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Barbara A. Rottman
Biographical Summary
Barbara Rottman learned to knit as a child, taught by her multi-talented mother who also showed her embroidery, sewing and bread making. Barbara remembers engaging in knitting “races” with her sisters, trying to knit the longest stretch of fabric in an hour. It was this cutthroat competition that taught her the lessons of gauge, having been soundly beaten by a clever sibling who cast on fewer stitches on larger needles. As a high school sophomore, Barbara coveted a seed-stitch Tyrolean cardigan embellished with embroidery. Although she had never knit so much as a hat, she completed the sweater literally in a fever while recovering from strep throat. Barbara learned the stress reduction benefits of knitting as a college student, when she knit two dresses during finals weeks. She has not put down the needles since.
Barbara first “met” Barbara Walker through the Annapolis, MD library where she devoured all Barbara’s books. Here she learned the magic of SSK, lace knitting, and was also introduced to Barbara Abbey and Mary Walker Phillips. Thus began her passion for knitting books and all printed matter related to knitting. Barbara’s curiosity compels her to rescue knitting books as others might rescue animals. Her personal library expands constantly.
A few years later, while passing time at small town grocery, Barbara rifled through a craft magazine spotting an amazing round lace shawl by Elizabeth Zimmermann, and the world expanded instantly. Barbara was privileged to attend Elizabeth’s camp in 1986, and participated in several sessions over the passing years. Barbara has shared her love of the craft by knitting for charity and teaching children and adults to knit. Barbara espouses Elizabeth Zimmerman’s belief that knitting is an anchor through all life’s storms; she considers knitting to be her best and most constant friend.
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Kathy Blumenstock
Biographical Summary
A knitter since age nine, Kathy Blumenstock is a career journalist who has carried her craft along on story assignments from football games to presidential debates. She learned to knit from her mother Helen, who taught Kathy the most valuable of knitting lessons: finish your project and be proud of it. For Kathy, that first project was a scarf of variegated yarn in gray, red, white and black. “It taught me increases and decreases, although they were not planned, as well as how to pick up a dropped stitch among all those holes,” Kathy remembers. “By time the scarf was done, I was so tired of that yarn, but felt like an expert, fearless and eager for more!”
Since that first scarf, Kathy has knitted a universe of projects. From trendy to classic, in yarns of all weights, she has added her own touch to established patterns, all while reporting for Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, USA Today, Entertainment Tonight and NBC News. Kathy gave readers of the Washington Post a glimpse of eco-friendly fibers in a 2008 article and interviewed actress-comedienne Tracey Ullman, a lifelong knitter (co-author of “Knit 2 Together”) who confessed she preferred knitting without a pattern.
To justify her habit of acquiring knitting books and magazines, Kathy continues seeking news from the world of yarn. Her blog, The Mole, appears on AnimalPlanet.com.
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