Fiber Teacher Links

Esther Bechler has been playing with fibers all of her life. She has a background in art and a degree in Art Therapy. In 2005, Esther bought her first felting needles at a doll show and has been felting ever since. She teaches regular needle felting classes and has begun selling her own patterns and kits.

www.moonrisestudio.com

Jane Bigleow is co owner of A b-EWE-tiful Design along with her daughter, Jill. Their patterns are sold thru 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.

Jill Bigelow-Suttell is co-owner of 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 Pgh 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.

Born in Pittsburgh but moved to eastern PA when I was about 28 . I learned to crochet when I was about 15 and after years of enjoying that I finally tried to teach myself how to knit. I wondered how on earth people thought this would be fun because I think I made every mistake in the book. But over the years I learned from these mistakes and eventually wanted to help others learn how to knit by sharing my knowledge. I began teaching knitting and crochet in two yarn shops in eastern PA. (Yarn Gallary in West Reading, PA and Yarns R Us in Hamburg, PA.) I moved back to western PA in 2007 to Grove City, PA where I have had the pleasure of teaching for Wolf Creek Yarns.

Robyn Chachula’s winding path to her crochet career began as most, not in the industry. A graduate from Penn State University in Architectural Engineering and pursued a career as a Structural Engineer. Her specialty is historic preservation and renovation. “So my day job may seem like a far cry from crochet fashion design, but for me, they are one in the same. They both use my ability to take a big project and break it down into little items that I can understand, then piece them back together for the overall big picture. My career also has helped me become fluent in crochet symbols which you see in most of my patterns.” Her crochet designs fall in the space between the Catwalk and the Target shelves. She designs for the intermediate crocheter that is ready to take the next step in their craft, but are not so complex that they will fail. She has been published in a number of national magazines and books. She can also be seen as a guest on Knit and Crochet Today on PBS. You can see all of her architecturally inspired pieces at www.crochetbyfaye.com.

Carolyn Collen-DuBose - Having been an elementary art teacher for 33 years, I was constantly intrigued by many different media and techniques. This is my excuse for not focusing on one area! Painting, puppetry, papermaking, collage, doll making, knitting, crocheting, wool felting and beading are some of the media I have worked in and sold in shops, at shows and to friends. Carolyn Collen-DuBose Hazeltree of the Woods Grantsville Maryland jackandcarolyn@verizon.net

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.

www.dancingleaffarm.com

Adina DeRoy-Stouffer is a native Pittsburgh artist and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Her design studies have taken her as far away as Rome, as she continues the family tradition in the jewelry industry, designing, creating, and selling jewelry. She is also a fiber artist, knitting and selling her designs and work throughout the area. She teaches jewelry making, knitting, and fiber arts at various locations, including Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Sweetwater Center for the Arts in Sewickley.

Margo Duke enjoyed a wonderful childhood while growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, before sailing to America with her parents and brother aboard the QE11 when she was 12 years old. 

Over the years, Margo has studied and developed skill in many areas of needlework and has an uncanny intuitive ability to predict upcoming trends. It wasn’t until she found machine needle felting a little over three years ago that she became completely obsessed with the endless creative possibilities and realized that this trend would catch on.  She started her own business, Her Majesty Margo, and has designed projects as well as kits for use by others as teaching tools and has won several awards for her work.

Margo is the author of two books published by Martingale:  “Needle Felting Magic” – (easy techniques for machine needle felting) and “Making More Needle Felting Magic” (combining machine needle/wet felting and stitching).

hermajestymargo@aol.com
website: www.hermajestymargo.com
blog: www.hermajestymargo.blogspot.com.

Nicky Epstein is a world renowned knit wear designer, teacher and author of over 20 bestselling books. Her knitting and crochet books range from highly original resource books, to historical books, to travel books, to Barbie Doll books, to amazingly creative design fashion/pattern books. Her books are “must haves” in the libraries of designers and knitters alike, and she has won the National Independent Book Publisher’s Award for Best Craft Book Of The Year…three times! Her newest book “Knitting Block by Block” (Nov. 2010-Potter Craft/Random House), has received rave reviews.

Her innovative, fashionable, whimsical and award winning designs have appeared in every major knitwear magazine, in museums and on television, and she has taught classes to knitters around the world and hosted many Vogue Knitting Tours overseas as well as others. Visit www.nickyepstein.com.

She has also designed her own beautiful line of silk scarves, buttons, clasps and note cards. www.nickyepstein.com, which will be available at the festival at Nicky’s booth.

