Alison Ellen

by | May 17, 2024

After training in constructed textiles at UCA Farnham, Alison began a small business designing and producing hand-knits, dyeing her own yarns, and exploring stitches for shaping. She has been designing and teaching her special approach to hand knitting for forty years in the UK and abroad, and has published 5 books on designing in knitting.

Alison’s designs grow from the endless possibilities in the wonderfully free technique of hand knitting to produce pattern and texture. An important element of designing is to create garments for real people: we are all different shapes and sizes, and the challenge is to create designs for people to enjoy wearing. The colours she uses are often inspired by colour and texture in landscape, gardens and natural forms, and by traditional textiles.