Hello, my name is Pat Menchini and I've been a freelance hand knitwear designer for many years, working with leading women’s magazines here in the UK as well as writing two books inspired by Beatrix Potter and contributing to several others.
Like so many people, my love for knitting began very early on. I was around the age of 5 when my grandmother taught me how to knit. I remember clearly sitting on a little stool at her knee, her in her armchair, helping me with these 2 “sticks” and a ball of wool. By the time I was going to school I was knitting my own school cardigans and truly had the “bug”.
However, knitting was not my only interest in craft, because dress making and making little “shoes” out of cardboard, and bits of material was a passion when I was about 6/7.
Loving art at school, and in my spare time, it became clear that I was headed towards some sort of future in design.
Indeed I did go on to Art school where I followed a four year Fashion & Design course. After this, I spent the next 3-4 years working as Assistant Designer to two top London Couturiers, including Norman Hartnell, working with the most amazing fabrics.
During this time I was also developing my interest in hand knitted design after which I went on to spend a few years working with 2 British hand knitting companies. It was then I took the leap and went freelance, and over 4000 designs later, I still haven’t lost the passion for knitwear design.
I see my style of designing as classic with a modern twist, that's easy to wear and makes people
feel and look good. I cater for varying abilities from beginners to advanced and everything in
between using clear written instructions.
Designing is my passion, taking inspiration from the world around me and the wonderful yarns and colours available these days.
A selection of my designs can be viewed and some purchased from the following websites and are frequently added to -
Contact me through
Ravelry or menchini100@gmail.com
