The Knit 'n Purl Girl

"In all my joyous moments and my darkest days, sometimes even causing the joy or pain, here they have been; strings of bright or boring colors and sticks."

My lifelong love of knit and crochet started at an early age. For as long as I could remember, I had been "bothering" my mother to teach me, and by the age of 8 my mother finally acquiesced to show me the bits of the craft she knew.

By age 11, Ms. Anderson from across the alley gave me a pair of circular needles and by age 12 I had taught my first student, a night nurse who snuck into my room at the hospital where I fighting a horrifying ear infection.

When I was 13, we moved. Mrs Wangensteen, the Finnish lady next door, taught me to pick. I thought I died and gone to hell. I couldn't purl, I cried and cried - there is nothing in the world like a hormonal teenager! I swore I would never knit again. Two days later, when I finally got it, I started to really fly! I can’t imagine my life without fiber or my children.

By high school, I was knitting and crocheting wild colored hats and hippie vests from remnants and left-overs from the local five and dime.

After returning to college to study business management with a liberal dose of clothing and textiles to feed my passion, I proceeded to finance my college tuition through the local sale of my pieces, which led to a position with as a designer/knitter for a international machine by-hand knitting company .

I continued knitting and honing my skills in sunny San Diego, CA, working and teaching at the Yarn Loft, under the tutelage of Cherie Brown. Always taking the chance to stretch and look beyond my abilities for new yarns and shaping concepts. Remember: As ye knit, so shall ye rip!

Returning to MN, I continued to teach all levels of knitting and design for a local yarn shop, and have subsequently been named the "Knit 'n Purl Girl" and a Trendsetter by Minnesota Monthly magazine. My work also appears in the book "One Skein Wonders," as well as Debbie Stoller's "2008 Stitch & Bitch" Calendar.