Does working with color excite you? Are you curious about what it takes to manufacture hand-dyed yarns? If so, listen in as Kara Gott Warner interviews Beth Casey, owner of Lorna's Laces, one of the first hand-dyed yarn companies, about her fulfilling and creative work in her wonderful world of yarn.
Beth Casey, business owner and entrepreneur, has been supplying the globe with colorful yarns since 2003. This has afforded her the special advantage of witnessing a new wave of thinking in the way we look at yarn. Ten years later, she introduced Mrs. Crosby, releasing a whole new range of vibrant possibilities. Listen and find out more about the ins and outs of what happens behind the scenes in the exciting business of running a yarn company, in this week's episode of Power Purls Podcast.
Join Kara and Beth as they discuss:
- What prompted Beth to start a hand-dyed yarn company.
- The fun process of choosing and putting together the colors for a season.
- How Beth's company manages to keep its finger on the pulse of current trends and tastes.
- What distinguishes Beth's company from the other ones, from a business perspective.
- Where Beth's job satisfaction lies.
- Why Beth chooses to keep her company small.
- The importance of remaining positive.
- The delicate balance involved in taking responsible risks.
- How Beth overcame her notion that she was not born creative.
- Beth's advice when it comes to choosing color.
- Beth's take on the TNNA. (The National Needle Arts Association)
- The difference between Mrs. Crosby and Lorna's Laces.
- The fabulous surprise giveaway to a lucky listener.
Links:
Lorna's Laces: www.lornaslaces.net
Mrs. Crosby: www.mrscrosbyplays.com
Give-away: powerpurlspodcast.com/bethcasey
Welcome to Power Purls Unplugged, with me, Kara Gott Warner. Your comments have shown me that the raw, unpolished aspect of a live podcast certainly has an appeal to many of you. I love getting your feedback. It's been necessary, in order to balance the different time zones and to find the best time frame for this show. Join me today, as I talk to the Power Purls Facebook Group, live, while recording my podcast. We will discuss what being creative with your knitting means to you. Take your knitting to the next level. Let's keep the conversation going!
Catch me live at 12pm EST Fridays, on Facebook.com/PowerPurlsPodcast. To watch past broadcasts, you can find them in the video library on the Power Purls Facebook page.
Episode Highlights:
- Kara talks about how to make more space and margin time for creativity
- The inspiration for making FB live a podcast - my episode with Marly Bird
- What does “creative” mean in knitting creatively?
- Listen to my episode with Marly Bird and become inspired!
- Kara talks about: How the indirect passion for sitting with knitting for hours on end has given me certain things in my life.
- Can you take a chance with your knitting? Go without a pattern and see what comes?
- Don't be afraid while attempting something.
- Kara says: “Those magical mistakes are where the magic happens”.
- Get crazy and try a new way! See what happens!
- How different gauges of yarn can really be a creative feature
- Feeling intuitive? Just jump in! Go with it! Try it!
- Just keep going and “embrace those beautiful holes”.
- Kara urges and encourages you to “go free, without a pattern and try it out”.
- You can stand a chance to win a “swagbag” worth over $100 from Plymouth Yarn!
- How you can support the show and get some sweet rewards and perks for as little as $1.
With special thanks to my Patreon supporters! Support Power Purls on Patreon! Check out the details here to learn how to become a patron of the show... there are some pretty sweet rewards for getting in on this ground-floor level!
Marly Bird is bi-crafty - a knitter who also crochets! She has been podcasting about the craft since 2007! She is the national spokesperson for Red Heart Yarns and she’s the host of the YarnThing podcast. She’s an author and designer with a prominent YouTube channel as well! You can find her at craftsty.com and she has classes available at creativebug.com.
Marly had a respectable career in the financial services industry before her love of all things yarn took over her life and career. She was podcasting about it when everyone else was just blogging. She’s always been way ahead of her time, and she’s been able to create a knitting and crocheting empire that has been a resource to share her love of the craft in all forms of media. She’s got a special offer for Power Purls listeners today, so don’t miss out!
- How she started podcasting in 2007 - Ask Jeeves to the rescue!
- Her philosophy for sharing her guests with her audience and why she loves sharing the stories and connections
- How she found her stride when there wasn’t an established format for a podcast
- Is Craftsy killing the yarn store? She covered it in her early podcast.
