Knitting meets yoga: Cheryl Mokhtari

In the emails that precede our video call, Cheryl emphasizes right at the beginning that she is terribly camera-shy. After all, it's a text, not a video podcast? Perhaps it's typically British, this understatement (although Cheryl is originally from Scotland), but above all this sentence is one thing: very likeable. It also fits in with the photos that the designer takes of her designs. She wears them herself, but you hardly ever see her face.

Started knitting again during the pandemic 

The 40-year-old once learned to knit from her mother. "She did the cast-on and cast-off stitches," Cheryl recalls with a laugh. But at least she had made a start. And even if the hobby took a back seat over time because other things took priority, it obviously never completely disappeared. During the coronavirus pandemic, Cheryl picked up her needles again. "I wanted to knit my own wardrobe," she says. The children were also small - so suitable projects were at the top of the knitting list.

So one thing led to another. While she started out knitting according to existing pattern and had no plans to take the whole thing on as an entrepreneur, Cheryl soon started tinkering around herself. One of the first official results was the Mia Sweater, which she released in summer 2022. The Mia Sweater Mini followed shortly afterwards. New designs have been added ever since. Not one every week and not necessarily every month, but to date there are almost 30 designs - from tops to cozy sweaters - which we at Maschenfein think are all worth knitting.

The fact that the frequency is different is also due to the fact that knitting is not Cheryl's only mainstay. For even longer than she has been designing knitwear, she has been a yoga teacher and has taught in various London yoga studios. On first hearing or reading, this sounds insanely chic (and perhaps it is) - but the fact that she teaches yoga in a metropolis and that the whole thing almost seems like a movie cliché is not at all apparent to the teacher and designer, who is sitting in a plain corner of her house during the video call. On the contrary: if a relaxed atmosphere had a name, it would probably be Cheryl Mokhtari.

The Londoner gets her ideas from networks such as Pinterest and Instagram - "and from the yarn," adds Cheryl. The designer prefers to knit with merino, cashmere and alpaca, often in multiple yarns for a "beautiful effect". In the meantime, only her own designs end up on the needles and, as far as possible, one after the other. "I have imposed the rule on myself to cast on one after the other," she says with a laugh - knowing full well how difficult it often is to keep it up.

This also fits in with her own analysis that the yoga teacher in her is very organized ("I like to work to a schedule"), but the designer is a little less structured. The two go together for Cheryl - which is why, when asked what she wants for the future, she can answer spontaneously: "To do more of what I'm currently doing." Giving up yoga for knitting? No. "I would miss it too much." At the same time, the knitting community gives her so much that she misses from yoga. So it's the balance and the mix that work so well for Cheryl. And in the end, knitting also has a meditative component - just like yoga. "The feeling is the same." It is her refuge, a little sanctuary, so to speak. She could imagine offering yoga and knitting retreats - time out for the soul and definitely a wonderful combination.

One problem that probably unites them all is the lack of time. Which is why her children often ask if the new project is for them. "I knit for the children during the vacations," says Cheryl and has to laugh. It remains to be seen whether the knitted pieces will really be all pink as previously requested - but a mini version of the well-known Montrose cardigan is indeed in the pipeline, she says.

But no matter what goes onto Cheryl's needles next, she always likes the first part - the beginning of a project - best. When grading the sizes, she now has the support of a so-called tech editor, as this aspect takes up a lot of time. The excitement and pure anticipation of a new design, however, remain entirely with the creator. And then, in due course, they also reach the knitting community. In this way, some of Cheryl's relaxed and unpretentious style spills back over to mainland Europe.