About

Hi,

As a designer, it is a funny thing to compose an About Me page. For you see, my designs are me. They are the inner workings of my heart and mind and are on full display in my portfolio.

Over the years I have found, understandably, that the wonderful knitting community often seeks a meaningful knitting experience by knowing more about the designer and the inspiration behind designs. I thought perhaps a good way to introduce myself to you would be to briefly share my history and answer a common question I receive, which is, what inspires you?

My inspirations have been collected all throughout my life and are rooted in my youth. My mother, Yvonne, taught me how to knit when I was five and my exploration of garment construction began before the age of eight, when I knit my first sweater. Growing up surrounded by the splendor of the landscape on the magical island of Texel, in the Netherlands, I was fascinated by the variations of color and patterns in nature and believe this is where I developed a fondness for the rustic qualities you see in my work. Later, when I was 17, I moved to Amsterdam to attend college to study textiles and design. I was so captivated with the beauty of the architecture and extraordinary people in this vibrant city, I never left. Still to this day I find the city stimulates the creativity within me.

As much as I enjoy designing and knitting, I have not always been an active knitter. I stopped knitting when I went to high school, since it was a totally uncool thing to do, especially for a teenager with green hair and a preference for punk rock music. I put aside my creative interests and continued on to develop a career with a full time job as a researcher and teacher at a college and a university with a degree in psychology. All the while, I was collecting snapshots of inspiration around me and in my mid-forties I picked up knitting again as a creative outlet.

Ideas, fascination with colors, textures, and patterns flooded my mind along with thoughts of garment possibilities. I would spend countless hours devouring stitch pattern dictionaries (still do!), thinking about the construction of knitwear would keep me awake at night (still does!) and organically my Moonstruck Knits business was formed. My life was turning full circle back to my youth and time in college and I loved it!

After releasing my own knitwear designs, I discovered knitting is not only about making a sweater or a shawl, but a way of connecting with the community and celebrating differences and diversity. So many of you, dear friends, kindly shared your stories of being deeply nourished by the act of creating. My international experiences teaching knitting and photography classes deeply influenced me by seeing firsthand how knitting is about the intelligence of hands, people’s ability, tradition and sartorial savoir faire.

My focus and goals for the near future are to further explore designs that are contemporary, authentic, wearable and elegant, while also delving more deeply into that meaningful connectivity I’ve discovered within the knitting community.

All of this would not be possible without the support of many dear loved ones, friends, colleagues, and other knitters. Thank you. I truly appreciate all of you and look forward to connecting and continuing this exciting journey together.