She loves to share her expertise and enthusiasm for knitting, with countless fans, who appreciate her imaginative techniques along with her seemingly unending creative designs.
Nicky grew up in a small town, Spelter, West Virginia, where they root for the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins, so she has a close affinity with Pittsburgh. She now lives in New York City but travels extensively, always bringing her knitting along.

Victoria Fergus has had over thirty years teaching experience including K-12 and higher education. At the college level, she has taught art education courses, 2D foundations, 3D foundations, ceramics, crafts, graphic design, drawing, art for main-streaming, graduate seminar, and art education graduate studies. She also has experience in teaching museum based outreach programs as well as working as an exhibition and display consultant for museums. She started using crochet as an artistic medium while working on her doctorate. “I see my crochet work as a combination of the 3D and 2D training I had.” Her work has been exhibited in national and international textile exhibits and numerous one-person shows.

Nancy Griffin enjoyed a life long career spinning novelty yarns and teaching spinning, knitting and weaving. Her shop, Otter Creek Store in Mercer, PA closed in 2007. Nancy continues to be active in the fiber arts community, working part time knitting hats, shawls and felted pet beds, designing knitting patterns and teaching through the Mercer Spinners and Weavers Guild and other fiber arts organizations and events. Nancy posts her creations and patterns on her blog: http://www.yarnottercreek.blogspot.com/

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.

Pamela Kelly was born and raised in Aurora, IL. I married my wonderful husband, Jim, and moved to KY in 1977. During our 13 years in KY, our son, Jon-Michael was born and I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a BA in Computer Information Systems and Human Resource Management.

After graduation, I was hired by Electronic Data Systems and we moved to Dayton, OH. After 18 years in Dayton, we recently relocated to Raeford, OH to be near our son and his family.

I cannot remember a time when I did not love working with fibers.....from crocheting Barbie doll clothes, making Jams for my son, to finally finding my niche. Today I work with fibers from start to finish. I create the fabric I use to make one-of-a-kind purses, design knit/felted purses, spin, dye, and weave on rigid heddle and the beautiful tri-looms my husband builds. I am very excited to have my own website www.sunflowerfibers.com where you can see my purses and Jim's looms.

www.sunflowerfibers.com

John is the owner of Kirkwood Farm, with his wife Kathy. The farm is located in Mount Eaton, Ohio in the heart of Amish County.   

Our farm flock includes three breeds of sheep, Alpaca, and Llama. The sheep breeds consist of Romney (white and colored), Border Leicester (white), and Leicester Longwool (white and natural colored). The newest breed of sheep to our flock is Leicester Longwool. Our animals graze on a well cared for pasture and are fed quality feed, minerals, and hay. We practice a feeding procedure that keeps the fleece as clean as possible. We shear the sheep twice a year and the skirting process begins after the fleece is shorn. This process is to remove “junk” wool, stains, second cuts, and loose vegetable matter from the wool.  Our home spun yarn, machine spun yarn, roving, raw wool, and washed locks comes from the finest quality of sheep and alpaca.  You can purchase roving in white, natural colored, sheep, alpaca, and blends of sheep and alpaca.  Raw wool is also available in white and natural colored sheep and alpaca.  Washed locks can be bought in white and natural colored sheep wool.  The homespun and machine spun yarn can be bought in white or natural colored sheep and alpaca wool. Visit our web page for other wool related items:  http://www.kirkwoodfarms.com  Shop to open in the spring of 2011.

Wini Labrecque is a textile artist with interest in a wide variety of techniques and a very strong passion for fiber. Since the late 1980's, utilizing natural fibers, Wini has been spinning, weaving, knitting and felting from raw form to finished product. Her handspun skeins and woven/knit goods are sold at area art festivals and in area specialty shops.

Once exposed to alpacas and their wonderful fiber, she has been utilizing and promoting the fiber to everyone who will listen. Wini teaches classes in beginning spinning, felting, and/or weaving to individuals or small groups. She is also partner in a business called Fleece To Fashion USA that provides custom fiber services from handspinning to finished knit or woven clothing out of alpaca owner's own alpaca fleece. She also is a Fiber Arts judge as well as a judge for hand spun and mill spun skein competitions. “Alpaca With A Twist" yarns and home grown alpaca fiber, roving and yarn are available from her farm.

www.starweaverfarm.com

Fritz began hooking rugs in 1997 and quit her job after 25 years as a librarian so that she could hook more. An accredited McGown teacher, she teaches at local community and art centers and travels to teach at camps and workshops. She serves on the editorial board of the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists journal and her work has appeared in that publication as well as the Rug Hooking Magazine, the McGown Guild Newsletter, the Wool Street Journal and several books. Two of her rugs have been selected for Celebrations, an annual book featuring the best rugs as determined by Rug Hooking magazine.

