The Hand-Knit Hat Academy
Online workshops
I’ve become known as a Hat architect, because my designs are all about structure and 3D engineering.
British-born, I’m now living a simple life in the hills of Montefeltro in Italy with my partner and son, supporting my small family entirely with my design and teaching work.
I am pleased to be able to extend my teaching further through these online classes, empowering knitters around the world with new skills and confidence.
If you’re a curious knitter, keen to explore new techniques and learn more about knitted construction, Hats are a great place to start. While approachable in size, they offer vast possibilities for exploring shaping and technique. And they’re just a lot of fun to make.
I’ve built my career on knitted Hat design. For 20 years I’ve been turning Hats inside out, upside down and sideways, creating more than 400 patterns and 20 books, and now I’m making all this expertise available to you online.
Well, really it’s a lot more than 20 years – I’ve been building the knowledge that goes into these classes for a lifetime. Not just knitting (for more than five decades), but art and engineering: I have a degree in fine art and sculptural textiles, a postgrad in education, and experience as an electronics engineer as well as a teacher. My understanding of construction, systems and techniques runs as deep as my design sense. And I’ve taught hundreds of knitting workshops in person, giving me plenty of insight into students’ practical stumbling blocks, and how to help you past them.
These classes are special. They’re professionally recorded and edited from my studio in Italy. I value the freedom I have gained living outside mainstream society for many years – creating a course fully independently, from start to finish, comes naturally to me – but I take no shortcuts when it comes to quality. Just as with my self-published books, every step is carefully planned and polished. Here’s what I’ve planned for you.
How I’m going to help you master Hat knitting
- Approachable, clear lessons will cover core lectures and key skills in bite-sized chunks.
- Each video covers just one topic, so you can dip in and out as needed.
- Modular learning design means you can pick standalone topics or build on what you’ve learned with more classes.
- You’ll build confidence and be able to apply your new skills to other knit projects.
What exactly is on offer?
- Techniques are covered in thorough detail with plenty of examples of work at different stages.
- It’s not just video! We each learn in different ways, so every class is supported with a handout eBook to read at your own pace.
- Each video is fully subtitled, with the aim of providing translations (for subtitles and handouts). Full transcriptions are also provided.