I’m Eileen, from Northern Ireland. I’m still in recovery from living in Upstate NY for 20 years (lol), but I recently moved home and am so happy to be back!

I’ve been knitting forever and couldn’t imagine my life without needles in hand. My mum taught me at each 5, and I haven’t stopped since - it’s just like breathing to me. Past projects bring memories of events and times in my life back to me as vividly as certain smells do for others.

I began selling my designs in primary school - Barbie sweaters in the quintessential 80s style, fluffy and oversized with batwing sleeves - for 20p (about 30 cents). I always designed without really realising it, changing and adapting patterns, resizing them, or making up my own on the fly (without making any notes, of course - doh!).

In 2005 I began working in a local yarn shop and became their in-house designer, writing customised patterns for clients while they waited. It took off and soon we had to make it by appointment only, as the queues of people waiting were too long and disrupting the other customers. I loved doing it - I had found my niche, and was certainly better at it that I was at flogging yarn!

But it wasn’t until 2006 when I won 1st prize in a design contest run by Elann.com, that I realised that I was “a designer”, and that’s what I wanted to do. Forever and ever, amen.

I worked as a Knitwear Designer at About.com for their Knitting Guide Site from 2010 - 2011, before branching out with my own label Eileen Casey Creations. My Ravelry group can be found here - it’s a useful place to find info on new and upcoming pattern releases, as well as any corrections or errata.

When I’m not knitting (snort), I love Doctor Who, pub quizzes, Victorian literature, Scrabble, kitties, FFXIV, Liverpool FC, tea, and Guinness.