St Anne’s College, Oxford

Saturday 11 July 2026, 10.00am – 4.00pm

KEYNOTE TALK

Fibres, Materials and Stitches (Alison Ellen)

This talk will explore how knitted stitches can alter fabric and how different fibres also affect the way stitches work – including knitting with plant material.

SHORT TALKS

Pattern and Place (Emma Vining)

Emma Vining introduces the Pattern and Place project, an idea that originated during the 2025 K&CG Oxford Branch Regional Day on a very special visit to St John’s College. During the walk through the college campus, the wide variety of exciting pattern inspirations, including many fascinating architectural features, inspired Emma. Find out what resulted…

Becoming a Master Knitter (Carolyn McKee)

Carolyn McKee, Joint Editor of the Knitting & Crochet Guild’s quarterly magazine, Slipknot, decided to complete the Knitting Guild Association’s Master Hand Knitting Program. She will describe what it involved – and what she learned along the way.

Oxford Biocolours (Dr Jim Nicolle)

Oxford Biocolours started with a simple question: Why are most colours still made from polluting chemicals? Synthetic dyes are made from fossil fuels. They work well, but they come with a big environmental cost – using harsh chemicals, lots of water, and leaving waste behind. Dr Jim Nicolle and Dr Darren Leneghan, both industrial biochemists, believed there had to be a better way.

They went back to the lab and began researching plant-based dyes that could truly replace synthetic ones – colours that wouldn’t fade in the sun, run in the wash, or rely on toxic chemicals to work. Jim will introduce Oxford Biocolours, the yarn company that resulted from those experiments.