Lisa was taught knitting by her mother at a young age.  In college, she spent a year in Spain and France.  There, her Spanish mother re-taught her to knit…but without a pattern.  She simply would drape the sweater over Lisa’s body like a mannequin to decide where decreases should go.  Then in France, Lisa noticed a young Norwegian sitting in back of class knitting daily.  This Norwegian never used a pattern and rarely looked down at her work.  This is where the idea of knitting without a pattern became embedded.   After taking designing classes and upgrading her yarn stash, Lisa became a designer.  4 years later, she became a knitting instructor at the Yarn Garden of Gig Harbor and began self-publishing her designs.   Lisa is now on her third publication with Leisure Arts.  When Lisa isn’t drinking tea and knitting, she’s either gardening, cooking or teaching these skills to her 2 daughters.

Sandy Payne has been an avid knitter for years, but new to designing. Most of her designs are beaded. Two of her patterns have been published in Debbie Macomber's "Debbie's favorites" (#4692) and another pattern will be in Debbie Macomber’s "boxed" set of patterns coming out in 2008.  Sandy also teaches beading classes at the Yarn Garden in Gig Harbor.