Will JonesKeija Yan, co-founder and CEO of Soft Hours Studio located in New York–where fashion and creative labor often move at high speed– shapes educational direction, public identity, and cultural programming to bring forth a more intentional approach to textile art and its process. Through various community-based public programs, the studio invites participants to understand textiles through process: time, repetition, material knowledge, and care. This approach enables Soft Hours Studio to present knitting as a contemporary creative rather than a hobby technique.
Bringing the Surrounding Community Together in a Shared Space
At the center of Soft Hours Studio are workshops such as Machine Knitting 101, Punchcard Motif Scarf Workshop, Fluffy Striped Scarf Workshop, raffia yarn workshops, and crochet workshops which are intentionally small in size so participants can receive direct guidance from instructors while working hands-on with materials and machines. These beginner-friendly workshops are designed to make domestic machine knitting accessible to people with little or no prior experience, which is fitting for its diverse group of participants ranging between beginner to creative professionals. Through one workshop, participants learn the basic operation of a knitting machine while creating a finished textile object, such as a scarf, motif-based piece, or experimental sample. Workshop participants have also responded to the studio as a welcoming space where technical learning is paired with experimentation, conversation, and creative confidence-building.
In addition to casual workshops, Soft Hours Studio offers structured machine knitting courses for those who want to develop deeper technical skills. Its beginner-level Machine Knitting 101 course introduces the fundamentals of single-bed domestic knitting machines, including yarn selection, threading, cast-on and cast-off methods, shaping, tension, pattern basics, and creative stitch techniques. The course is especially useful for students, designers, and artists who want to translate textile ideas into physical samples or prototypes.
Kejia Yan at Soft Hours Studio
Demystifying the Machine: Beyond the Classroom
Soft Hours Studio has become especially meaningful for New York-based fashion and art students who are seeking practical textile experience beyond traditional classroom settings. For students and emerging designers, the studio provides access to equipment, technical instruction, and a supportive environment for developing swatches, portfolio pieces, and experimental textile ideas.
The studio prides itself in its flexible educational model catering to all level-learners. For instance, a beginner may join one evening workshop simply to try machine knitting, while a more committed learner can continue into longer course sequences, open studio practice, or one-on-one instruction. This structure allows Soft Hours to support different levels of engagement, from recreational making to professional development.
Beyond education, Soft Hours Studio has begun building a broader creative network in New York. The studio has hosted workshops with Rotohaus, partnered with Roookies on raffia yarn–focused programming, and collaborated with Artistry Edge on exhibition-related projects. It has also worked with independent designers on knitwear development, swatch-making, material testing, and early-stage textile exploration.
The Curatorial Pivot: From Swatch to Gallery
The studio hit its latest milestone as it has expanded into exhibition-making.. During NYCxDesign 2026, Soft Hours Studio co-organized and co-curated the group exhibition “ROC,” supporting emerging artists and interdisciplinary design practices. Yan sees this curatorial direction as a natural extension of the studio’s mission. To her, Soft Hours is more than a place to learn techniques; it is a platform for artists and designers to present work, exchange ideas, and build a connected creative community around textile-based practices.
Group Exhibition: Repetition Of Control at NYCxDESIGN 2026
Photo Courtesy: Silin Chen
Textile Craft as Resistance in a Disposable Culture
Soft Hours Studio is advancing the surrounding communities it serves by making machine knitting more accessible, collaborative, and culturally visible. By giving people of all ages and backgrounds a low-pressure entry point into textile-making, and supporting students who need hands-on experience and offers designers and artists a place to test ideas through materials. In doing so, the studio encourages people to recognize the labor, skill, and care behind textiles and its values that are often overlooked in fashion culture shaped by speed and disposability.
Looking ahead, Yan plans to continue developing Soft Hours Studio as a handmade textile art community. Future programming will include more advanced machine knitting courses, interdisciplinary workshops, designer collaborations, textile-focused exhibitions, open studio opportunities, and partnerships with cultural organizations, artists, and nonprofits. The long-term goal is to create a platform where machine knitting can be understood not only as a fashion technique, but as a shared creative practice with artistic, emotional, and social value.
In a city known for constant movement, Soft Hours Studio offers a different kind of creative space. Through Yan’s leadership, it is becoming a studio, classroom, workshop, and emerging cultural platform–one that helps redefine what a knitting studio can be in contemporary New York.
Kejia Yan at Group Exhibition: Repetition Of Control at NYCxDESIGN 2026
Photo Courtesy: Silin Chen
Kejia Yan at Soft Hours Studio