Our monthly knitting club You can Knit With Us returns on Sunday 28th January.
However before we look forward, let’s look back to what we achieved last year. YKWU grew significantly in 2023, from an increase of crochet sessions and evening workshops to festival collaborations and a feature in our print journal AGREENCULTURE. To honour the creativity and input of everyone we worked with last year, let’s take a look at some of our favourite YKWU moments.
Evening Workshops
We commenced 2023 with an evening workshop at The Barbican. The workshop was facilitated by Evvia Gonzales – knitwear designer and founder of Loupy Studio, and included a DJ set from Renee Charles.
Later in the year, we held two workshops at Somerset House – one in August that encouraged cross generational learning between parents and their children, and the other one in October to coincide with Somerset House’s exhibition ‘The Missing Thread’. The exhibition told the remarkable stories of Black British designers and aligned with our values of championing diverse talent.
Crazy About Crochet
We increased the number of crochet-oriented sessions in 2023 with the help of Sarabi, an artist and writer who makes garments such as psychedelic hats, post-colonial blankets and black ergonomic balaclavas. Prior to joining the YKWU community, Sarabi was one of the artists in residence at National Maritime Museums and her work was featured at the Barbican Centre and Copeland Gallery.
Festival Fun
We also had a busy summer, which included exhibiting at the Future Fabrics Expo in June and hosting a knitting workshop as part of the Fashion District Festival in July. Our workshop took place at the iconic Spitafield’s Market and saw the return of previous YKWU facilitator Kimberley Cookey-Gam, along with two new faces – London-based knitwear designer Ranti Ehinmola and Spanish-Andalusian regenerative designer Silvi Acién.
Scrapbook Memories
After a year of planning, writing, and interviewing, our print journal AGREENCULTURE was finally published in November 2023. The journal has 208 pages, including a scrapbook of pictures taken from previous YKWU workshops as well as an excerpt from the dissertation of multimedia artist and regular YKWU attendee Tansy West.