- Bridging the gap between social media and the podcast with Facebook live!
- How a live show is different than a pre-recorded show
- Why she transitioned from a pre-recorded show to a live show
- The run down on having a live hosted podcast on Blog Talk Radio
- Return to the rustic and real - could it be a trend?
- Competing and cooperating in the world of yarn
- Having a business built on podcasting - it isn’t easy
- The juggling act of creating income from her knitting passion
- Life lessons from knitting and crochet
- Knitting bonds and lessons from Grandmothers - there could be some tears!
- Build your support system the Jim Rohn way
- Diversify your income in this industry. You can’t be just a designer!
Resources:
www.redheart.com/my-first-with-marly-bird
www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing
Marly has a special discount for a limited time, in her Ravelry Store. She's giving our listeners a free pattern for using the Code POWERPURLS at checkout. Make your purchases by midnight on Dec. 2!
Steven Berg is a fiber artisan armed with a wealth of experience, daring sense of style, and a firm belief in the transformative power of creativity that knitting or crocheting offers to those brave enough to push the boundaries. Berg began his career early, furiously knitting lines of sequin dresses for a discerning clientele of Barbies in Wisconsin. This led him to become a star student in fashion design at Parsons and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Berg found inspiration in the beautiful, fashion capitals of the world as a VP of design at Perry Ellis. His creative work experiences brought him back to his favorite medium again, the one that always inspired him the most, the imaginative world of fiber arts. Steven reminds all fiber aficionados: “The possibilities are endless. There are no mistakes, only variations. And always remember to glam it up!"
Episode Highlights:
- Halos of Hope - what it is and who it helps!
- How Steven made enough money from knitting in high school to pay for college
- What he created that became his calling card
- Find out why he doesn’t use patterns
- Why he’s focused on the journey - not the destination or perfection!
- What the crazy hat contest has to do with Halos of Hope
- How he tries to spice up everything he touches
- What is the Steven Be Creative Community Foundation?
- Knitting, crocheting, donating patterns and donations are all ways of helping Halos of Hope
- Become a Mad Hatter to help fight cancer and celebrate “beauty beyond bald!”
- Knitting cruises, a knitting tour and a reality show!
- Why he wants the world to know how fun knitters are!
Resources:
Stitches: http://www.knittinguniverse.com/
www.halosofhope.org - Check out the “BEYOND” tab
Lena Skvagerson is the lead designer and visionary behind Annie’s Signature Designs. Lena joined Annie’s in 2014, bringing with her over 25 years in the European design markets. We behind the scenes and what it was like creating the second seasonal Annie’s Signature Designs collection, Autumn Bliss.
Lena is a passionate designer and co-collaborator. Her energy for patterns, design and the whole creation process is contagious. She’s crazy enough to love each and every part of the process and this comes across in the finished product. Today we chat about all the fun we had working through the collection design process. We wanted to share our thoughts in this exclusive “behind the scenes” interview. You’re going to love this episode!
Episode Highlights:
- Behind the scenes of designing a collection
- What it’s like to continually multitask and change gears to pull it all together
- The favorite part of the collection building process……it’s not as easy to choose as you think
- Find out exactly what is in the Autumn Bliss collection is
- Walk through the collection design planning and process - it’s really when the magic happens
- Merchandising plays a big role in the collection design
- So many people are involved in the design, production and the actual making of the collection. It’s a fun collaboration!
- Designing “on the needles” is a great way to start, so eventually you can design on paper
- Patterns are designed to fit a size medium model, but the collection covers up to 5 different sizes. The more sizes, the better the collection.
- Pattern writing skills are worthy of spending time to develop - that really is the product!
- Technical editors play an important role in pattern layout.
- The Layout department is what makes everything pretty!
- Technical editing and proof reading the patterns is so critical to the process.
- The photo shoot is an amazing experience and it really is a blast!
- We aren’t above stealing items from our daughter’s and friend’s wardrobes…..hopefully they aren’t listening!
- A variety of models makes for a better presentation of the collection.
- Find out what part of the process made Lena feel like “that crazy lady”!
Contest Info:
- Search Annie’s Autumn Bliss on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/anniescatalog/annies-autumn-bliss-collection/?etslf=7622&eq=annies%20autumn%20bliss
- Pin 5 favorites and hashtag #anniesautumnblisscollection and #powerpurlspodcast
- Send email kara@powerpurlspodcast.com include 5 links to shares to be eligible (shares can be Pinterest, FB, Instagram, Twitter, etc.)
