Meet Rebekah    

Rebekah Younger has been knitting and creating art since early childhood. She first learned to knit in 5th grade. But it was the mother of her first boyfriend, a compulsive knitter, who nurtured Rebekah’s early interest and taught her more advanced techniques. By the time she entered Beloit College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts, Rebekah was adapting complex patterns for commission work. By then she was totally hooked on knitting.

It wasn’t until her mid-20’s when her artist friend, Turtel Onli, first suggested she use her knits as an art medium, and create her own design from scratch.  He observed that she would spend hours passionately knitting while leaving a monumental painting unfinished for years. This was in the early 80’s, when women artists were challenging the male dominated art establishment with textile work as a serious art form. The art to wear movement was in its heyday and knitting machines were being used by artists to create one of a kind knits for art shows on both coasts.  Two major galleries, Julie’s Artisans in New York and Obiko in San Francisco, among others were were cultivating a collector base. And trunk shows and wearable art shows were happening in most of the major cities and craft colleges. Rebekah began designing her own one-of-a-kind garments, first hand knit and then using a knitting machine in the early 80’s in Chicago. She took machine knitting classes at the Textile Art Center, a fiber school founded by Marilyn Murphy as part of her shop, the Weaving Workshop. Marilyn later became President of Interweave Press.

Rebekah was inspired by this movement to sell her first business, a DIY picture framing franchise, to move to the Bay Area to be part of the vibrant textile artist community there in the late 80’s. In 1988, she opened her knitting business, Younger Knits, to market her designs. You can learn more about her design history and landmarks of her career on the timeline of Younger Knits.

Rebekah is currently living in Oakland, California. While she is no longer producing a line of clothing for shows and stores, she is selling her patterns for these amazing works to home knitters worldwide and offering workshops on her pioneering dye and patterning techniques that create her signature award winning knits. She is available to teach these classes to large or small groups. See her workshops page or contact her for more details.

Rebekah has had a larger creating career beyond Younger Knits and is currently coaching others to create with passion in all areas of their lives. You can see her prolific range of art and learn more about Rebekah’s other businesses at www.rebekahyounger.com and www.insitecontemplativedesign.com

If you would like her coaching assistance in your life, see more at www.rebekahyounger.com/coaching/