Podcasts about tnna

In Episode 81, Greg and Pam discuss Bread, Buns, and Button Whispering. Special thanks to LeftSteve Steve for the intro! SPONSORS We are Knitcrate Ambassadors! Are you the kind of knitter who would enjoy receiving a surprise package of yarn in the mail every month? Then you need to sign up for a Knitcrate subscription. Every month, you will receive a selection of curated yarn, a pattern specifically paired to use with the yarn, and a treat. Use code KD20 at checkout for 20% off your first package when you sign up for a subscription. FiberCrafty's  independently owned shops are stocked with yarn, fiber, project bags, stitch markers and more. With filter terms specific to yarn and fiber, the ability to save favorites, and a secure checkout process, it's better than a 24 hour fiber festival! For shop owners, our easy to use interface makes selling online easy. FiberCrafty is owned by one woman that has a crazy love of yarn and knitting. Greg's favorite feature? Pants are optional. Shop for your next project at FiberCrafty. LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOTES Dear Listeners We would love to have YOU record and introduction to the show! You can find details in the Ravelry Group Pages. Greg's Projects Greg is working on a pair of socks for his mom that doesn't have a project page yet. Yarn is form Camel City Dyeworks. Greg is working on a hat design. Greg is continuing experimenting with weaving. Pam's Projects Pam's got nothing new. She is still working on her daughter's college blanket, Swirly PoP by Marken of the Hat & I. She is using Knit Picks Chroma Worsted and Mighty Stitch. Pam has also (still) been working on her Interplay Shawl by Jo-Anne Klimwith Dirty Dyeworks yarn. Pam didn't even work on her socks with Patons Kroy Sock FX. She's not really following a pattern, just knitting toe-up. Knitting Rules We will be back to start Chapter 2 in Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing & Rolling to Free Your Inner Knitter (affiliate link) next week. Current/Upcoming Unraveling Events Last week we reviewed the new Point/Counterpoint Collection: Volume 5 by Kino Mary and BostonJen. And we are giving a copy away! The Point/Counterpoint Giveaway is still open until the next time we record. The #KnittingMagicKAL is in full swing. Knit anything from the Knitting Magic book (affiliate link) and join the fun! Miscellaneous Greg assembled a hurdy-gurdy kit. Pam signed up for Informed Delivery from the USPS and loves it. Pam made sourdough cinnamon rolls. Deliciousness still unknown but this is the recipe. Last episode, we talked about the closing of TNNA. This week we mentioned that XRX is stepping in to host a wholesale tradeshow. Affiliate Link Disclosures This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link to Bluprint Premium, Cooperative Press, Amazon, or Knitcrate and subsequently make a purchase, we'll receive a small commission from the sale. You pay the same, and the commissions will help cover our podcasting expenses. Our opinions are always our own, and we're never compensated to endorse any particular product or service. Find us all over the Internet Subscribe in iTunes: The Unraveling Podcast Podcast RSS Feed: Unraveling Podcast Twitter: @UnravelingPod Facebook: Unraveling Podcast Instagram: @UnravelingPodcast Ravelry Group: Unraveling Podcast Greg is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, @KnittingDaddy on Instagram, and also writes the KnittingDaddy blog. Pam is pammaher on Ravelry, @FiberCrafty and @pammaher on Instagram, and owner of the FiberCrafty  marketplace.

In Episode 80, Greg and Pam discuss sourdough, experimenting, and hexes. They also discuss Chapter 1 in Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Special thanks to Chasing-Rainbows Karen for the intro! SPONSORS We are Knitcrate Ambassadors! Are you the kind of knitter who would enjoy receiving a surprise package of yarn in the mail every month? Then you need to sign up for a Knitcrate subscription. Every month, you will receive a selection of curated yarn, a pattern specifically paired to use with the yarn, and a treat. Use code KD20 at checkout for 20% off your first package when you sign up for a subscription. FiberCrafty's  independently owned shops are stocked with yarn, fiber, project bags, stitch markers and more. With filter terms specific to yarn and fiber, the ability to save favorites, and a secure checkout process, it's better than a 24 hour fiber festival! For shop owners, our easy to use interface makes selling online easy. FiberCrafty is owned by one woman that has a crazy love of yarn and knitting. Greg's favorite feature? Pants are optional. Shop for your next project at FiberCrafty. NOTES Dear Listeners We would love to have YOU record and introduction to the show! You can find details in the Ravelry Group Pages. Greg's Projects Greg is working on a pair of socks for his mom that doesn't have a project page yet. Yarn is form Camel City Dyeworks. Greg is working on a hat design. Greg is continuing experimenting with weaving. Pam's Projects Pam has been working on her daughter's college blanket, Swirly PoP by Marken of the Hat & I. She is using Knit Picks Chroma Worsted and Mighty Stitch. Pam has also been working on her Interplay Shawl by Jo-Anne Klim with Dirty Dyeworks yarn. Pam worked on her socks with Patons Kroy Sock FX. She's not really following a pattern, just knitting toe-up. Pam started a finished a hair wrap from the pattern Beach Hair Don't Careby Melissa Kemmerer. She used some leftover Anzula Dreamy. Pam finished the weaving on a scarf with some acrylic. She needs to tale it off the loom. Knitting Rules We finished Chapter 1 Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing & Rolling to Free Your Inner Knitter (affiliate link). You can find her blog here and her books here. Here is a great video of her knitting style. You can read her wikipedia page also. Current/Upcoming Unraveling Events The #KnittingMagicKAL is in full swing. Knit anything from the Knitting Magic book (affiliate link) and join the fun! Miscellaneous Pam fell down the sourdough rabbit hole. She didn't start with this technique yet but it's the one that most appeals to her. This is the recipe for overnight sourdough bread. Pam bought too many strawberries and made Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Caramel Sauce. Pam mentioned the OttLite Floor Lamp (affiliate link). Greg mentioned that Bob Dylan has a new album coming out next month. Greg mentioned Korean baseball. Pam and Greg talked about Point/Counterpoint Volume 5 by KinoKnits and Jennifer Lassonde. There is a giveaway going on in the Unraveling Podcast Ravelry forum — check it out! You can also listen to the Kino Knits and Down Cellar Studio podcasts to hear the designers talk about the process of this collaboration. Check out the Knitty SOS page for updates on spring and summer shows that have been cancelled and how to support the vendors who were planning on attending. Greg and Pam talked about the death of TNNA. During the discussion, they mentioned Craft Industry Alliance and Stitchcraft Marketing. Pam talked abut her new phone case from KnitSwag. Affiliate Link Disclosures This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link to Bluprint Premium, Cooperative Press, Amazon, or Knitcrate and subsequently make a purchase, we'll receive a small commission from the sale. You pay the same, and the commissions will help cover our podcasting expenses. Our opinions are always our own, and we're never compensated to endorse any particular product or service. Find us all over the Internet Subscribe in iTunes: The Unraveling Podcast Podcast RSS Feed: Unraveling Podcast Twitter: @UnravelingPod Facebook: Unraveling Podcast Instagram: @UnravelingPodcast Ravelry Group: Unraveling Podcast Greg is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, @KnittingDaddy on Instagram, and also writes the KnittingDaddy blog. Pam is pammaher on Ravelry, @FiberCrafty and @pammaher on Instagram, and owner of the FiberCrafty  marketplace.