- Name gets entered for a chance to win the Moonstone Poncho knitting pattern and yarn
- The winner is contacted via a message through Pinterest
- Contest ends midnight November 4
Dora Ohrenstein is a designer of fashion crochet, author of 6 books, and a writer specializing in crochet history and international traditions. Dora’s designs appears in all the major print and digital crochet publications. Given her avid interest in advancing the skills of the crochet community, she includes lots of in-depth technical information in all of her books. She also teaches crochet at Vogue Knitting Live, on Craftsy, and in yarn shops across the country.
Earlier in her life Dora was a well-known soprano who sang contemporary classical music, most notably as the solo voice of the Phillip Glass Ensemble, a position she held for 10 years. Nowadays in addition to her design career, she is a singing teacher at Wagner College in Staten Island. Dora is a born and raised New Yorker.
Being on the road as a musician gave Dora a love of travel, and today she engages in textile travel, which has brought her to many exotic locations, including the Balkans, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Ukraine. The experience has deepened her understanding of how crochet and knitting fit into the larger world of textiles.
Episode Highlights:
- Failure is the best teacher and how that can help you learn crochet.
- Find out how each learning style easily lends itself to learning crochet.
- Crochet is easy enough to learn that you can learn complex patterns fairly quickly.
- So many lessons are learned from failure and Dora shares some of the ones she learned when she was new to crochet.
- At the end of the day, it’s just yarn!
- The best designers and crocheters rip. Find out why it’s helpful!
- Discipline cultivated in other creative endeavors can actually help hone your crochet skills.
- If you’re going to be interested in crochet, you better learn to love the process because the outcomes are not going to be fast!
- Have you ever heard crochet mentioned in a rap? Dora’s got a crochet rap for us!
- There are beautiful parallels between Dora’s vocal performance skills and her carefully honed crochet skills, both creatively and mathematically. Who knew?
- There’s something artistic and free about designing your own patterns.
- The beauty of embracing those “magical mistakes” on the hook.
- Learn why Dora finds her magic in the swatching.
- Find out what caused Dora to pick the hook back up after years of not crocheting.
- Dora has a “once in a lifetime” meeting (with crochet royalty) that ushers her right into the crochet “big leagues”.
- Dora shares some really great insights into both the knitting and the crocheting industry, and also shares some of her wishes and hopes for the industry.
- Dora talks about her new book, Top Down Crochet Sweaters, which has just been released. She’s also got a special giveaway for Power Purls listeners! Dora also has patterns for plus sizes too and she has some tips for the right fit. She knows that people aren’t standardized, so patterns can’t be standardized either!
Don't miss an opportunity to win a copy of Dora's new book, Top Down Crochet Sweaters at www.powerpurlspodcast.com/dora.
Brooke Nico is the co-owner of Kirkwood Knittery, where she uses her eye for detail and fashion experience to keep her store ahead of trends in knitting. However, lace is where Brooke has really made her mark, and her talent has been recognized by Vogue Knitting, Knitters, and Debbie Bliss magazine. She has taught lace classes at VKLive, VKLive LA, and several Stitches (XRX) events. Brooke lives in Kirkwood, MO.
I think you have to keep the big picture in mind, so over the course of a year, I have a work/life balance. Today, I may feel guilty because I'm missing a soccer game. But next week I'll make the soccer game and have something else to do. I can't take each day as a snapshot. I have to look at the whole picture.
Episode Highlights:
03:50 Brooke and Kara discuss how they met.
05:00 Kara digs into Brooke's extensive knitting background.
06:40 Brooke talks about purchasing Knitting for Dummies as her intro to knitting.
08:45 Kara asks if Brooke took to knitting right away or if she was frustrated at first.
09:30 Brooke says to "Pick something that you will love" as a project.
11:16 Why lace? Does Brooke find it similar to Cablework?
12:30 What advice Brooke gives to intimidated newbies.
15:10 Designing and authoring books vs. opening Kirkwood Knittery.
17:30 Brooke's work/life balance mindset.
19:20 How knitting "chose" Brooke.
22:00 What advice would Brooke give her future self?
