2020 Instructor Bios:
Dawn Ortega
DawnO I have been knitting and crocheting for many years. I started Designing officially in 2015. I absolutely love to teach others skills that make my heart sing. I am also working towards blending my love of knitting & crochet in my designs.
Megan N Dupris
Megan has been knitting for over 15 years. She’s taught friends, family, and strangers how to cast on, knit, purl, and even drop a stitch! She loves a good pattern challenge – she taught herself to Brioche a few years ago and hasn’t looked back!
Marti Swanson
Marti’s discovery of felting and fiber arts brings together a melding of passions from sculpting, playing with color and the tactile art of creating. She has always been curious and finds the path of learning and experimenting to be a continual source of creative inspiration. Marti believes, “Working with something so organic, whether wet felting or needle felting, there is something just magical when it all takes form and little joy bubbles erupt!”
Laurie Schlitter
Laurie Schlitter has been spinning and weaving for nearly thirty years. She has raised her own sheep, rabbits, flax, and cotton. Her preferred mode of weaving is tapestry, especially with her own handspun yarns, and she enjoys the range of tools and materials available for spinning. She is a member of the Brazos Weaver’s and Spinners guild in College Station, Texas.
Shama D Dawson
I’ve been married to Chuck for 32 years. We have two grown sons, Logan and Kelby. I homeschooled both of our sons all the way through for a total of 16 years. I’ve always loved making things. I started cross-stitching in high school and did that for years! I started sewing when my older son was born because I couldn’t find any really cute boy clothes. Then, in 2001, after the terrorist attacks, I decided my sons need to be wrapped up in Harry Potter scarves that I knit for them! I bought a book called A Passion for Knitting and taught myself from that book. I’ve been obsessed with knitting ever since!! I love knitting shawls, socks, anything Harry Potter, and amigurumi. It makes me so happy to be able to teach other people to knit as well!
Cathy Fulton
Cathy fell in love with lace knitting about 15 years ago. When she started, those pesky charts hurt her brain, but within a few years, she was designing her own shawls and scarves. She has traveled the world connecting with knitters and spinners, including the master lace knitters in the Shetland Islands and Estonia. You can read about some of her global adventures with her companion “Traveling Scarf” at CathleensOdyssey.com/travelingscarf