meet our GUESTS
knitfest 2026
I am a textile artist who creates knitted compositions based on mathematical and geometric concepts. I am passionate about popularizing knitting as a fine art form. At knitfest, I hope to inspire others to see our craft in a new light and encourage them to experiment with knitting as a form of artistic expression in addition to their traditional projects.
sinchens stands for modern knitwear designs, creative patterns and high-quality knitted fashion with great attention to detail. Behind the brand is Alexandra, knitwear designer and owner of sinchens. Knitting enthusiasts will find inspiring designs, easy-to-follow patterns and carefully selected knitting products.
The brand combines contemporary aesthetics with handcraft and aims to inspire people to create their own individual favourite pieces.
Anna Husemann is a textile designer from Hamburg. Her work explores the interplay of colour, form and material, always in search of a modern, abstract interpretation of the traditional craft of knitting. Nature is her greatest source of inspiration, offering not only ideas for motifs and compositions, but also unique colour nuances.
She shares her love for colourful patterns and environmentally friendly textiles through knitting patterns, collaborations with knitting magazines and workshops. Her first book, INTARSIA KNITS, published in October 2024, explores the intarsia technique in all its variations. Anna shares insights into her work on Instagram at @anna_husemann.
Christina Serra started teaching art workshops nearly 15 years ago in Western North Carolina, where she also had her wool paintings displayed in gallery shops and shows. Christina loves sharing her love of fiber arts with new people, and is excited to help more people discover the satisfaction that comes from learning how to make their own creative pieces. Since childhood, Christina has been drawing, stitching, painting, and making things with her hands. In addition to the fine art textile wool paintings, she also spins, weaves, sews, embroiders, carves wood, volunteers at castle museums and works part time at a historic textiles conservation/restoration atelier.
Claudia Eisenkolb is a passionate knitter, knitwear designer, and fit mentor.
A trained engineer who worked in IT for 28 years, she has become self-employed to fully dedicate herself to her mission: to teach knitters how to knit upper garments that fit their body shapes so that they sit well and help them feel comfortable and confident.
She has already shown over 500 women in her workshops and online programs, as well as in her SPIEGEL bestseller „Maßgestrickt – Der Weg zur perfekten Passform“ (Tailor-Made – The Path to the Perfect Fit), that it’s not their fault if a top knitted from a pattern doesn’t fit well.
I’m Gabriela, the founder of BellArt Gabriela, a bestselling author and course instructor from Switzerland. In my work, I combine crochet and creative crafts with the question of how these activities can contribute to greater calm, focus and inner stability in everyday life.
I am fascinated by how creativity goes far beyond the finished result and can become a genuine resource for slowing down and building self-efficacy. In my courses, I experience time and again how small creative moments can make a noticeable difference in everyday life.
Jimena is the founder of Amoeba 449, a Zurich-based crochet studio and community focused on modern, beginner-friendly handmade design. She teaches crochet in a clear, supportive way — breaking techniques down into simple steps so everyone can follow along and leave with real confidence. Her workshops combine practical skills with a love for materials: from choosing the right yarn to understanding how different fibres behave. When she’s not teaching, she’s creating approachable patterns and sharing inspiration to help more people discover the calm and creativity of crochet.
kolibri by Johanna is a DIY fashion label founded in Berlin, specialising in knitting patterns for modern, easy-to-make designs with special details. Johanna is the creative mind behind the label, and her childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer has more than come true.
Alongside her own collections, she also designs patterns for well-known national and international yarn brands and magazines.
Kolibri by Johanna’s knitting patterns are available in German and English on her website, www.kolibri-by-johanna.de, as well as in several other languages through her webshop and on Ravelry, including French, Danish and Polish. On Instagram, Johanna regularly shares her designs and gives fellow knitting enthusiasts a look behind the scenes of how her latest creations come to life.
woollentwine fibrestudio is a creative space that's all about botanical dyeing and natural materials. We cherish the natural resources of our planet and want to offer the most sustainable products for fibre crafters, respecting the world around us.
At woollentwine, we create custom spun yarns from natural fibres within Europe, using no synthetic or artificial additions, keeping the ecological footprint as small as possible. Our yarns are then lovingly hand dyed with botanical dyes in our little studio in Hamburg, Northern Germany.
