About

About Shannon Okey

Shannon lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her boyfriend Tamas and their furry “children”: Anezka (the dachshund pictured in Felt Frenzy and How to Knit in the Woods), Spike (the kitten pictured in Knitgrrl and Felt Frenzy) and Giles (the feline baby of the family, who attempted to sneak into some photos in AlterNation, but was denied).

Shannon runs her own publishing venture focusing on both digital and print publications, and most recently served as editor in chief of UK-based print knitting magazine Yarn Forward. She also owns and operates Knitgrrl Studio, a teaching space and shop in Lakewood, Ohio. Shannon was formerly a columnist for knit.1 magazine, and a founding co-owner of Stitch Cleveland, a similar space in Lakewood, Ohio. She founded Stitch Cooperative, a designer-operated pattern publishing co-op, and organizes events ranging from the Cleveland edition of Bazaar Bizarre to gallery shows featuring fellow fiber artists. You can check out her fiber- and craft-related videos here on YouTube.

Shannon teaches and speaks nationwide for many different types of audiences: see the events page for her upcoming classes, book tour information and more.

She has written not only the Knitgrrl series, but also two books for Interweave Press (Spin to Knit and Felt Frenzy, the latter co-authored with Heather Brack). Shannon edited and wrote the instructional text for Just Socks and Just Gifts for Potter Craft and Crochet Style at Creative Homeowner.

Her first sewing book, AlterNation (with Alexandra Underhill) was released by North Light Books in 2007, and was followed by The Pillow Book for Chronicle Books in 2008.

How to Knit in the Woods was also published in 2008. Shannon’s forthcoming knitting books include Alt Fiber and the revised 2nd edition of Pam Allen’s Knitting for Dummies. All book news and data can be found here.

She can be contacted via email at admin@knitgrrl.com.

For more information on contributors to Shannon’s books, please click here.

For more information on the Secret Decoder Ring Knitters, Shannon’s test knitters, click here.

See also: (other authors’ books Shannon’s appeared in)

The Crafter Culture Handbook by Amy Spencer.

Not Your Mama’s Felting: The Cool and Creative Way to Get it Together by Amy Swenson

Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel

Find Your Style, and Knit It Too by Sharon Turner

Bead Simple: Essential Techniques for Making Jewelry Just the Way You Want It by Susan Beal

For more about Shannon’s book contributors and her Secret Decoder Ring Test Knitters, see the right sidebar!