Our Teachers

Laura Barker is a life-long knitter, former engineer, and math teacher. She combines the best of those experiences in her favorite career, knitting design and education. Her designs feature innovative construction with clear instruction.

She is the author of Mitered Entrelac, Knitting Entrelac Around the Corner, and has published patterns in Knitter’s Magazine, Knitty.com, Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, and Malabrigo. Her work may also be found at www.CathedralKnits.com and on Instagram, Ravelry and FB as Cathedral Knits. She is a founder of the Capitol Hill Knitting Guild.

It was love for knitting and crochet that first led Heavenly to try spindle and wheel. Now, her love for spinning is reflected in the antique wheels she collects and repairs, the small flock she tends, and the classes she teaches. Uniting spinners, knitters, and crocheters, from far and near, in experiencing the pleasure of turning fleece into finished projects is a big part of her mission.

Heavenly Bresser is an award-winning handspinner, author, and the proud owner of Heavenly Knitchet. She spent many years designing custom knit and crochet accessories for clients and is known for her attention to detail and expert finishing. Heavenly has successfully completed Level One in the TKGA Master Knitter program. Her love for knitting and crocheting eventually became a gateway for trying her hand at spinning.

Heavenly was determined to learn something new every day from spinning wheel to spindle. Taking a project from raw fleece to finished product is one her favorite things. She teaches, and has written articles for major publications including Spin Off as well as tiny Studio Creative Life.

When not teaching, vending, or playing with fibers and yarn, Heavenly repairs antique spinning wheels and tends her own herd of 18. Her husband is her greatest enabler, and her two sons enjoy her handspun yarn.

Florencia Campos Correa, an industrial designer from Chile, founded Ullvuna with the purpose of inspiring and promoting creativity. Her teaching focuses on crochet and pin-loom weaving

Florencia is, an industrial designer from Chile, founded Ullvuna with the purpose of inspiring and promoting creativity. Her teaching focuses on crochet and pin loom weaving.

She designs patterns, books, kits and video tutorials Her book "100 pin loom squares" has been translated to 7 languages.

Hand sewing with her grandmother taught Sandra Chandler the magic of transforming fabric into art. Recycled denim is her favorite material. Her handsome quilts feature myriad tones of well-worn jeans in simple patchwork shapes.

I love to hand stitch using the traditional Japanese Sashiko and Boro embroidery styles and incorporating them as a decorative feature into my designs. The concrete, repetitive nature of this work frees my imagination provides many opportunities for happy accidents and grace to influence the finished product.

My core materials for quilting are thread and fabric, however, I often employ recycled denim, yarns, dyed fabrics and stamps to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. I hold a B.S. in Clothing, Textiles and Design from Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

Recently, I discovered modern quilting: simple, crayoned patchworks that resonate deeply with my fiber work. Inspired and invigorated by a renewed sense of continuity, and awed by the mystery of how creation occurs, my process allows me to explore visions to enable my creative work to evolve and grow.

Denim is my thing! So, if you didn’t know I am in love with all thing’s denim. So if you look through my portfolio you can see a collection of my work in denim. I am featured in an international magazines, Simply Moderne’ which is published in Paris. I have a dress and articles featured in Altered Couture which is published by Stampington and I am featured in Quiltfolk, a quarterly magazine.

Lily Chin has been involved in some aspect of the fashion industry since age 13. Both a knitter and crocheter, she has extensive experience in the yarn industry — designing, instructing, and authoring 8 books. 

She has created looks for the New York Fashion Week runway collections, was named a Master Knitter by Vogue Knitting, and has been cited in media across the U.S.

Lily has lived in New York City all her life.

Molly is a founding partner of Hands on Knitting Center in Redlands, CA. In the 11 years, Molly has become the in-store expert on helping students fix mistakes, adjust patterns, and learn to let go of the pattern and make what the knitter wants. She loves sharing her passion for all fiber arts but nothing makes her happier than teaching how to simplify complicated techniques.

