Nicky Epstein from nickyepstein.com

Alumna Nicky Epstein is finishing her 24^th book, Knitting Circles, which will be published by Random House in August 2012.

The 1974 Fashion Design and Advertising & Graphic Design graduate’s success has allowed her to make a career out of her knit designs. She got her start in professional knitting design 20 years ago in California when she entered her sweater “Unicorn in the Garden” to McCall’s magazine sweater design contest and took first prize.

“Once the design was printed in their magazine I kept getting calls from other needlecraft magazines, and the offers kept coming,” Epstein said.

She has now authored more than 20 books. The knitting and crochet books range in topics including historical, travel, patterns, and knitting resource guides.

Epstein now finds herself traveling the world. She is a regular columnist for Vogue Knitting and continues to teach knitting workshops.

“I teach techniques and shortcuts, and try to inspire knitters to exercise their creativity and not be afraid to think outside of the box,” said Epstein.

Although her patterns and designs seem intricate and advanced, she explains that the appeal of her designs is that they can be learned and adopted by all knitting levels.

CCAD has left an impact on the successful knitter, who says her education was the foundation of her creativity. She learned under then President Joseph V. Canzani and instructors Jay Bayliss and Billie Ingram.

“I got to appreciate the talent and diverse artistic abilities of my peers in a creative environment,” Epstein said of her college experience.