2027 Instructors
Tanis Gray
Tanis Gray Chang believes in the power of community and sharing knitting knowledge. A RISD graduate of Film/Animation/Video, Tanis lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two children and has built a wide-ranging creative career spanning over 20 years. She has collaborated with major film studios, authoring official knitting books, including Warner Bros., Lucasfilm, Tim Burton, and Disney, and has contributed more than 750 knitting designs to publications worldwide. Known for her love of bold color and accessible teaching style, she appeared frequently on PBS’s Knitting Daily TV and continues to teach popular courses worldwide, always with the goal of helping makers achieve their creative ambitions. The award-winning author of 18 knitting books and multiple-time national winner of the prestigious American Heritage Award for Fiber Arts, she is also a Girl Scout Leader, avid quilter, woodworker, loves jigsaw puzzles, and enjoys photography. Read more at www.tanisknits.com.
Jenn Lampen
Jenn is an avid knitter, knitting instructor and knitwear designer, publishing under the name Synaptic Stitches which comes from a combination of her background in neuroscience and her love of creating designs that keep your brain engaged and always teach you something new. She loves creating brioche designs and coming up with new ways to combine stitches, colors, and techniques. She is an advocate of fearless knitting and believes that any knitter can knit any pattern with a bit of patience and the right resources. She loves supporting knitters in taking on new challenges and learning new skills. Jenn finds inspiration in a variety of sources, including classic cable motifs and the puzzle of creating brioche versions, and in the branching, organic patterns of plants that are mirrored so well in the structure of brioche knitting. When not knitting, she loves baking, hiking, swing dancing, and listening to audiobooks. She is a major chocoholic and can usually be found with a mug of drinking chocolate while working on her designs.
Marie Niesse
Marie is a crocheter, knitter, teacher and most of all a learner. She most enjoys solving the puzzles that the creative process presents to each and every maker, regardless of their craft. Marie has crocheted since age 9 and taught herself knitting at age 31. She always has at least one WIP of each type in progress! She currently supports the community of creators in Jacksonville, Florida, by working and teaching at her Local Yarn Store. Marie also enjoys rock climbing, playing the guitar and learning Spanish.
Amie Palmer
Amie Palmer is a lifelong fiber arts enthusiast who believes there are two types of projects: the ones that require concentration and those meant for meeting up to chat with fellow fiber artists. She always has at least one of each in progress. Based in Durham, NC, Amie loves teaching for local yarn shops and regional fiber festivals. She has taught at Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival, New York Sheep and Wool Festival, Carolina Fiber Festival, Blue Ridge Fiber Festival and a variety of knitting retreats. She is TKGA member and TKGA Certified Knitting Judge as well as a CGOA member with Master’s certification in both Fundamentals and Advanced Stitches & Techniques. When not teaching, she is a technical editor for knit and crochet patterns. Using her background in engineering, Amie breaks patterns and stitches into simple chunks to make them accessible to anyone. Her classes encourage understanding the “why” of a technique to enable the “how” of bringing a project to life. Amie’s favorite projects include custom-fitted sweaters, brioche knitting, and exploring the technical side of knitting and crochet. Her sweaters and colorful felted purses have won awards at the North Carolina State Fair and Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival. She can be reached through email at amie@DaisyAndCloverDesigns.com, on Instagram as DaisyAndCloverDesigns and on Ravelry as amiep. Her website is www.DaisyAndCloverDesigns.com.
Heather Storta
Heather is a TKGA-certified Master Knitter, Tech Editor and Knitting Instructor. She is the VP of Education on the board of directors for TKGA, the editor of TKGA’s monthly K2TOG newsletter, and a Co-Chair Emeritus of the TKGA Master Hand Knitting committee, as well as a member of the Cast On magazine editorial committee. She has been designing knitwear and teaching knitting for well over 15 years. Her designs have been published in Cast On magazine and Knitscene, as well as Knitty and elsewhere. Designing items that tickle her fancy, she loves designing socks, lace shawls, and Fair Isle, among other things. She teaches up and down the east coast as well as nationally (and online), and her focus is on giving knitters the skills and confidence needed to perfect their knitting and knit complex or intimidating techniques. Heather resides in the Charlotte, NC area. When she is not knitting, designing, editing, or teaching, she can be found sewing, spinning yarn, reading, or in the outdoors camping and hiking with her family. She can be found online at www.heatherstorta.com.
Vincent Williams
Vincent Williams is the designer and instructor behind @visuvios_crafts , which was born from his longing for stunningly timeless knits that’ll keep you warm in the coldest of mid-winter horse pastures. When he isn’t crafting, he’s working with dogs, horses, and playing music. So if you ever see him without headphones and a tapestry crochet design in the works, you are truly in for a treat! Join all the crafty vibes of his maker journey on Instagram and visit www.VisuviosCrafts.com for cozy creations, monthly Maker Mood playlists, and fun patterns for makers just like you!