I’m Tess Young. Originally from the south coast of England, I’ve lived in Finland, the USA, Scotland and Lancashire, and recently moved to Siena, Italy.
I took a sabbatical from pattern designing while we made our international move and then encountered covid-19 and the attendant impacts of living during a pandemic. Instead I found solace in natural dyeing with plants from our garden and have shared this here through a series of blog posts. Beginning to knit with these naturally dyed yarns has sparked my brain back into designing mode and this is something I’m looking forward to getting back to and sharing with you in 2021.
My work as a knitwear designer has always been inspired by my passions, including the coast, the mountains and cities, combined with a love of textile and ceramic design and architecture. In my designs I aim to marry form with function, mobilising the characteristics of natural materials, underpinned by a strong vintage inspired aesthetic and an attention to detail borrowed from the couture approach to handmade.
My designs have featured in collections by Quince & Co and I have collaborated with Susan Crawford Vintage on a number of projects including the Knits for a Cold Climate Collection and on single patterns for their ever increasing, and always gorgeous yarn ranges.
I also Independently publish my patterns which are available from an increasing range of sites including my Payhip store, LoveCrafts and Ravelry. All of my patterns are profiled in my ‘Pattern Store‘ pages which also have all the purchase links.
If you want to collaborate, please do get in touch (there’s a contact form below), especially if you share my passions for breed specific, locally grown, traceable yarns and naturally dyed yarns. I’d love to hear from you.
I can also be found in various places on the internet including:
- Instagram as TessYoungDesignsandMakes
- At my UK Bookshop.org storefront TessYoungDesigns&Makes – as an affiliate I stock my storefront with books I refer to here in my posts and if you buy via the link I provide I get a small percentage of the sale cost at no additional expense to you. More importantly, between us we also support independent bookstores. Each book listed has a mini review and I only list books that I talk about here and recommend. If you have any questions about this, please do contact me via the form below.
- Goodreads as Tess, come and tell me what you’re reading, I’m always looking for recommendations.
- On Ravelry I’m TessVintageKnits but I am currently (Dec 2020) very rarely there, and expect to be even less so once the classic Ravelry interface is retired in March. Ravelry’s re-design triggers my migraines so in practice I have to severely limit my time there. Their response to the impact of their re-design on those who are differently able, have illnesses or limiting conditions, makes me want to steer clear anyway, despite the sense of loss attendant with the withdrawal of this community, which itself has been particularly difficult this year when we’ve been cut off from each other in real life as well.
- In 2020 I started lending via the micro-finance site Kiva which aims to promote financial inclusion globally. Through individual small loans we can collectively support individuals and community groups with limited access to capital to invest in their futures. Loans are made in $25 increments and loan capital can be built up by smaller monthly deposits. You decide to whom, what, and where you lend. This was part of my ‘be the change you want to see in the world’ commitment stimulated by some of the truly awful things that happened in 2020 pre covid.
- I am on Twitter as TessYoung1 although rarely…
If you appreciate the content you find here on my website, and importantly, the lack of advertising, you may like to consider a financial contribution to the cost of hosting the site and its ad-free content by either a one off stripe payment, or via the Kofi button. It’s really appreciated as hosting 10+ years worth of content and free patterns, recipes, tips, tricks and advice, without advertising revenue is quite an investment. If you are not in a position to do so, please, please, don’t worry, I completely understand. Also know that you are as welcome here as you’ve always been and I’d love to hear from you as always.
Thank you for considering.
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Thank you so much for the free patterns I have downloaded from this site. I usually sell them for Breakthrough Cancer. But have just finished knitting 120 Christmas puddings for table decorations at our Pensioners Christmas party. Hope they like them.
Wow, after 120 I hope they like them too, but I’m sure they will, most people seem to find them fun.
I’m pleased the knitted items from the patterns are being put to such generous use, good luck with your continued fundraising 🙂