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about quilting and activism with my guests Sara Trail and Juan Tapia. We recorded this episode in person at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts where there is an exhibit up through December 1, 2019 of the Social Justice Sewing Academy Quilts called Piecing Together Youth Voices in a 21st Century Sewing Circle.  Sara Trail is the founder and executive director of the Social Justice Sewing Academy. Sara learned to sew when she was a toddler and had a sewing career as a teenager when she wrote Sew with Sara, a book that teaches teens and tweens how to sew clothes and accessories. She also starred in nationally published DVDs called Cool Stuff to Sew with Sara, designed two fabric collections with Fabri-Quilt and a pattern collection with Simplicity. While attending UC Berkeley, Sara created a quilt in memory of Trayvon Martin and her love for sewing and passion for social justice intertwined. After graduating from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, she founded the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) to be a platform where youth create art that engages and educates communities.    Juan Tapia is one of the students who has been a participant in the Social Justice Sewing Academy. Juan just graduated from high school and is now working for a non-profit called Courage, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, that works with formerly incarcerated. He’s a digital design associate and is hoping to become head of the communications department at the organization +++++ This episode is sponsored by Search Press. Bringing you the finest in art and craft instruction books to improve your skills or ignite a new passion.  See Search Press books in your local fiber arts and craft store or view our whole catalog at Search Press North America [www.searchpressusa.com]. Visit Search Press at New York Sheep & Wool Festival, Quilt Market, Embroiderers’ Guild of America, TNNA and many more craft industry events. Use code nap0819 to receive 15% off your book purchase on our website Search Press North America. +++++ To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.

Today is kind of a part 2 to last week’s episode, where we talked about if you even need a traditional business plan. Last week I walked you through what to do for an effective plan, if you don’t need a traditional one. You can find that at taraswiger.com/podcast277 That episode is going to help 98% of you, my readers, get super-clear on where your business is and where it’s going and how the heck to plan that out. But if you DO need a traditional plan, today I’m not only going to tell you what to include, I’m going to share snippets of our own business plan. The one Jay and I took to banks and business advisors, when we were planning on buying a comic shop. Now, even if you don’t think you need a traditional business plan, I don't want you to skip this episode, because I want you to dream BIGGER. Expand your idea of what's possible. So many makers are afraid that getting "big" would be too scary, so I want you to hear what it actually takes, because I know you ARE capable of it. So if you've ever had a dream of having a shop, or renting a workspace or opening up a cute Shop Around the Corner, please listen even though you may not need it now. It really could be you - in the last decade of working with makers and artists, most of whom only had an etsy shop when we started working together, dozens have quit their jobs (and needed to show their partners how they would make it work), a few have opened brick and mortar shops, and one, Katie of Yarn Love, has bought land and built an entire dye studio for her business. So yeah, you may not need it TODAY, but you may need it sooner than you think. As a reminder, you need a traditional business plan, when you bring anyone into your business - a bank loan, an investor (even a family member investment!), or a business partner. When you go talk to a bank or an investor, they are looking for some very specific documents. The best resource is SBA.gov - it has tons of tools to help you make this, so I'm going to suggest you go to their website and use all their tools, even if you're not in the US, because they have samples and way more information that I'm going to cover here. If you are in the US, you're going to need to adhere to their guidelines - it's what banks want and expect. Let’s get right to it, here are the parts of a traditional plan, along with what we included in our business plan: Executive summary: This is where you put the overview of your business and what it stands for. You'll include your missions statement, your business model (what do you sell and how?) and everyone high-level in your business. If you're asking for funding, you'll include some numbers up here (what you're asking for and when you'll be profitable). (We skipped this part) Business description: This is super-specific description of the business - what's it's address? What does it sell? How many customers does it have? What are your advantages? You'll put your strengths in this section. Real Life Example: "X was founded in DATE by person, (short founding story). For over X years, the shop has sold {products} and has {competitive advantage}. It won X awards. It is located at {LOCATION.} The print comic book industry is a $940 million industry in North America with 98 million individual copies sold from the major distributor, Diamond Comics. How the industry works: Individual issues of comics are released monthly or bi-monthly with new titles coming in every week. The shop places orders for the titles three months in advance. There are three types of customers {explained in detail the kinds of customers}We described the business model and the primary partners and distributors. The current business: We shared specific numbers from the current business and the problems we saw that we would change. We then had a detailed paragraph about every problem we saw and how we would change it (including software we would buy, systems we would implement, incentivisation we would offer and more.) Market analysis: Now we're getting to the part where you'll need to do some research - in this section you'll list the businesses who are competing with yours (other local shops?) and what your target market is. How big is the market? How much money do your people spend on your product each year? You'll also talk about trends and themes here - what do successful competitors do? Why does it work? Can you do it better? Real life example: In this section we included local competition (other shops, including the chain bookstores) and what advantage and disadvantages they had, and online competition. We then wrote a detailed analysis of how we would compete with online comic sales. After the Competition section we had a Market Analysis section where we specified the shop’s demographics by percentage compared to the industry demographics. We wrote in detail about how the market was shifting and what we would do shift the shop’s demographics to where trends were going. We also wrote about the plethora of comic book-based media, the demo and stats of those shows and how we would capitalize on that media attention. Organization and management: This may be super simple - who does what? Who is in charge? Who will run the day to day of the business? If you have several people already working in your business, use an organizational chart and include information about their unique experience and what they bring to your business. This is also where you state the legal structure of your business. Real life example: We included a paragraph on both Jay and Tara (the owners) that included our education, experience and roles in the company. We also specified that until the shop was profitable we wouldn’t be taking a salary. We put this section at the very end, because we were advised to rearrange this based on what the lender would care most about, which is how we would make money (financial and marketing). Service or product line: What do you sell? What is the lifecycle? What are the features AND the benefits? Real life example: We included this in the company description, because we knew most lenders wouldn’t know anything about the industry and we needed them to learn about it up front. Marketing and sales SBA.gov says "Your goal in this section is to describe how you'll attract and retain customers. You'll also describe how a sale will actually happen. You'll refer to this section later when you make financial projections, so make sure to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales strategies." Real life example: “Our initial marketing plan is focused on fostering a sense of community and helping new customers feel welcome. We’ll achieve this by reaching the current audience more effectively (and more often) with consistent social media and email marketing, moving all customers through the sales funnel (from walk-in, to regular, to subscriber) through store displays and customer service and increasing the number of women and children who shop with us. Our initial promotional program, on all platforms, both in person and online, is to increase our subscriber base”  I then described exactly how we’d do this, including a bounce-back program. Then we had sub-sections, including InStore Marketing, which had 2 examples of upcoming events and promotions around them. Each event had a description and up to a dozen bullet points of what we’d do it for it. We then attached a list of the next YEAR of dates of events and what we would do for them. We also included a subsection of customer service, how we would improve it and systematize it and a subsection of social media which included the shop’s current assets, along with my plan for Instagram and YouTube. I started with stats, because I figured dudes in suits would know we should do social media, but wouldn’t really get it. “Engagement with brands on Instagram is 10 times higher than Facebook, and 84 times higher than Twitter (Forrester Research, 2016). According to Pew Research, 55 percent of all online 18- to 29-year olds in the U.S. are using Instagram. We will use Instagram to connect with our customers, incentivize sharing to reach their friends, and to promote our in-store events and displays. We’ll make use of the location tagging and a custom hashtag, which empowers our customers to share the shop and stay top of mind.” We had a subsection for Email Marketing, where I included my own email open rates and sell-through stats, and some industry stats like “According to studies from McKinsey & Company, email is 40x more successful at acquiring new clients than either Facebook or Twitter and a business is 6x more likely to get a click-through from an email campaign than from a tweet. When it comes to purchases made as a result of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate (66%), when compared to social, direct mail and more.” I specified when we’d send emails and what they would include and how we’d get new subscribers to our emails. The last two subsections were website improvements and traditional marketing (ie, flyers on campus, press releases to the local papers, sponsoring a little league team, etc). As you can see, this was a HUGE section, and that’s because we wanted to show how were justifying our financial projections which were quite aggressive. That’s the next section! Financial projections: This is the part that took us the most work and is also the most important section if you want funding or support. As the SBA says, "Your goal is to convince the reader that your business is stable and will be a financial success." If your business already exists, this is a bit easier because you have real data - include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years. (This is actually where buying the shop fell apart, the owner could not provide these in a timely manner, because of his own bookkeeping issues). If you have other collateral you could put against a loan, make sure to list it now. But if you have an established business or not, you also need include projections - what will your business make? We did this is a spreadsheet with monthly projections, both of expenses and income, for the first year, then quarterly for the next 3 years after that, then yearly for another 2-3 years. We worked with an advisor at the local SBA office, who took current sales and used a formula of expected increased sales to give us specific numbers. But we had to come up with the expense categories and specific numbers. For example, what would our rent be each month? (You need to have specific spaces in mind with their actual information). What will your supply cost be? (And then you have to do that math - how many products will that yield? That will impact your income!) What will insurance cost? (Get a real estimate!) What will internet cost? Utilities? If you plan to advertise on billboards, what does that cost at the specific billboard? If you plan to advertise on Facebook to a specific audience, what will it cost to run that ad to that audience? So we took all of our marketing strategies and tactics and researched what they'd actually cost us, then decided which month we'd really do them in, and put that in the spreadsheet for those specific months. Then we could look at and apply that to projected sales. If we're doing a big marketing promo in June, will sales increase in June? Or July? Or 6 months later? What months are sales high? Low? (You'll use the income info you already have, or you'll need to do industry research.) Speaking of research, each industry has a trade association or a partner who can help you with these numbers. If you're a knitwear designer or yarn shop, you can get these numbers from TNNA. If you're a comic shop you can get them from the industry's only distributor, Diamond Comics. The SBA advisor then took these industry stats and translated into projections for what we could have in income. This section might feel scary, but it also SO helpful - if you know April is a low sales month, you will adjust your projected expenses in those months. You can use this spreadsheet as you actually work in the business and compare projected numbers to actual number and then adjust your next projections accordingly. And that’s it!     Listen in at TaraSwiger.com/podcast278

