Stephen West is an American knitter,

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

, educator, and author known for his knitting patterns and strong use of color. After beginning to publish his own patterns in 2009 on sites like Knitty and

Ravelry Ravelry is a free social networking service and website that beta-launched in May 2007. It functions as an organizational tool for a variety of fiber arts, including knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving. Members share projects, ideas, and ...

, West has also published a number of knitting books under his design brand Westknits. He owns a yarn store in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and in 2019 he launched a yarn brand called West Wool with his business partner Malia Mae Joseph. Born in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, West moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as a teenager. A trained dancer, he studied dance at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Department of Dance. While in school he learned to knit and enjoyed it greatly. He later recalled, "I could always be found knitting between rehearsals, back stage and in between classes." West then moved to Amsterdam to pursue a degree in

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

from the School for New Dance Development at the

Academy of Theatre and Dance The Academy of Theatre and Dance is a faculty of the Amsterdam University of the Arts which was known as ''de Theaterschool'' until September 2016. It runs four year Bachelor's degree courses in theatre and dance, and two year Master's degree cour ...

. While there, he continued knitting and creating patterns, acquiring more recognition for his designs. West regularly publishes patterns, leads knit-alongs, and shares photos on his Westknits Instagram, which had over 174 thousand followers as of April 2020. He is also known for his sense of humor, eccentric clothing, and creatively choreographed knitting-themed music videos. He has collaborated with yarn dyer Adella Colvin. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Stephen University of Illinois alumni People in knitting American fashion designers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American textile artists Writers from Chicago Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma American choreographers