The fabulous 2026 line up who’ll be sharing their knowledge and skill with you.
Stella Lange
In her day-job, Stella is a Principal Lecturer at Otago polytechnic’s Design School. As part of her work she sometimes gets to visit the back rooms of museums looking at knitwear and mending (two things that fascinate her).
Stella loves to try different techniques and to learn about knitting histories. When she found the online knitting community in the early 2000s she felt like she had found a new set of friends.
She has learned through the generosity of experienced knitters who were happy to share what they had learned – so she feels its only right that she share what she knows now.
Knitting isn’t her only craft, she weaves, spins, sews, and embroiders.
Amanda Mills
Amanda is a Liaison Librarian and Curator Music and AV at Hocken Collections, a role she has been in since 2011. She also writes about music from Aotearoa New Zealand for NZ Musician and Audioculture and has met some fashionable people along the way.
Amanda’s fascination with fashion, textiles and clothing started at an early age – she grew up around garments as her mother was a local dressmaker who (for a time) worked at Aquascutum in the UK. Amanda has a love of fashion illustration and initially wanted to be a fashion illustrator before her career took a different direction and led to music collections and archives. Working with the fashion, clothing, and textile materials at Hocken Collections is one highlight of her role there.
Jessica Barder
As a professional science communicator, Jessa spends the better part of most days finding fun and engaging ways for people of all ages to get hands-on and explore the different areas of science at work in our everyday lives. While her mahi is most often associated with kiddos, she’s found curiousity has no age limit and has run successful programmes for everyone from 3 year olds to 93 year olds, across a wide range of topics.
When she’s not at her day job, you’ll find her knitting – after learning as a child from her mother, she took a 20 year break but a 14-month stint at Amundsen-Scott South Pole station had her scrolling through Youtube videos to re-learn and she’s never looked back.
Jessa has been a part of the Dunedin fibre community for the last 11 years and while she became an official New Zealander two years ago, the American accent doesn’t seem to be going anywhere: “Soz,” she says.
Frances Stachl
Frances is a contemporary jeweller based in Whanganui. Her handmade work blends fine materials with meaning, story, and process.
She decided to learn to spin in early 2010, a year or two after learning to knit, because she couldn’t find the yarn she wanted to knit at a price she could afford. Drop spindling was an accessible introduction to the craft without investing in a wheel, and had the added benefit of being easily portable for taking to knitting and/or spinning groups.
She thinks of spinning as being a little like her fibre alter ego, her colour choices and combinations tend to be bolder and more adventurous than they are when she buys ready made yarns.
Ngāpuhi
Morag McKenzie
Morag studied Art History at University, spent about a decade teaching Computer Science, and then decided to become her own boss and created a little yarn company called Vintage Purls in 2008.
She has a deep interest in knitting history and a great appreciation of the “mend and make do” ethos.
Morag knits, spins, sews, etc. All craft is fair game but knitting is a constant companion where other crafts are “seasonal”.
She loves to teach, problem-solve ,and design.
Amy White
Amy is Public Servant and, as if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, also runs Newtown House with her partner.
She is passionate about celebrating craft of all kinds, slow food, and slow fashion. She has an appreciation for items made with care and intention. She is a strong proponent of the “buy once and buy well” philosophy.
Amy works with yarn companies across the globe to bring yarns born of old traditions and knowledge to Aotearoa.
Amy knits and sews and treasures being part of a crafty community.
Amber Bridgman
A multi-skilled Mahi toi practitioner who specialising in textiles and fashion, Amber has incredible experience and knowledge in Mahi Raranga (weaving).
She is an award winning fashion designer and creator of the Kahuwai fashion label.
Born and raised in Dunedin and although her mother is Maori, Te Reo was not spoken in the home and Maori culture wasn’t strongly acknowledged.
When she reached high school, she began taking an interest in her whakapapa and her life-long journey to connect with her genealogy began.
The desire to weave was sparked by her aunty showing her a kete which was created by her great-great-grandmother, Granny Dawson, of Stewart Island.
”Seeing that kete sparked a spiritual call to the island and to continue my understanding of the traditional Maori crafts of my southern Maori history.”
Kai Tahu, Kati Mamaoe, Waitaha, Rabuvai, and Moriori oku
Ruth Walden
Ruth’s creative journey began in childhood, inspired by her mother’s skill in knitting beautiful garments for both family and customers. At the age of nine, she watched her mum teach herself crochet — a moment that sparked Ruth’s own lifelong passion for the craft and opened her eyes to the endless creative possibilities it offers.
Over the years, Ruth has embraced a wide range of creative pursuits, including sewing, quilting, painting, embroidery, knitting, and of course, crochet. She has a deep love of teaching and sharing her knowledge, and she finds joy in encouraging others to explore their own creativity.
Together with her daughter Joy, Ruth runs The Yarn Queen — a space where her passion for fiber arts and her desire to inspire others come together.
Jo Guthrie
Jo grew up on a sheep farm in Hawkes Bay, loved hanging out in the wool shed at shearing time, and has worn wool her whole life. Her grandmother, mother and aunts were excellent knitting role models and she remembers knitting a hot water bottle cover, a cabled cardigan and a fair isle vest during her school days. Moving to Christchurch for university meant an even more urgent need for woolly clothes, and so the knitting continued.
Now retired from a career in language teaching, Jo test knits new designs for designers from all over the world. This hobby has led to a wide circle of international knitting friends, some of whom she has visited recently in Norway and Denmark. A Canadian test knitting friend invited her to join an on-line knitting group during Covid, and she knits with their Zoom group once a week. She also knits in real life with as a local group of old friends and colleagues.
As well as test knitting, she loves knitting baby and children’s clothes for great-nephews and nieces and friends’ children and grandchildren. She also knits for Christchurch charity Clothed in Love.
