Kari Heisey

Kari has been with us since the beginning! She didn't know much about knitting when she first started here but she was a quick learner. Another alumni of the Nordstrom world, she has brought her expertise in merchandising to the shop, along with her great enthusiasm. Kari lives in the area with her wonderful husband Dean, her boys Christopher and Grant, and their Golden Retriever Comet.

Brad Steiner

Brad has been a knitter since he was a wee lad of 12. His favorite things to knit are on the smaller side - baby sweaters. Brad's current project is making afghan squares for his very popular afghan class!

Megan Schmeirer

Megan Schmeirer has been working at Village Yarn and Tea shop for about 6 months and has been knitting for just over 1 year. Megan had an interest in knitting, so she took it up as part of her Senior project at Shorecrest High School. She took Beginning Knitting with Sam, and was well on her way. Megan completed 7 scarves as part of her requirement. She has very proudly just completed her first shop model, a very pretty hat.

Megan is currently a freshman at Shoreline Community College and has not yet declared a major. She has two dogs, Mandy and Cloey and her favorite artist is John Mayer. Other favorites? John Mayer and the colors green and yellow. Stop in and say “Hi” – you’ll likely find her sipping a cup of her favorite tea, Village Yarn and Tea Blend. We love having Megan work with us, and hope she enjoys her six shop moms!

Karla Kremer

Karla is new to the shop....in a way. She has been meeting with friends here at the shop on Tuesday mornings for almost a year now! She has previous yarn shop experience and is a welcome addition to our village crew. She has made some lovely shawls - we were even in an Evelyn Clark class together - and is always willing to help with your knitting or fiber questions. She also enjoys travel and gets to take trips with her husband a few times a year. We are very glad to have her with us!

Joni Olmstead

Joni has been knitting, crocheting, quilting and dabbling in any other sorts of fiber that exist since before she was 12 years old. She has owned her own longarm quilting business and when her three kids were little, once created from scratch and sold over 400 Cabbage Patch-type dolls over a two-year period! Joni loves creating new fiber addicts through the knitting, felting and spinning classes she teaches in the Seattle area. She especially loves knitting lace and any other challenging technique. Might as well face it, she's addicted to yarn!

Rene Dickey

Rene is the proprietor of Knits Finished, a year-old business that leaps to the aid of knitters distressed by the specter of the dreaded finishing process. “Finishing is a whole different ball game,” says Dickey, “Knitting is so easy to pick up. But when you finish, you have to be on a table. It can be tedious and frustrating when it’s not coming together nicely.” Rene honed her finishing skills while working at a yarn shop and apprenticing with the in-house finisher there. We are lucky to have her as one our our great instructors!

Christina Buckman

I have been an artist since the day I could talk. I started seriously drawing when I was 11 years old and still draw and paint today. However about 3 1/2 years ago, a friend taught me the knit stitch. To say the least, I was hooked. I took it from there and have knitted every day since then. It is a passion that satisfies my soul. I now design and knit for people who need gifts for family and friends. I have also been teaching for two years focusing on felting techniques, wire knitting and children's classes. I learned to spin on a drop spindle last year and recently on a spinning wheel. I am dyeing my own wool and spinning some beautiful fibers. In January of this year I was featured in Lucky magazine for my knit-wear. I had been selling items at a local retail shop and they interviewed me for a cameo, however, my greatest satisfaction comes when my student's eyes light up at what she has created.  I am also working on a website for my business called Luna Knits. I'll offer patterns, instruction and a bit of inspiration as well.

Rebecca DeGaris

I've been knitting for about 35 years, and teaching for about ten.  My knitting interests are diverse and obsessive, and I like to have at least two pairs of socks on the needles at all times. I've gone through four 'favorite' knitting phases in the last 15 years: cable, fair isle, felting and lace, but I enjoy many other forms as well. I like to design and have a few patterns out there.  I believe the first two essential knitting tools are swatching and a sense of humor and the rest may be purchased at your favorite yarn store.

Lisa Ellis

Lisa is a Tacoma native. She has been designing knitwear patterns for 5 years and has 5 of her designs published in the latest Knit Along with Debbie Macomber: Debbie's Favorites. She also has 2 additional adult and children leaflets due out with Leisure Arts this fall.

Carol Lansinger

Carol grew up in Seattle and has been knitting for 25 years. Her interest in skirts began in 7th grade sewing class when her first project was a skirt. She has been knitting skirts for 5 years and wearing them to work as a senior consultant for an auditing firm. In her work she studies
patterns in data to find lost money. Since Carol loves to knit it was
natural for her to bring this talent over to the analysis of color, fabric and fiber to find the skirt!