Rita Weiss

Rita Weiss is the 2013 inductee into The Jean Leinhauser Crochet Hall of Fame. Rita Weiss is an author, designer and teacher whose name has become a household word in the fields of knitting, crochet, quilting and cross-stitch. As founder and head of the Dover Publications needlework division for many years, Rita became known as an expert in thread crochet and quilting. As executive vice president of the American School of Needlework, she produced publications including knitting, crocheting, quilting and embroidery, as well as many other needle arts. She served as president of the International Quilting Association, chairman of the Craft Yarn Council of America’s Crochet Marketing Committee and president of the Crochet Guild of America. Author of more than 50 books in the needle arts, she has taught and lectured both in the United States and in Europe, and she is often called upon to judge competitions. Rita, who has been married for many years to a man who has never objected to finding yarn in his soup, lives in Escondido, Calif. She is the mother of three daughters, mother-in-law of three magnificent sons-in-law, and the grandmother of four boys and one delightful little girl.