Kathy McGrath has been knitting for over 23 years. One summer, many years ago, she was invited to be her new-born nephew’s nanny. Kathy ventured overseas to join her brother and family to Bertram, Belgium and discovered that her nephew was one of the easiest babies. He slept most of the day. This left Kathy with little to do, so her sister-in-law, Jennifer, took her to a local yarn shop. They picked a pattern for a sweater (yes! This was Kathy’s first project!!!), yarn and needles, and Jennifer taught Kathy how to knit. The remainder of her time abroad was spent knitting away!

That first sweater was followed by numerous other knitting projects over the years. Kathy is also an accomplished seamstress and 2-dimensional artist. Encouraged to follow her artistic passions by an artist father and loving mother, Kathy has developed abilities in many different media before discovering her true passion in creating art through knitting!

In addition to knitting, Kathy is a single mom to three daughters: Sophia, 12; Amelia, 11; and Louisa, 9. Kathy works (since knitting does not pay the bills yet) as a teacher of GED prep for high school dropouts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

Sherri McMahon is a fiber artist from Brush Valley Pa. Sherri learned to crochet at an early age and didn’t start knitting until much later. Once she learned to knit, the obsession really took hold. For several years you could find her at the Pgh Knit & Crochet as a vendor as well as various other Fiber Festivals in the tri-state area. She is also known for raising angora rabbits for their fiber. Sherri is now venturing into designing her own patterns and teaching.

Susanne McNally discovered rug hooking the way many people do—by seeing an announcement of a rug show. An entire roomful of hooked rugs was enough to drive the idea of any other handicraft out of her head. Fifteen years later she is still learning and trying new things. There doesn’t seem to be an end. Getting someone started in this great fiber art is the most fun.

Susanne completed her McGown certification and teaches with Fritz Mitnick. Susanne’s Posie’s Garden was selected as one of the top hooked rugs for Celebrations 2009, an annual competition and book and was voted the Readers’ Choice first place for original designs. Susanne’s rugs have appeared in many publications including Rug Hooking Today and Rug Hooking Magazine.

Debbie Maier Jacknin turned 50 and she reinvented herself. Her mother taught her to knit and crochet when she was a young girl and her daughter, Jenn, taught her to make jewelry. Now, she teaches those skills to others at JoAnn Fabric and Craft and at the Pittsburgh Public Market. Debbie enjoys spending the week knitting, crocheting, and creating unique jewelry which she sells with items her daughter creates at Jenn’s Jems located inside the Pittsburgh Public Market located in the Strip District on Smallman Street between 16th and 17th streets.
DebO1960@aol.com
JennsJemsJewelry.etsy.com

Ellen Oehlbeck is from Mercer, Pa. Knitting is her first passion, teaching is her second. Her grandmother taught her to knit at the age of 5. She is a Certified Extension Master Knitter Instructor through the Craft and Yarn Council of America, and The National Homemakers’ Council, Inc.. Has been teaching for over 20 years in public schools, knit shops, Knitters Fantasy and at home.

Karen Page, a fiber arts teacher at CAPA, has spent her fourth summer studying felt making in Kyrgyzstan, where she presented at a round table discussion with felt makers from around the world. Karen’s creativity and expertise reflect her experience in the art field and in the art world. Her felt making is imaginative, creative and colorful. Karen engages the public with her exploratory interactive public art installations at the 3 Rivers Arts Festival.

Susan Radford was born in England to an English mother and Irish father. This ancestry lent the English Fair Isle and Irish Aran knitting techniques, which are incorporated and modernized to create her unique designing styles. During the war-stricken period of her youth, clothing was rationed and yarn and yarn goods were easier to find and she became quite clever at making something out of nothing much…….so her knitting career began.

