• Shalini is self-taught in macramé, crochet, weaving and embroidery
• She retired from school teaching to follow a career in fibre craftsmanship
• Through collaboration work, she began experimenting with paper twine and freeform technique

Shalini Mithal was an English teacher at an elementary and middle school before she decided to retire early in 2018. Though self-taught in macramé, Shalini had absorbed knowledge of textile crafts throughout her childhood by watching the women around her work with yarn and thread. She established Knots & Crosses as a home studio to teach crochet, macramé, weaving and embroidery to students of all ages. "During the uncertain times of the pandemic, people wanted to work with their hands," explains Shalini. Through collaboration with Indian architect and origami artist Ankon Mitra, Shalini has extended her practice into the realm of contemporary craft, working with paper twine as a sculptural material. She uses traditional macramé techniques to knot large-scale works, some of which were exhibited at India Design Week in 2024 and at the Cheongju Craft Biennale in South Korea in 2025.