I was able to do so much during this Tour de Fleece, it took two podcasts to tell you all about it.  See the previous podcast for part one of this two part series. The first fiber I talk about spinning is called Fake Cashmere, due to it softness.  It is however, 100% nylon.  I bought my fiber from a dyer whose business is Jazz Turtle.   It seems most people like to spin this fiber blended with other fibers, but I enjoyed spinning it on it's own.  Another source for the fiber is Paradise Fibers The next fiber I worked with was a dyed merino silk batt in the colors purple and green.  Listen as I explain how I made color sequencing work for the 2 ply yarn. On the TdF challenge day, I got out the book charka, not something I have much skill with. I was able to set it up and spin some single on it for my challenge. I spent many days during the Tdf dyeing fiber, both in locks and in big pots full of fiber.  I had the amazing once in a life time experience of dyeing a color I will never be able to repeat, calico locks.  This podcast tells you how that happened. Finally for the state fair entries, I needed an art yarn and chose to spin locks into a yarn.  It was a learning experience and I share all I learned to make this yarn. At the beginning of the podcast I talk about how there will be no Spinzilla this year, but TNNA has provided these two links for spinning fund raisers:  Britspin also Spin Her Free and The owner of Purple Lamb Fibers is doing a Spin Together Oct 6 through Oct 12, 2019 Lots and lots of information in this podcast, grab a big chunk of fiber, your spinning tool of choice, and join me.

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about running a brick-and-mortar and online yarn shop with my guest, Laura Zander. Laura is the co-owner of Jimmy Beans Wool. Along with her husband Doug, she worked as software engineers during the dot-com boom in the San Francisco area. When Laura and Doug saw the boom begin turning into a bust they quit their jobs and moved to Lake Tahoe to begin a new adventure, opening a small yarn shop. Today Jimmy Beans Wool has been named one of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US and Laura is one of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women. She was invited to the White House for a forum addressing the American Jobs Act where Jimmy Beans Wool was recognized as a notable Nevada business. When not knitting or working, Laura spends her time on the ski hill, running, playing tennis, or relaxing with Doug and their 10-year-old son, Huck. +++++ This episode is sponsored by Search Press. Bringing the finest in art and craft instruction books to improve your skills or ignite a new passion. See Search Press books in your local fiber arts and craft store or view our whole catalog at Search Press North America. Visit Search Press at New York Sheep & Wool Festival, Quilt Market, TNNA and many more craft industry events. Use code nap0819 to receive 15% off your book purchase on our website Search Press North America and enjoy free shipping during the month of August 2019. +++++ Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.   To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.

Today on the show I have Steven Berg, the man and the legend behind all things Steven Be. This is a really special episode for me. I’ve known Steven since my first Tnna tradeshow in 2010 where he was instantly friendly and enthusiastic about my business. In this interview we go back to where it all started for him – much of the way he is because of his incredible Mom but what got me time and again during this episode is how knitting and yarn is his safe space as a child and now he’s created that at Steven Be Studios. Steven has a way of just being himself, completely extravagant and fabulous in all that he does. It’s fun, totally unique and so incredibly Steven. And that’s what I really want this podcast to be about, shining a light on people doing their own creative things out in a world where it’s not that easy to do that. I CANNOT WAIT FOR YOU TO HEAR THIS ONE! Show notes here. 