24:47 Is Brooke afraid of losing her passion for knitting?
26:35 What's the best piece of advice she's ever been given?
Resources:
Brooke Nico designs at Ravelry
Robyn Chachula is the author of Vintage Modern Crochet, Blueprint Crochet Sweaters, Unexpected Afghans, and Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia. Her work has also been featured in many popular crochet publications such as Crochet! and Vogue Crochet. Robyn is also a contributing crochet designer in Annie's Autumn Bliss, a stunning collection of 40+ knitting and crochet patterns and is one of the crochet experts on the Annie's PBS television show Knit and Crochet Now!. She is also a crochet instructor for Annie’s Online Classes.
Episode highlights:
- 03:10 Robyn shares her excitement for crochet and other types of crafting.
- 04:09 Robyn tells about her positivity while working on Knit and Crochet Now!
- 04:44 Robyn describes when crochet entered her life.
- 06:41 When to decide to turn crochet design into a business
- 10:04 Robyn discusses the TV show, Knit and Crochet Now!
- 11:48 Robyn shares her viewpoint on rejections.
- 13:26 Finding the balance between your day job and creating a business
- 16:07 Robyn elaborates on how she became involved with Knit and Crochet Now!
- 30:12 Robyn describes her biggest challenge as a designer and business owner.
- 32:05 Annie’s Autumn Bliss Collection
- 36:03 Robyn describes her online teaching style.
Receive a 20% discount on any of Robyn’s Annie’s Online Crochet Video Classes with coupon code: 20offrc. Click here to learn more!
Episode highlights:
- Kara answers one of the biggest questions: How do I start a knit design business?
- Kara says: Just start! -- let your passion drive you.
- Put yourself out there with just one idea and get started.
- Don't put a dollar sign on your passion!
- How you can sign up for my newsletter and get my free designing guide.
- Why it's important to tell YOUR story
- We don't need another pattern, so what is it that makes you different?
- Listen to my episode with Vickie Howell who is a great example of how you are your brand.
- Don't give your patterns away for free as your main business model.
- How to work with magazine like Creative Knitting -- and use the guidelines to help develop your skills.
- Join Facebook Groups like The Fiber Boss Collective to learn the biz and network with other designers.
- Get scrappy and use mainstream models to grow your design business.
- The myth of work/life balance- it's more about knowing when to make the right choices at the right time.
Support Power Purls on Patreon! Check out the details here to learn how to become a patron of the show... there are some pretty sweet rewards for getting in on this ground-floor level!
Barb Demorest is a wife, mother, grandmother and casual knitter residing in Bellingham, Washington. She recently retired from her 30 year career as a CPA and owner of a tax practice in order to pursue her passion of connecting volunteer knitters and crocheters with breast cancer survivors to provide free knitted knockers to those that can use them. Her purpose and passion is now to inspire and equip the wonderful, caring, fiber arts community to provide these gifts of love to their fellow women in their own communities. She no longer gets paid in dollars for her work but the rewards are priceless.
Episode highlights:
- How we are turning the video version of Unplugged into a podcast episode.
- When it comes to grading (sizing) patterns, is this the designer's or the publisher's job?
- Sizing standards for designers and hobby knitters: www.craftyarncouncil.org
- Does the publisher provide a tech editor for designers patterns?
- When to hire a tech editor to size your patterns. Kara and Tabetha debate this topic!
- Work/life balance is learning to "take turns" as Crochet! editor Ellen Gormley explains in episode 021
- You can do everything you want, but just not at the same time.
- We're looking for a way to put everything in a neat box, but we live in an imperfect.
- If balance is a myth, what can we do what matters most in the moment.
- Learning to say no and practicing acceptance because we can't control the universe.
Episode and video highlights:
- Forget the pattern, focus on the stitches and movement.
- Don't let skill levels defeat you. If you see something you love - then go for it.
- Don't let the comfort of knowing the end take over. Be a stitch adventurer!
- Do you think of frogging as torture or a learning experience?
- I'm often reminded in my life of the wise words of my late grandfather - "Try it you'll like it!" he was always right.
- How we often hold on to wanting our finished project to be a certain way, but what if that doesn't happen?
Support Power Purls on Patreon! Check out the details here to learn how to become a patron of the show... there are some pretty sweet rewards for getting in on this ground-floor level!
