Last year was such a huge success with our authors we decided to bring them back.  We would like to thank Merritt Books for organizing this event again this year!

Here are some of the authors who will be signing and speaking at this year's festival in no particular order.  We will be adding more information as we receive it:

Clara Parkes left her career in San Francisco's booming high-tech industry to pursue her love of knitting. She now lives on the coast of Maine in a farm house full of fleece, fiber, and yarn. Best-selling author of The Knitter's Book of Yarn (Potter Craft, October 2007), she is the publisher of the top-ten knitting website KnittersReview.com, and a frequent contributor to Interweave Knits and Twist Collective. 
The Knitter's Book of Wool: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Using, and Loving This Most Fabulous Fiber

Lily M. Chin is an internationally famous knitter and crocheter who has worked in the yarn industry for nearly over 25 years, as a designer, instructor, and author of six books on knitting and crochet. She was the first American knitwear designer to create a line of fashion yarns under her own name, The Lily Chin Signature Collection, launched in 2005 with CNS Yarns.

She has created couture crochet for the New York Fashion Week runway collections of designers Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, Diane von Furstenberg, and Isaac Mizrahi, and her work has been on the backs of celebrities and super models, from Racquel Welch and Vanna White to Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell.

She is regularly cited in media across the U.S., including Time, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, and New York Daily News, for redefining the image of today’s knitter and crocheter.

Most recently, she’s hosted the high-fashion knitting show, Stitchcraft, on the Oh! Oxygen network. Her other television credits include the Late Show with David Letterman, Martha,  CBS Morning News, ESPN’s Cold Pizza, Fox & Friends, The Jane Pauley Show, CNN, HGTV, and more. Chin is the official spokesperson for the Orphan Foundation of America Red Scarf Project, which collect handmade scarves to send warmth and encouragement to America’s college-bound foster youth each year in Valentine’s Day Care Packages. Web site: www.orphan.org

Green Mountain Spinnery - Since 1981, in their vintage mill in rural Vermont, the artisans of Green Mountain Spinnery are firm in their mission to produce the highest quality all-natural yarns, to help sustain regional sheep farming, and to develop environmentally sound ways to process natural fibers. 99 YARNS AND COUNTING, the follow-up to their popular Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book, incorporates 99 richly colored natural-fiber yarns into 36 classic and modern, stylish and fun patterns—patterns designed to bring joy and satisfaction to beginners and seasoned knitters alike. In the end, the Spinnery hopes to impart their deep appreciation of the many elements that contribute to the versatile beauty of their yarns.


 

Teach Yourself Visually Sock Knitting
By  Laura Chau
Socks are portable, fun to knit, and quick to complete--and they make great gifts. This step-by-step guide walks you through all the techniques used to knit beautiful socks--from buying yarn to working on double-pointed needles, from turning a heel to grafting a toe. It covers knitting socks top-down, toe-up, and flat, explains how to create various heels and toes, and gives you a dozen original patterns for everything from baby booties to knee socks. Whether you're new to knitting or just new to socks, you'll learn the skills needed for a lifetime of creative sock knitting.

Laura Chau (Toronto, Ontario) is a self-taught knitter, designer, spinner, dyer, and instructor. She is employed as a custom dyer and an instructor of numerous classes at Toronto's popular yarn store Lettuce Knit. Laura has had multiple designs featured on Knitty.com and sells her patterns on her website and blog, cosmicpluto knits! (www.cosmicpluto.com). Laura has published one book with Wiley: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Sock Knitting.

Hudson Valley Mediterranean Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook the Gigi Good Food Cookbook
By Laura J. Pensiero
A rare combination of skills make Laura Pensiero a unique restaurateur. A registered dietitian, cookbook author, and French Culinary Institute graduate, she has extensive experience in both food and health services. Throughout her career Laura has worked closely with chefs, the food and publishing industries and health institutions to "help people eat healthily and above all, happily." In the May 2005 5th Anniversary issue of "O" Oprah Magazine, she was selected among the 5 most "Gifted and Giving" food professionals.

