The social knitwork: Brighton's Unwind yarn festival is a woolly sort of business conference
Global knitters taking part in the event include Italian hat designer Woolly Wormhead, Scottish pattern designer Ysolda Teague and Knitty.com editor Amy Singer
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Knitters, weavers and spinners from across the world flocked to the Unwind festival in Brighton this weekend. More than 4,000 enthusiasts from 35 different countries headed to Brighton Dome Corn Exchange to sell and buy their crafty produce and take part in classes, demonstrations and talks.
"There are lots of yarn festivals but this one is different because it focuses on what's fashionable in the UK and what's fashionable internationally," Unwind founder, Dani Sunshine, said. "Nowhere else in the UK has had this many vendors and knitters come to meet from around the world."
Global knitters taking part in the event include Italian hat designer Woolly Wormhead, Scottish pattern designer Ysolda Teague and Knitty.com editor Amy Singer, who travelled from Toronto for the festival.
Louise Player, who created her company Spin City UK a year ago, was one of 50 traders selling at the Unwind Marketplace.
"I come to Unwind to meet people in real life that I've met online," Ms Player said. "I've come across people from Scandinavia, Germany, Italy. Particularly with spinning, it is about the British breeds of wool – we have a real heritage for wool in our country so people love to see the British produce."
Many festival-goers had arranged to meet in Brighton and collaborate. "My favourite thing has been meeting knitters that I chat to on daily basis on Instagram and Facebook but have never met face to face," said Gemma Blaza, 30, who travelled from Buckinghamshire.
"There are lots of independent yarn suppliers and people that dye and paint their own yarn. To see things in real life rather than just on the internet and to be able to give the yarn a squish and see all the colours is great."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments