knitter, blogger, hopeful writer, vaguely techie, opinionated, funny on alternate days

Cat Bordhi's mission, according to Yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl McPhee, is to make you a more creative, freethinking knitter who problem-solves and experiments with vigor and fearlessness. The best part? She can. Cat teaches and inspires more than a 1,000 knitters a year in her classes and retreats all over North America. Her Youtube knitting tutorials reach many 1,000 s more, and her innovative books, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles, A Treasury of Magical Knitting, A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting, and New Pathways For Sock Knitters have reached well over 100,000 knitters. She is also the author of an award-winning novel, Treasure Forest.

A self-confessed "technique freak" and "skill junkie," JC Briar dabbles in all kinds of knitting, but has a special fondness for textured knitting and novel construction techniques. If it involves lace, cables, or seamless construction, it's sure to catch her eye. She shares her enthusiasm by teaching at shops and fiber festivals, and online through Needlecraft University. Regardless of the topic, JC Briar aims to build confidence by expressing concepts clearly and concisely, and by presenting skills and ideas in a digestible progression.

Cookie A is a California-based knitwear designer with a penchant for socks that showcase exciting techniques. Her work has been published in various print and online publications including Vogue Knitting, Knit 1, Knitty, Sockupied and Knitting Daily. She is the author of Sock Innovation (2009 Interweave Press) and Knit. Sock. Love. (2010 One Leg Press). Cookie teaches knitting workshops internationally, and has demonstrated sock-knitting tips and techniques on Knitting Daily TV, Knitty Gritty, and Sockupied. Along with Alice Yu, she co-hosts Knit Nation, a premier knitting event in London, England. She also began an exclusive sock club in 2011 where members share their love for Cookie's socks as well as baking cookies.

I self-publish individual patterns for hand knitters, under the business name Knitting At KNoon Designs, established in 2003. I started designing after my retirement from a career in information technology geekdom, mostly as an excuse to have more time to knit for my grandchildren (who now number 4!). Knitting At KNoon Designs, LLC has now published more than 50 patterns, available across the United States, Canada, and in Australia and New Zealand. We are a wholesale company, selling only to local and on-line yarn stores. Shape, drape, and line are the main elements of my designs, which are mostly classic silhouettes coupled with an unusual trim detail or a bit of whimsy. I like to relax while knitting and try to design projects that I will like to knit, so there is a lot of stockinet stitch (for movie watching in the evenings). Pattern stitches are almost always 4- or 6-row repeats that are easily memorized. Frequently, my sense of humor peaks through, because I hope my designs are fun to own as well as fun to knit.

My name is Miriam Felton, and I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. I began knitting in high school because, although I crocheted very well, I was rather bored with the limits of crochet (i.e. bulk and massive yarn usage). So I had my sister cast on for me and then off I went. I learned most everything else from books, and I was designing from the start. In late 2005 I began designing patterns to offer for sale. Since then I have had patterns published by Interweave Press in magazines and books, Sensual Knits,and in the online magazines Knitty and Twist Collective, and I have self published many patterns both in print and electronic formats. In July 2010 I self-published my first book, Twist & Knit, that's a compendium of technique and patterns with variable gauge so that one can knit until one runs out of yarn.

Hi! I'm Margaret Fisher—knitter and crocheter. I love sweaters and clothing, and I design and make one-of-a-kind garments and accessories. I'm a TKGA Master Knitter and I teach knitting, crochet, and sweater design workshops across the country at conferences and conventions and for knitting guilds. I've taught at STITCHES conventions, The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA) conventions, The Knit & Crochet Shows, and The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) conventions. My articles and designs have been published in Cast On magazine. I am the author of Seven Things that can "Make or Break" a Sweater®, a knitting technique book.

After learning to knit from her grandmother at age 10, author and hand knitting pattern designer Chrissy Gardiner dabbled in the fiber arts (including knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch and needlepoint) for years before discovering her local yarn shop and the lovely luxury yarns therein. It was here she first laid hands on merino and learned that not all wool is unbearably scratchy. Knitting became a renewed obsession for Chrissy after her children were born and she was left wondering what happened to her creativity. She left the corporate world and her former life as a software architect behind for good and decided to start a small knitting pattern publishing company called Gardiner Yarn Works. Soon after, the lure of writing her own book became too strong to resist and Sydwillow Press was born. In addition to her Gardiner Yarn Works and Sydwillow Press designs, Chrissy's work can be found in many past issues of Interweave Knits as well as various pattern compilation books, knitting pattern websites, sock clubs and yarn company pattern lines. She is a wholesale member of The National Needlearts Association and is on the board of The Association of Knitwear Designers. She keeps her skills sharp and gets feedback from all sorts of knitters while teaching at yarn shops, knitting guild meetings and knitting conventions. When she's not teaching, designing or dealing with the myriad tasks of running a small business, she spends entirely too much time trying to convince her two small children not to run with knitting needles.

Janel Laidman grew up in Southern California, where the weather is hardly ever sweater weather. However, knitting must have been in her DNA, because she began to knit about 30 years ago when she was an exchange student in Denmark. She has always been a do-it-yourselfer so designing was a quick and logical step for her. Janel's first two books, The Eclectic Sole and The Enchanted Sole are about knitting socks, and Janel's creative design style shows you just what you can do with these humble foot coverings. Janel is an avid hand spinner as well as knitter. These days Janel knits, spins, and dreams in Eugene, Oregon where she always hard at work on her next endeavor.

Sandra McIver was born and raised in New Orleans. That alone made her an unlikely candidate for her first career as a leading vintner in the California wine industry. Her interest in wine began while attending college in Northern California. In 1972 she acquired land in Sonoma County and planted her first vineyard. In 1977 she founded Matanzas Creek Winery, which quickly won acclaim for producing some of the finest wines in the industry. As winery president, she directed the winery’s growth from 2,000 to 45,000 cases annually. The Wine Spectator placed Sandra among the California wine industry’s top twenty leaders “Who Made a Difference;” proclaiming her as one who “innovated, perfected, promoted and led the international campaign for higher-quality wine.” After twenty-five years in the industry, she sold the winery, turned her attention to her lifelong love of knitting and embarked on the journey that led to the creation of knit, Swirl! This is her first book.

When I began spinning in the 1970s, prepared fiber wasn't available, so I learned by using raw wool and immediately became interested in the different breeds of sheep and the types of fleeces they grew. Not too long after that, I noticed that the breeds of sheep that most handspinners valued above others were listed as "at risk of extinction" by the livestock conservation groups. I became alarmed. It was as if a woodworker had learned that pine, cherry, and oak were endangered (they may be!—instrument-makers have already needed to find substitutes for some classic woods). I worked as an editor of textile books and magazines, which fed not only my family but my curiosity. My questions about all types of wools intersected with my interest in the rare breeds, and I discovered that the answers I wanted weren’t available. So I started researching. And then researching even more. Lincoln led to Navajo-Churro, which in turn led to Norfolk Horn, which resulted in the Save the Sheep project sponsored by Interweave Press. Then I had questions about mohair and cashmere and yaks and paco-vicuñas and pygoras. In a fit of brilliance or insanity, I spent four years spinning every fiber-grown-by-an-animal that I could get my hands on, and working with Carol Ekarius to write The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More than 200 Fibers from Animal to Spun Yarn. Interweave asked me to record a set of instructional DVDs called Handspinning Rare Wools. People started asking me to teach workshops. I went to Scotland and got to spend time with super-wonderful people and meet sheep I’d only seen in photos. The whole thing has taken off, and I’m going with it because I get to share all the cool stuff I've learned, and I get to discover even more questions and some of their answers.

Myrna enjoys sharing her love of lace knitting by designing shawl and scarves, teaching lace knitting classes and publishing her designs. In 2000 she self-published Stahman’s Shawls and Scarves: Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls From the Neck Down and Seamen’s Scarves. Myrna’s definition of lace knitting is using two sticks and some string to connect a series of holes in a pleasing fashion. Lace knitting does not require 000 needles and very fine thread. Worsted weight cotton and size 7 needles make practical, pretty lace dish cloths. Bulky yarn and size 11 needles produce beautiful lacy afghans. Myrna’s philosophy in teaching knitting includes (a) the “right” way to knit is the way that works comfortably for each individual knitter; (b) she learns much from her students; (c) when encountering a problem with one’s knitting, immediately tearing out the problem area is most often not the best solution; and (d) understanding the structure of knitting and learning to read one’s knitting are important skills to develop.

Since I came to this country in 1991, I have been approached by many knitters who were curious about the way I knit. In addition to the English (or American) and Continental (or German) styles, there are other techniques which include this less-known way of holding the yarn around the neck or around a hook pinned near the shoulder. This style is also popular in Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Peru. A Portuguese lady who immigrated to Brazil taught my mother how to knit this way in 1955 and using the knitting pin. My mother, in turn, taught me how to knit this way when I was only seven years old. I actually hold the yarn around my knitting pin on my left shoulder, which makes the working yarn easily available, makes tension uniform, and requires fewer movements to knit or purl. This style has an incredible advantage for people who suffer from carpal tunnel or arthritis. According to my students, they discovered that purling this way is much easier and faster than using either the American or German style. Another advantage is that, for blind people who have learned this way, the yarn is always readily available and requires less maneuvering of the needles compared to the other styles.