People claim that she is patient but she just believes anyone can learn anything as long as they want to. Living in the Inland Empire of SoCal, where it is over 90 degrees much of the year, Molly has also chosen to become a plant based yarn enthusiast and enjoys sharing her enthusiasm and knowledge with anyone who will listen! Like most people, Molly was warned against knitting with cotton or other plant based yarns when she first began to knit. But realizing that we cannot wear wool most of the year in SoCal, she decided to learn about how to be successful with plant based yarns - after all, people have been working with cotton over 6,000 years and linen over 9,000 so it had to be possible... Molly is also a designer and has had designs published in Love of Knitting and on Ravelry. She teaches in-store and at local guilds and schools.

Prior to opening HOKC, Molly worked in the retail industry as VP of Sales for Le Creuset running the retail chain of more than 40 stores. As VP of the Friedman Group she taught sales and management all over the world for big and small retailers. And just prior to opening HOKC, Molly was a Leasing Agent with Craig Realty Group learning skills that came in handy for negotiating a lease! Molly lives in SoCal with her very patient husband and very silly dog.

Rosanna Diggs is a Washington based fiber artist who loves teaching others how to embroider. With over two decades of needle arts experience, she now teaches and offers a full line of embroidery kits. Rosanna is also a mother of three and loves adventures with her family.

Kira Dulaney, the designer behind Kira K Designs, has been teaching fiber arts classes and hosting crafty events in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since 2002.

As a teacher, her focus is on providing valuable information in a stress-free environment, and supporting students through the learning process.Kira K Designs are original knitting and crochet patterns featuring clean lines and intriguing details that are both interesting to make and easy to wear.

Rosann’s designs appear in various books and magazines— Vogue Knitting, Designer Knits, Noro Magazine, I Like Knitting,I Like Crochet, All Aboard, 60 Quick Cotton. Her first book, Cozy Coastal Knits will be published by StackPoleCrafts in the Spring of 2023.

When not designing for Prime Publishing, Universal Yarns, KFI and Soho Publishing, she provides business consulting services to local yarn stores and yarn companies interested in expanding their customer base offering a range of customized educational programs, social media solutions knit-alongs, crochet-alongs and private design services. For more on her business to business consulting work, follow her company, First Byte Designs on LinkedIn and Twitter. For more on her designs, follow her company’s Facebook page, via Instagram as @1stbytedesigns, or sign up for her consumer newsletter on her website www.firstbytedesigns.com

After many years teaching knit and crochet, Deborah Jarchow discovered weaving and her love of fiber, texture, and color came together. Since then, she has worked full time as a weaver and artist. Now, Deborah focuses on teaching on rigid-heddle looms and making weaving accessible to as many people as possible.

Deborah's work has been exhibited at galleries and museums across the country, and she has won numerous awards and written articles for national publications. Her work has been commissioned by churches and is in many private collections. Since 2004 she has been an artist-in-residence, teacher, and weaver at Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Camarillo, CA.

She travels extensively to share her weaving enthusiasm and expertise and  loves helping Makers discover the joy of weaving.

For more about Deborah, go to deborahjarchow.com

Trendsetter Group owner/designer Barry Klein began knitting in his family's store, where all patterns were customized His passion for yarn and everything that can be done with it is evident in the classes he holds all over the world. Learn why 'Let the yarn do the work' is Barry's motto.

Barry has designed knitwear for magazines, television shows, ice skaters, and movie stars; authored 5 knitting books; and worked as a spokesman on Knitting Daily and other television knitting shows. Barry was voted one of the Top 10 Men who Knit/Design throughout history. For more about Barry, go to trendsetteryarns.com

Curiosity, exploration, and an ever-expanding plan for world domination are the name of fiber-artist Kim McBrien Evans' game. Her knitwear is designed to fit and flatter every body. This has led her to explore how home sewists and knitters can create clothing that fits, celebrating the beauty of inclusive design.

Her lifelong love of color, texture, and pattern prompted Kim to transition from working artist to textile maven. She lives and works in the woods of Central Ontario, Canada.

Cal Patch has been making, designing, and teaching all things textile-related since 1991. She sews, crochets, embroiders, spins, prints, knits, dyes, and more. In 2009 Cal relocated to upstate New York to become a crafty farmer and grow her handmade wardrobe. She is the author of Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified.

She designed clothing for Urban Outfitters, Free People, Gap, and Old Navy before developing her own line of one-off pieces called "hodge podge", currently sold in her Etsy shop and at craft fairs.

