Erica lives in The Birthplace of Biotech with her husband, daughters Thing One and Thing Two, Pit Bull, and the memory of her son. She learned to knit as a child and, after a 30-year hiatus, picked up needles and yarn again in 2004. Her first project that year was a scarf knit as she mourned the loss of her newborn son. Since then, Erica has rarely been without her knitting, even on a catamaran 50 miles from shore in the Pacific Ocean and in a hotel lounge in Singapore (She doesn’t knit during church services, but nearly everywhere else is fair game. Heather likes to believe God would understand if she did knit in church).

Erica has been:

• a test and sample knitter for Wendy Bernard, Chris Church, and Melissa Leapman
• published in Knitty
• a first place winner in her local county fair (2006)
• and has recently branched out into publishing her own designs (and she thinks that all makes her sound much *bigger* than she really is).

She is an avid CraftLit listener, trying to keep the B.A. in English portion of her brain from rotting away from disuse. Her previous roles have included stints as a trainee teacher, receptionist, stressed-out LAN administrator, marketing coordinator, website content editor, and more, but she enjoys the at-home mom gig the most. She blogs sporadically and is on Ravelry, Facebook, and Twitter as ericah64.

Jen was afflicted early on with an overwhelming desire to know how make things. This propelled her on a quest to learn and experiment with everything she could get her hands on. Jen’s journey has lead through pottery, stone sculpture, bookbinding, paper cutting, egg dying, glass etching, paper making, collage, assemblage, quilting, embroidery, crochet, spinning, knitting, needle felting, pine needle basketry, wood turning, scroll sawing, resin casting, gourd carving, silk painting, quilling, weaving, drawing, painting, polymer clay, printmaking… and much, much more! Although she has a hard time settling down to any one media, she is best known for her Scherenschnitte (paper cuttings), her Pysanky (dyed eggs), and her resin jewelry featuring her own artwork.

Jen learned to knit from her grandmother as a small girl. After producing one lumpy chunk unappreciated scarf, she set aside her needles and walked away from knitting for the next 25 years. When she rediscovered it and all the wonders it could produce, she dove in and didn’t look back. Jen has done test and catalog sample knitting for Knit Picks, SWTC and several independent knitwear designers. She is currently branching out and experimenting with a few of her own designs.

She can be found on Ravelry and Facebook as Esmecat. she can be contacted by email at esmekitten@gmail.com. her online gallery and her artwork available for purchase can be found through Jen Minnis. and you can always peek at what she’s been up to latest at her blog at Jenminnis.com/artblog.

Kate Atherley is Knitty‘s Lead Technical Editor and the author of Cooperative Press books Beyond Knit and Purl and Knit Accessories. She’s a keen sock knitter, enjoys challenging knitting, and is prone to a bit of drama. Find her online at www.wisehildaknits.com and by email at kate@wisehildaknits.com.

Carrie Bradfield never has a problem finding something to do. She and her husband Brent are in the middle of a multi-year DIY renovation of a 130 year old Victorian house in St. Louis. When she’s not working on the house or actually at work, she’s crafting in any number of ways, including knitting, weaving, spinning, and wood turning.

Cassandra Deavers and Alexandra (Alex) Aulisi are a Madison, WI-based graphic designer and writer respectively. They knit, sew, embroider, cook, garden, and often get distracted by shiny things—then they blog about it at www.MightyDistractible.com. They would like to thank (a million times over) their extraordinary test knitter and friend, Gael Boyd (a.k.a Stitchlilly). She can be found at www.StitchLilly.com.

Todd Gocken has spent most of his adult life in schooling of some sort and has been employed in an array of interesting occupations, none of which have stuck. After suffering “middle child syndrome” for nearly 40 years, he is almost ready to figure out what he wants to do when he grows up. Until then he continues to knit and design. He is currently hoarding several designs for a forthcoming book of men’s sweaters which he has every intention of starting any day now. His published designs can be seen on Ravelry and at ToddGockenDesigns.com.

