From knitted origami to film costumes

To an outsider, a career in knitted textiles might seem narrow in scope. But when Victoria talks about her work, it’s clear that there’s a lot to keep track of.

“My work involves everything to do with knit and running my own businesses within textiles. I design, program, consult, teach, advise, research, develop, knit, construct and finish items along with marketing, promotion, admin, bookkeeping, packaging, and selling,” she said.

She has her own studio in Manchester, where she is currently working on developing a winter collection of knitted accessories and creative jumpers. She also takes costume and prop commissions for film and TV productions; some of her recent work will appear in everything from advertising campaigns to the second season of the Netflix show Wednesday.

 It's clear that Victoria enjoys her varied work and being able to work full-time with her passion. Knitting historical garments one day, teaching the next, and developing origami-style knitted bags the day after: it's a creative chaos that suits her perfectly.

The time in Borås led to development

Victoria has a Master's degree in Textile Design from the Swedish School of Textiles at the University of Borås. She has also lectured and worked as a teaching lab technician at the Knitting Technology Lab at the Swedish School of Textiles. She describes her training as demanding but fulfilling, and she notes that she particularly appreciated the access to industrial machinery and skilled lab technicians.

“I knitted for TV, film, and theatre before my Master’s; however, the programme allowed me to explore industrial knitting, which in turn has allowed me to confidently work with my own Shima machine in my own studio,” she noted.

Contacted by a publisher

Victoria was approached by the publisher The Crowood Press in late 2023 and jumped at the chance to write a book about her specialty.  The publisher had its own suggestions for direction, but was also open to her ideas, which meant Victoria could create content that really interests her.

“It is a technical book for machine knitters who already have some experience on the machines. I go in-depth into different techniques to create structure and form in the knit. There are four chapters in total exploring different methods to create dimension in knit, but we also explore material choices, yarns, and approaches in the use of colour. It’s for anyone who wants to deepen their machine knitting journey into structures and form,” she explained.

There are considerable challenges in writing a book, especially in such a niche and technical field. Victoria wanted to create a depth in the content that can help an already knowledgeable reader to learn even more about knitted structures. But at the same time, she sought to lay a clear foundation for those with more limited experience. Many of the book's samples were very time-consuming to knit. Some took a day or even longer. The work on the book also had to be done outside of Victoria's other assignments, which meant that much of the writing took place in the evenings and at weekends. 

“It was fun, though. I definitely enjoyed the process and dedicating time to the hand machines. I don’t often have time to sit and develop techniques, so this was the perfect excuse,” she remarked.

Victoria mentioned that she would like to do a doctorate in her field, so hopefully she is not put off by the intense process.

Will we then see more books from her? She answered enigmatically: “Never say never!”

Read more

The book Structural Stitches – A Machine Knitter's Guide to Creating Form and Texture was released by The Crowood Press Ltd.

Read more bout Victoria Salmon on her webpage, Another Knitted Thing

Read more about the Masters programme in Textile Design

Text: Lisa Good (2025)
Portrait photo: Daniella Ferrero
Photo: Private