She offers classes in the Hudson Valley, and teaches at Squam Art Workshops, and the Makerie. She contributes to books and magazines such as Stitch N' Bitch: The Happy Hooker, Mend It Better, Applique Your Way, Made by Hand, Crochet Today, and Sew Stylish.

For more about Cal, go to calpatch.com

Best-known as the innovator of the stacked-stitch technique, especially the Fox Paws pattern, Xandy Peters began by designing footwear, then turned to knitting to explore textiles and surfaces without the limitations of factory production. Xandy continues to challenge our ideas of hand-knit fabric, sharing the results in patterns and workshops.

Xandy has been published in magazines such as Vogue Knitting, Twist Collective, Knitscene, Knitty, and Pom Pom Quarterly.

Linda Pietz's medium of choice is fiber. With a BFA and teaching credentials in both Fine Arts and Arts & Crafts, she has extensive experience designing needlework, writing articles, and teaching — even designing rug-hooked portraits of 44 of the presidents!

Linda teaches at various venues across the country including Sauder Village’s Rug Hooking Week and the Shelburne in Vermont.

English-born Catherine Redford learned to knit and sew as a child. After moving to Illinois, she found quilting, and it became a passion. An award-winning quilter, Catherine now has two DVDs and two books, Modern Machine Quilting: Make a Perfectly Finished Quilt on Your Home Machine and Butterfly Stitches.

Five years after taking her first quilting class, she began to teach. An award-winning quilter, active member of her local guilds, and popular teacher at local and national levels, Catherine also co-founded the Naperville Modern Quilters Guild. An author, frequent magazine contributor, and guest on Quilting Arts TV, Catherine has two DVDs and a book on modern machine quilting techniques, Modern Machine Quilting: Make a Perfectly Finished Quilt on Your Home Machine, and new book on, Butterfly Stitches from C&T, coming out soon.

For more about Catherine, go to catherineredford.com.

Åsa is a Swedish knitting designer & instructor who lives in Denmark with a Danish husband.
She knits with abandon and has knitted her way from Sweden to Denmark via New York and Boston and Singapore, and Sussex – and Germany.
Åsa’s designs are mostly seamless and top down, and she is attracted by unusual solutions and just-so details.

The Ziggurat sweater is her signature. It is a seamless, top down, contiguous or simultaneous-set-in sleeve method, developed and polished since the first Ziggurat saw the light in 2011. It became and remains a passion.

Åsa is the author of Åsa Tricosa Ziggurats: 16 elegantly seamless Knits (in its 4th print run)

Jennifer Stern has a background in pattern design and drafting, fit, and construction. She loves to teach, especially fitting and sewing techniques for knit and woven fabrics.

Her pattern line focuses on designs with easy-to-follow instructions and fitting options.

You'll find jeans, a cup-sized fitted shirt, a unique tee, and more in her collection. She loves to work with commercial knit (tricot-type) fabrics and has designed her Easy-to-Fit-and-Sew Collection of patterns specifically for them.

She shares a wide variety of sewing, serging, fitting, and construction techniques via her J Stern Designs site on the YouTube Channel, with over 100 video tutorials. Additionally, she teaches online at craftsy.com and patternreview.com. For more about Jennifer go to jsterndesigns.com

Heather Storta has been designing knitwear and teaching knitting for well over 10 years. Her designs have appeared in Cast On, Knitscene, and Knitty. She is active with TKGA— as a certified Master Knitter, Tech Editor, VP of Education, K2TOG editor, and Cast On editorial committee member.

Heather's designs have been published in Cast On magazine and Knitscene, as well as Knitty and elsewhere. Heather resides in the Charlotte, NC area and is a stay-at-home and homeschooling mom of 2 boys. When she is not knitting, designing, editing, or teaching (her boys or knitters!), she can be found spinning yarn, reading, or in the outdoors camping and hiking with her family. She can be found online at www.heatherstorta.com.

Harry Wells is a retired university professor who has pursued knitting and teaching the craft professionally since 2010. He enjoys designing knitwear for men and accessories for both men and women. His aesthetic emphasizes texture and linear flow.

He teaches a myriad of classes geared for knitting conferences and fiber festivals. His extensive experience in classroom presentation and course preparation makes for an organized and engaging learning experience.

His designs have been published in knitting magazines and can be found at https://www.ravelry.com/designers/harry-wells. Check out his knitting blog and website at www.goodforaboy.com