Karen Wilkins, Owner
If you've ever met Karen you know she is a real dynamo who has a passion for yarns and knitting. As a child, Karen's mother and a neighbor taught her to knit, sew and needlepoint. She continued to develop those skills and to create beautiful sweaters, clothes and home accessories, even as a college student. When her 3 children were small, Karen worked part-time at the Needlepoint Shop in the Tremont Center in Columbus, Ohio and continued her education as a student of local knitting teachers and international instructors, including Meg Swanson, Cat Bourdi, Galena Khmeleva and numerous others. Karen is a believer in community and giving back. She shares both her time and resources throughout Central Ohio to help support emerging business owners and worthy causes.
Michelle Hunter
Michelle considers herself the luckiest person alive to be able to combine her two passions – knitting and teaching! Taught to knit as a child by her grandmother, she used to knit as often as her preschool teaching schedule permitted.
Knitting Temptations tapped her to teach Beginning Knitting and a new career path was born. One class led to another and soon she left the preschoolers to teach knitting full time. Michelle likes to think that her classes grew in popularity because of everything she learned as an educator – simple instructions coupled with patience and enthusiasm.
Being only one knitter with hundreds of students, Michelle created video lessons allowing students access to her techniques 24/7 on her website knitpurlhunter.com. The clear videos and rabid needle sales for her classes caught the attention of the Skacel team who asked her to lead their online Knit Along series. Michelle was delighted to be a featured designer in their "addi-addiction" ad campaign.
Michelle's new book, Building Blocks, is the published version of the skill building series she piloted right here at Knitting Temptations. Like all her patterns, the book is supported with free online video instruction.
Michelle says, "I'm living my dream of knitting, teaching, and designing and I wish everyone happy knitting as well!"
Diane Kraus
A degreed architect with 25 years experience in construction management, Diane came to Temptations with decades of pent-up creative energy. Although she loves the mathematics involved in altering knitting patterns to meet customers' needs, Diane is happy just to touch and organize any and all of the fine yarns offered at Temptations. Diane is infatuated with Habu yarns and patterns from Japan.
Barb Kubic
Barb organizes... thank God! All of us "pie-in-the-sky" dreamers need grounding and focus. With a background in dental hygiene, she uses her attention to detail to keep our storeroom neat and our orders sorted, no small task considering how much yarn we carry. When knitting, Barb focuses on creating beautiful socks and sweaters. She loves to learn new techniques and executes them with style.
Kristen Bucci
Kristen learned to knit from her mother around age 7 and for years made nothing but garter-stitch scarves. Then in Dec. 2009, something just clicked (or snapped as her family might think!) and now she knits whenever and whatever she can. Kristen loves that knitting is both artistic and technical and she loves her work maintaining the e-commerce website at Knitting Temptations for the same reason.
Beth Finnerty
Beth first learned to knit as a child in 4-H, but didn't continue after making booties and golf club covers. 30+ years later she retaught herself to knit using those old 4-H patterns (printed in 1963!), and she hasn't stopped since. Beth was one of Michelle Hunter's first sock students and now she teaches Beginning Sock for us!
Constance Hall
Being creative is a way of life for Constance. She believes it is all about the process; the doing of it. The fiber world is a wonderful place to explore. It keeps you inspired every step of the way. Constance loves introducing students to a new skill and seeing where it takes them in their own creative journey.
She began working with fiber at the age of 5 when her mother taught her to crochet. From that early experience, her fiber interest expanded to include knitting, spinning, weaving, sewing, and felting. Constance looks at fiber arts as a fun, creative outlet that is challenging, but less stressful than her other work.
In addition to working with fiber, she is a full-time glassblower and lamp worker and has been for all her adult life. She has studied with some amazing glass workers. Now she is merging the two interests by producing items of glass that will appeal to knitters and spinners, including hand-made glass buttons and shawl pins of glass and metal.
During the past few years, Constance feels very fortunate to have studied with some wonderful, very talented teachers, including: Judith Mackenzie, Jacey Boggs, Celia Quinn, Sharon Costello, Jane Patrick, Liz Gibson, and Margaret Bouyack. Each teacher gave her the gift of a new skill that she could bring to her own work.
Brian Howard
Brian has 30 years of knitting and fiber arts experience, and has taught all levels of knitting classes. In the last few years, he has taken up spinning and fiber dyeing, and has had the good fortune to study with well-known knitting, spinning, and indie dyeing experts. Brian recently completed a fiber dyeing class with instructor Deb Menz of "Color in Spinning." We hope you will take advantage of his incredible knowledge!
Christina Konstantacos
A graduate of the University of Akron, but a Buckeye at heart, Chris first learned to crochet as a little girl. She discovered her love of knitting nearly nine years ago and, since then, has found solace at Knitting Temptations helping other passionate knitters. In her spare time, knitting needles always seem to find their way into her hands.
Elaine Sparks
Elaine learned to crochet from her grandmother and learned to knit from her mother and aunt when she was about 10 years old. She stopped doing either for many years, and instead, took up cross stitch and then quilting for several years as her children were growing up. Then, like many knitters who need to be able to "pick up and go," she wanted something more portable and found her way back to knitting 12 years ago. Now that Elaine is a retired kindergarten teacher, she has more time for knitting and loves it. Elaine knits every day and finds it to be very relaxing. Elaine says, "It's wonderful to be a small part of Knitting Temptations where I find challenges, successes, and friends to share with or help me whenever I need it!"