1. Founder of Stitchlinks, Betsan Corkhill has a background in physiotherapy and pain management. Since 2005 she has been researching the therapeutic benefits of knitting and developing therapeutic knitting as a tool to improve well-being and to manage long-term medical conditions in mainstream healthcare. Her work highlights the importance of creativity for well-being, psychological flexibility, and the ability to self-manage.
2. Professor Jessica Hemmings is Head of the Faculty of Visual Culture at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Research interests include contemporary textile practice, fiction about craft, and postcolonial theory. Recent publications include In the Loop: Knitting Now (Black Dog, 2010), The Textile Reader (Berg, 2012) and Warp & Weft: Woven Textiles in Fashion, Art and Interiors (Bloomsbury, 2012).
3. Angela Maddock is a part-time Senior Lecturer at Swansea Metropolitan University, where she teaches contextual studies and manages MA Contemporary Dialogues: Textiles. She is a research student in materials at the Royal College of Art and is interested in the negotiation of meaning in and through craft practice.
4. Jill Riley lectures in the Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Healthcare Studies at Cardiff University. Her Ph.D. studies and recent publications have concentrated on handcrafted textiles and the relationship between textile making, quality of life, and well-being. Her recent research with colleagues from Cardiff University and Stitchlinks UK focuses on the impact of knitting on personal and social well-being.