With a passion for handcraft and a fresh eye for colour, lesfillesducoeur represent a new generation of knitwear design. Behind the young label and online shop from Aschaffenburg are sisters Julia and Lilly Schwarzkopf, who turn their enthusiasm for fashion and textile creativity into knitting patterns that inspire the knitting community.
The lesfillesducoeur style is defined by expressive colours, feel-good materials and a particular love of stripes. At the heart of it all is the joy of making things yourself.
Julia Wilkens is originally from Germany and has lived in the Netherlands since 2002. Since 2019, she has been self-publishing her knitting patterns on Ravelry and in internationally published knitting magazines such as and Laine, Yedra and Pom Pom Magazine.
Her love of knitting began in her teenage years. With a generous dose of individuality and creativity, Julia always found the greatest joy in creating her own designs. She draws inspiration from playing with color, shape, and technique. She enjoys reinterpreting traditional knitting techniques—for example, by combining classic stitch patterns with unexpected color combinations or surprising construction methods. Most of all, she loves coming up with small details and clever techniques that create a striking and distinctive effect.
Julia enjoys sharing her love of experimentation in her workshops. She encourages participants to dare to make mistakes—because that is often where the most beautiful discoveries arise. New knowledge is built step by step, and with that knowledge you can then find your own creative direction. According to Julia, you do not need to be a perfect knitter to make the most fun and most unique things.
Together with Matilda Ross, Julia has been creating the podcast Greatest Knits on YouTube since 2020, where they share their passion for knitting and creativity with plenty of humor.
Lisa Meissner is a knitwear designer from Zurich. Her work is characterised by clean, geometric shapes, expressive colour play and a modern approach to traditional knitting techniques. Double knitting is particularly influential in her work, a technique she fell in love with a few years ago out of pure fascination with its ability to create patterned knitted pieces on both sides, without a wrong side.
In her designs, Lisa deliberately pushes established techniques to their limits and translates them into a contemporary, graphic design language. She also draws on methods such as ladderback jacquard to create complex patterns with precision and make seemingly impossible ideas possible.
Lotta H Löthgren is a knitwear designer, writer and yarn-dyer living in a small village in the southeast of Sweden, where she also runs her own yarn shop Elk market yarn. She leads a life close to nature and the changing seasons, in the forest and by the lakes of her home area.
As a designer, she loves to interpret natural elements into practical and wearable garments. Lotta has published two books: Observations: Knits and Essays from the Forest in 2023, and The Island and the Forest: A Knitted Correspondence in 2026.
I am a passionate textile maker and the founder of Swiss Needleworker. Traditional craft is close to my heart, while I also remain open to trends and new techniques. I have been teaching courses since 1991.
I am currently completing the SVEB continuing education programme at the University of Teacher Education St. Gallen, so that I can not only share my knowledge, but do so at the highest pedagogical level. In my courses, I combine technical precision with modern learning methods. I bring the structure and clarity needed to make complex topics easy to understand and teach them in a focused way. My goal is not only to teach my participants, but to empower them in their own creative practice for the long term.
Maaike van Geijn is a Dutch knitwear designer and workshop teacher based in Schoorl, a small coastal village in the Netherlands surrounded by sea, dunes, and woods.
Maaike is a sought-after teacher who has taught in yarn shops and on festivals in 7 countries across Europe, and whose work has been featured in magazines worldwide including most recently Laine Magazine and La Bien Aimée.
Maaike’s core specialism is working with colour in knitting — be it stranded colourwork, marled knitting, or textured stitches. Her intention is to translate traditional knitting techniques in a contemporary way. Her workshops are always grounded in her own published designs and are hands-on and technique-focused.
Maria Elisa Vale is a textile artist based in Porto, Portugal. Her practice is rooted in material exploration, with a focus on natural fibers and traditional techniques.
Through her project numvale, she creates handwoven pieces inspired by nature, where process, texture and materiality guide the work. She is also the founder of Atelier Sem Forma, a multidisciplinary studio where she leads workshops in tapestry weaving, wool processing and other textile techniques. In 2024–25, she taught textile arts at a specialized secondary art school in Portugal.
Her teaching approach emphasizes slow making, tactile experience and creative exploration, encouraging participants to connect with materials and develop their own artistic language.
