Hello! My name is Mariah and I’m a knitter.
I love knitting and love teaching people to knit even more.
I live outside of Philadelphia with my family where I find joy in doing things with my hands. Not only do I dabble in other fiber arts such as crochet, needle felting and natural dyeing, but you will find me baking and caring for my garden.
I believe that creating with our hands in whatever way brings us joy is one of the most beneficial things we can do for ourselves.
“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.”
Elizabeth Zimmerman
My knitting journey began in 2006 while I was finishing my last year of physical therapy school. My nanny was visiting and I finally had her teach me to knit. At the time, my nanny was living across the US from where I lived, so when she went back home, I was lost and struggling for many years. Now that I’m the one doing the teaching, my goal is to guide my students so they don’t feel as lost as I did in the beginning.
I carried my knitting along with me through my time finishing graduate school and while navigating life as a healthcare worker. My knitting has been my constant companion throughout the events of my life, and in 2021 I started down a path where it would become my new career.
It’s been a pleasant surprise to find that the skills I developed as a physical therapist have also been useful for teaching knitting. I believe that each person I teach is on their own knitting journey and it’s my job to guide them from where they are currently to where they want to be. Each person learns differently and I absolutely love it when I’m there to see a student ‘get it’ for the first time. And the one thing I hear most often from my students is how patient I am. Just like healing, knitting is a slow process. Learning how to knit should not be rushed.
I also believe in community and finding your people. You will find me involved with organizing community events in my area and through my local yarn store. This includes maker meet-ups, fiber walks, and I even play a role in organizing the Greater Philadelphia Yarn Crawl.
I am a white, privileged woman who believes that all people should be treated as a human being no matter their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability/ability or craft of choice. I have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination or hate in my classroom or community spaces I organize.
My values as a maker
Community over competition
Joy in the process instead of perfectionism