In Episode 61, Greg and Pam discuss baseball, birthdays and being the boss. They also review Leaflet #12 from Elizabeth Zimmermann's “The Opinionated Knitter.” Special thanks to way2knitgrace for this episode's introduction! SPONSORS We are Knitcrate Ambassadors! Are you the kind of knitter who would enjoy receiving a surprise package of yarn in the mail every month? Then you need to sign up for a Knitcrate subscription. Every month, you will receive a selection of curated yarn, a pattern specifically paired to use with the yarn, and a treat. Use code KD20 at checkout for 20% off your first package when you sign up for a subscription. FiberCrafty's  independently owned shops are stocked with yarn, fiber, project bags, stitch markers and more. With filter terms specific to yarn and fiber, the ability to save favorites, and a secure checkout process, it's better than a 24 hour fiber festival! For shop owners, our easy to use interface makes selling online easy. FiberCrafty is owned by one woman that has a crazy love of yarn and knitting. Greg's favorite feature? Pants are optional. Shop for your next project at FiberCrafty. NOTES Dear Listeners We would love to have YOU record and introduction to the show! You can find details in the Ravelry Group Pages. Greg's Projects Greg started and finished his Wizarding Legacy scarf in Nerd Girl Yarn. It's a birthday present for Blueberry. (project page) Greg has also been knitting prototypes for future designs. Pam's Projects Pam finished Gina's Brioche Cowl from Purl Soho. She used yarn from One Twisted Tree and Unplanned Peacock. Pam finished her Rickroll by Mary Annarella. She used yarn from The Fibre Studio at Yarns to Dye For. Pam made more swirls for her daughter's college blanket. She is up to 85 made. The pattern is Swirly Pop by Marken of the Hat and I. She is using KnitPicks Chroma Worsted. Pam also got some spinning done on her merino project. Pam started the Mash It Up Hat by Babs Ausherman so she would have something to work on in the movies. She is using leftovers from her Rickroll. FiberCrafty Sarah is based in Georgia and owns The Artful Princess. She project bags for all your favorite fandoms and lots of stitch markers, too! The weekly FiberCrafty newsletter always has a list of current coupon codes! And other fun stuff. Pam writes it, it's good. You should subscribe. The Opinionated Knitter (affiliate link) We discussed Leaflet #12, pages 66-71 featuring the V-Necked Aran Cardigan. Next up, Leaflet #13, pages 72-75. Here is the hat with all 3 patterns on it. Current/Upcoming Unraveling Events Don't forget our Elizabeth Zimmermann KAL! Have you made one of her patterns? Used a technique? Tell us about it! Upcoming Events Where You Might Find Us Blue Ridge Fiber Festival (June 7 & 8) in beautiful Sparta, NC. Some classes will be offered on June 6. Pam & Greg will be giving a talk about Elizabeth Zimmermann at the Ol' North State Knitting Guild on September 9 in Raleigh, NC. Miscellaneous Greg attended his local Stitch N' Pitch. Stitch N' Pitch looks like it used to be sponsored by TNNA, but google results now take it to a “page not found”. If you search for Stitch N' Pitch you may be able to find an event near you. Pam talked about a new book she got called Bead Crochet Jewelry. Greg used the Clasp Weft Join in his Wizarding Legacy Scarf. Pam forgot to mention it but she is using it also in the Mash It Up hat. Neil deGrasse Tyson's Podcast is called StarTalk. The episode with George Takei was about the Star Trek Legacy. Affiliate Link Disclosures This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link to Craftsy, Cooperative Press, Amazon, or Knitcrate and subsequently make a purchase, we'll receive a small commission from the sale. You pay the same, and the commissions will help cover our podcasting expenses. Our opinions are always our own, and we're never compensated to endorse any particular product or service. Find us all over the Internet Subscribe in iTunes: The Unraveling Podcast Podcast RSS Feed: Unraveling Podcast Twitter: @UnravelingPod Facebook: Unraveling Podcast Instagram: @UnravelingPodcast Ravelry Group: Unraveling Podcast Greg is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, @KnittingDaddy on Instagram, and also writes the KnittingDaddy blog. Pam is pammaher on Ravelry, @FiberCrafty and @pammaher on Instagram, and owner of the FiberCrafty  marketplace.

No outside guest tonight - some MBT thoughts on our industry, crochet conversations I wish would change, trade shows and which ones are for you, ads and why we are getting them

RSK 523 This week, Kathy is chatting with Heather Zoppetti from TNNA, all about Local Yarn Store Day, happening on April 21st! Listen for details about what we'll have at WEBS, and to learn how to find out if your LYS is participating! And don't miss Steve's Yarn Picks of the Week! (Running Time 28:00)

In this episode Kara talks to knitwear designer and regular coaching client, Francoise Danoy. Francoise is a self-proclaimed Yarn Alchemist: she transforms yarn into knitwear designs for her tribe of Fibre Muses to enjoy, and also teaches others how to become Yarn Alchemists themselves. Her mission is to evolve and grow, and right now the way she does that is by helping her Fibre Muses dive deep into themselves to find their creativity and magic. As a result of working with Francoise, a knitter can transform her yarn into a piece of fiber art, as well as discover and benefit from the magical properties of knitting, in order to create a more meaningful experience. “Knitting is a quiet kind of magic that not only allows us to take a skein of yarn and transform in into something new, but connects us to our past, helps us stay grounded in the present and shapes our future.”   - Francoise Danoy [Tweet "Inspiration abounds when designer @ArohaKnits talks business on the #PowerPurlsPodcast!"] Episode highlights:   Francoise was a guest on episode 26, and we're so happy to have her back again! Francoise is a knitwear designer living in Osaka, Japan. Her father is French and her mother is Maori. Francoise refers to herself as a yarn alchemist – she helps knitters transform their yarn into pieces of fiber art Francoise wants to inspire her fibre muses to help them feel confident about creating beautiful hand knits. She has been designing for 2.5 years, knitting for 3 years. Kara and Francoise work together with Kara’s 1:1 coaching service – they have had a monthly call for years now. Coaching gives Francoise an outside perspective on her business and lets her know she's not alone. Francoise says: When it comes to achieving goals, it’s less about succeeding or failing and more about doing the work. The accountability aspect of coaching helps Francoise with the “getting it done” portion of her goal-setting process. Francoise says that her sessions with Kara gives her a major confidence boost. She also loved getting in-person help with TNNA from Kara. Kara recommends the use of an editorial calendar to plan out your content each month and quarter. Francoise says her design process hasn’t changed over the years, but she is more efficient now. She also teaches that same process to others now so they can build a design business. How long does it take to make a design? For hats, 1-2 months, shawls 2-3 months, garments longer. The longest amount of time in the whole process is the test knitting. Kara recommends always hiring a test knitter in order to preserve your passion for knitting. Francoise says it’s still fun for her to knit her own designs, at least at this point. Francoise casts on one project, sees it all the way through, and immediately starts the next one. For her new collection, Francoise is batching by doing all the knitting, then all the pattern writing, then all the edits. Francoise likes to start her work around 9 and be finished with her non-knitting work by lunch. When she creates the sketches for her design, Fracoise tends to envision the colors at that point. Francoise prefers to use semi-solid colorways, blues, yellows, reds, purples. Her upcoming publication is going to feature more rustic and natural colors and warmer tones. Francoise  immediately started her knitting journey with the idea of incorporating Maori designs into her stitches. If she couldn't find a pattern she liked, she would make one up! This is what prompted Francoise to learn new techniques, so that she could incorporate that into her designs. For Francoise, knitting was an opportunity to reconnect with her mother’s culture and learn her own heritage. It is Francoise’s goal to help people have confidence to transform their yarn into amazing projects and make magic. Francoise is now going to a quarterly pattern collection release schedule instead of a monthly one. The biggest thing she’s struggling right now is shifting her mindset from short-term goals and deadlines to long-term. Kara recommends creating a spreadsheet to map out your goals and the timeline associated with it. Francoise is not influenced by the city where she lives (Osaka) for her design process. Francoise’s advice for the fiber arts business: "Just put yourself out there and see it through, just go for it." Mentioned in this episode: 8 steps to creating a killer design (Kara I can't find a landing page for this only a direct download?) Chelsea Fitch Francoise's Tokerau Shawl pattern Fiber Muse Alchemy kits – yarn club subscription from Francoise Swatch Studio The One Thing by Gary Keller   Learn more about Francoise and Aroha Knits: Website: arohaknits.com Facebook group: The Fibre Muse Circle Instagram: instagram.com/arohaknits     MOVE THE NEEDLE ON YOUR KNIT BIZ! Click here to sign up for a free 30-minute creative business strategy session with Kara!   Disclosure:  Please note that some of the links in this episode are affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase and there is no additional cost for you to do so.  When I make a recommendation, it is because I have personal experience with these products and have used them myself. I only recommend products I believe in and suggest them because I know they will be helpful, not because of the small commission I make if you decide to make a purchase. The commission I earn helps offset the production expenses that I incur to produce Power Purls, and by purchasing products through these links, also helps you to become a supporter of this podcast and for that, I am truly grateful.

