Frank and Cathie Sanders

Northtipton Creations

362 Tipton Lane

Blountville, TN   37617

423-323-7481

Frank and Cathie were both raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northeast Tennessee.  Cathie was surrounded by family members who were involved in fiber crafts and grew up with quilting, crocheting, rug making, and sewing.  She learned to sew on a treadle machine and discovered the world of cross stitch while in grade school.  Her first knitting was with 2 plastic needles and Red Heart yarn from the local five-and-dime store.  Frank grew up on a farm, spending his time working with tractors and crops, playing basketball through his college days, and learning to fix just about anything that moved or was supposed to.

Cathie continued knitting with 2 needles through her marriage to Frank, the birth of their two children, and their careers as high-school teachers.  But one day while on vacation, she saw a swatch from a knitting machine and knew she had to have one.  From that small swatch came the world of computerized knitting machines and design programs.  With Frank’s help, Northtipton Creations was born in 1992.

Both Frank and Cathie had careers as high-school teachers in both academic and vocational areas.  Both earned advanced degrees, hers in English and his in technology.

Cathie especially enjoys working with various textures. She is fond of working with the ribber and the garter carriage because of the wide variety of stitches these two accessories can make.  She also loves to work with cables and lace, both as an over-all pattern and as a single design element, and with color. In the past few years, she has become involved in combining machine embroidery with her knitting, adding another element to her designs.

Frank has also become involved in machine repair and maintenance.  His background in electricity and electronics, mechanics, and small motor repair has been helpful in doing repairs on the garter carriage, as well as other carriages and mechanical problems with the knitting machine beds.

In 1999, Cathie became afflicted with fibromyalgia, which caused a major change in her lifestyle.  But she still enjoys working with her knitting machines as she can. 

Frank is available for classes on machine maintenance and simple repairs.  Cathie is available for DesignaKnit and machine knitting classes.