Stephen West is a well-known knitter and one of the most dynamic knit designers around today. You can check out his website here.
Stephen West is a wonderful example of a male knitter who has broken out of the conforms of society and made a lot of money with his passion for knitting.
Stephen West is an American knitter, fashion designer, educator, and author known for his knitting patterns and strong use of color.
To see some more of his designs you can visit http://www.ravelry.com/designers/stephen-west
Stephen West History
Stephen West was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
When he left school, he studied dance at the University of Illinois where he encountered his first yarn store, Klose Knit in Urbana, IL.
Once he caught the knitting bug he started to design and publish his patterns.
He is well known for his shawl designs.
His Colonnade Shawl was featured in Knitty’s fall 2009 issue. Soon after, he began publishing more patterns and launched a series of pattern books under the brand Westknits.
Stephen West has since published more patterns and launched a series of pattern books under the brand name Westknits.
He continues to produce pattern books and hosts several online knit along’s each year like the Mystery Shawl Knit Along, Yarn a Long, and Westknits Shawl Club. His simple clean designs have now been knitted by thousands of knitters all around the World.
Stephen West has thus become a widely recognized and respected designer around the world.
He has taught highly popular workshops at yarn shops throughout the United States as well as internationally in Iceland, Scandinavia, Italy, France, Germany, The Netherlands, and The UK.
In 2015 Stephen went into partnership with Penelope Craft and they became Stephen + Penelope. The 1st Stephen + Penelope store opened in Amsterdam and there are plans to open another store in Europe by 2020.
Stephen & Penelope is a little yarn shop with a great big personality.
The stock of inspiring yarns and supplies come from Iceland, England, The Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Australia, South America, North America, and Asia.
Every Thursday evening their Craft Night is filled with friendly locals and travelers. Cookies, wine, and great conversation are a weekly guarantee!
Here is one of his videos and I am sure you will agree that he is very charismatic.
I want to invest in the Addi Express Extended Edition knitting machine . I want to knit scarves, throws, hats (caps) and socks. Is this machine a good investment for those products. I will purchase your book.
Thank you
Darlene
Hi Darlene,
The Addi Express Machine was designed to do just that,(scarves and hats) but you can also make panels for blankets if you need to. Socks I haven’t tried, but I doubt it. I know that you can get a specific machine called the Sock Knitting Machine 101
“>sock machine that is specifically for knitting socks.
Thanks for sharing the story of Stephen West. I’ve seen his patterns, but I didn’t know if it was his until I read your article 🙂 My mom has recently started knitting to pass time during this lockdown period, so he and his art will be an inspiring person for her to follow. Has he produced some famous knitting books? I might just buy one to show my mom. Thanks
Yes, Stephen West has some really unique patterns that will attract a lot of attention for the wearer. Convince your Mom to knit you one of his awesome sweaters or scarves if she is feeling creative.
Hello there! This is an informative post. I personally haven’t heard of who Stephen West is, but it definitely has been very educational to learn about him through your post. It always inspires me when I see someone start off with one career path but somehow end up in a totally new one. I always respect those who decide to make such a big transition in their life to pursue something that he loves and enjoys. That’s really cool that he developed his own style of knitting. I will need to look at some sample projects by him to see how innovative he is. Thanks for this!
Thanks for sharing this brilliant article with us all here. I have to say that I found it to be a very interesting and informative read indeed. I have to say that I have never heard of Stephen West before but I can see now that he seems to be a big figure amongst the textiles and craft world. It also goes to show that knitting is one of those stereotyped things that is not only for women to enjoy but for men as well. You don’t see men often who knit.
You are right. Everyone thinks that knitting is for grannies or women, but there are actually many men in the world who knit too, and I am sure they enjoy it just as much as the women do.