    Meet Stacey Trock, entrepreneur, designer and founder of Fresh Stitches, a successful crochet company and membership club.Stacey also has her hand in a number of pots in the yarn industry. She's the Creative and Marketing Director for Louet North America and ... she's also a crochet/knitting and business teacher both internationally and on Craftsy, an author of multiple crochet books as well as a co-chair of the Business and Creative Services Leadership committee with TNNA. Stacy also has a  superpower, which is education and community building. Whether it's teaching someone how to use a crochet hook or instructing local yarn shops how to use social media for their shops, and she enthuses the world with her spunky, can-do-attitude.Stacey shares what it's like to run a membership club and how she went from offering physical kits and how she reimagined her club this past November to create an all encompassing club and community.   Show highlights: How Stacey began her journey dabbling with self-publishing patterns on Ravelry and Etsy Known for small whimsical crochet animal patterns How she reimagined a new way to write an easier to understand pattern The intuitive aspects of a crochet pattern In 2012, she began a membership club, offering her crochet kits Stacey goes through the paces about how she started the club The difficulties with managing a physical club Why she ended the kit club and shifted to a digital-only club How she expanded from club to an all-encompassing community Why it's important to know your audience and what they really want  The Importance of niching down Identify what you're known for Stacey shares her biggest struggle working solo Details about Business and Creative Services (BCS) for designers, tech editors, graphic designers, podcasters and bloggers.  Advice for designers walking The National NeedleArts trade show (TNNA) How to sign up for TNNA as a designer or fiber business Stacey shares details about her role as Creative and Marketing Director of Louet Yarns   Mentioned in this episode: Mei Pak and Tiny hands and Creative Hive Midwest Craftcon Louet North America   Resources: The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA)  BCS Facebook Group: Facebook.com/TNNAServices   Learn more about Stacey:   Community on the web: Freshstitches.com Stacey's online classes on Craftsy.com Instagram: @StaceyTrock Twitter: @Stacey_Trock      

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

Kyle Kunnecke is a designer living in San Francisco who just came out with a brand new book, Urban Knit Collection: 18 City-Inspired Knitting Patterns for the Modern Wardrobe. He teaches at events all over the country, including TNNA, Madrona, and Vogue Knitting LIVE, and has patterns out in numerous books and magazines. He's constantly coming up with something new, and if you've seen his work you know he's crazy about stranded knitting! Listen Live for chance to win great prizes! Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on Facebook Sponsored by:  Red Heart YarnsKnitter's MagazineCraftsyLo-Lo by Bar-MaidsErin.Lane BagsCreativebugBuffalo Wool Co.Green Mountain Spinnery

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 Coco Knits Jimmy Beans Wool Creative Knitting Magazine Round Mountain Fibers (Wholesale Only)-Drunk Yarn! Mrs. Moon (UK)-Sustainable Yarn Manos del Uruguay (Sustainable Yarn) O-Wool (Sustainable Yarn) Freia Fine Handpaints (Sustainable Yarn) ChiaoGoo-000 Twist Mini Interchangeable Set Denise Needles-Sharp Short Tips Set Addi Turbos Coco Knits-Knitter’s Keep Kit Loopy Mango   For more episodes like this visit: www.PowerPurlsPodcast Subscribe on iTunes Get Kara's FREE 8-Steps to Creating a Killer Design Proposal

Episode 14: Greg's Not Wearing Any Pants. Avert Your Eyes, Children!   In Episode 14, Greg and Joey talk about TV, TNNA, and tours. Sponsor Special thanks to our sponsor: Coveted Yarn! Coveted Yarn is a local yarn shop in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and is an authorized dealer of our favorite knitting needles: Karbonz, by Knitter's Pride. In addition to a great variety of widely distributed yarn, Coveted Yarn offers their own signature line of yarn — Flat Rocks Yarn, which is dyed by the shop owner's sister. You can also find McPorter Farms knitting accessories and buttons at Coveted Yarn. World-wide shipping is available. Contact them via their website or at 1-978-282-8809 for more information and to place an order. Notes Giveaway: In celebration of the Coveted Yarn sponsorship, we are giving away a skein of Flat Rocks Yarn and a collection of McPorter Farms knitting accessories. Listen to the episode for details, and sign up on the thread in our Ravelry group. Thanks to Coveted Yarn for providing the prize!  Podcasts: Knit. Dye. Read. Twinset Designs Actually Knitting Down Cellar Studio Ewe University Podcast Projects: Joey is working on a scarf for his son. Unnamed Shawl — Greg finished knitting his new shawl design. He's working on getting a pattern created now. April Showers Socks — the socks Greg currently has on his needles (project page). Knitted Patchwork Recipe by Martine Ellis — Greg's Scrappy Sock Yarn Blanket (project page). the beekeeper's quilt by Tiny Owl Knits — Greg's other scrap sock yarn project (project page). Devil's Churn Hat by Tina Johnston — Greg cast that on this weekend (project page). Ongoing Events Down Cellar Studio Splash Pad Party: we're the official pool boys. June 1 – July 31 Actually Knitting PalKal: Greg's Scrappy Sock Yarn Preemie Hat pattern counts for the KAL. June 15 – September 15 County Fair KAL: enter your fiber-related crafts in your local fair, then enter them in our KAL. Past Events TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) — Greg attended the Summer Show and talked about his adventures. Lots of generous people and companies gave him items to use as prizes for upcoming KALs. Lars Rains, author of Modern Lopi (affiliate link) Katrinkles Knitting Jewelry LYDIA Yarn Aroha Knits Varian Brandon Jessica Anderson Ravelry The YarnIt Creative With Clay Stitch Sprouts Franklin Habit, author of I Dream Of Yarn (affiliate link) Holiday Yarns The Fiber Seed World Wide Knit In Public Day: Saturday June 18. Greg was in Cary, NC at the Craft Public House at 2pm, then Warm N' Fuzzy afterwards. Michelle from Actually Knitting organized this great opportunity and was there, too. Joan from Lollipop Yarn was there, too. Sewing Vanessa Wings — Greg made these butterfly wings for Blueberry Joey's been working on skirts, and has had some adventures in pattern printing. Upcoming Events Georgia Fiber Fest — September 8-10 in Columbus, GA: Joey is planning to attend TV Time With Joey The Americans Call The Midwife Detectorists Vicious Game of Thrones  Misc: Good Morning, Vietnam — movie starring Robin Williams The Varsity — What'll ya have! Knitter's Pride Karbonz — our favorite needles and imaginary sponsor Loopville — Joey visited this yarn shop when he was in Knoxville Knoxville Soap & Candle — Joey also visited this shop while in Knoxville Knitting For Anarchists — Joey bought this book Tour de France  