Elizabeth Green Musselman wears many knitted hats: she is assistant editor at Cooperative Press, designs knitwear (mainly for men and boys) under the moniker Dark Matter Knits, creates pattern templates and e-book designs for other knitwear designers, teaches knitting classes, and many other things besides. She previously taught college history for 13 years. Elizabeth lives in Austin, Texas.

Becky Greene was born with the “Must Make Things” gene, inherited from both grandmothers. Along with obsessively knitting socks, she crochets a little, sews a little, gardens a little, and bakes a lot. She works at a school library which makes a convenient excuse for continuing to read children’s literature. She also has four children who are a constant source of delight, exasperation, and amusement. Find her online at greenethumb.wordpress.com and as greenethumb on Ravelry.

– TestKnitter: FreyalynClose (freyalyn)
– Stunt Knitter: Erin Spiker (spinnerin)

Saranac Hale Spencer knits in the German style, like her grandmother, and finds wool wherever she goes. She’s filled her tiny apartment with balls of yarn, which her bloodhound, Beulah, enjoys unwinding. When she isn’t busy in her job as a newspaper reporter, Saranac is inventing new things to knit with her needles. She runs The Defarge Knittery, which is completely unrelated to, but very friendly with, WWMDfK? Find her on Ravelry as DefargeKnittery.

Hunter Hammersen is an avid knitter and perpetual student. She harbors the undying hope that when she finally graduates she’ll have more time to knit.  She is very bad at writing bios.

Read about Hunter’s knitting adventures and find her other patterns at Violently Domestic. Learn about her first book, Silk Road Socks: 14 Patterns Inspired by Oriental Rugs at Silk Road Socks and all of her curiosity-inciting books since at Pantsville Press.

Becky Herrick has been fascinated by medieval costumes for years. The chemise in her personal photos of this pattern was actually her wedding dress! When she’s not knitting or making a scene with a medieval styled photo shoot, Becky is a pretty normal person. She hikes with her dogs and husband, works in her garden, goes canoeing, enjoys a good book (modern as well as medieval), and watches her chickens. OK, maybe she’s not entirely normal but she likes it that way. Find Becky at her blog and Ravelry store.
– Test Knitters: Lara Killian (malaraky); Gillian Frank (dobbysocker); Ann Brown (moilulu)
– Stunt Knitter: Amy D. (VThuskies)

Shelia January has been a knitter since she was eight, following on the heels of learning embroidery and crochet while growing up on a farm in Oregon. Knitting saved her sanity while attending college, while working for 28 years in the financial services industry, and finally, while preparing to retire to her own farm in Oregon, where she now lives with her yaks, sheep, cattle, chickens, cat and husband. She knits and designs with her handspun yarn as well as with commercial yarn, and has taught spinning and knitting at retreats, shops, conferences and fiber festivals. Her patterns are featured in The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, Fiber Gathering, The Knitter’s Book of Wool, and at various yarn and fiber businesses.

Deirdre Kennedy works as a market research analyst by day and assistant to knitwear designer Hannah Fettig at Knitbot by night. She spends her weekends knitting and working as a staff member/teacher at her San Diego LYS, Two Sisters and Ewe.

– Stunt Knitter: Peter Kennedy (Yarndude)

AnneLena Mattison was knitting before starting school and never stopped. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their six kids. When not herding the kids to and from scouts, soccer and 4-H she spends her time running a home finance business, knitting, designing, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and weaving. She also teaches knitting and is active in the local guild and dreams of living on a small farm some day.
– Stunt Knitters: Janice Martin (jdm6of18); Sarah Pavlick (sarahfgirl); Jaime Olson (rabidviking)

Jennifer Mauser, although originally hailing from the American Midwest, made a move about four years ago to the more tropical climate of Jacksonville, Florida, where she has learned to knit silk shawls, summery socks, and decorative items over her previously favored sweaters. In addition to her fibery pursuits, Jennifer also enjoys spending time with her family—her husband and three children whom she home schools. Also an avid reader, Jennifer enjoys combining her two hobbies by listening to the latest Craftlit podcast while knitting or spinning. Jennifer can be found online at her blog A Knitterary Life and on Ravelry as mamaknitter.
– Test Knitter: Jennifer Fitz (jrf1977), who works for Knitwitz, a knit shop located in Jacksonville, FL.

