I originally opened the shop because I couldn't find the yarns I wanted to work with locally in Lee’s Summit, hoping a few others might feel the same way. What started as a simple search for quality materials has completely blown me away, blossoming into a global "Kind Community" of dear friends, wholesalers, and locals who gather around our table several times a week or connect through our retreats. My personal superpower is vision; I love thinking big and creatively, formulating plans to pull off exciting new ideas, and collaborating with our incredibly talented Unwind team to bring them to life. As a small business owner, the work never truly ends, but when I finally decide to stop for the day, you can usually find me knitting, out on the golf course, practicing yoga, traveling, or cheering on my favorite sports teams. Fun fact: I'm also a huge history buff and was once on track to get a PhD in political and religious history at UMKC!

For me, the most rewarding part of my job is helping makers "read" their knitting to diagnose a problem—there is truly no better feeling than showing someone how to fix a mistake so they don’t have to rip out hours of hard work and start over. My ultimate workplace superpower is creating calm out of chaos, whether that means keeping the back stock organized or streamlining our processes to make the shop run smoothly. My fiber arts journey began around age seven or eight when my mother taught me to crochet, but I didn't pick up knitting until adulthood when my best friend took it up; I fell in love with how portable it was, keeping it in the car to work on while waiting for my boys to get out of school.

When it comes to my tools, I firmly believe life is too short to fight with what you're using, which is why I refuse to ever use stiff cables with memory again! When I'm not at the shop, you can usually find me relaxing on my back deck in a comfortable lounge chair, knitting with a glass of iced tea right by my side. Fun fact: I absolutely love reading Pride & Prejudice fan fiction! What I cherish most about working here is our incredible team dynamic; everyone pulls in the same direction, genuinely supporting each other through every success and offering a comforting shoulder when things don't go quite as planned.

Carrie has been knitting for 45 years and still can’t get enough of it! You will frequently find her at the big table helping knitters, putting together fun color palettes, or teaching knitting classes. She has an obsession with knitting garments and fine tuning the fit to make them just right. Carrie also enjoys spinning on her electric Eew Wheel, especially when the fiber is dyed by Marthe. When not knitting, you can find her at home with her family. She enjoys playing video games with her daughter and playing with their two rambunctious chinchillas, Cheese and Fluffs. A firm believer in self-reinvention, she has made major career changes every decade or so, working in roles as a molecular biologist, freelance classical musician, high school orchestra director, and now professional yarn enthusiast!

I am so fortunate to be part of the Unwind team. Seeing the incredible color choices, new techniques, and beautiful designs that my coworkers and our customers are working on expands my scope of what is possible for my own makes—this community inspires me daily. Sharing my love for the craft absolutely fills my cup, and I love nothing more than helping someone choose the perfect yarn for their project or grasp a brand-new technique.

Though my grandmother taught me to sew and crochet when I was a child, I didn’t pick up knitting until my youngest was in high school—and wow, did I fall headfirst in love with it! I quickly learned that working with high-quality tools is essential, and my absolute favorite go-tos are my ChiaoGoo knitting needles. When I’m not at the shop, my husband and I love traveling to visit our kids who are spread out across the country. A fun fact about me is that I have visited over half of our National Parks and Historic Sites, including checking off every single park and site in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands!

The day I was hired to work at Unwind is easily my favorite memory—I was so happy, and this job has truly been incredibly fulfilling for me in so many ways. My absolute favorite and most inspiring part of the job is collaborating with customers on their color choices for new projects, and getting to celebrate with them when those projects are completely finished. My personal superpower is working with color and dyeing yarn and fiber, alongside spinning and weaving. I love sharing these crafts, and teaching both spinning and weaving brings me so much joy!

My fiber journey started early, around age seven, when my mom—who was a beautiful knitter—taught me the craft, and I've been a knitter ever since. Fun fact: before stepping into the fiber arts world, I was a professional violinist as well as a private violin teacher. I am so glad I can carry that lifelong love for teaching over to my work at the shop! When I’m not at Unwind, you can usually find me at home in my fiber studio knitting, spinning, or weaving, or out enjoying a long walk and a good book. I absolutely can’t work without my fellow team members; everyone here is incredibly helpful, collaborative, and supportive, and I love that I keep learning new things from them every single day!e this section to explain a set of product features, to link to a series of pages, or to answer common questions about your products. Add images for emphasis.

