David von Buskirk (Weaving)

David van Buskirk has been studying and working as a weaver and textile designer since 1974.   David studied art and education at the University of Northern Colorado. He subsequently spent 3 ½ years studying weaving and textile design in Sweden first as an apprentice to Age Faith-Ell, one of the pioneers in Swedish Modern Design. David continued his studies at Handarbetets Vänners Vävskola in Stockholm and at the Textil Institute in Borås, Sweden.

David has designed woven fabrics for home furnishings and women’s wear since he moved to NYC in 1981 He created and produced his own line of decorative fabrics selling, “To the Trade” through his company Weave Design, Inc.   David currently designs for a variety of textile mills and teaches weave design at FIT.

Donna Panner(Spinning/Socks)

Ilona Kotik 

Ilona is a born and bred New Yawkah with an unhealthy passion for all things fiber.  She loves spinning, knitting, crocheting and falling asleep on top of her yarn stash.  When she's not playing with yarn, you'll likely find her wrist-deep in her computer, cleaning alpaca fuzz out of the fans. 

Jasmine Pai

Jasmine double majored in Scenic Design and Costume Technology at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University where she graduated in 2008. Since then she has been working as a freelance set and costume designer since then in and around the tri-state area. She loves the challenge of figuring out how garments were constructed just by looking at them. She is the Technical Director at Trinity School in Manhattan where she designs sets and lights for their 8+ theatrical productions a year and teaches Technical Theatre and Design.

Jessie

Laura Zukaite

Rebecca Klassen (Weaving)

Rebecca Klassen studied textiles at San Francisco State University with Candace Crockett. She has been a production rug weaver at a Minnesota atelier, a research assistant in the archives of a pioneering fiber artist and, most recently, associate editor of Vogue Knitting. She also has a master's degree in the history of design.

Rhonda Fargnoli ( Summer Fashion Camp) 

Rhonda Fargnoli is the co-owner/designer of Coastal Colours Yarn, a Connecticut-based yarn company that creates hand painted yarn from natural dyes and botanical extracts. She studied fashion and textile design at Chamberlain School of Design, and has taught art and studio art for more than 15 years. She has been featured in articles about teaching knitting design courses for RISD/CE in Yarn Market News and, in Vogue Knitting, for her Vogue Knitting Challenge class for teens, which included the winning student's design. She is also a contributing writer for Fiber Art Now Magazine and is the Faculty Advisor of the Hand Knitting Design Certificate Program at Rhode Island School of Design/ CE. Fargnoli has also designed for several yarn companies, including Blue Sky, Koigu and Sheep Shop. Her yarn line is carried in 10 shops nationwide and her line of children's sweaters has been carried in specialty shops throughout New England and the Bahamas.

Vogue Knitting interviews RISD|CE's own Rhonda Fargnoli in their Spring/Summer issue. The feature profiles CE's Fashion Design program for Young Artists: "For her part, Fargnoli gives her young stitchers as much support as possible, not only using all the RISD resources at her disposal but also creating new links to the knitting industry in an effort to further professionalize the proceedings." http://vogueknitting.com/

Steve May 

Steve May is a maker of many things and an enthusiast of many more. While he is presently most obsessed with knitting and performance art, his roots are in punk rock, experimental music, math, ecology, and movement. He began his college days as an engineering student with ambitions in alternative energy but was soon won-over by the dance program at the University of Illinois. Whilst a student there he became 'besties' with Stephen West and Kyli Kleven. A few years later Mr. West had become a fully fledged knitwear designer, Steve and Kyli had moved to Brooklyn to pursue dance and performance art, and the three of them joined forces to form the Westknits Fun Squad. They make knitting related videos and KALs that aim to inspire knitters everywhere to have as much fun as possible and to encourage unabashed exploration of the craft. They also eat many delicious snacks. Steve started knitting this past summer in Iceland under the ever-generous tutelage of Mr. West, Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir, and a small posse of other wonderful young knitters. He became heavily addicted to the craft, began designing his own work, and is excited to be publishing his first patterns in the near future.  In addition to knitting, experimental dance, and performance art, Steve is in several fledgling bands, loves yoga and tai chi/qi gong, makes furniture, and grows a variety of plants to varying degrees of success. Note: please speak kindly of winter when Steve is around, even if you are glad for it to be over; he is very, very fond of the colder months.