In creating Gigi Trattoria, Laura worked with the designers, architects, and contractors to create both a beautiful restaurant and a comfortable space for guests. On any given night at "Gigi," it is easy to find Laura in the restaurant, greeting new guests and chatting with the "regulars," many of whom enjoy the consistently delicious "Hudson Valley Mediterranean" cooking of Chef Wilson Costa a few nights a week.

Handmade Underground Knitwear: 25 Fun Accessories for All Seasons
By  Melissa Halvorson
25 knitted accessories for all seasons

With a host of inner- and outerwear options, "Handmade Underground Knitwear" offers projects to make 25 stylish and contemporary accessories that allow you to practice DIY garment design right out of your own home. With basic stitches that are easy to pick up and directions that echo the camaraderie of a craft group, the spirit of "Handmade Underground" is fun, loose, experimental, and creative. Friendly and helpful advice guides you through 25 patterns to make one-of-a-kind knitwear accessories, each one accompanied by
Step-by-step instructions and templates Four-color photographs and illustrations Color charts and projects variations with anecdotes Helpful hints and cool ideas From projects that help beat the cold like a retro angled scarf to versatile pieces like wristlets and gloves to more boudoir-worthy patterns like elegant bed jackets and lingerie bags, "Handmade Underground Knitwear" proves that accessorizing with handmade knitted pieces has never been so fun.

Melissa Halvorson is a knitwear designer and teacher based in Tivoli, New York.  Her designs have been featured in Stitch Style Mittens (2007) and Vogue Knitting on the Go (2008).  She runs a knitwear design business, Year of the Goat, working with ethically produced yarns, and teaches Knitwear Design, Textiles and Writing in the Fashion Department of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Melissa's work was showcased on The Martha Stewart Show in 2008. Laura has published one book with Wiley: Handmade Underground Knitwear: 25 Fun Projects for All Seasons.

Chicken Soup
By Jean Van Leeuwen and David Gavril (pictured) 
What happens when a little chicken learns that Mrs. Farmer is making chicken soup? Young readers can find out, in this offbeat picture book of barnyard misunderstandings created by a mother-and-son team. Full color.

Teach Yourself Visually Hand-Dyeing
By Barbara Parry

As the DIY trend continues, crafters are taking their skills to the next level and are looking for "what's next." Hand-dyeing is on the rise--giving crafters the freedom to create their own unique yarns and fibers to spin wholly original projects. This photo-intensive book covers everything from dyeing with Kool-Aid to more involved processes like working with acid dyes and hand-painting. Concealed wiro binding allows the book to lay flat--perfect for undertaking projects with wet or dye-covered hands.

Barbara Parry (Shelburne, MA) is the founder and creative vision behind Foxfire Fiber & Designs. She produces her own yarn line from the wool of the sheep she raises on her farm in the Berkshire foothills, which is home to 70 sheep, two llamas, and two goats. The wool she produces is prized by knitters and handspinners and has won numerous awards. Barbara chronicles life on her farm in her blog "Sheep Gal: Notes from a Shelburne Shepherd" (www.sheepgal.typepad.com).

Barbara Parry (Shelburne, MA) is the founder and creative vision behind Foxfire Fiber & Designs (www.foxfirefiber.com). She produces her own yarn line from the wool of the sheep she raises on her farm in the Berkshire foothills, which is home to 70 sheep, 3 Golden Retrievers, 2 llamas, and 2 goats. The wool she produces is prized by knitters and handspinners and has won numerous awards. Barbara chronicles life on her farm in her blog, Sheep Gal: Notes from a Shelburne Shepherd (www.sheepgal.typepad.com).