After the birth of her middle child, Wendy took up quilting as a hobby. Being an A type she went whole hog into quilting and filled the home with fabric. This turned into a small sewing business at WendysModestDress.com. During this time she also did a bit of writing and was published in a few different magazines. When the sewing got to be too much she started to crochet again, which then led to a massive stash of crocheting thread… all the way down to size 70! After that died off a bit Wendy went head first into knitting again (learned as a child), which lead to SABLE¹ in 6 months! Needless to say, she will be knitting her garage down for a good, long time.

Happily married and living in the sticks on 2.5 acres with 2 children, 2 dogs, 2 cats, a pony, and a sheep (only one of which is female, her model and youngest child) she learned to spin and dye to cover all her many yarnie needs without ever leaving the house. This led to work as a professional spinner for a large Independent yarn company. She also dipped into dyeing and worked with Renee of Goddess Knits. Their lovely hand dyed Goddess Lace yarn was enjoyed by many but she now prefers to dye for personal enjoyment. Wendy has test knit for a dozen or so other companies. Her work has been seen in catalogs, magazines, books and on the catwalk at Stitches West. She prefers knitting and so remains firmly entrenched in test knitting and designing but will spin forever–because surely it’s as good as walking right? You can see a few of her patterns on Ravelry, the most popular of which is the Beaded Scallop Smoke Ring cowl. Wendy can be found at wmdress@sbcglobal.net and blogs a bit at wmdramble.blogspot.com.

¹Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy

Laura Ricketts lives in the plains of Indiana with her husband, Chris, and her three squirrelly children. She maintains sanity by playing with wool. The draw to the dark side must be strong, as her husband viewed the craft room and gave her the moniker “Stashmuffin.” She lurks on-line as that alter ego, maintaining a blog site at http://stashmuffinsloosethreads.blogspot.com and on Ravelry.

– TestKnitter: Erin (FiberIsGoodForYou)

Kathleen Rogers has been doing needle crafts since way back in the middle of the 20th century when her mother taught her to crochet lace edgings for linen handkerchiefs, as well as to cook, sew, and embroider.   She learned to knit from her aunt so that she could make a mustard-yellow sweater (with black and red embroidery) she saw in a magazine.  In the 21st century, her color sense has improved, and she loves working with hand-dyed yarns from independent dyers, and with one-of-a-kind yarns from artisanal spinners.   She and her knitting and crocheting projects and designs can be found on Ravelry where she is katrog.

In real life, she lives with her husband and her craft supplies within earshot of Boston. You can find more of her patterns at her Ravelry store.

Natalie Servant has too many interests to fully follow them all, but reading and crafting have always been a part of her life. She had a rough introduction to knitting in Brownies where being left-handed wasn’t a good thing. She only started knitting in earnest as a poor sweater-loving engineering student. A few years ago she began developing her own patterns and is now self-publishing them. She’s currently a stay-at-home mom to two delightful children. Find Natalie on Ravelry, on her blog, and in her Ravelry shop.
– Test Knitters: Jane (janielet43); Toni (equine); Mickey (xstmj); J J (jtucker201); Karen (puffycats)

Penny Shima Glanz spent many afternoons of her childhood happily crafting and crocheting the granny squares her mother taught her to make in the play-house she and her father built. The urge to knit took hold after college and began as a way to relax from the demands of the workday. Today it is the intersection and interaction between technology and fibre craft that drives her work. She lives in Westchester, NY, with her husband, the yarn, and a cat. Discover more at her website, Little Acorn Creations. She is also on Ravelry.
– Test Knitter: Claire (transientmeow)

Knitting and reading! What could be more satisfying? Andi loves both and thoroughly enjoyed co-designing Jane Fairfax’s Tippet with Shannon. Andi drew on memories of her childhood in Yorkshire and a picture of her great grandmother to co-create this wonderful neck warmer. Andi has been knitting and designing for many years and her work can be seen in a variety of books and magazines as well as on her blog Knit Brit.

