As a low-vision child, Catherine used books on tape and large print for school, but in spite of the limited sight, she developed a love of needlework. She credits her mother with encouraging her art by compelling her to complete a traditional cross-stitch sampler which took her three years to complete. She went on to crewel embroidery and needlepoint using large canvases and thick yarn.

Catherine lost her remaining vision in 1989 shortly after her youngest child was born. Her love of the Aran (Irish fisherman) patterns allowed her to continue knitting because of the highly embossed effect of the cables and cross-overs.

When asked how she manages to design and knit she says, “It is as though the fiber, yarn or maybe just the color speaks to me. When I have the right imagery, as in the stitch patterns, or the correct combination, the spirit moves and my fingers just fly…it’s like magic, it flows from my hands and the needles; I don’t even drop a stitch.”