Inari Saami living in Australia, in a small town just outside of Melbourne. She has been knitting since she was about seven years old. Her design style is timeless but with a fresh point of view. Susanna enjoys trying new techniques and likes to find ways to combine traditional with something new. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Susanna designed the Ruuvdu cowl.
HANNE KÆR PEDERSEN
Hanne Kær Pedersen is based in Nyborg, Denmark. Formerly a high school English teacher and civil servant in the Danish Ministry of Education, she is now a freelance knitwear designer, knitter, natural dyer and translator. Technically, her designs are easy and simple, yet ornamented and lavish in appearance. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Hanne designed the Feste cowl.
@hesselstrik_kaerwear
PAULIINA KARRU
Pauliina Karru lives in Helsinki, Finland. She learned to knit in elementary school and has had a project on her needles ever since. Pauliina started designing in 2017. Her inspiration comes from nature, texture and tempting, soft-coloured wool skeins. Pauliina works as an in-house tech editor and communications assistant at Laine Publishing. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Pauliina designed the Seedling shawl.
LINDA LENCOVIC
Linda Lencovic is based on the south coast of England where she dyes her Kettle Yarn Co yarns in a little Victorian kitchen by the seaside. She released her first pattern in 2014. Drawing on a Masters in Fine Art Painting, her designs often begin with colour and texture. She aims for simple techniques and silhouettes that make the most of her yarn’s qualities. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Linda designed the Cetrelia shawl.
MARJUT LUND-RAHKOLA
Marjut Lund-Rahkola lives in Tampere, Finland. She has been making handicrafts since she was a little girl, but knitting became a passion for her when she was expecting her first child seven years ago. Marjut likes beautiful constructions with finished details, and she admires both Japanese esthetics and things that she sees in nature. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Marjut designed the Windy Fields shawl.
@moonlightknits
LOTTA LÖTHGREN
Lotta Löthgren lives in the forest of southern Sweden, in a big old house in the heart of a small village. Lotta loves woolly wool yarns and designs pieces that are well suited for the kind of life she lives – things you can wear year after year and combine in layers to make them work through the shifting seasons. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Lotta designed the Korpsång shawl.
@elk.market
HANNA MACIEJEWSKA
Hanna Maciejewska lives with her husband, daughter and mother in a small village in Poland. Hanna wants to design durable and versatile pieces that can be combined in multiple ways and worn a long time without going out of style. And she is so picky about finding just the right colours that her husband opened his own dyeing studio in their garage! For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Hanna designed the Quicksand shawl.
@hada131
AUDE MARTIN
Aude Martin lives in Avignon, France. She started to knit on a regular basis about 12 years ago. She is especially fond of dark neutral colors, like dark shades of blue and black, and their opposites, like white, light pink and orange. Aude likes to work on tailoring and construction, and she’s attracted to minimalism and geometry. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Aude designed the Ruf shawl.
@audemartok
MARIYA MATVEEVA
Maria Matveeva lives in the Russian city of Kaluga. She learned to knit as a child watching her grandmother dye goat down and sheep wool, spin fine thread by hand and knit weightless Orenburg shawls. She tries to come up with something new in each of her projects and does not like to repeat knitting in her work. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Mariya designed the Deer Scarf.
HELEN MAWDSLEY
Helen Mawdsley is located in Winnipeg, Canada. She is an avid fibre artist and woodturner. Helen believes that while it is valuable to develop mastery in specific elements of the fibre arts, it is important to explore the context and continuum of fibre arts; from creating tools to working with various fibres, and how one dimension of fibre arts can influence others. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Helen designed the Cherry Twist shawl.
@mawdsleyfibrearts
FAÏZA MEBAZAA
Faïza Mebazaa lives in Paris, France with her husband and three children. She has a background in advertising and graphic design and is also the author of numerous cookbooks. For many years her elected craft was sewing, but then she discovered Ravelry and a new world opened up for her. Faïza loves to play with the infinite array of knit stitch patterns, lace and cables. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Faïza designed the Kupka shawl.
KATHRYN MERRICK
Kathryn Merrick lives with her family in a cosy Arts and Crafts house just outside of Philadelphia, USA. As a designer, colour comes first for her. Kathryn tends to start when she sees yarn in gorgeous colours and then ties them to an idea she’s been considering. She is a big fan of the artist Kaffe Fassett’s idea: when in doubt, add another colour! For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Kathryn designed the Seascape shawl.
TIF NEILAN
Tif Neilan resides in Connecticut, USA with her husband, two daughters and three dogs. She has been designing knitwear for about two and a half years now and previously worked in interior design. Tif has a love of muted earth tones. Herringbone is her favorite stitch to design with, but she also really likes to play with texture through slip stitch patterns. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Tif designed the Silta shawl.