So....it's been a while since we've gabbed at you, hasn't it? Our apologies for the delay in getting this episode out; Allison was away at TNNA and our kids are in the final push for the end of the year, so it’s been a bit manic. So for this episode we thought it might be best to have a catch up. Shout outs, news and events: 1) HUGE shout out to everyone who joined us for our first ever WWKIPDay event. It was great to see so many new faces and we hope to see a lot of you back at knit night. Sorry we forgot to take pictures! Ack! 2) Shout out too to Karie Westermann, who has funded her Kickstarter for her book, This Thing of Paper. Karie has more than doubled her fundraising goal and we couldn’t be more pleased for her. Kudos Karie! 3) Another shout out to our friend Carmen from A Yarn Story in Bath. This week in the UK people are voting on whether or not the UK should stay in the EU. Carmen wrote a blog post about how a Brexit could potentially affect her business. Take a look. 4) Our awesome podcasting pal Jo Milmine of the Shinybees podcast won this year's Best UK Podcast award. We're well chuffed for her. Congrats Jo! 25-26 June - Woolfest, Cumbria 1st July - tickets for GLYC 2016 go on sale!!! 16-17th July - Yarningham, a new show in Birmingham 16-17th July - Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival, Jyväskylä, Finland 30-31st July - Fibre East, Ampthill, Bedfordshire  GLYC 2016 update: Less than two weeks to go before tickets are on sale! We’re still looking for volunteers to help make this event great so if you think you might be able to help us out, please get in touch! Tickets will be £18 and you can get them directly through our website at yarninthecity.com. All net proceeds from the event will again be donated to Refuge, and we will also be collecting knitted items for Knit for Peace. Every knitted item gets you an entry into the raffle for a huge basket of goodies! London Craft Guide update: The London Craft Guide is now available in France! The book is still in English though… You can now find it at Boutique Le Comptoir and l’Oisive Thé et Tricot and La Bien Aimée in Paris. Our London Craft Guide CAL (Craft-along) is in full swing! Be sure to tag your social media shares with #LCGCraftalong on Instagram and Twitter, or LCGCraftalong on Ravelry.   What we’re working on Rachel has had a bout of startitis. She's still working on a test knit for Kettle Yarn Co., but has also cast on for the Kippen Cardigan by Kat Goldin, a Neat Ripple baby blanket from Lucy at Attic24, and the Talisman Shawl from Helen Stewart's The Shawl Society. Allison is still working on the Toddler Hoodie, and is recovering from TNNA. Oh the yarn fumes! Catching up: Boy is there catching up! TNNA, new jobs, summer plans, and more.   *** Thanks so much for listening! Please leave us a comment or send us an email at hello@yarninthecity.com with your thoughts, or let us know what you think via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio (and please consider leaving a review for us!), or download us directly from the Yarn in the City website.   On Wednesday nights you can find us at knit night at The Goat on the Rise pub on Battersea Rise, close to Clapham Junction station in SW London. We meet from 7pm to around 10pm. The food is great and the knitters are friendly. Join us!  Music (all available on NoiseTrade): Come to Light - Arkells Bittersweet Summer - Stephan Lucka

Episode 13: Magical Love Pants In Episode 13, Greg and Joey talk about knitting superpowers, the next wave in crochet fashion, and Joey's latest hobby. Sponsor Special thanks to our new sponsor: Coveted Yarn! Coveted Yarn is a local yarn shop in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and is an authorized dealer of our favorite knitting needles: Karbonz, by Knitter's Pride. In addition to a great variety of widely distributed yarn, Coveted Yarn offers their own signature line of yarn — Flat Rocks Yarn, which is dyed by the shop owner's sister. You can also find McPorter Farms knitting accessories and buttons at Coveted Yarn. World-wide shipping is available. Contact them via their website or at 1-978-282-8809 for more information and to place an order. Notes Giveaway: In celebration of the Coveted Yarn sponsorship, we are giving away a skein of Flat Rocks Yarn and a collection of McPorter Farms knitting accessories. Listen to the episode for details, and sign up on the thread in our Ravelry group. Thanks to Coveted Yarn for providing the prize!  Podcasts: Actually Knitting Down Cellar Studio Ewe University Podcast Knitting Pipeline The Knitmore Girls Twinset Designs Projects: Knitted Patchwork Recipe by Martine Ellis — Greg's Scrappy Sock Yarn Blanket (project page). the beekeeper's quilt by Tiny Owl Knits — Greg's other scrap sock yarn project (project page). Egg To Owl Reversible Toy — the toy that Greg made after attending the Susan B. Anderson workshop (project page). Events Down Cellar Studio Splash Pad Party: we're the official pool boys. June 1 – July 31 Actually Knitting PalKal: Greg's Scrappy Sock Yarn Preemie Hat pattern counts for the KAL. June 15 – September 15 World Wide Knit In Public Day: Saturday June 18 Greg plans to be in Cary, NC at the Craft Public House at 2pm, then Warm N' Fuzzy afterwards. Michelle from Actually Knitting organized this great opportunity and will be there, too. Stay tuned for information about the County Fair KAL  Misc: The Princess Bride — Greg's favorite movie. “I Love Everybody” by Lyle Lovett Riders In The Sky produce the Riders Radio Theater podcast Knitter's Pride Karbonz — our favorite needles and imaginary sponsor Knitting Superpowers: Paula's crew at Knitting Pipeline talked about their super powers in Knitting Pipeline Episode 250. The Knitmore Girls talked about theirs in Knitmore Girls Podcast Episode 378. After we recorded, but before we released our episode, we noticed that Ellen and Jan talked about theirs in Twinset Designs Episode 78. What would your superpowers be? Leave a comment in the episode thread and let us know. Mystery Men — fantastic movie about superheroes with weird powers I Love This Yarn — Hobby Lobby's house yarn, which Joey found in the perfect orange that he's been looking for. Ukulele World Congress — Joey had a great time attending UWC again this year. The Clay Purl in Nashville, Indiana– Joey visited this yarn shop while at UWC. The Shabby Sheep and Ewe in Columbus, Indiana — Joey also visited this yarn shop. Knitters Nook in Columbus, Indiana — the third yarn shop Joey visited. Fibre Space — the yarn shop that hosted the Susan B. Andersonworkshops that Greg attended TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) — Greg attended the Summer Show and will be talking about those adventures in a future episode. The Americans — based on the recommendation in “TV Time With Joey,” Greg is enjoying the first season of this TV show. Joey is bummed that Season 4 just ended and is looking forward to Season 5. The Streisand effect Tom Petty sings both “The Waiting” and “American Girl“ Poison sings “Talk Dirty To Me“ Joey and friends do Poison's song Talk Dirty To Me

In which we talk about great fun had at Zombie Knitpocalypse and The National Needlearts Association Summer Convention, farm stuff, not much knitting, super powers and all the winners from phase one of the UNKAL!!

On this special episode of the podcast we’ve got an interview with designer Karie Westermann and her new project, This Thing of Paper, which launched this past week on Kickstarter. Also on the podcast we’ve got an update on what we’re working on, our upcoming craft-a-long and more details about our get together for WWKIPDay. Shout outs, news and events Shout out to our lovely knit night who just keep going even when we’re not there. Shout out too to MJ who was thinning out her craft resources and gave us a great crochet stitch bible after hearing us chat about our newfound love for crochet. 1 June – routes announced for this year’s GLYC - woot!!!! 1 June – join us for the London Craft Guide KAL! Knit or sew whatever project you’d like from the London Craft Guide. Or can be more than one project!  4 June - Leeds Wool Festival 7 June - Allison will be doing a London Craft Guide trunk show at The Purple Purl in Toronto on her way to TNNA! 18 June - WWKIP Day! We also hope you’ll join us at the Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park from 1:30-4:30pm. Please give us a shout and let us know if you're going to be joining us on the day so we can keep an eye out for you! 25-26 June - Woolfest, Cumbria What we’re working on Rachel is binding off her Coffee Date with Mark Ruffalo Shawl and contemplating what she'll do for the LCG CAL. Allison has sleeves to go on her twist pullover. Will she make it in time for TNNA?  This Thing of Paper Karie Westermann was in the London area last weekend teaching in Hackney and Kent. We caught up with her before she caught her bus back to Glasgow to chat with her about her book project This Thing of Paper which was launched earlier this week on Kickstarter. *** Thanks so much for listening! Please leave us a comment or send us an email at hello@yarninthecity.com with your thoughts, or let us know what you think via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio (and please consider leaving a review for us!), or download us directly from the Yarn in the City website.   On Wednesday nights you can find us at knit night at The Goat on the Rise pub on Battersea Rise, close to Clapham Junction station in SW London. We meet from 7pm to around 10pm. The food is great and the knitters are friendly. Join us!  Music (all available on NoiseTrade): Charmer - Aimee Mann Come to Light - Arkells

