Lauren learned to knit when she was 9, and has been passionate about the craft ever since. She soon started plotting out her own designs, learned to sew, and eventually hand made her whole wardrobe. After obtaining her BA in Art from Western Washington University in 2005, she moved to New York City where she worked as a fashion designer for 15 years, specializing in intimate apparel for women and girls.
In 2011 Lauren started Girly Knits where she has published over 80 hand knitting patterns. In 2019 she took a machine knitting workshop at FIT and fell in love with the craft. Noticing there was a void for resources online, she started publishing machine knitting patterns and YouTube tutorials. In 2021 she decided to attend Nottingham Trent University to obtain her MA in Fashion Knitwear Design to further her knowledge and skills.
For her MA project, Lauren chose to design a collection of versatile knitted evening dresses. She’s always been fascinated by the transformational aspect of special occasion attire, and thought this would be interesting to explore in knit and to expand across categories. All of her designs were made using domestic flat bed knitting machines and dead stock yarns, the majority of which were donated to NTU. She is passionate about providing resources to enable others to be able to make their own clothing for sustainability purposes, as well as for the fulfillment and wellness benefits making brings to the maker. After graduation she hopes to share what she’s learned with others and inspire more people to learn machine knitting.