Our fourth and final tutor is…

We are so excited to reveal our final tutor to you. It’s a fantastic line up of four truly talented wooly artisans and we just can’t wait to get them all together at our retreat!

Our fourth tutor is Renée Callahan!

As we did with our other tutors, we asked her a few questions which she was kind enough to answer so that we could get to know her a bit better!

What’s your name and where do you come from / are you now?

My name is Renée and I am from Seattle. I came to the UK many years ago as an exchange student, met a boy and decided to stay!

– Could you give us a brief outline of how you started knitting, and your yarny career to date?

After studying fashion design with knitwear at Central Saint Martins college, I began to hoard yarn and a range of knitting machines.  I love textiles and technical challenge of knitting. There is real joy in producing something both useful and beautiful! After several years of making samples for designers and helping students with final collections, I decided to give up my studio to pursue hand knitting full time. I love to see new knitters taking to the needles and teach a range of hand knitting classes.

– Which design are you most proud of and why?

That would probably be Angelus Novus: a cardigan design that is part of the Klee Collection.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/angelus-novus

I was pleased with the design that sort of came to my brain fully knit up and I admit it made me feel pretty clever. Even better is that other people seem to like it as well! I love to see other people’s versions.

– What is your favourite drink to accompany your knitting?

Since moving to the UK, I have become a greedy tea drinker! The bigger the mug, the better. I am also partial to a gin cocktail on occasion when simple knitting is on hand…

– What will you be teaching at The Knit Tea Retreat? 

Brioche Stitch Basics and Twice The Fun:Learn To Double Knit

You can find Renée online as @eastlondonknit on social media, EastLondonKnit on Ravelry and at http://www.eastlondonknit.co.uk

Renée is going to fit right in at our retreat, being a self confessed “greedy tea drinker”! So, are Brioche and Double Knitting techniques that are on your must-learn list?

To recap, our four amazing tutors are as follows:

1. Anniken Allis teaching Shetland Lace, Colourwork and Steeking
2. Jen Best teaching Crosswheel Dorset Buttons and Posy Dorset Button brooch
3. Emma Bevan teaching needle felting a miniature landscape
4. Renée Callahan teaching Brioche and Double Knitting.

We really look forward to having you join us on what is shaping up to be a pretty awesome weekend!

Dates for your Diary

It’s getting very close to that time when we will be opening bookings! The form to request to book will be available via the “Bookings” page on Sunday 8th October after lunch (UK time!). Beware leaving booking too long; we only have a limited number of places and once they are gone, that’s it!

This weekend: We will be releasing a podcast filling you in on all the nitty gritty details. It will all be available in written form here on our website as well to make it easier for you to check information.

Sunday 8th October 🎉 BOOKINGS OPEN!! 🎉 We will open the bookings page in the early afternoon and there will be a link to click to take you to the booking form. Once you have submitted it, we will be in touch shortly thereafter to confirm whether you have a place. If all the places sell, you will have the opportunity to go on a waiting list in case someone drops out.

We are thrilled to announce that the third tutor to join us at the Knit Tea Retreat is Emma Bevan of Ffolky Ffelt! We spotted her stand at Wonderwool Wales earlier this year and we were blown away by her work. She was kind enough to answer some questions by email…

What’s your name and where do you come from / are you now? 
I’m Emma, and I’m from the Brecon Beacons in Wales.. I spent 10 years in London but I’m back in my mountains now!



Could you give us a brief outline of how you started felting, and your yarny career to date?
​I discovered felt making when I was having treatments for cancer, about 6 years ago. I had previously been drawing, printing and using photography, so using fibre was a first! I am very lucky to have suppliers who are also sheep farmers and I use both natural and hand -dyed wool. I soon fell in love with its tactile and therapeutic processes… as I grew more accomplished, and as I am a teacher, I was asked to run workshops and make commissions. This is now my new and much loved job!​



Which design / FO are you most proud of and why?
​I think it is my Swan, a piece I made for the ‘Refuge’ exhibition for the Brecon Womens’ Festival last year. I really pushed all my boundaries in confidence, technique and experimenting, and thankfully, it worked out! It is now in the home of a private collector.​



What is your favourite drink to accompany your knitting?
​I love a G&T… with lime!​

What will you be teaching at The Knit Tea Retreat?
​We will be making a little 2D needle felted picture – perhaps your favourite pet portrait, or a garden bird, or a cute hare, maybe a landscape that you love.



Jennie and I hope you are as excited as we are to have such a talented local fibre artist teaching at the retreat. You can find Emma on Instagram as @emmaffolkyffelt and her website at http://www.ffolkyffelt.com! 

Next week we will be revealing the final tutor, and then we can get bookings started!

…Jen Best of Beaker Button! We met her at Wonderwool Wales where her stall stood out to us as we wandered around on the Sunday morning. We were intrigued by all the different button designs, and especially because we loved the idea of having fully customised buttons to match our hand knitted garments! We asked her to answer a few questions for us…

– What’s your name and where do you come from / are you now?
– Jen Best. I’m based in Hampshire, at The Fairground Craft and Design Centre at Weyhill.

– Could you give us a brief outline of how you started crafting and learning about buttons, and your yarny career to date?
– I’ve been button making, knitting, sewing, crocheting from a very young age, having learnt at my Gran’s  knee. My mum taught me to spin about 10 years ago and I learnt to felt about 5 years ago. I run a small studio where I get to indulge my passion for Dorset buttons and all things fibre, including writing books and designing new buttons and techniques, dyeing yarn for kits and to design with and creating fibre things to show off my Dorset buttons. Not that I’m obsessed with them or anything!

– Which design / FO are you most proud of and why? 
– I’m in love with the tree brooches, which I’ve recently turned into hoop art. (See the centre picture in the collage above) I’ve nearly finished a hula hoop sized tree which I get to be very creative with.

– What is your favourite drink to accompany your knitting?
– Gin and tonic with Ice and a squeeze of satsuma

– What will you be teaching at The Knit Tea Retreat?
– Dorset button making.

Thank you so much to Jen, for answering our questions! We were so glad to meet her at Wonderwool Wales earlier this year, and instantly thought that she would make a wonderful tutor for our retreat!