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Teachers
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Laura
Nelkin is the creator of Nelkin Designs and is also
currently the design director at Schaefer Yarn Company. She
teaches knitting techniques at workshops around the country,
but most often locally at her LYS Knitting Etc. Laura graduated
from Cornell University with a degree in Apparel Design in
1995. She did lots of weaving, dyeing, natural dyeing, and
fiber arts, but no knitting! She then worked hard for Angelheart/Flax
and got some great apparel industry experience. From 1997
to 2001, she attended high-end craft shows, selling hand-dyed
and burnt-out velvet accessories. She then learned to knit,
which led to designing patterns, which have been published
in magazines, books, and knitting websites. |
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Kathy
Zimmerman, an accomplished knitter, teacher, and
nationally recognized knitwear designer, is the owner of Kathy's
Kreations, a yarn shop specializing in quality handknitting
yarns and accessories. Her designs are currently featured
in KNITTER'S, Knit Simple, Interweave Knits and Vogue
Knitting magazines. Kathy is a freelance designer for
Classic Elite Yarns, Fiber Trends and Nashua Handknits. She
is best known for her designs featuring textures and cabled
stitchwork patterns. |
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Carol
Buttignol is a native Cleavelander, but claims Pittsburgh
as her adopted home. "I am addicted to fiber of all kinds.
I have been a spinner for more than 30 years and a knitter
for longer than I want to admit to" she says. As a spinner,
Carol regularly competes in Sheep to Shawl competitions in
Harrisburg and Waynesburg, PA, and the Maryland Sheep &
Wool Festival. As a member of the Butler Spinners & Weavers
and Washington Spinners & Weavers Guilds, she has the
opportunity to exhibit her work at a number of shows and art
centers. About 10 years ago, Carol became fascinated by the
continuous strand method of weaving. She has since acquired
numerous frame looms, and enjoy creating unique items using
the various size looms. |
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Jane
Bigelow is co-owner of A b-EWE-tiful Design, along
with her daughter, Jill. Their patterns are sold through local
yarn shops and also online. She has taught all levels of knitting
classes at Kindred Spirits Yarn Studio in Franklin, PA, as
well as Knitters Fantasy and Knitter's Day Out. She enjoys
teaching and watching students realize the comfort that knitting
brings. |
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Jill
Bigelow-Suttell is co-owner of the former Kindred
Spirits Yarn Studio and Kindred Spirits Design Studio in Franklin,
PA. She is past president of the Wooly Wonders knitting guild.
Jill teaches at festivals and yarn shops all around the Great
Lakes area, including the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival,
Knitter’s Day Out, Knitter’s Fantasy, Ann Arbor
Fiber Expo, Kindred Spirits Yarn Studio, Yarn Cravin’,
Yarn Garden (of Michigan), Rae’s Yarn Boutique, and
Knit A Round. She is co-owner of B-ewe-tiful Design. Her designs
have been published by Knitty.com, Dark Horse
Yarns, Schulana, and Cast On magazine. |
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Dalis
Davison notes that "Bright, rich color is a
large part of my life". She raises a small flock of sheep
and uses their wool mostly for spinning. She hand-paints a
variety of other wool and mohair yarns in deep, saturated
colors, with the colors blending from one to the other. Dalis
also makes a line of felt and fused glass jewelry, and creates
fused glass buttons to complement her yarns. She lives in
a beautiful countryside setting with a cottage studio on her
farm, Dancing Leaf Farm, in Maryland. |
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Barbara
Grossman is the organizer of the Annual Pittsburgh
Knit & Crochet Festival, as well as the "Knittreat"
fiber retreats. Self-employed her whole adult life, she has
been a yoga teacher for almost 20 years and has been dabbling
in the fiber arts field for about 10 years. Her daughter Sarah
taught her to knit when she was in the first grade at the
Waldorf School, which is where the very first Pittsburgh Knit
& Crochet Festival was held. “Although my knitting
skills are certainly not accomplished, needle felting has
been a favorite of mine for about 6 years." Barbara says.
"Fiber has a special appeal to me, and I love the feel
of it, the texture and the colors.” She uses gems, fiber,
fabrics, recyclables and old jewelry to make one-of-a-kind
accessories; necklaces, bracelets, and purses. She is pleased
to be a teacher at the Knittreat, and to be able to share
her ideas and techniques. She is a member of the Fiber Arts
Guild of Pittsburgh, and hopes to be able to fulfill her passion
for fiber through the classes at retreats she will be organizing
in the future. |
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