Once that’s done you’ll be able to experience the KnittingTours website perfectly.
We recently caught up with the talented Carol Feller—knitting superstar, designer, teacher, and author of several amazing books. Carol has been a beloved instructor at KnittingTours.com from day one, and her classes have inspired knitters around the globe. Her passion for knitting shines through in everything she does, and it’s clear to everyone that she’s made a lasting impact on the craft. We’re excited to share some behind-the-scenes secrets in this fun Q&A.
I don’t really remember learning to knit. I was taught in school at 7 or 8, and always enjoyed being able to create finished pieces with my knitting; it gives you so much control. When I was small, it was tops for my dolls, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realised that if I could imagine something in my head, then I could also knit it!
When I left school, I was very torn between art and science. First, I spent a year in a foundation art course, but quickly realised that I missed maths! So, I ended up switching to engineering and trained as a structural engineer.
Fast forward several years, and after the birth of my youngest child, I rediscovered knitting. For the very first time in knitting design, I realised that there was a way to combine the creative and mathematical sides of my brain.
When you start designing very quickly, you are also asked to teach. My first design was in 2007, and within a year, I was getting teaching requests. The first teaching jobs I did were for yarn shops in Ireland, and then shortly after that, I was also teaching at international fibre festivals and online with Craftsy in the US. However, I quickly discovered that teaching is a very different set of skills from designing and has it has its own learning curve! I loved watching knitters have the ‘eureka’ moment, where a technique just clicked for them! I think that teaching also makes me a better pattern writer. When you know the areas that knitters will have questions on, you can begin building that into the pattern as well.
Stolen Stitches has grown very organically over the years, often in conjunction with my growing family, as they needed me less. It began with pattern publishing; in magazines, books and online. Then the next expansion was into teaching in Ireland and abroad. More recently, we have also expanded into several yarn lines, clubs, an online community and classes.
We love building an online knitting community and teaching knitters new skills. As we grow, this is at the core of what we do, creating an immersive knitting experience that delivers yarn to your door, supporting you with an online knitting community and video workshops to knit you through your projects.
I love watching knitters suddenly ‘get’ a new skill. The point where frustration turns into satisfaction is so rewarding to see! Every knitter works at their own pace and learns differently, so when I teach, I need several different ways of teaching the same thing. You never know which approach is going to work!
In a class with a big mix of levels, I like to begin by finding out where everyone is at; what they already know, what they are nervous about and what they would like to learn. Then I know what topics I can pass over quickly and what areas need more in-depth explanation.
If I began with a lecture-style class, even less experienced knitters can come away with new knowledge before we go into the hands-on part of the class. Having a small sample for knitters to work on allows them to put some of what I’m talking about into action. Dropping in some tips on different ways of working will allow more experienced knitters to learn something new. For newer knitters, I focus on getting the basics right, simplifying techniques where necessary and giving hands-on demonstrations.
As it’s been 10 years now, I will admit that I don’t remember when my first class was with Knitting Tours! I think I’ve been with them almost since the beginning. When it started, Knitting Tours were learning as they went, just like me. There was a lot of moving between different hotels in the first few years until they found their winning combinations. What really blew me away, right from the beginning, was the level of interest from knitters coming to Ireland to learn about knitting. We take it so much for granted that teaching on these tours has really taught me to view our country (and knitting in our country) with fresh eyes.
Over the years, I’ve taught on many different topics. When I began, much of my focus was on garment fitting and specialised techniques like short rows. Garments are my favourite thing to knit, and for longer classes, there is a lot to cover when talking about how to fit your knits.
My first online classes with Crafty were on Short Rows and Cables. I later went back and did a second Short Row class with them after I published a book with Potter Craft on Short Row Knits. I love teaching techniques that have lots of variations. This allows me to go through multiple ways of working the same thing, allowing knitters to pick their favourite! Short Rows was a huge favourite; the last time I looked, there were over half a million knitters in the free class.
Most recently, I’ve been teaching a lot about Irish mills, Irish yarn and cables. My first book, Contemporary Irish Knits, featured 3 Irish mills and the designs all used yarns from the mills. Cables are a joy to teach about; the basic idea is very simple, just crossing stitches over each other, but the end result can be very complex. I love talking about Irish yarn and how it impacts your knitting. There is always new knowledge there for knitters who can then apply it to all of their knits in the future.
Finally, the most recent addition to my teaching has been colourwork. I wrote a book, Knitting with Rainbows, that works with gradient yarn several years ago, featuring different ways of combining colours together. More recently, the Barcelona class has expanded my colourwork teaching, working on stranded colourwork techniques and even steeking!
