 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies .(December 2013) |
Shannon Okey (born January 6, 1975) is an American writer and knit designer.
| The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies .(December 2013) |
Shannon Okey (born January 6, 1975) is an American writer and knit designer.
Okey was born in 1975 in Medina, Ohio. [1]
She learnt to knit in her twenties, being taught by her aunt. She has said that her family background is one where "art and craft [are] part of everyday life". Okey began the knitgrrl.com blog in 1999. She had previously worked as a stockbroker. She has spoken about knitting being a way for people with "ordinary" body shapes to get clothes that fit them well, and also to find clothes that reflect one's personality. [2]
Her book Knitgrrl appeared on the New York Public Library's 2006 Books for the Teen Age list, [3] a list of titles recommended by librarians for younger audiences, and also received a starred review from Booklist . [4] Knitgrrl 2 was nominated for a CraftTrends Award of Creative Excellence in December 2006. Both Knitgrrl books are designed to teach beginning knitters and feature colorful illustrations by Canadian illustrator and webcomic artist Kathleen Jacques. Okey's book Alt Fiber received a 2008 "Proggy" award for "Most Animal-Friendly Craft Book." [5]
Okey has been featured on several television shows, including Uncommon Threads , Crafters Coast to Coast and Knitty Gritty. She has curated and appeared in national fiber arts shows at galleries including Assemble Gallery [6] and New York-based artist Cynthia von Buhler's CVBSpace. Photos of both shows, including Okey's own work, were published in the summer 2006 issue of knit.1 magazine.
During a 2006 podcast interview with Marie Irshad of KnitCast, Okey discussed her interest in fashion, not just knitting, and the designs she created for a "computational couture" show called Seamless in Boston. [7] Okey is also a frequent contributor to knitting-related magazines such as Yarn Market News, and was a columnist for knit.1 magazine. She began editing British knitting magazine Yarn Forward in 2008, but left the magazine to focus on her own publishing company, Cooperative Press.[ citation needed ]
Crochet is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term croc, which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made from a variety of materials, such as metal, wood, bamboo, bone or even plastic. The key difference between crochet and knitting, beyond the implements used for their production, is that each stitch in crochet is completed before the next one is begun, while knitting keeps many stitches open at a time. Some variant forms of crochet, such as Tunisian crochet and broomstick lace, do keep multiple crochet stitches open at a time.
Knitting is a method for production of textile fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine.
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework. Yarn can be made of a number of natural or synthetic materials, and comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses. Although yarn may be dyed different colours, most yarns are solid coloured with a uniform hue.
Knitting is the process of using two or more needles to pull and loop yarn into a series of interconnected loops in order to create a finished garment or some other type of fabric. The word is derived from knot, thought to originate from the Dutch verb knutten, which is similar to the Old English cnyttan, "to knot". Its origins lie in the basic human need for clothing for protection against the elements. More recently, hand knitting has become less a necessary skill and more of a hobby.
Nålebinding is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet. Also known in English as "knotless netting", "knotless knitting", or "single-needle knitting", the technique is distinct from crochet in that it involves passing the full length of the working thread through each loop, unlike crochet where the work is formed only of loops, never involving the free end. It also differs from knitting in that lengths must be pieced together during the process of nålebinding, rather than a continuous strand of yarn that can easily be pulled out. Archaeological specimens of fabric made by nålebinding can be difficult to distinguish from knitted fabric.
Elizabeth Zimmermann was a British-born hand knitting teacher and designer. She revolutionized the modern practice of knitting through her books and instructional series on American public television.
Alice Starmore is a professional needleworker, knitting designer, photographer and writer, born in Stornoway, Western Isles, Scotland. As an author she is best known for her widely-read Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting, a guide to the complex technique of knitting pullovers and other items using a palette of five colours, on which she is an expert. Her photographic work is devoted to the natural world, especially birds and insects.
Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee, also known as the Yarn Harlot is a writer, knitter, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and doula living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Wenlan Chia (賈雯蘭) is a Taipei-born American fashion designer and creator of the line, Twinkle by Wenlan, which she launched in 2000. Twinkle made its Fashion Week debut in 2003. The collection is known for its whimsical take on feminine dressing with a dash of the exotic, a dose of pop culture and a sense of humor. In addition to women's ready-to-wear, her line includes home decor and accessories, called Twinkle Living, which launched in 2006; costume and fine jewelry ; knitting yarns; and leather accessories.
Double knitting is a form of hand knitting in which two fabrics are knitted simultaneously on one pair of needles. The fabrics may be inseparable, as in interlock knitted fabrics, or they can simply be two unconnected fabrics. In principle, an arbitrary number of fabrics can be knitted simultaneously on one pair of knitting needles with yarns, as long as one is careful.
Knitted fabric is a textile that results from knitting, the process of inter-looping of yarns or inter-meshing of loops. Its properties are distinct from woven fabric in that it is more flexible and can be more readily constructed into smaller pieces, making it ideal for socks and hats.
Barbara Albright was an American author of about 25 food and knitting books.
Knitta Please, also known as simply Knitta, is the group of artists who began the "knit graffiti" movement in Houston, Texas in 2005. They are known for wrapping public architecture—e.g. lampposts, parking meters, telephone poles, and signage—with knitted or crocheted material, a process known as "knit graffiti", "yarn storming" or "yarnbombing". The mission is to make street art "a little more warm and fuzzy."
Hand knitting is a form of knitting, in which the knitted fabric is produced by hand using needles.
Variegated yarn is yarn dyed with more than one colour.
Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk. It is also called wool bombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting, or graffiti knitting.
Norah Gaughan is an American hand knitting pattern designer.
Bohus Stickning was a Swedish knitting cooperative that was active between 1939 and 1969. It was established as a cottage industry to provide income for poor families in Bohuslän (Sweden) during the Great Depression. Knitwear designed by the founder Emma Jacobsson and other designers was handknit by women in Bohuslän Province and sold to department stores, boutiques and fashion houses both in Sweden and internationally.
Abigail M. Franquemont is an American textile crafts writer, lecturer and educator, based in Cusco, Peru. She spent her early childhood among the Quechua people of Chinchero, Peru, where "women spun to eat and pay for the home they lived in." As a revivalist of the ancient art of hand spinning with the spindle, she published her book, Respect the Spindle, in 2009.
Clara Parkes is an American author, yarn critic, and wool expert. Parkes has been described as "quite possibly the only writer you will ever read who can make a discussion of micron counts absolutely riveting."
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