Robin was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1946 and soon after she moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico where her father, Roy Reider, accepted a position as Director of the Safety and Health Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). She was raised in Los Alamos during a period of intense transition for the community. The town was gaining more and more recognition for its contributions toward national defense and the scientific community. Of course, the world's first atomic weapon, to be used to end WWII, is LANL's most well-known contribution. Robin remembers the guard towers at the edges of town where members of the community had to check out when leaving the city limits.

After high school Robin went to college at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She majored in French and became an avid outdoor enthusiast. She joined the University's ski racing team and excelled in the sport of skiing. She also did a lot of traveling during her college years. She traveled around Europe for a year and kept a journal of all her adventures and experiences.

After college she lived in Chicago for some time and worked as a teacher in the inner city. She met her future husband, Jim Knight, and they moved to California for some time before settling down in New Mexico. Robin was always drawn to the small village of Chimayó, located 30 miles east of Los Alamos and 45 miles northeast of Santa Fe, for its natural beauty, its simplicity, and its artistic traditions. In Chimayó she focused her energy on raising her three children , skiing and ski instructing, and beginning her career as an artist.

Robin began studying the art and skill of weaving in 1978 under the instruction of Cordelia Coronado, a respected weaver in Northern New Mexico. After learning the local traditional style of weaving she began interpreting and molding these skills into her own style of abstract, geometric, and landscape tapestry design. Robin has gained much recognition for her talent. Among her many awards are: the New Mexico Arts & Crafts Fair "Museum Purchase Award & Commemorative Poster" (1987) and "First Place & Purchase Award", the Taos Wool Festival "Best Booth Award" (1992), the Biennial Exhibition "First Place Cash Award" (1986) and "Second Place Cash Award" (1996), and the New Mexico 2000 "FOCA Award" (1999).

In late Sept. 2001, just after 9/11, Robin left for Kenya, Africa to complete 2 years with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching Women's groups small business skills, weaving and HIV/AIDS education. She also visited schools in rural villages in Kenya to read books and start small libraries. After Sept. 2003, Robin spent 3 months travelling back to New Mexico through Madagascar, India, Thailand, and Malaysia. She is home again weaving and teaching weaving, making time for her 2 new granddaughters and hoping to do more volunteer work in the near future, somewhere out in the world.