Barbara’s career as a production dyer began in 1997 with dyeing raw fleece for handspinners. From immersion dyeing wool, she progressed to hand-painting wool roving and yarn. Her color work also includes the artistic blending of hand-dyed fibers on a drum carder, and her repertoire includes luxury fibers such as silk, cashmere, mohair, and cellulose. When Barbara isn’t tending her flock, she is either at work as a production dyer in her studio or teaching fiber art classes in handspinning, dyeing, color work, and surface design.

Her methods range from traditional to innovative: she uses immersion dye baths and variegated hand-painting and also explores her own innovative techniques for creating atmospheric effects in semisolids and textural color-dappled yarns. Her hand-dyed yarns have been featured in designs by Lisa Lloyd in A Fine Fleece and in Wild Fibers magazine, and have been reviewed in the Knitter’s Review online newsletter. Barbara has published one book with Wiley: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Hand-Dyeing.

My River Chronicles: Rediscovering American on the Hudson
By Jessica Dulong

When DuLong ditches her desk job to ply the waters of the Hudson River, she finds a home in a maritime community that was quickly disappearing. Here, she weaves together stories of life on the water with tales from Hudson Valley history.




Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability
By  Joanne Seiff
Let Your Knitting Go Green

"Knit Green" offers tons of information and ideas on everything you need to be a more environmentally conscious knitter. From sourcing materials locally and using organic products, to supporting fair work and fair trade programs," Knit Green "is a tremendous source of information to help you tailor your craft to your convictions.

Fashion-forward knitting and easy-to-digest essays come together to help you "green-up" your hobby and easily implement suggestions and strategies for sustainability in the context of knitting. You'll get a full exploration of green avenues and product options, including organically -farmed fibers, non-animal yarns, alternative or recycled fibers and yarns, fair work and fair trade companies and programs, buying local, sustainable farming and energy in yarn production, and more. Plus, you'll find more than 20 fashionable patterns that don't sacrifice style for sustainability. 20 projects for environmentally conscious knitting Full exploration of green knitting product options From the author of "Fiber Gathering"

From vegan options to eco-diversity, "Knit Green" gives you the tools you need to green-up not only your knitting, but your whole life

Joanne Seiff (Winnipeg, Canada) is a freelance writer, knitwear designer, educator, and fiber artist. Her writing and designs have appeared in Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, Better Homes and Gardens Knit It!, Spin-Off, Belle Armoire, and Wild Fibers magazines, in the KnitPicks Yarn Catalog, in the Lion Brand book Just Gifts, the KnitLit books, and online at Knitty.com and Handspinners.com. Joanne’s essay on Green Knitting appeared in the Fall issue of Interweave Knits Magazine.

Her handspinning and knitting have won awards at the North Carolina and Tennessee State Fairs and in the 2004 and 2006 US Bank Celebration of the Arts Competitions. Her handspun yarn has been sold at The Berea College Log House Gallery, in Berea, Kentucky; The Artful Bead in Bowling Green, Kentucky; The Art Company in Davis, West Virginia; Gallery on the Square in Franklin, Kentucky; and Aylin’s Woolgatherer in Falls Church, Virginia. In December 2005, her handspun and handknitted art was part of a juried exhibition at the Kiana Malekzadeh Gallery in New York City. Joanne has published two books with Wiley: Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 20 Projects Inspired by America’s Festivals and Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability.

Kristen Rengren is the author of Vintage Baby Knits: More than 40 Heirloom Patterns from the 1920s to the 1950s.  She designs knitwear that is inspired and informed by her experiences as a long-time collector of vintage clothing and ephemera and a former vintage clothing dealer, as well as by her vast collection of vintage knitting patterns, including thousands of patterns spanning from the 1920s to the 1950s. Kristen has designed for Interweave, Vogue Knitting, Blue Sky Alpacas, and the Vermont Organic Fiber Company, as well as for her own line of original patterns. She blogs about designing and about vintage knitting at http://www.retroknit.net.

