W. J. Johnson

Published Author & Designer, Installation Artist

Along with her self-published designs, Wendy currently has patterns published in three knitting books: Knitting Socks From Around the World; Knitting Scarves From Around the World; and Baby Knits From Around the World (pub. Voyageur Press & Creative Publishing international-CPi). Wendy co-authored a book for the 2009 American Swedish Institute Bohus exhibit - Bohus Stickning - Radiant Knits: An Enchanting Obsession (co-authored with Bohus expert Susanna Hansson); and her most recent book, YarnWorks: How to Spin, Dye, and Knit Your Own Yarn (pub. CPi, 2014) contains all of her own projects and designs, from fiber to knit.

Wendy has been a noted site installation artist at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: "1 in 10,000" - a stainless steel art installation (in the juried exhibit "Tree-ol-ogy," 2008); and "Earthly Coat" a 7-foot-high, accessible, needle-felted wool coat (in the juried exhibit "Dirt-O-Rama," 2012). Her photograph "High Voltage Above Wisconsin" was in the exhibit "Ars Longa, Academia Brevis" (Hillstrom Museum of Art, 2010-11).

Wendy's love for knitting and her Swedish heritage led her to develop and facilitate three exhibits at the American Swedish Institute: Viking Knits with Elsebeth Lavold; Swedish Knits with Inger Fredholm; and Radiant Knits (a world-renown exhibit co-facilitated with Susanna Hansson) - an exhibit about Bohus Stickning, a historic couture knitting organization in Sweden.

Wendy also has a creative design business, Saga Hill Designs, which employs her talents as a designer, writer, dyer, felter, knitter, and spinner. Through Saga Hill, she teaches, designs patterns, and creates handspun and dyed yarns, along with hand-dyed fibers. She has created her own line of dyes - The Minnesota Series Dyes™ - and dyes her own fibers and yarns with these dyes; selling them, and her other creations, at art markets throughout the year. In 2014, she was selected to be the dye colorist and principle dyer, plus one of two knitting designers for Gale Woods Farm fibers and yarns (a sustainable educational farm and part of the Three Rivers Park District in Minnesota).

Other Work in Wendy's portfolio - Legibility Consultant

After experiencing two bouts of temporary blindness and continued vision challenges, Wendy founded Elder Eye™ Design, a design, editing, and publishing consultation service to assist clients in developing print and other media materials using Best Practices for the aging eye. As "The Legibility Doctor," Wendy gives presentations on universal design. In addition, she edits and coordinates the publishing of client books through Elder Eye Press, the publishing branch of Elder Eye Design and designs accessible materials for industry and organizations.

Wendy lives with her husband and two border collies in a home that she designed using aging-friendly concepts and ecologically-conscious materials.