Welcome to another Ask Kara & Tabetha Anything episode! In this off-the-cuff convo-style episode, Tabetha and I chat about our recent trip to TNNA, the exciting products we saw there, our thoughts on chunky knitting, and much more!
Episode Highlights:
01:41 Tabetha and Kara discuss Tabetha’s recent move.
04:32 Kara and Tabetha chat about TNNA, sightseeing, and Wonder Woman underwear.
10:18 Kara and Tabetha do a recap of TNNA of what they discovered at the show.
10:46 Kara describes what TNNA is.
11:22 Tabetha shares what products she liked at TNNA.
13:37 Kara talks about the mini-skein sets she saw at TNNA.
15:03 Tabetha mentions her new gradient sets that will be available later in the summer.
15:30 Kara mentions how trends take off and asks why the gradient sets are taking off now.
24:12 Tabetha discusses interchangeable sets.
25:16 Kara describes the Sharp Short Tips set.
27:52 Tabetha and Kara talk about Coco Knits’ snap bracelets (knitter’s keep kit).
30:40 Tabetha shares her thoughts about chunky, jumbo knitting.
34:02 Tabetha mentions the new Business and Creative Services Group that debuted at TNNA.
Resources:
SweetGeorgia Yarns
SweetGeorgia Monthly Newsletter Sign Up
The National Needlearts Association (TNNA)
SweetGeorgia Yarns-Jellybean Colourway Set
Round Mountain Fibers (Wholesale Only)-Drunk Yarn!
Mrs. Moon (UK)-Sustainable Yarn
Manos del Uruguay (Sustainable Yarn)
Freia Fine Handpaints (Sustainable Yarn)
ChiaoGoo-000 Twist Mini Interchangeable Set
Denise Needles-Sharp Short Tips Set
For more episodes like this visit: www.PowerPurlsPodcast
Get Kara's FREE 8-Steps to Creating a Killer Design Proposal
Join me every Friday at 12pm EST on Facebook.com/PowerPurlsPodcast for my live broadcast. To watch past videos, you can find them in the video library on the Power Purls Facebook page.
Episode and video highlights:
- We're never really mindless when we are knitting, but rather fully and completely engaged.
- Looking at knitting as a freeform
- art form.
- Can you let go of "the pattern?" Does the thought of not having a road map for your knitting make your fearful of the unknown?
- "Mindless" knitting is in fact it's the most mindful way to knit. It puts us so viscerally close to the craft.
- How spontaneous knitting allows us to focus on the tactile feeling of the yarn gliding through our fingers, the sound of our needles clicking and marveling at the work that is made after knitting just a few rows.
- The most amazing -- we see something, that just a short time ago was not there.
- The magic of making something with our hands. What could be more amazing than that?
- Becoming a fearless knitter! Paint your world with your needles.
Join me every Friday at 12pm EST on Facebook.com/PowerPurlsPodcast for my live broadcast. To watch past videos, you can find them in the video library on the Power Purls Facebook page. Share and use the hashtag #PowerPurlsUnplugged
Tina Whitmore is the owner, lead designer and chief cook and bottle washer at Freia Fine Handpaint Yarns, the premier dyers of long gradient and ombre yarns in the US. She has been designing knitwear and accessories for over 30 years. Her designs have been published in American Vogue, Italian Glamour as well as popular print and online knitting publications. She has been a guest on Knitty Gritty and Shay Pendray’s Needle Arts Studio. More recently she completed a selection of instructional DVDs for how best to work with Gradient and Self Striping Yarns.
Welcome to another edition of Power Purls Unplugged on this #FreeformFriday! Today's episode is short and sweet! I ask you what that pivotal moment was that brought you to knitting. Was it the loss of a loved one, change of career, the birth of a child? Whatever it is I want to dig deep with you. In this episode I share mine and invite you to go back in time to the moment that changed it all for me!
Join me every Friday at 12pm EST on Facebook.com/PowerPurlsPodcast for my live broadcast. To watch past videos, you can find them in the video library on the Power Purls Facebook page.
Episode and video highlights:
- I share the moment that I knew I wanted to make knitting my life and career.
- Why we need to not only rely on passion, but understanding the skills that are important to turn passion into profit.
- Learn from my upcoming guest, Tina Whitmore of Freia Handpaint Yarns, and how she keeps the fire going in her business.