About Me

Hi, I’m Tina Roggenkamp and I thought it might be fitting if I took the opportunity with my first post to introduce myself. Where to even start? I’ve been crafting and making stuff ever since I was little. I was interested in sewing as a kid and I was always getting into the cookie tin of sewing supplies my grandmother had in her room. She got me set up with a needle and thread  but since we didn’t have any fabric, I sewed my first stitches on paper towels. When I got a little older, one of our neighbors taught me how to make potholders on a loom with those loops. I have held onto those ever since! I also remember the first yarn I bought - I got it from a yard sale in our neighborhood and I think I was allergic to something in it, so it stayed in a bag in my closet until I eventually gave it away. 

As a kid, I also spent a good deal of time visiting my great-grandmother, who sewed quilts like it was nobody’s business! She got secondhand fabric, used sheets, even used old quilts as batting. She always gave us quilts, which we kept in a closet at the end of the hall, but I had my favorites that I used all the time. And back when I was in elementary school we gave those handmade quilts as gifts to my teachers. I have a couple and I still cherish those quilts to this day. 

Fast forward a few years when I went to school with a girl who, at least according to high school chatter, made her own clothes. Honestly, I was a little jealous because how cool it must have been to be able to do that as a teenager!

When we moved in order for me to go to a Ph.D. program, I remember we went to a bookstore in that city and I picked up “Quilting 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Quilting” and oddly enough, a roll of acrylic batting. No fabric, just the batting. I guess I figured I would acquire fabric some other way. I never got as far as starting anything, but that book and the batting have made it through many moves and stages in my life. 

Once we moved back (I decided a Ph.D. wasn’t for me), I needed a hobby so I picked up crochet. Actually, backing up a bit, I had tried to crochet several years prior, but with a pipe cleaner. I had a misadventure in crochet because I bought a hook case and somehow thought the hooks were included (they were not). But between moving back, looking for a job, working as an unpaid intern, I figured I needed a hobby so I picked up a "teach yourself crochet" kit. It had a book, a long crochet hook, and a couple other supplies. This being 2004, this was back before YouTube or online tutorials so I did the best I could, teaching myself from the book. 

In the fall of 2005, my mother-in-law signed us up for a knitting class at Hancock Fabrics. I knew absolutely nothing! The teacher was so patient and thankfully it was just me and my mother-in-law because I needed all the help I could get! Our first project was a scarf, which I never finished. The next project was a washcloth, where we learned how to increase and decrease. The last project was a tiny stocking ornament. I learned how to use DPNs to knit in the round, how to turn a heel, how to pick up stitches, and all the skills I would later use to knit socks. But, if I’m being honest, at the time I hated knitting. I enjoyed the classes and the feeling of accomplishment, but knitting stressed me out. My stitches were impossibly tight and my eyes felt bleary after staring at it for any length of time. But with practice, I saw all the possibilities, if I would just stick with it. 

I was persistent with it and in the winter of 2006, I started working at the library and knitting was becoming a very popular hobby. I learned about knitting blogs like Yarn Harlot and Crazy Aunt Purl, sites like Knitty, and got to see all of the knitting books from the library. One of my very cool coworkers was an avid knitter and she made the Kyoto sweater and wore it to work. I knit blankets and washcloths for coworkers' babies. I made washcloths and cell phone cozies and I opened my first Etsy account. I don’t think I ever sold anything on Etsy back then, but it was an exciting time and I loved every minute of it. I made my first sock and two years later I completed my second and have been knitting socks ever since. Actual completed pairs of socks, that is. 

When I was pregnant in 2006, I made my baby a tiny sweater. I suppose all of this inspiration and practice got me hooked (pun intended) on knitting and crochet and I’ve been at it for a lot of years now. I dabbled in sewing while I was pregnant - I made a dog bed with no pattern. He loved it and tried to sleep in my Frankenstein version of a dog bed. But I didn’t get much into sewing until 2017 when I was part of a creative community of people on twitter and learned more about sewing clothes. They were all making clothes from 100 Acts of Sewing patterns… so I made my first dress and haven’t stopped sewing clothes. I love being able to customize everything just how I like it, choose the fabric I like, and that feeling of accomplishment when someone asks where I got my pants, or my fun chicken dress. I also enjoy thrifting and finding fabric to upcycle and give new life to. Confession: I love collecting fabric from thrift stores.

So I have been crocheting since 2004, knitting since 2005, really sewing since 2017 and back in 2020, during those early covid times, I started thinking about quilting. I was still making clothes and masks, and spent a lot of hours cutting scrap fabric into squares. In the spring of 2024 I  began piecing a quilt top which I just finished in July 2025 (life events kept me from any big projects - house hunting, selling our house, moving to a new city) but I'm back at it. It only took me a whole 20 years between buying my first quilting book and starting on an actual quilting project.

Over the years I have done quite a bit of charitable knitting and crochet. I have donated items to Binky Patrol (we were even on the local news!), had my work in a shop that sold and raised money for the humane society, and have made squares that were made into blankets for the unhoused population where we lived. I have made and donated hats to an organization in Charlotte as well as Warm Up America. Currently I am crocheting squares for Warm Up America. 

From 2016 to 2017 I had a booth in a larger gallery/mall type store. That was quite the adventure! I created an LLC and everything that goes along with starting a fully operational business. I sold hand-dyed yarn, knitting and crochet supplies, as well as handmade items. It was interesting and I learned a lot!

What else might you like to know about me? I tried podcasting for a while but what I learned about myself is that I liked researching and writing, but not so much the recording and editing parts of podcasting. Maybe some day I'll write a book. I’ve dabbled in natural yarn dyeing. I have had blogs over the years so I’m a bit familiar and I enjoy doing blogging. I have never made my own website before, so be patient with me and my learning curve. I'm never not making something whether it's something for my kids, something for me, or crafting for charities.

I am married, and have two teenagers. We have a cat and a bunny and this year we moved from a big city to a small town. I will definitely post photos of the cat and bunny because they are too cute not to. I have a garden now and a covered porch so I’m pretty much always outside. I've even considered bringing my sewing machine outside. I do have a room I share with the cat that is my craft space, but I am very aware of what it’s like to work with limited space. When I’m not knitting, sewing, quilting, or bugging my youngest to teach me what they know about crocheting, I’m reading, gardening, playing through a few days in Stardew Valley, or cross-stitching.

Lovely to meet you all!