2014 TEACHERS
FIONA ELLIS
Fiona Ellis has been designing commercially since graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Knitwear Design from DeMontfort University, England in 1993. She began knitting at an early age after being taught by her grandmother. She loved to experiment, consequently her dolls were the best dressed in the neighborhood, even if some of them were doomed to be fashion victims or ridiculed for their daring outfits. Her original designs have been sold to fashion houses in New York, London & Paris for mass-market production. In addition to personal appearances and workshop instruction at international conferences and guilds, Fiona is also a Craftsy on-line instructor. Widely published in premier knitting magazines, her patterns are also carried by many leading yarn companies. She is author of Inspired Cable Knits, Inspired Fair Isle Knits and Knitspiration Journal (all published by Potter Craft).
JEANNE ABEL
Jeanne has been knitting for many years. Her grandmother (Gran) taught her when she was young - sometime in the late 60s. She has been designing since 1980, and publishing designs since 2002. After working in the (hard & nasty) IT corporate world for over 20 years, she found herself, to her delight, able to work in the (soft & cuddly) fiber world!
JOHANNA BARNES
Jo has been knitting since 2003, when she decided she could make her own darn Harry Potter scarf instead of paying $60 for a machine knitted one.
JOAN DANIELS
After knitting for 100 years and teaching in the public schools for 100 years, Joan decided she could become a teacher of knitting in her retirement. She is a level II knitting teacher certified by the Craft Yarn Council of America and has taught in local yarn shops, at Knitting in the Heartland and as a volunteer in various locales around the city.
KIM DOMINIC
Kim has been a knitter off and on for over forty-five years, but in the last 20 or so, she has rarely put down the needles. An experienced and well-loved teacher, having taught at The Studio, Stitch Knitch, North Kansas City Continuing Education, and for the Sunflower Knitters Guild meetings and KITH, Kim enjoys sharing her love of knitting with others in a relaxed and easy-going way.
CAROL EDDINGTON
Carol received an MFA in Textile Design from the University of Kansas. She has been teaching knitting and crochet since 2004, as well as designing knitting patterns.
MARTA HOWE
Marta Howe is the co-owner of Alpacas of Wildcat Hollow. She and her husband started the alpaca operation in 2004 with 5 alpacas and now have 30. They expanded their business from breeding and selling the alpacas to the fiber arts aspects. I
LAURA ISAAC
Laura Isaac is an artist and knitwear designer. Her original knitted creations have appeared in The West 18th Street Fashion Show and The National Toy & Miniature Museum. She has a passion for lace knitting and accessory design.
MARILYN KING
Marilyn King is the owner of Black Water Abbey Yarns. She imports and sells Irish yarn on her website: www.abbeyyarns.com. An obsessive knitter, she LOVES cable knitting and hopes to convince every other knitter that they should love it too!
CHRISTINE LONG DERKS
Christine Long Derks is the TreasureGoddess, a one woman, back-porch dye lab of awesomeness. She dyes intense, vibrant colors in luxury sock yarns and lace yarns and designs patterns for hand dyed and handspun yarns. Christine has been teaching knitters, crocheters and spinners to create beautiful projects that look complicated with easy techniques since 2006.
TERI PLEMEL
Teri Plemel loves knitting, spinning, sewing and otherwise playing with fiber. She learned to knit at the age of nine but didn’t really call it her passion until she picked it up again 15 years ago. Teri has taught classes at KITH and local yarn shops and has been known to take on extreme knitting challenges. She has also found that volunteering to be on the KITH committee is a dangerous thing when there is an extra teacher’s slot to be filled.
MICHELE REED
Michele lives in Kansas City, MO with her husband and son. She has been crocheting for over 25 years and knitting for 15 years.
ANA REINERT
Ana Reinert works as a designer for the largest greeting card company in the world. She is also the head honcho of The Well-Appointed Desk, a blog about office supplies. When she’s not working, she loves photography, knitting, bicycles, and just about anything vintage.