2022 Speakers
December 8, 2022 (hybrid meeting)
Tina Johnston
The Portland Community College Project: A Fleece Partnership
Tina Johnston, owner of Black Sheep Fiber Emporium and Kokomo Yarns, spent several years working with the sheep at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus during shearing days. In conjunction with the farm manager, Tina educates veterinary technician students about fleeces. She has also been sharing fleeces with other spinners and working to develop yarns and roving from the fleeces of the Rock Creek Campus flock. In this presentation, Tina will teach us about fleeces and tell us about her work with PCC.
November 10, 2022 (hybrid meeting)
​Jen Parroccini
​Your Most-worn Sweater: Choosing Patterns for Your Wardrobe and Your Life
Jen Parroccini will share recommendations for choosing knitting patterns that get worn. She'll start with what we already have and love, talk about identifying gaps, nail down the properties we need in our knits, and talk about where to find patterns. Jen will be joining us from Pittsburgh, PA. She primarily designs sweaters, gravitating towards texture, structure, and fine finishing. Jen is committed to size inclusion; her background includes custom sewing and professional tailoring. Jen also offers workshops and consulting. Her website is https://www.jpknitsthings.com
October 13, 2022 (hybrid meeting)
Beth Brown-Reinsel
Scandinavian Construction Techniques
Beth Brown-Reinsel has traveled extensively in Scandinavia, studying the methods developed in those countries to construct sweaters. She will share with us many examples illustrating the techniques used in designing and knitting sweaters in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, including knitted sleeve facings, buttonbands, the Swedish half gusset, surface design, felt and braid embellishment, and more. Beth has been teaching historic and traditional knitting workshops nationally and internationally for over thirty years. She is a knitting designer with her own line of patterns and the author of Knitting Ganseys as well as many articles featured in major knitting magazines.
September 8, 2022 (hybrid meeting)​
Sarah Keller
Help! My Stash is Smothering Me!
Sarah Keller will show you how to take control of your stash by teaching you to critically evaluate the yarn you have and organize your stash in a way that will help you actually use it. In the process, you will learn to let go of the stress of having too much yarn and be ready to cast on new projects that utilize that stash. Sarah has been the owner of Knot Another Hat in Hood River since 2005 and has been teaching knitting for twenty years. She is also a designer of knitting patterns, which she publishes through Knot Another Hat.
August 11, 2022 (hybrid meeting)​
Karel Chan
Mindful Making: Training, Expanding, and Relaxing the Mind Through Creativity and Craft
Karel Chan is the owner and designer at KC Knitting Company. She designs knitting patterns for mindful making, which fosters the cultivation of contentment, satisfaction, and well-being. She will discuss the process of mindfulness and how to intentionally engage the mind in knitting to enhance mental health and wellbeing. Her philosophy encourages the knitter to learn about their own body and to engage with techniques, methods, and craft that align with the individual.
July 14, 2022 (hybrid meeting)
Anne Berk
Annetarsia Knits
Anne Berk, the author of Annetarsia Knits, will introduce new methods for knitting intarsia patterns, including techniques for knitting flat and in the round for both stockinette and garter stitch projects. Intarsia offers opportunities for using color to create beautiful “painted” designs in knitting, which result in lightweight fabrics that are ideal for garments. Anne’s techniques help knitters get around some of the disadvantages of intarsia, such as the awkwardness of managing yarn and dealing with all of the ends. Anne is a nationally known knitting designer, teacher, and author.
June 9, 2022 (Webinar)
Sydney Crabaugh
Knitwear Becomes Fashion: Twentieth Century Knitting History
Join Sydney Crabaugh as she brings you from 1920s through 1950s when knitted items turned into fashion staples. This presentation will touch upon key moments in early 20th century knitting history that affected the surge of fashionable knitwear and knitting trends in the 1930s. We'll look at how knitting shifted during World War II, as well as postwar and 1950s knitting. Come learn about how knitting from the past helped shape the knitting world we all know and love today. Sydney has been working in the yarn world for more than ten years and is the Headmistress of the online Squid’s School of Vintage Knitting. Her areas of expertise include twentieth century knitting history as well as garment knitting and construction.
May 12, 2022 (Webinar)
Suzanne Bryan
​Afterthought Pockets
Suzanne Bryan will discuss a variety of approaches to afterthought pockets and their construction as well as their advantages when compared with other styles of pockets. She will demonstrate how to create afterthought patch pockets and afterthought knitted-on pockets; both styles will be presented with vertical as well as horizontal openings. Suzanne is a Master Knitter, author of numerous articles, prolific tutorial creator, and knitting teacher. The primary focus of her interests and expertise is in the architecture of knitting.
April 14, 2022 (Webinar)
Margaret Radcliffe
From Fiber to Fabric: Knitting the U.S. Heritage Sheep Breeds
Margaret Radcliffe will take you on a tour of her experiences working with U.S. heritage sheep breeds over the last three years including the challenges of washing, preparing, and spinning wool from over 20 breeds. She will describe the wide variety of wool properties across these breeds, and the choices that have contribute to crafting successful knitted garments from her handspun yarns. Margaret is an internationally recognized teacher, the author of several bestselling knitting books, and the designer of the Maggie’s Rags line of knitting patterns.
March 10, 2022 (Webinar)
Faina Goberstein
The Art of Slip-Stitch Knitting
Faina Goberstein will discuss the many uses of slip-stitches, including color and texture, to create effects that vary widely in their appearance. She will elaborate upon this by introducing the four groups of slip-stitch knitting patterns, how they can be incorporated to achieve different effects, and how they can inspire knitting designs. She will also highlight how the choice of yarn can enhance the results with these patterns. Faina Goberstein is an internationally recognized independent knitwear designer and professional teacher. She is also the co-author of The Art of Slip Stitch and The Art of Seamless Knitting.
February 10, 2022 (Webinar)
Catherine Lowe
Change the Way You Think About Knitting
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​Catherine Lowe will discuss how her couture methods for hand knitting differ from traditional hand knitting and why couture methods are important for giving knitters complete control over their project outcomes. The development of Catherine’s couture knitting techniques is the result of a shift in her perspective that led her on a journey in pursuit of better fabrication and construction techniques for hand knitting. She will explain the philosophy behind her approach, detail the consequences of its techniques for both the process and the outcome of a project, and suggest how these techniques can be incorporated into any knitting practice to elevate the look and functionality of hand knit garments. Catherine is a designer, teacher, the developer and owner of Catherine Lowe Yarns, and the co-founder of Knitting with Company.
January 13, 2022 (Webinar)
​Patty Lyons
Secrets of Yarn Substitution
Proper yarn selection can make or break your knitting project and when done appropriately, yarn substitution will result in a project that is beautiful and fits beautifully. Patty Lyons will teach us how to substitute yarns with confidence by explaining the differences between pattern gauge and yarn gauge and how a swatch can help illuminate yardage versus yarn weight. She will also delve into an exploration of the properties of different fibers to help us understand how those properties will affect the finished object. Patty is a nationally recognized knitting teacher and technique expert who specializes in sweater design and is known for teaching the “why” of knitting in her pursuit of training more mindful knitters. ​