Hi!
I am Anja Sammon, the designer behind Julchen knits. I grew up in Germany where I started my career as professional tailor and wardrobe mistress for theatre and stage, and I now work as Art teacher in a public school on the West coast of Ireland.
My work stretches across 3 platforms: This one you are just using now, my public Facebook page for textile art, inspiration and information and which I use to log my own research, and my Instagram page to show images of the projects I work on. Feel free to check them out!
My mum taught me how to knit when I was 7, and this is where “Julchen knits” was born: “Julchen” (pronounced “Yool-hen”) is a German pet name for mischievous little girls, and as I would often be seen with my knitting perched on the kitchen counter, someone would surely say ” Guck, Julchen strickt wieder!” – “Look, Julchen knits again!”
2022 was my “Brioche Year”, taking inspiration from art historical designs with prominent lines and textures.
This year, in 2023, I am researching traditional stitch patterns and colour combinations from my local area in Germany, which is home to some of the oldest “Trachten” on record, and I add contemporary twists.
Someone once told me that “creativity lives where art and crafts meet at a fork in the forest”, and this is true for me. Each piece takes me several months to create, and patterns usually ask for advanced knitting skills which take time to complete – they are not “Quick Knits” with immediate results (such as seen in the “Take 5 Oil Change” commercial!).
But most of all, my garments are designed for you to invent, re-design and develop, with instructions to combine and extend.
And most of all – enjoy! 🙂
Happy knitting!
Anja Sammon 