Kristen learned to knit in 1994, when a friend taught her to give them both something to do during a long Lithuanian winter. Her first project was a pair of fair isle gloves, but because no one mentioned that they would not be an ideal project for beginners, they weren’t finished until the next summer. Previous to her discovering both vintage clothing and designing in 2006, Kristen was variously a development director for a major university and for several experimental theater companies, the director of a major cultural festival bringing together Eastern European artists and their American counterparts, and a professional puppeteer.

Weekend Knitting: 50 Unique Projects and Ideas
By Falick, Melanie

Knitting is more popular today than it has been for decades. "Weekend Knitting" collects 50 unique, innovative projects and ideas for the beginning and intermediate-level knitter, many of which can be made in a weekend or less.When "Weekend Knitting" was first published in hardcover in 2003, a modern generation of knitters was just starting to discover this "hot new hobby." Since then, knitting has grown wildly popular and Melanie Falick's book has gone on to become a knitting classic and a huge bestseller.
Now available in paperback, "Weekend Knitting" brings together unique, innovative, and still-fresh projects for beginning and more-experienced knitters, many of which can be completed in a weekend or less. Every project is presented with clear instructions and in beautiful photographs that celebrate idyllic weekend settings.
Quotes from diverse sources about knitting, creativity, and balanced living--along with favorite recipes, lists of books and movies with knitting scenes, and other extras--complete the weekend knitting experience.

Iza Trapani says she is blessed by readers' warm reception of her books.  Iza attributes much of her success to her parents, who instilled in her an appreciation for books, art and music.  "My parents taught me to read before I started school and always encouraged me to draw, even though I tended to take over our dining area table."  [She] put herself through college at the State University in New Paltz, New York, working odd jobs.  But all the while, Iza worked as a freelance artist, dreaming of the day when she could illustrate children's books.  Her lucky break came when a turtle crossed her path.  The incidental encounter inspired Iza's first book, What Am I? An Animal Guessing Game.  Now the author/illustrator of more than twenty titles including best-sellers Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Iza is living her dream.  Iza lives with her husband in the Hudson River Valley.
 

VÉRONIK AVERY is the author of Knitting Classic Style (STC, 2007). Her work has appeared in the books Weekend Knitting, Handknit Holidays, Reversible Knitting (all STC), and Wrap Style, and the magazines Interweave Knits and Woman's Day. She is the owner of St-Denis Yarns, a yarn line distributed by Classic Elite Yarns. Avery lives in Montreal.

Mary Huff lives with her husband and children in Portland, Oregon. There may also be a few skeins of yarn at their house...

Mary stops knitting long enough to play with children or Scottish Terriers, write, teach, spin, or ride motorcycles.

Find out what's on Mary's mind and on her needles at www.maryscotthuff.com

The New Stranded Colorwork:

Classic Norwegian knitting techniques are reinvigorated with a modern twist in this clear and concise handbook to stranded colorwork. Featuring 20 innovative and fun projects—such as the Lotus Blossom Vest, the Go for Baroque Tote, the Counting Crows Pullover, and the Wedding Belle Cardigan—this guide accompanies each with detailed instructional outlines in the tutorial section and is perfect for a variety of skill levels. Going beyond the usual motifs of traditional Norwegian patterns, this modern resource addresses a niche few other knitting guides have explored and offers a technique section that is enjoyable thanks to its conversational tone. Advanced techniques are also highlighted, such as managing two balls of yarn, adding steeks, and finishing cut edges.

Mary Beth Temple:  I design patterns for and write about knitting and crocheting. My most recent book is The Secret Language of Knitters (Andrews McMeel, August 2007), which will soon be followed by its kissing cousin, Hooked for Life: Adventures of a Crochet Zealot (Andrews McMeel, spring 2009) and an as yet untitled crochet afghan booklet from Leisure Arts. For more on my life as a crafter please visit my blog - Alpaca Addict - or tune into my weekly internet radio show Getting Loopy! . You can check out my new pattern line at Hooked for Life, LLC, and see some of my other design work in many craft books and magazines.

For more information about these authors please visit Merritt Books Sheep and Wool Festival's dedicated page on their website!