KnitChats is a virtual community of knitters and teachers.
Learn and engage in your passion for knitting.
Learn and engage in your passion for knitting.
The Dream Team of Coaches, Advisers and Contributors
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KnitChats exists with the help of our team, sponsors and the subscribing knitters that love all things knitting. Thank you!
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Jessica Baldwin knitting & crochet coach My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was eight years old. I immediately fell in love with creating fabrics and different textures on those fabrics. In college, I set out to teach myself to knit because I wanted to knit myself sweaters. When I discovered wool yarn for the first time several years ago, I had finally found what I was longing for in yarn. I fell fast into becoming a serious knitter and went directly into lacework shawls. I quickly became adept to dropping stitches rows deep to repair my lacework. I have a love affair with stitch markers which stems from my abundant lacework knitting and the need for many stitch markers. It has led me to start an Etsy shop where I stock stitch markers made by myself, and occasionally, one of my children. Find me at www.stitchcraftyeffects.etsy.com I have now been teaching various knitting classes at my favorite local yarn store for one year and am a certified KnitCompanion instructor. Some of my classes are featured through my community college. I teach private crochet lessons as well. I have a passion for learning and am always looking for ways to improve my technique as well as push myself to learn new skills and then turn around and share what I have learned with others. I love to help build confidence in other knitters and enjoy seeing them have that “Ah-ha!” moment with their knitting. |
Sean Higgins knitting coach What’s up, mah knittahs! I’m Sean and I’m super exited to be one of the first teachers on KnitChats! I started delving into the fiber arts about 20 years ago, and about 13 years ago, I realized knitting was my main jam. I’ve been so lucky to have had opportunities to work part-time in yarn stores over the years, which is how I started teaching. I’ve taught beginning and intermediate knitting, as well as skill set and project classes. Apart from hoarding yarn, one of my favorite things about knitting is how technical and mathematical it often is, while still allowing each knitter to choose for it to be as simple or complicated as they like; turning a heel or choosing paired increases still makes me feel like some kind of wizard every time. I also really enjoy the multisensory experience it provides. (I’m totally a yarn sniffer.) I’m really into making socks and lace (or at least hoarding sock and lace yarn,) and I also really enjoy cables and texture. Presently, I'm practicing two-handed fair isle techniques to prepare for KnitChats' Strange Brew KAL, which I'm super excited about! I myself am a combined knitter, a proud knitting heretic, as Annie Modesitt coined, but I am fluent in and teach both English and Continental knitting and I’ve even had some luck teaching lefties! I think of my personal struggles beginning to knit, when a dropped stitch or forgotten increase meant I had to rip everything out and start over, wait for my next knitting group and hope someone could help me, or wait until the teacher was in at my LYS. It's all I knew to do, and it was so frustrating. I imagine now how different my knitting career would have been had I an awesome service like KnitChats available to me. Rather than lament, though, I am instead thrilled to be a part of KnitChats for an even wider opportunity to share my knowledge and experience and interact with fellow fiber artists just like you! I hope you’ll check us out soon! |
Glen Lowery knitting & crochet coach Hello fellow Knitters! I remember my Grandma knitting afghans and doing latch hook wall hangings. One day at work back in 1992, a lady was crocheting on a baby afghan and I told her I wanted to learn how. So one day at lunch break, I picked up my first crochet hook and some yarn and have never looked back. I crocheted well over 100 afghans in the 20 years all on Red Heart yarn. I did not know of all this ‘expensive yarn’ or didn’t even know fiber content. One day at the grocery store, I saw a lady with a knitted hand bag and asked her where she got it and she told me from Ravelry.com. I said “What’s that?” Her reply was priceless: “It’s like a Facebook for the fiber world....only better!” So I got home, found the website, logged in, found other men knitters in my area and they pointed me to the Local Yarn Shop. We visited it one Saturday and I saw a skein of yarn that was $20.00. I signed up for my “Beginning Knitting 101” class and walked out and said “I’ll never pay $20 for yarn." That was May of 2012.... My how things have changed! I bought a whole set of Addi Lace Tips interchangeable needles and saw this poster of a really attractive man in a cabled cardigan at that LYS. I told the owner “I want to knit that.” She said I wasn’t ready. I came home, looked up the yarn and website, ordered it from England and knit the sweater! We still have it...a few cables with wrong directions, obviously it doesn’t fit but my husband still wears it occasionally cause he says my heart and soul was in that sweater! I basically taught myself to knit for some time, but did take some formal training classes. In 2017, I joined TKGA.ORG and signed up for the Master Hand Knitter Program. Talk about learning! I have learned that what I “thought I knew” I really did not know! So here we are! I’ve taught many classes on KnitCompanion and lead several KAL’s, taught classes at local yarn shops in my area (Raleigh, NC). Knitting is my solace...knitting is me! I knit in mindfulness and love it! |
Amy Odin knitting coach, designer After years of exploring various art mediums, I discovered knitting 14 years ago and was hooked at first stitch. I believe there is more to knitting than just the physical act. Over the years, I have discovered it is not only a much needed cognitive challenge, but a therapeutic activity that brings a community together. This community has much to offer; we are men and women of all ages, skill levels, and come from all walks of life. Belonging to this group gives me the opportunity to share my love of the fiber arts. I knit whenever I can, teach at my local yarn shop, and design patterns available on Ravelry. You can check them out on Ravelry (username is amyodin), or visit my Facebook page at www.amyodindesigns.com. I’m excited to be teaching online. It makes the craft more accessible, and in turn, makes for many more enthusiastic happy knitters! |
Erin Rees knitting & crochet coach, designer I have been working as a knitting instructor since 2010. I began my teaching journey at Bedford Stuyvesant Collegiate Charter School, teaching beginning and intermediate students all the basics of knitting, as well has how to read patterns and design their own projects. I currently work as a knitting and crochet instructor at Michaels Arts and Crafts in Brooklyn, NY and am certified by the Craft Yarn Council in Knitting and Crochet. My work can be viewed online at www.etsy.com/shop/flowergurlcrafts, https://www.ravelry.com/people/flowergurlknits and flowergurlnit’s pattern store on www.craftsy.com. |
Josie Flores Knitting coach, founder Knitting is my passion and has been for the last 15 years. I owned a local yarn shop for 5 years and it was during this time that I honed my skills by teaching others. There's still so much to learn and I expect it will take my lifetime! It's through this interactive exchange of knowledge that we grow and also importantly, pass along this craft to others. I'll enjoy the journey along with you! |
