Jeni Hankins

London, England

Jeni Hankins is an American performing artist, writer, and maker living in London and Lancashire. Since 2008, she’s toured extensively throughout the USA, Canada, and the UK. New York Times bestselling author Lee Smith writes, “Jeni is a true poet and born storyteller—many of her songs contain whole novels.”

Jeni fashions songs from her Southwest Virginia childhood. She listened while the women chatted around the church quilting frame about moonshining, mining, murder, and the quiet dignity of lives forged in the Appalachian wilderness.

Jeni first attempted knitting with butcher’s twine on two HB pencils. Things progressed and she became obsessed with stranded colorwork. Inspired by Esther Rutter’s knitting book This Golden Fleece, Jeni even wrote a knitting song called “Silver Darling” about a spell-casting herring girl.

You can find Jeni performing with her hand-cranked sewing machine or traveling to some local museum to see what kind of knitting or patchwork waits in an old glass case.

Jeni Hankins's Networks:

Contributions From Jeni Hankins

Embroidery as Art in Edinburgh

Building the garden of your dreams with needle and thread.

Kimono Style

Up close at the exhibition that shows us a thousand years of exquisite garments.

Now You See Us

Scandalous women and the art they left behind.

A Visit with Your Pink Plastic Friend

There's a lot of memories riding on her stylishly slim shoulders.

The Origins of Lace

These knotted threads decorate pop stars and underwear. A visit to Calais' Lace Museum.

Unraveled Threads

Surprising, breathtaking, moving: eleven artists work with textiles in ways we couldn't possibly anticipate.

Whimsical Warhol: An Edinburgh Exhibition

Long before the iconic soup cans and celebrity silkscreens, Andy Warhol took inspiration from quotidian things.

Weaving Trees: A Visit to Japan House

When cotton, wool, or linen are nowhere to be found, Japan's Ainu people made cloth with a different resource.

The Fabrics of Democracy and Revolt

Our hats—be they knitted or otherwise—tell the world who we are and what we believe.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: Double Weave

Delight in texture, color, and the inventive use of materials by artists Hilary Bourne and Barbara Allen.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: Gyles Brandreth

Picture sweaters galore! Telling stories in string.

Princess Diana’s Black Sheep Sweater

MDK's day tripper visits with and reflects upon the most iconic sweater ever.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: af Klint and Mondrian at Tate Modern

Tour the gallery and browse this maker's mood board inspired by visionary form and color.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: The Power of Pattern

Join Jeni for a personal and personable tour of Kaffe Fassett The Power of Pattern at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: Dales Countryside Museum

One fiber arts lover's perfect day in the Yorkshire town of Hawes.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope

Take an armchair tour of this Magdalena Abakanowicz retrospective at London's Tate Modern.

A Knitter’s Day Trip: Edinburgh

A practically perfect, inspiration-filled jaunt that you can take in on one day or more.