Kate Silberberg is a retired art teacher (22 years at West Allegheny School District, Pa). She and her husband Brad run the Mesa Creative Arts Center near Burgettstown, Pa., where they both offer a variety of classes in art, crafts, spiritual and holistic healing & celebrating who you are! www.mesacreativearts.com

Cynthia Spencer has always cared about reading and writing--and she even expected to become a professor to study these subjects. Her Ph.D. in ed. psych. was about how students learn to write. But the year after she graduated, a series of events led to her co-owning a knitting and quilting store near Penn State called Stitch Your Art Out. The store has been open for over 5 years, and Cynthia continues to care about reading and writing: She works hard to help her customers understand how to read knitting patterns, and also writes patterns for her side business, "Really Clear Instructions."

www.stitchyourartout.com

Eleanor Swogger is Merchandise Manager for Kraemer Yarns in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. She works on development of new yarns and on color additions for existing yarns. She teaches at the Yarn Shop at Kraemer Textiles and at Tangled Yarns in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Eleanor is also a sample knitter for Kathy Zimmerman and several other designers. Eleanor lived in western PA for 31 years and was active in Golden Dome and Laurel Highlands Knitting Guilds.

www.kraemeryarns.com

Heidi Todd Kozar learned to knit as a young girl. She has designed professionally under the Embraceable Ewe label for more than 20 years. Heidi has been published in Interweave Knits, Knitter’s Magazine and Vogue Knitting. She has designed for Renaissance Yarns. She also sold exclusively designed children’s sweaters through various shops in New England and Pittsburgh. Last year she designed and knit the sweaters worn by actress Elizabeth Banks in the new Russell Crowe film, The Next Three Days.  She has taught throughout the US and is currently on the staff at Knit One in Pittsburgh.

I can’t remember when I didn’t knit.  I have taught locally and regionally and have been fortunate to study with nationally and internationally recognized knitters. I love to lead students to the joy of knitting and then watch them become independent knitters, helping them create their own designs and make decisions about how they want to adapt patterns My special passions are cables, lace and two color knitting such as Fair Isle and Scandinavian patterns. 

Designing for several yarn companies, I also spin, weave and quilt but if, perish the thought, I had to decide on one activity, it would be knitting.

In 2009 designed a banner for the G-20 Conference in Pittsburgh and then coordinated about 30 knitters to make it. It was hung at the Pittsburgh County Airport, where the delegates arrived and then will move to the Pittsburgh International Airport.  I have taught at Chautauqua Institution Summer 2010 and have studied with: Meg Swanson, Lucy Neatby, Nancy Bush, Cheryl Oberele, Nicky Epstein, Therese Chynoweth, Kaffe Fassett, Galina Khmeleva, Judy Pascale, Kathryn Alexander, Beth Brown-Reinsel, Shirley Grade, Amy Detjen, Hazel Carter, Annie Modesitt, Sally Melville and Debbie Bliss.

After I pestered her endlessly, my mom taught me how to knit, when I was a child in Cleveland. I can even remember the thin, mint green Orlon yarn! I liked to invent things and supplemented my allowance by knitting sweaters (initials and school colors, too) for my classmates’ Trolls in grade school. In college, I knitted Fair Isle sweaters because I was young and fearless and didn’t know they were supposed to be hard. I also was not hindered by the quality standards I have learned as an adult knitter! Life intervened and I stopped knitting until 3 years ago. Someone I thought was a friend got me started again and I’m afraid I have not met a fiber technique that I don’t like. My motto is “Whatever it takes!” so I now knit (with needles and machines), crochet (a little), and spin. I must confess, I am far more interested in learning new techniques and tools than actually making anything, so it is only natural that I have started to design and teach. My pattern, The Mobius Hoodius (a Mobius that is also a hoody) has been published by A B-ewe-tiful Design and will be available at the festival. I have taught at the Mercer Spinners and Weavers Guild, Wooly Wonders Knitting Guild, Mahoning Valley Machine Knitting Guild, Three Rivers Knitting Guild, Yarns Unlimited knitting store, and assisted with the beginning knitting class at last year’s Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival.

Judi Anne learned to knit at age 4 and crochet at age 7 by her grandmother.
 She opened her first Yarn shop in 1983. Her degrees are in nursing and business but she likes to tell folks, “that my profession is nursing but my passion is knitting and crocheting.”

Judi Anne has taught across the country at Stitches, Cedar Hill Parks and Recreation and for DeSoto with the youth groups and senior education. She has also taught for Dayton Knitting Guild, Fiberworks in Beaver Creek, and previously at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. Judi Anne attends all of the Pittsburgh festivals and is a great resource for all knitting and crochet needs. 

Daniel Yuhas is an obsessed knitter, designer, teacher, and fiber artist. His designs have appeared in Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders and on Knitty.com. His original knitted artwork has been displayed at the PS122 gallery in New York City and at the 2009 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington DC. Daniel lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he leads the Flatbush Stitch ‘n Bitch. You can see more of his super fun knitting designs at www.moltingyeti.com.

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.