I’ve been a part of the Unwind family since the very first day the doors opened on March 1, 2019. When I stepped inside and Tammy greeted me with a warm smile, I instantly knew I’d found my people—she invited me to sit around the table and knit, and I haven’t left since! Today, our customers inspire me daily with their wonderful project ideas and great color combinations (which is probably why my own stash contains over 60 kitted projects just waiting to be started). My workplace superpower is patience. Doing needlework brings me deep peace, and I love helping my students—especially children—embrace the process of making rather than rushing through a project.

My crafting journey began at age 10 when my grandmother taught me to crochet, followed by learning to sew in school a few years later. In the days before home computers and YouTube, I spent hours checking out needlework books from the library to teach myself new techniques. When it comes to tools, ChiaoGoo needles are my ultimate go-to; because of those twist-free, kink-free cables, there’s nothing else like them on the market! When I’m not at the shop, you can almost always find me spending time near my family. Fun fact: back in college, I was a lead dissection assistant in the human anatomy lab. It gave me a profound awe for the human body and what makes us who we are, and I still view each body donated for education as a truly rare gift.

My absolute favorite part of being at Unwind is making sure every person who walks through our door feels safe, seen, and genuinely welcome. Whether you are here to learn something brand new, ask a million questions, or just hang out and be yourself, I’m always genuinely excited to greet you. My journey into the fiber arts world started at age 13 when my grandma taught me to crochet, but I truly fell headfirst into the craft in 2013 while working as a photographer for a yarn shop in the Snoqualmie Valley. Since then, I’ve dabbled in just about every fiber art imaginable (though if I can't use my beloved ChiaoGoo or Lantern Moon needles, I might just pass!). A creative entrepreneur at heart, I’ve raised a family while running a photography studio and a plant pop-up shop over the years. When I’m not moonlighting at the shop, I juggle a full-time job alongside an excessive amount of hobbies (with zero regrets!). You can usually find me spending time with my husband and adult kids, bribing my pets to hang out with me, or working on a clever project that looks incredibly complex but secretly lets me zone out and listen to audiobooks. I fell in love with Unwind before the walls were even fully stocked, and today, nothing brings me more joy than sitting around the table, listening to stories about your families, and seeing what beautiful projects the wonderful Unwind community is working on.

For me, the most inspiring part of working at Unwind is helping people connect with each other socially through the joy of creating art. I absolutely couldn't do my job without our amazing customers—I learn something brand new from them every single shift, and their creativity keeps me inspired to attempt so many fun new projects! While it's hard to pick just one favorite memory from the shop, nothing beats the feeling of helping someone solve a tough project problem or select the perfect yarn for a special piece, and then seeing them proudly wearing the finished product the next time they walk through our doors. Around the shop, my personal superpower is organizing our yarn and merchandise so it all fits perfectly on the shelves and looks beautiful in the process.

I have been thoroughly immersed in the world of fiber crafts my entire life—in fact, when I was little, I used to carry around a skein of yarn like it was a baby doll (I seriously had a crib for it and everything!). My mom officially taught me how to knit when I was about 10 years old, and my love for making has only grown since. When I'm not at the shop, you can probably find me cozy in bed working on my current project, playing with my pet rats, watching TV, or enjoying a perfect combination of all three. Fun fact: my birth certificate actually has a mistake on it, which means I have the excellent excuse to celebrate two different birthdays!

My absolute favorite memory from Unwind is the very day I was asked to join the team! For me, the most inspiring part of the job is simply being immersed in the beauty of the shop—from the unending colors and textures of the yarn to the art that adorns our walls, our inspiring staff, and the wonderful customers who come in to discover all that Unwind is. Connecting with people is at the heart of what I do, and my personal superpower at work is interacting with our customers and finding genuine joy in every single conversation.

My crafting journey began in 2001 when I started crocheting, and I joyfully added knitting to my creative repertoire in 2017. When it comes to making, the one thing I absolutely cannot work without is my trusty ChiaoGoo needles! A few fun facts about me: I hail from western Michigan, where I grew up in a big family of 11 children, and I used to spend a lot of time creating music on my alto and soprano saxophones as well as my precious cello. When I’m not at the shop, you can usually find me giving back by volunteering at the front desk at St. Luke’s East, or happily squirreled away creating in my art or sewing rooms.