Do you have friends who see you knitting or crocheting, and say "I wish I could do that."  What about your co-worker that asks you to knit a scarf for them, but you just have too many of your own projects going to say yes.  Or do you just want more knitters and crocheters in the world?  Well, we have a couple of classes coming up that we'd love you to tell them about. 

Let's Knit! and Let's Crochet are both classes coming up very, very soon, and we've still got spots open in them.  Go figure.  Read on, and feel free to forward this newsletter to them, or print it out and give it to them, or drag them to the shop.  Your choice.  :)  But however you choose to spread the word, we truly appreciate it.

Over the past weeks, we've introduced you to the gals that work at Double Ewe.  Now we thought it would be fun for you to learn a little bit  more about the folks who teach here.  Next up:  Diane Augustin

Favorite Craft?
I love knitting and crocheting.  If I don't do one for a while, I miss it and have to switch.

What other crafts do you enjoy?
Beading.  Jewelry making.  Sewing with beads.  Knitting and crocheting with beads.  I made several hand sewn glass leaf and flower bracelets, and one of my goals is to get back to making them again.  I love to bead and bead knit & crochet in the summer.

How long have you been knitting?
As a kid, I was drawn to my Grandmother's knitting.  I must have been around 7 years old.  It was like a magnet.  I needed to know how she was doing it.  She finally taught me and it was ON!

Favorite knitting technique?
I'm happy exploring different techniques.  I'd like to try everything once.  I love color and the magic of the beautiful hand dyed and painted along with the kettle dyed yarns, made just for our stitching delight.  The brioche flow is particularly appealing to me at the moment.

Favorite items to knit?
I knit mostly cowls and scarves.  I WANT to knit socks & sweaters, but with so much gorgeous yarn available, I have a short attention span and have a big desire to move quickly from project to... hey, look, YARN!!!  In all seriousness, I love to look at yarn and dream up what it can become.  Sometimes I write it down as a pattern, sometimes I just talk about it, hoping to inspire other yarn lovers. 

Tell us more about yourself!
I live in Hudson, WI, with my dear husband, Lance, and the most lovable cat ever, Thomas Edison.

We have a little bit of woods adjacent to a big park here in western Wisconsin, so our place is frequented by many species of birds, deer, and other furry, fuzzy animals.  (Maybe it has something to do with me feeding them - lol).  We love to watch them and talk about sightings.  At holiday time, we always see something we have never seen before we call the "Christmas Critter" - a barred owl, black squirrel, pileated woodpecker, to name a few visitors.  Our elliptical faces the window and it's fun to count how many different birds come to the feeders during a workout.  Yesterday, I counted 16, then we had a "run by" pheasant, bringing the total to 17.  It's always a thrill to "critter watch".

I worked in the printing industry for about 25 years, as a composition and prepress production artist.  That job gave me the skills I use today in designing pattern page layouts.  Having worked part time at Lila & Claudine's in Mahtomedi for three years, I learned more about yarn and customer service.  I would sometimes write patterns on the fly for customers.  I enjoyed working there, but felt that I had more to experience, so I became an indy instructor.

Currently, I am happy to manage the daily operations of Thunder Willow Community Arts in Hudson, an art teaching studio, where anyone may try many different types of art mediums all under one roof.  Come and visit us anytime.  :)

Are you on Ravelry?
Yes!  My Ravelry name is dianelaugustin.  My full catalog of patterns resides there.  I also post patterns to my Etsy site, Patternfish, Craftsy, and a few on Knit Picks.

It's coming!