Marina Storm is a Greek knitwear designer and international knitting teacher based in Mainz, Germany.
She is known for clear, technique-focused classes and her specialty in the Greek/Portuguese knitting style, as well as colorwork and finishing techniques. Marina’s teaching style is warm, structured, and hands-on—helping knitters build confidence, improve tension, and enjoy every stitch.
I’m Marla, and knitting has been part of my life since childhood. I am especially in love with rustic yarns in warm autumn colours, I am an autumn!
I almost always have at least one knitting project with me, whether I’m sitting in a cosy café or out for a walk in the woods. Every now and then, other crafts find their way in too: spinning, weaving, embroidery, sewing, macramé or sometimes something completely new.
You can find my podcast on YouTube under knit.knot.sew. It is 99% about knitting, while also making room for other creative hobbies.
Hey everyone, I'm Marlene.
I love getting creative with my hands - whether I'm spinning, sewing, or especially knitting. Quilt patterns fascinate me, and a good cup of coffee is always part of my process. I'm passionate about connecting with fiber friends and sharing my yarny travel adventures.
As marlene.knits, I enjoy hosting a making podcast on YouTube and curating a visual journal on Instagram — documenting my projects, inspirations, and all the little challenges of creating your own handmade wardrobe. So let's connect at knitfest 2026!
Moa "Honse" Blomqvist is the fiber artist who, with her crochet hook and her heart on her sleeve, has revolutionized crochet.
The worst question you could ask Moa is "What do you do for a living?", not because she's not proud, but because it takes forever to explain that she's a designer, author, content creator, artist, teacher, speaker etc. So she usually says "I crochet". It sounds simple, but it doesn't make it any less true. Since Y2K she's crocheted enough stitches to circumvent the earth, at least twice. Her work balances playful nostalgia with a unique wearability placing her in the space right between high fashion and arts & crafts. Her design and art has been seen by millions, from Swedish TV to Vogue.
I’m Nina-Celine from Hamburg, Germany, and knitting is much more than a hobby to me – it’s a way to connect with people. What started with my love for yarn and handmade garments has grown into a warm, cozy community built around creativity, friendship, and a shared passion for knitting.
Since 2022, I’ve been organizing regular knitting meet-ups through Knit Club Hamburg and creating experiences that go beyond knitting itself: from our Knit & Cinema events at the Astor cinema and festive community gatherings to knitting retreats in Denmark and creative social events. I love creating spaces where people can slow down, be inspired, and connect through a shared passion.
Through my Instagram account, @knitmates, I share my knitting projects, inspiration, and the joy of building a cozy and creative knitting community. I also design my own knitting patterns and look forward to continuing to grow and develop this creative part of my work.
For me, knitting is not just a craft – it’s a way of bringing people together.
Nina-Celine | Hamburg, Germany
Founder of Knit Club Hamburg & @knitmates
The DJ name „tanzmitnoa“ can be literally translated as „dance with Noa“. And this name says it all. For the last two years they have been trying to create an atmosphere on dance floors, in bars or under the open sky, which invites people to feel comfortable in their own bodies and give themselves into the rhythm. Here the collective feeling and electrifying energy which emerges when people come together, listen to music and move their bodies to feel carefree and footloose. Will you dance with us?“
Norman is the creator behind the popular knitting YouTube channel Nimble Needles.
With more than 300,000 subscribers, he is known for in-depth tutorials that go beyond the basics. He has published over 40 knitting patterns and regularly shares his expertise on his blog, where more than 500,000 readers each month appreciate his step-by-step approach to solving even the most complex knitting challenges.
Ronja Hakalehto is a knitwear designer from Northeastern Finland whose designs are inspired by Nordic nature, slow living, and everyday adventures. Known for her earthy color palette and timeless aesthetic, she creates versatile knitwear that is both beautiful and practical to wear.
Her patterns combine interesting textures with an easy and relaxing knitting experience. Ronja is also the author of two knitting books, Lakeside Stitches and Unfolding Landscapes.
Once a software engineer, Zanete is now an illustrious knitwear designer who weaves the old with the new.
She crafts mesmerising patterns where the vibrant essence of Latvian lore meets a kaleidoscope of global traditions. Her patterns take us on a journey to fi nd harmony between the desire for peace and the thirst for adventure.
