Teacher Bios

Teachers for 2010

Stefania Isaacson has been a life-long knitter, and started spinning and dyeing to supply herself with "the best yarns in the world!" She received her Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning from the Handweaver's Guild of America in 1997. Since then she has opened her own business called "Handspun by Stefania", and has taught numerous workshops dealing in natural dyes, spinning, and basket making. She has spoken about the fiber arts to numerous groups, and has appeared on Home & Garden TV as a guest on the Carol Duvall Show. She sells handspun, natural hand-dyed yarns, original knitting kits using her own yarns and patterns, hand-dyed roving using natural dyes, and handmade baskets. She was previously a high school English teacher, and now enjoys teaching spinning, dyeing, and knitting to fiber enthusiasts.

Sandi Cirillo is a fiber artist from Corning, New York. She has been teaching felt-making classes for over 15 years. Sandi sells her work through the website Especially-for-Ewe and markets the many workshops she teaches. Sandi enjoys introducing adults and children to the joys of fiber art.

Genevieve Grew (Grandma Genevieve) is a knitting legend at the Embraceable EWE Yarn Shop in Hamburg, NY (and possibly the whole world)! She started knitting on a pair of socks at age five and hasn't stopped knitting socks - or anything and everything else - since. She turned 82 this year, so that's an awful lot of knitting experience. With any luck, she will bring some of her famous baked goods to class too!

Carol McFadden was taught to knit and crochet by her German grandmother who felt these were necessities for her future. She took one step further and earned a degree in Art, learned weaving and spinning 30+ years ago, participated in exhibits and shows and picked up numerous awards and blue ribbons. Carol is completely addicted to color and fiber and is at her best when outdoors enjoying the peace and natural rhythms around her. From these two touchstones she draws the inspiration for her fiber, yarns and finished pieces. Carol has been teaching handspinning professionally for over 6 years, and has developed a curriculum covering beginner classes as well as more advanced techniques such as novelty and color-effect years. She likes to show her students the traditional ways of spinning and then encourages them to break the rules in whatever ways they can while still creating a stable and useable yarn.

Christine Haag has been giving demonstrations and teaching classes in the fiber related field at local shows and organizations for many years. She and her husband tend a small flock of sheep and an alpaca. They also design and build vertical weaving looms from wood harvested from their own land.

Erin Kosich has been teaching clever, creative (and always a bit silly) knitting classes for nine years now as the owner of the Embraceable EWE Yarn Shop in Hamburg, NY. She is delighted to be returning again to the Hemlock Fiber Festival, where she just loves all the wonderful folks (and the wonderful waffle booth)!

Mary Jo LaClair and Nancy Tepas have both completed the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Master Certificate Program. They have taught classes in the United States and abroad. Nancy Jo Designs has led workshops at several regional conferences and has been the keynote speaker for a conference in Ontario, Canada. Both Mary Jo And Nancy are professional educators and both taught in the public school system. They have continued their studies and research in color and design. For additional information, see their website: Nancyjo Designs.

Diane Seely is an active member of GVHG and has been spinning and knitting for almost 15 years.

Sandy Moore has been knitting for over 50 years! She has been spinning, knitting and weaving for years. Sandy has owned her own shop and has taught classes at the Village Yarn Shop. She has been teaching classes in both knitting and spinning for over 20 years.

Freda Peisley has been weaving since the age of eight and majored in textiles at RIT, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee, and Handerbetts Vanner in Sweden. She teaches classes at the Genesee Country Village and Museum and gives private lessons all year as well.

Tina Turner has been knitting over 30 years. Her mother taught her to knit during one long and rainy summer when she was 14. Since her mom is German, she learned to knit Continental, which is still Tina's preferred knitting style. She eventually taught herself to knit throwing the yarn in her right hand. Most people she encounters knit that way so it is easier to teach by knowing both ways. Tina has been teaching workshops for about 8 years. She received her knitting teacher certification from the Knitting Guild of America. Since then she has taught at the Monroe Library and anywhere else people wanted to learn. She currently works and teaches at the Yarn Boutique in Rochester, NY. Tina teaches a wide variety of classes from beginning knitting to more difficult techniques such as lace and colorworks. Tina began spinning yarn about 10 years ago and loves nothing more than knitting with her own handspun.

Alanna Wilcox's fascination with thread and yarn began at an early age when her mother taught her how to do needlepoint. From there it led to crocheting, knitting, embroidery, crazy quilting, felting, and then spinning. She currently works as a high school art teacher for the Rochester City School District and teaches at the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center during the summer.

Bonnie Weidert has been weaving for 31 years and tape weaving for most of this time. She has been involved with bead work from childhood and taught her Camp Fire Girls group how to weave on bead looms, She enjoys teaching tape weaving, which includes adding beads to the woven band as well as weaving on a bead loom. She has given tape weaving presentations and workshops at the Home Textile Tool Museum, Thousand Islands Craft School and Handweaving Museum, Arts Council of Wyoming County, Weaver's Guild of Rochester, Town of Henrietta Public Library, and the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival. She is the author of Tape Looms: Past and Present.

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