On today's episode I welcome Barry Klein, owner of Trendsetter Yarns. Barry grew up in the knitting industry by working in his mother's yarn shop. Barry learned how to design patterns and eventually began designing knitwear for his yarn shop customers and the movie industry. Barry and his Mom started Trendsetter with the idea of bringing the most exciting textured and fashion yarns to the knitting customer. In 2012, Lotus Yarns joined the Trendsetter family, offering a collection of luxury fibers. 24 years since the start of Trendsetter, Barry continues to guide the company and create on-trend yarns and knitting patterns. Barry has published 5 knitting books, appeared on a variety of craft television shows, is a knitting spokesperson and teacher at Stitches Events, Vogue Knitting Live, and trunk shows. Barry has been a voted member of “Top 10 Men who Knit Throughout History.” For more episodes like this visit: www.PowerPurlsPodcast To subscribe on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/power-purls-podcast/id1043956186 To get Kara's FREE 8-Steps to Creating a Killer Design Proposal: https://karagottwarner.leadpages.co/leadbox/145c10c73f72a2%3A166d5aeedb46dc/5730450056151040/ Support the show! www.Patreon.com/PowerPurlsPodcast

This episode is a little later than usual as we wanted to bring you a report from Allison’s roadtrip into Devon to visit the John Arbon Textiles Mill as part of their Open Weekend. We’ve also got some other exciting roadtrip news to share with you too! Shout outs, News and Events A HUGE shout out to Rachel G. and Lucy O. who invited Allison to tag along with them to the John Arbon Open Weekend. Also to @anelalei in Hawaii, who Tweeted at us about enjoying the podcast - we're glad to hear it! Congratulations to I Knit London who celebrated their 10th anniversary this past weekend! 1 June – join us for the London Craft Guide KAL! Knit or sew whatever project you’d like from the London Craft Guide. Or can be more than one project!  4 June - Leeds Wool Festival 4-5th June: Wool Fair, Ickworth 7 June - Allison will be hanging out at knit night at The Purple Purl in Toronto on her way to TNNA! 18 June - WWKIP Day! We also hope you’ll join us at the Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park from 1:30-4:30pm. Please give us a shout and let us know if you're going to be joining us on the day so we can keep an eye out for you! 25-26 June - Woolfest, Cumbria, GLYC 2016 update Route info will be published on June 1st and tickets will go on sale on July 1st. We’re adding a few new shops this year, including Stag & Bow, the iconic Liberty and Ray Stitch. Stay tuned for the routes for more details! What we’re working on Rachel has been dyeing. A lot. And slowly working on the Incredible Hullk shawl from Episode 35 which is ginormous and...hulk-like. Instead of a knitting FO, this episode Allison has a sewing FO - woot! It's gorgeous, and matches her Lush cardigan perfectly. She's also working on the Twist Pullover by Cecily Glowik MacDonald from knit.wear Spring 2012, in SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Cherry. Hoping to finish for TNNA... Roadtrip! In which Allison takes a drive down to Devon, gets audio of Frankie and John, and ends up with a Mill Membership and some yarny presents. We also announce our upcoming autumn retreat, also in Devon! In collaboration with Made on Holiday, we are hosting Knitting in the Country with Yarn in the City, a weekend-long event on 30 September - 2 October. The venue is fabulous (really!) and we will be teaching some dyeing classes and colourwork classes and how to fix your mistakes classes. Check out the website for more details and we hope you can join us in October! *** Thanks so much for listening! Please leave us a comment or send us an email at hello@yarninthecity.com with your thoughts, or let us know what you think viaTwitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio (and please consider leaving a review for us!), or download us directly from the Yarn in the City website.   On Wednesday nights you can find us at knit night at The Goat on the Rise pub on Battersea Rise, close to Clapham Junction station in SW London. We meet from 7pm to around 10pm. The food is great and the knitters are friendly. Join us!  Music (all available on NoiseTrade): You're My Friend - Midnight Pilot Charmer - Aimee Mann

Welcome to another Ask Kara & Tabetha Anything episode! In this off-the-cuff convo-style episode, Tabetha and I chat about Creative Knitting Magazine, TNNA, Sweet Georgia Yarn, and a doozy of a question from caller Jenny Clark. Also, this episode is the first of it's kind and a little daring for us because it's raw and unedited! It's just us, right out the the gate from the moment I hit record. You're getting it all...no intro music, no editing. The bottom line is, I know you want good content. It's not about fancy background music. We think you'll really like this radical new approach! For more episodes like this visit: www.PowerPurlsPodcast To subscribe on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/power-purls-podcast/id1043956186 To get Kara's FREE 8-Steps to Creating a Killer Design Proposal: https://karagottwarner.leadpages.co/leadbox/145c10c73f72a2%3A166d5aeedb46dc/5730450056151040/ Support the show! www.Patreon.com/PowerPurlsPodcast

Have you considered joining The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA)? In this episode, I interview knitting teacher, designer, and tech editor, Beth Whiteside, about the benefits of membership, newly formed Business and Creative Services sector, and power tips for getting the most out of the TNNA trade show.  About Beth Beth Whiteside is a knitting teacher, designer, and technical editor whose curiosity has led her to visit many countries (stranded color, EPS, k1b, lace, ...) on the knitting-world map. Originally from New England, she now lives in San Francisco, where mountains, ocean, and Haight Street are always good sources of inspiration. She has been teaching locally since 2003, and nationally since 2005. What she loves most about teaching is finding ways to make light bulbs pop on in her students' heads and helping them grow as knitters.   You can learn more about Beth by visiting her website,  Beth Whiteside Design. You can also follow her online on Facebook | Instagram | Ravelry | Twitter  About the interview In today's episode, I talk with Beth about the evolution of her own business, Beth Whiteside Design, and her involvement with The National NeedleArts Association for the past 10 years. We talk about Affiliate membership, attending the trade shows, and the newly formed Business and Creative Service sector, which focuses on individuals and agencies that offer creative and business services to the needlearts industry including authors, bookkeepers/accountants, copy editors, designers, fiber artists, finishers, graphic designers, illustrators, marketing specialists, photographers, teachers (business­-to-­business and consumer), technical editors, website developers, and those in video production. Resources mentioned in this episode You can find The National NeedleArts Association online at its website. Follow TNNA on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter. Links to other TNNA resources we mentioned: You can learn more about membership types here. Most regular listeners will probably fall into the Affiliate member category, with the exception of indie dyers, spinners, and other yarnies (and yarn shop owners). For yarnies who sell directly to consumers, Retail membership is less expensive than Wholesale membership, but doesn't allow you to exhibit at the trade shows. There is also a Student membership option. You can find a list of upcoming TNNA events, including trade shows and webinars, here. I also mentioned a previous episode that you may want to go back and listen to: Episode 33: 7 Steps for Pitching Your Ideas for Workshops, Presentations, and Panel Sessions to Conferences and Events   If you enjoyed this episode The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in April, 2016. Be aware that content may be outdated. If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (Amazon | Gumroad) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (Amazon | Gumroad).

First in the podcast, some thoughts on the wide variety of niche markets we have in this fiber world.  Then I tell about my three Spinzilla projects and how I figured my yardage for submission to their total amounts. There is more music in today's podcast, and it  is from Musicalley First interlude is from Space Agency and is called Godzilla. Middle break music is from the FuMP, always a fun romp, and is also called Godzilla (yes just pretend it is really Spinzilla).  Since this group has lots and lots of songs, find this specific one by searching Godzilla on Musicalley. The closing song is by Tracy Jane Comer and is Drive for Miles.  I think of it as Spin for Miles since that is one of the measurements used by Spinzilla.  Lovely song, whether you are driving or spinning.

