Michelle McCoskey is a freelance illustrator and textile designer who also runs her own knit accessory business, The Alligator Factory. Shortly after graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, she apprenticed on an organic farm in Maine where she was first introduced to natural dyes. Intrigued by the ability to marry her passions for art and environmental conservation, she continues to research and experiment with locally foraged dye plants for use in her knit designs.