@tifneilan_handknits
PAULA PEREIRA
Paula Pereira is a knitwear designer and teacher living in São Paulo, Brazil. She learned to knit about ten years ago and has been professionally knitting and designing since 2015. Some elements are always present in her work, such as textures, colours and fit, but she always likes to introduce new elements to her work. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Paula designe the Hugi and Leveza shawls.
CLAUDIA QUINTANILLA
Claudia Quintanilla lives in Toronto. She emigrated to Canada in 1990 to escape the civil war that had engulfed her home country El Salvador. She likes to design things that can be worn forever and is inspired by the patterns in nature and architecture. Natural wools are also an inspiration: Claudia loves to squeeze the skeins and imagine them becoming something. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Claudia designed the Granada shawl.
LUCÍA RUIZ DE AGUIRRE
Lucía Ruiz de Aguirre lives in A Coruña, Galicia, in the northwest of Spain. She started knitting in 2015 and designing her own patterns in 2016. Lucia loves geometry and likes to make her patterns easy to follow and easy to knit. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Lucía designed the Autumn Vibes shawl.
@luymou
NATALIYA SINELSHCHIKOVA
Nataliya Sinelshchikova lives in The Netherlands. She started knitting in 2015 when her husband presented her with a pile of chunky yarn and 20 mm needles for her birthday. Nataliya likes to create wearable garments with a twist. Her pattern recipe is “smart design and eye-catching details, shaken not stirred!" For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Nataliya designed the Iney shawl.
JEANETTE SLOAN
Jeanette Sloan lives on the south coast of England in the city of Brighton. She trained as a textile designer specialising in knitwear and first graduated in 1990. Many things inspire her designs: she loves exploring stitch libraries but also takes influences from pieces already in her wardrobe – and even random things, like the texture on a ceramic plant pot. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Jeanette designed the Marjie shawl.
ELENA SOLIER JANSÀ
Elena Solier Jansà lives in the Spanish countryside and works from home on her yarn company Xolla. She learned to knit as a child but really got into knitting and designing five years ago. She loves to knit the most intricate patterns: cables, colourwork and lace. She prefers earthy tones – and always wool! For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Elena designed the Sotabosc shawl.
SUSANNE SOMMER
Susanne Sommer lives in a small village in Austria. Her designs are straightforward and modern but always wearable and comfortable. Susanne learnt to knit as a child, but her real life as a knitter started after graduating from university and being lost as to what to do with her life. Knitting started out as a comfort but ended up being empowering and life-changing. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Susanne designed the Stairway shawl.
@sosuknits
ANNA STRANDBERG
Anna Strandberg lives in Stockholm, Sweden. She started knitting at the age of seven, took a break in her teens and picked it up again at 27, this time for good. Her design style is Scandinavian with a flair for minimalism. Anna says that she designs “menswear for women”, since it’s what she prefers to wear herself. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Anna designed the Fru Alstad shawl.
@anna_dandelion
NIINA TANSKANEN
Niina Tanskanen is located in Turku, Finland. She started her career as a designer from socks and has been selling her patterns for a few years now. Her approach is simple and practical, but she values adding elements that only handmade items can provide or are inherent to hand-knitting. Niina prefers unisex style and natural materials. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Niina designed the Mooi shawl.
MARI TOBITA
Mari Tobita grew up in Japan but now lives and works in New York. She has been designing knitwear since 2005. Her design style is playful, but she also likes challenges that bring her outside of her comfort zone. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Mari designed the Drops of Memory shawl.
@mari.tobita
MIRIAM WALCHSHÄUSL
Miriam Walchshäusl lives in southern Germany, near the Alps. Her grandmother taught her to knit when she was a child. Miriam wants to pack stories into her designs and is inspired by women who share their passion, stand up for their beliefs and uplift others. And as women come in different shapes, sizes, beliefs and characters, so do her designs. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Miriam designed the Florence shawl.
LAUREN WALLIS
US-born Lauren Wallis lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She has been knitting since 2016 and designing since 2018. Lauren gravitates towards clean, purposeful lines and always tries to include function in her design decisions. She is constantly experimenting with new techniques and best practices. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Lauren designed the Aperture shawl.
CLAIRE WALLS
Claire Walls originally comes from the North West of England but now lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband and pup. She first began knitting as a teenager, but it wasn’t until her mid-twenties that she really got bit by the knitting bug. Claire loves simple designs with interesting and thoughtful details. She wants her patterns to be fun and soothing to knit. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Claire designed the Hiraeth shawl.
@flossiknits
STEPHEN WEST
Stephen West lives and works in Amsterdam. He learned to knit when he was 16 years old and started designing patterns in 2009. Colorful combinations with playful architectural shaping are typical of him. Stpehen loves creating unique shapes with graphic details that showcase beautiful woolly yarns and hand dyed fibers. For 52 Weeks of Shawls, Stephen designed the Rainbow Road shawl.