Julia Temisevä is a knitter, ballroom dancer and writer. She is Finnish, currently living in London, UK.  Writing was her first creative pursuit, and so she has a BA and an MA in Creative Writing. Her short stories are written somewhat sporadically but obsessively; when inspiration strikes, either in designing knitwear or in story form, that idea has to be let out, otherwise sleep is compromised. She has learned this the hard way.
She knows how to crochet and spins on drop spindles, but knitting will always be her first choice in the fiber arts. Dancing is a hobby, knitting is a way of life.  Read her ramblings about yarn, dancing, gardening and other daily goings-on at her blog; see her other designs by going to Ravelry, where she goes by Luliriisi.

– TestKnitters: Toshi (celeritas2); Laura (angelfire212); Sarah Woolley (Thundertabby)
– Stunt Knitters: Stephanie (lumierelanuit); Mary (Fleecefriend); Jessica Johnston (kn1t1t)

Diane Trap thinks that if Prospero had a Kindle he’d have had room on his lifeboat for his sons Hieronymous and Handsome Bob. She is Peg of Tilling on Ravelry and elsewhere on the Internet. When reading Persuasion she always skims past the fall on the Cobb because it’s very upsetting.

test knitters: Sandra Riggs, Elizabeth White.

Meg is truly a citizen of the world. Having lived in Italy, Korea, and Japan, in addition to her small Idaho ranch, she has enjoyed traveling the world in an effort to learn as much as she can. Some of her favorite spots are Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Wales, and (as you’ll see in Defarge Does Shakespeare) Venice. She has had some of her artwork exhibited in Tokyo and some of her haiku published there as well as in the United States.

She learned to knit as a child but found the experience to be “sticks in the eyes” frustrating due to the perfectionist attitude taken by her grandmother who told her the only way to fix a problem was to rip back to it. From this she learned to love imperfection in all aspects of her life. When she took knitting back up she discovered that the only thing she remembers from childhood is how her grandmother taught her to hold her needles. So she knits in the old Scottish style—and thanks her grandmother every day of her life for having the patience to try to teach someone so unwilling to learn.

She owns a small yarn business, March Hare Yarns (see Van Tassel Mittens, below, for one of her colors), and until recently raised her own sheep for spinning wool. She knits all the time, everywhere … much to the confusion of her Italian neighbors.

Shannon Sneedse is a New Jersey based illustrator and graphic designer. She has a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University. For the past 15 years, she’s worked in the apparel and textile industries in New York City. She enjoys creating artwork in either watercolor or scratchboard. She is currently the Resident Illustrator for In Your Ear Shakespeare, and the producer of the Chop Bard podcast. Her artwork can be found at www.shannonsneedse.com. She is snowbird626 on Ravelry.

Heather Ordover began her professional life in Hollywood as a production assistant, became an award-winning high school teacher in NYC, then stayed home (often but not always) with her children while writing curriculum and other things and sometimes teaching at the University of Arizona. Now, she podcasts about knitting and literature on CraftLit where she shares “audiobooks with benefits” when she isn’t writing YA fiction, working on a Defarge book, or otherwise getting herself into trouble. She lives in Eastern PA with her amused husband, two goofball sons (Thing1 and Thing2), a sly cat, and an attic stuffed with yarn.
– StuntKnitters: KatieRhodes (knittymamaMT), Liz Arthur (FiberGeek), Heather Nielsen (HSailorMoon), Donna Peyton (LaceySockKitty)