KNITSTER

Helen
Northern Virginia

Helen is a magazine editor. It’s a trade magazine you probably aren’t interested in. But someday, she hopes to move into the consumer magazine circuit, writing on her favorite topics: travel, food, crafting, outdoor recreation, and cowpunk. And pie. Definitely pie. If she can somehow put all of that into one publication and throw in a little Episcopalian Godbabble, environmental activism and grassroots cantankery, so much the better. In fact, you’ve likely seen her ’round the blogosphere, widely known and recognized as Gallycat. Not Galleycat, though. That’s someone else, also in magazine publishing, wouldn’t ya know.

Helen knitted in her youth, briefly, and never learned to bind off. But when she picked it up again as an adult, ostensibly to quit smoking, she found she was a natural. By the time she’d gotten through the waiting list to take her first class, she was already skilled enough that she stepped on the instructor’s toes a couple of times. Oops.

She’s currently learning to crochet and sew, two other misplaced arts from her youth.

Dani
Central New Jersey

Dani is a person in a metamorphic stage right now. She is a devoted mom and wife to a rambunctious but fun loving little boy and his dad. She’s took some time off to be a SAHM for 6 years or so, did part-time work as an independent consultant with The Body Shop at Home, and worked at her former taekwondo school. Now she’s a long term, full-time temp at a philanthropy foundation, and she squeezes in whatever time she has left between running the kid around and running errands to try to get some crafty stuff done!

In the meantime, she started knitting because she was influenced by Helen to start (she’s such a bad influence), and as of late February 2005, she has been knitting…and knitting,….and knitting…with the intent of expanding her mind, finding a zen answer to “serenity now!”, and finding her creative soul in the process. She’s starting to explore spinning and dying, and is determined that someday, she will figure out that darn mystery known as crochet! Besides knitting, her latest new craft is sewing, and she’s finding that “freestyle sewing” is a lot easier than using a pattern. When she isn’t trying to figure out how to drape something on her plus-sized dressform, Hilda, she also tries to let her interior design diva within her let loose on her house when she can. Having hung up her 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo for now, she also is a den leader for her son’s Cub Scout group, and recently won a Den Leader award from her Pack of the Boy Scouts of America. (This is where Dani does her best to unleash her crafty side, without subjecting the boys to too much “girly” stuff.)

Pickleboot
Minnesota

Who am I? I am Nicole, a stay-at-home mom and mother to two kids, one of each if you must know. I was surrounded by knitters growing up, but resisted learning until about two years ago. Now I am a fiberholic, knitting and spinning every chance I get. I’m also a goth in hiding, and I still have my boots. I started out just knitting for fun, and now it looks like i might have accidentally on purpose gotten myself into business. So watch out world!

Xiane
North Carolina

I am a beginning knitter and proud of it. My life is changing rapidly, and knitting provides golden moments of peace. [When I’m not frogging my current project, that is!]

I’m a crazy girl with bright red hair and odd tastes, so who knows what I’ll decide to knit next. I am an ex-DJ, as well as an amateur writer, but now I’m running my own handmade bath & body business with handspun yarn, too!  I veer towards spooky, punky or artsy styles and colours, but I’m also a vintage freak, and that will occasionally pop up in my fashion choices as well as my pattern and yarn selections. Unpredictability is my trademark!

I recently moved to a small town to get married and “settle down.” How small is it? We don’t even have a LYS, which is ironic, because we’re in the midst of many old textile mills. Expect a few posts bemoaning the lack of culture and crafting, although I’ll try to keep them to a minimum!