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Knitters and crocheters know Angela Tong as a designer with hooks and needles, while weavers recognize her work in rigid-heddle and pin looms. Visitors to galleries and artisan markets know her as a potter. Angela thinks of herself simply as a maker, always drawn to creating beauty with her hands.
Her first professional job set the tone: after earning a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, she produced fine platinum jewelry for Tiffany & Co. But beginning in her teens, she keenly felt the urge to learn to knit. A colleague at that first job taught her the knit stitch—just the knit stitch—and opened the world of fiber arts for her. Discovering a talent for clarifying instructions while test knitting other designers’ work, she began submitting designs for publication. Although she had not initially pictured herself as a teacher, that skill of clear explanation led her to teaching, and she eventually became a certified knitting instructor.
Angela discovered another fiber-arts love in PieceWork March/April 2010, which featured pin looms on the cover. She tracked down a handmade pin loom from a small maker, wove a doll blanket, and never looked back. Her pin-loom and rigid-heddle designs regularly appear in Little Looms, and she is a popular instructor at Weave Together events.
In each of her crafts, Angela’s style is symmetrical and refined, with an emphasis on finishing that she describes as a through line in everything she makes, from pottery to pin-loom blankets.
Whatever the medium, Angela brings the same exacting eye and genuine delight in craft—whether she's warping a loom, trimming a pot, or teaching a roomful of students to hem stitch.
Links
PieceWork March/April 2010 featured a pin-loom blanket on the cover.
Angela’s pin loom videos Creative Pin-Loom Designs and Weave Patterns on the Pin Loom are available from Long Thread Media.
Angela was featured in the pilot episode of the proposed Swatch series.
This episode is brought to you by:
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