Contemporary Irish Knits: https://stolenstitches.com/products/contemporary-irish-knits
Short Row Knits: https://stolenstitches.com/products/short-row-knits
Knitting With Rainbows: https://stolenstitches.com/products/knitting-with-rainbows-print
The spot I’ve travelled to most frequently with Knitting Tours is Killarney on the Ring of Kerry. The Lake Hotel down there is almost too distracting when you teach, with its panoramic view of the lake and mountains!
I’ve been to Barcelona for the last couple of years with Knitting Tours as well, which is a wonderful destination. It’s such a warm, vibrant city that it’s a pleasure to be teaching and knitting there.
On knitting tours, the knitters have been travelling around, visiting mills, shops and viewing the countryside. They always have questions on Irish yarn, why we don’t have more yarn shops and about knitting culture here in Ireland. An overview of Irish yarn and knitting as it exists in the current day really seems to inspire knitters to look for Irish yarn and, in particular, colours that they would have seen as they passed mountains, cliffs and coasts on their travels.
On tours, there is always a big variety of knitting levels. I want every student to be able to take something away from the class. For this reason, I try to have natural levels built into a class, so that they can stop at the place they are comfortable. So, for a knitter who has never used a chart before, they may just learn how a chart works and start by combining it with written directions. For a more experienced knitter, they might start learning to read the cable symbols without using the chart key. Then, a very experienced knitter who may be very comfortable with charts will take away tips on working cables and perfecting their work.
I try to ensure that no knitter feels overwhelmed and has the freedom to work at the level that they feel most comfortable with and will learn the most.
I’ve just finished a Lace class for the Fairy-tales and Flowers tour last month! This was the first time teaching lace with Knitting Tours, and it was a lot of fun combining the different tips and samples to give knitters a good overview. Having a few days to work on the project was great as I was able to see the knitters’ progress before I said goodbye to them!
For 2026, I’m working on some new class pattern projects that combine interesting techniques with a finished knit that they will want to wear. There will, of course, be lots of cables!
If I’m teaching on a tour (rather than a retreat) I will get to the hotel with Laura while the group is out and get set up. Laura sets up a pop-up shop and I’ll get the tables set up with the projector and all of the yarn, books and notes ready for knitters.
Then, as the knitters arrive, we’ll get started, first with a lecture, then after a coffee break, we’ll move more into the knitting as they work through the project. I’ll move from knitter to knitter, making sure everyone goes away comfortable with the skills they’ll need to finish the project.
If I’m on a retreat, then it’s a much more relaxed, slower-paced few days. We will start with a welcome reception, allowing me to get to know the knitters, and I’ll let them know what we’ll be working on over the coming days. Then over the next few days we’ll have a combination of formal classes, less formal knitting afternoons and long leisurely dinners. It’s lovely to get to know the knitters in these relaxed settings, and it allows for a much more organic learning experience.
I’ve always got a lot of projects on the go! Every year, we run several clubs, and I do much of the designing and online video classes for them. Right now, we’ve just launched our Spring knit-along, the Daingean Sweater and Cardigan. Last week, we launched the second instalment of our Celtic Knits Club 2025, and I’ve also got the summer project on my needles for our Seasons Club.
I’ve just finished the final Celtic Knits Club pattern, and I’m at the design stage for the autumn knit-along sweater. At the start of this year, we redesigned our website stolenstitches.com, and we’re still adding the final tweaks to the new design!
Celtic Knits club: https://stolenstitches.com/pages/celtic-knits-club
Seasons Club: https://stolenstitches.com/pages/seasons-knitting-subscription-club
Knit-alongs: https://stolenstitches.com/pages/knitalongs-with-carol
With designing and teaching so much is planned and knit in advance, that my head is already firmly in 2026! This year I’m really leaning towards my love of garment design, and that will really start taking centre stage as the year goes on!
We will, of course, be releasing our 2026 Celtic Knits Club on pre-sale at the end of the year. This is always one of our yearly highlights. This autumn I’ve got a busy schedule of teaching, with the wonderful Parknasilla luxury retreat and the Barcelona tour featuring in there as well as ‘Knit and Nature’. Keep your eyes open for a new retreat in the works for 2026.
Classes: https://stolenstitches.com/blogs/tours
Our website stolenstitches.com is the best place to find everything. We list your patterns, yarn, online classes, clubs and tours there, and you’ll also find a link to our online community, Knithub.
Website: https://stolenstitches.com/
Knithub: https://stolen-stitches.circle.so/
