Brett Bara

When Brett’s not in front of the camera on Knit and Crochet Now, she is the Editor in Chief of Crochet Today magazine. Before this, she was Crafts Editor at Woman's Day Special Interest Publications and a writer for numerous national magazines including Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Details, Men's Health and Prevention.

Brett has more than 20 years' experience as a crafter, and has been knitting and crocheting for over 10 years. Her mission is to spread the joy of crafting far and wide, especially among the new generation of young DIY'ers. Brett also enjoys sewing, embroidery and anything crafty, in addition to DIY decorating, baking and vintage shopping. She lives in New York City, where she is writing a sewing book to be released in spring 2011.

Read Brett’s blogs at www.CrochetToday.com and www.manhattancraftroom.blogspot.com. Follow her on Twitter under the name brettbara.

Kristin Nicholas

Kristin learned to knit and sew when she was nine years old. She followed her passion for creating and received a BS from University of Delaware and MS from Colorado State University in Textiles and Clothing She has worked in the American needlework industry for over 25 years as a Creative Director and Stitchery and Knitwear Designer. She is the Author of 8 books including Color By Kristin, Kristin Knits, Colorful Stitchery, Kids Embroidery, Knitting for Baby and more. Her specialty is working with color and she is known as a color expert within the needlework industry. She has her own line of yarn “Julia”, named for her daughter, which is distributed throughout North America by Nashua Handknits (a Division of Westminster Fibers).

Kristin lives on a working sheep farm in western Massachusetts with her husband and daughter. Her home and work have been featured in Country Home, Country Living, Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, Knitters Magazine and many other national publications. She has been a knitting expert on Knit and Crochet Now for the past 3 seasons.
 
You can learn more about Kristin by visiting her website, www.kristinnicholas.com and learn about life on a working sheep farm by following her blog. http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/

Robyn Chachula

Robyn's winding path to her crochet career began as most, not in the industry, but as a crafter. "My day job as an engineer may seem like a far cry from crochet fashion design, but, for me, they are one in the same. They both use my ability to take a big project and break it down into little items that I can understand, then piece them back together for the overall big picture." Her first published pattern was a simple leash created for Faye, her German Sheppard. This spurred her on to start her own crochet design company, Crochet by Faye. She has been published in a number of national magazines and books including Interweave Crochet and Crochet Today!.

Her first crochet book, Blueprint Crochet: Modern Designs for the Visual Crocheter, was published by Interweave Press in September 2008. Her second book, Mission Falls Goes Crochet, will be published by Mission Falls Yarn Company soon. You can see all of her architecturally inspired pieces at www.crochetbyfaye.com.

Maggie Pace

After working as a journalist for 10 years, Maggie decided she was ready for something new. In 2003 when she was five months pregnant with her second child, she founded Pick Up Sticks!, a felted knit design company. In keeping with family tradition – every female member of her family had a craft business going back two generations – and because she had just discovered felting, it seemed a logical career step.

Today Pick Up Sticks! patterns and kits are sold in stores nationwide. She has also written two books on knitted felt, Felt Forward (Interweave Press, Nov. 2007) and Felt It! (Storey Publishing, Nov 2006). Maggie was honored as a notable 2008 Women Entrepreneur for Country Living Magazine. She has appeared on several national and local television programs, including DIY Network's “Knitty Gritty” and the public television program “Shay Pendray's Needlearts Studio”. Maggie continues to design all the patterns for Pick Up Sticks! and her mother Joan tests each one. The mother/daughter team runs the business from a little studio in Oakland, California. To learn more, go to www.pickupsticksonline.com

Drew Emborsky

Drew's quirky title "The Crochet Dude" and his kitschy tongue-in-cheek designs have propelled him from a young, unknown fiber artist to the cutting edge of the fiber design world. His unique role as a male knitter and crocheter has opened doors for other men who were stuck in the closet with their yarn, knitting needles, and crochet hooks.

Drew studied fine arts at Kendall College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a Professional member of the Crochet Guild of America where he has received a master certificate in crochet. He has been featured in national publications including BUST Magazine, Interweave Crochet, Knit.1, and Crochet Today!, as well as international newspapers like The Sunday Telegraph (in London). He co-authored Men Who Knit and the Dogs Who Love Them. His newest book is titled The Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys (Lark Books, 2008).

Drew launched his website and blog in February 2005, and has gained a loyal following throughout the world. Visit it at www.blog.thecrochetdude.com where he offers patterns and a peek at his day-to-day life. He lives in Houston, Texas with his two cats, Chandler and Cleopatra. www.drewemborsky.com

Myra Wood

Myra has been crocheting, sewing and crafting since she was young and always enjoys any opportunity to inspire others creatively. She is an internationally known fiber & bead artist and designer. She teaches a wide range of classes in beading, embroidery, crochet and knitting, and specializes in all things freeform. Myra has also appeared on several episodes of Knitty Gritty and Uncommon Threads for the DIY & HGTV networks. In addition she has had numerous crochet, knit, jewelry and wearable art patterns published in a wide range of books and magazines.

Her books, Creative Crochet Lace and Crazy Lace, An Artistic Approach to Creative Lace Knitting are available on Amazon and through local yarn and book stores. She is also the moderator for the International Freeform Guild and coordinator for their annual national shows. Galleries of her work can be seen at www.myrawood.com