A Wool Gathering fiber event is at Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs Ohio every year on the third weekend in Sept.  I had the fun of attending this year, and give a review of my trip. Lots of links for things I mention in the podcast: A Wool Gathering website TNNA website Spinzilla website Spinzilla FAQ Spinzilla rules for measuring yarn Woven Thoughts blog Fiber Optic Yarns Noah's Landing Yarns National Custom Spinworks Ed the Wheel Healer can be contacted at erowe132 @ aol. com Today's podcast music is from musicalley and is by Jon Caspi and the First Guns.  My thanks to them for letting me use this song as the intro to the podcast.

There is a new yarn on the market that was all the buzz at TNNA market. Let's find out more about Pepperberry Knits Yarn as she talks to Marly.  Listen Live for chance to win great prizes! Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook Sponsored by: Knitter's MagazineCraftsyIndian Lake ArtisansDecade by Drew EmborskyBijou Basin RanchKnitCrateKristin Omdahl Bamboo So FineBuffalo Wool Co.Green Mountain Spinnery

Charlotte Brontë's , chapter 36. Our reader, continues to rock Jane Eyre for us! If the CraftLit iTunes feed ever goes down, please head over to the . Thank you to all who voted to support and at ! New option eplained. Our Sponsors: Sponsored Audiobook link: Want to add an audiobooks with benefits experience? . Please respond to this from Libsyn, our audio host. This demographic information will help provide relevant advertising. NOTE: you can leave the email blank, all other questions must be filled out. More Heather: I was just interviewed about This is a Squiddle (see right), a character from . I want to sell this pattern but can't seem to get an answer re: licensing or permission from . Help? Recent interviews: , . Thank you to everyone who came to the  and the students who took my sock heel workshop class. If you our your guild or LYS would like me to come to your area to speak about , knitting, and why it makes you better, all you have to do is . Subscribe to my calendar and learn more about my classes and speaking engagements . Crafty News: The second volume of the  series, , is now available! The print edition is on its way. Please ! You can also to receive news about upcoming books in this series. Preview the patterns on or . Hunter Hammersen is our special guest today. You can find her and her online (and you might catch a glipse of her if you're at TNNA). Don't forget to leave a comment below if you want a chance to win a copy of her newest book —it's just gorgeous gorgeousness. YUM!   General Newsy Bits: from on ()—YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE IT. . By Our and What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit? Illustrator through May 29th. —the more that comes in the more cool stuff can come out of their brains! Plus it's a really cool book! Curious about ? Listener Henriette Roued-Cunliffe explains.  is spiffified—and holds some stand-bys: , , and  originally available free to  are now available for purchase.  is also there. And best, ! The audio has been completely reprocessed for an improved books with benefitsexperience. If you want to subscribe to get exclusive subscriber-only premium content, you can  or . Same content, either way.     grab the code   Book talk starts at 27:30 min you can listen .

Part 2, Chapters 4–5 of Gulliver's Travels. Fun stuff: I'm now officially teaching my Sock Heels classes at site in two mini and one full course (more affordable and more customizeable)! Come and have fun with me! And QUICKLY have fun with ! Deadline approaches! My for my destash-o-rama still rolling along! * * *Don't forget to sign up for the new CraftLit mailing list which will allow me to get announcements out to you (like: Surprise! I have a Ning Class going up!). Enter your email and click the button below. I will never, ever give or sell your email information to anyone. * * * New June incentive, gorgeous embroidery kids from Mighty Distractible AND a Copy of KCC!. Donate for a chance to win! And remember, if you subscribe you will get links to Cheddar, Wensleydale patterns AND new exclusive audio every week! This week, chapters 15–16 of . Defarge Two——this time in color!—is in pre-orders! * * * , master of Gulliver. The end.   grab the code Book talk starts at 4:15 and you can listen to it .

Part 2, Chapter 3 of Gulliver's Travels. Fun stuff: I'll be teaching at  and also teaching my Sock Heels class at  site in  (more affordable and more customizeable)! Come and have fun with me! And have fun with  I'm on it! My  for my ! , (YES!) and more coming from Hunter, in  on its way,  with the split-shaft hook (heaven), Valerie sent in and Tara sent in  and . The is up! Gulliver Art!    Don't forget to sign up for the new CraftLit mailing list which will allow me to get announcements out to you (like: Surprise! I have a  going up!). Enter your email below and click the button below.  I will never, ever give or sell your email information to anyone. * * * New June incentive, gorgeous embroidery kits from  AND now a copy of , too (you can see the cover above)!  Donate for a chance to win! And remember, if you subscribe you will get links to  and patterns AND new exclusive audio every week! This week, chapters 10–12 of . Defarge 2—”—this time in color!—is in pre-orders! * * * , master of Gulliver. The end.    grab the code   Book talk begins right away. You can listen to the audio .  

Intro bits and Chapter 1 of Gullvier's Travels. Join the conversation by tweeting a response to this question by using a hashtag (): Twittering Question: What is your favorite moment from the beginning of Gulliver's Travels? (We'll have more interesting questions soon--this was a big BIG podcast to get out. My brain will be back shortly) I will randomly select a name from this episode's responders and whoever I choose will get their very own WWMDfK? bracelet. And, NEW! We have a  so you can tell me what you REALLY want! And we have a new mailing list which will allow me to get announcements out to you (like when I—SURPRISE—find out I'll be at MDSW and stuff like that).Type your email below and hit "enter." I will never, ever give or sell your email information to anyone. * * * SFF Audio—I've hit the big time! Listen to and SFF with me here. And then go take a look at Tara Swiger's book . Love! Her! * * * Cheddar, the CraftLit Critter (pattern)! Or Purchase a completed, knitted Cheddar from  for $36 via  (coming soon!) And April/May 2012 incentive? Your veddy own Defarge PAC (Don't Lose Your Head!) t-shirt. Donate or subscribe to be put into the running for a shirt! * * * Order via or purchase from Amazon. * * * Defarge 2——this time in color!—is in pre-orders! 25+ patterns of yarny goodness (sweaters, mittens, a devilishly cute layette, and more all await you!). The good people at Cooperative Press have found a local printer who can bring you our new book still printed in the USA! Mwah! Have I told you how much I love indie publishers? And speaking of Cooperative Press! Two new goodies for you! First, the . Second, the ! Both of which yours truly will be working on! Yay! What is CP saying about the Magazine? Let me share what CP says: Our intentions are as follows: as with all things CP, we compensate our contributors fairly, work with indie designers and dyers, and generally keep great content coming at you; we will be publishing 3x per year (though we’re doing a special “issue zero” in time for TNNA, the big pro fiber arts tradeshow in June) via our own app. This app will eventually also offer other Cooperative Press content, too. Ebooks, special issues, etc.; by popular demand and in response to some early feedback, we’ll do a PDF version of the magazine, which will be available via our website and Ravelry. It won’t have the video/audio/interactive functionality of the main version, but for readers who aren’t interested in reading via app, it’ll offer access to most of the content; each year, we’ll collect the magazine content into a book book -- think the way or Martha Stewart republishes their "best-of" each year. Hopefully having multiple access points for the content will make everyone happy. And by having several digital options, it makes it possible to buy it from anywhere (even Australia and the UK!), because as we’ve learned selling books, not everyone feels like paying the (frankly absurd) postage rates these days. It makes me ill to have to charge half again the cost of a print book just to ship it to Europe, and from a purely capitalistic perspective, I’d rather you put that $12 towards another one of our ebooks! :) And, more happiness—the husband gets more , too! Yay books! Yay literate people! * * * And my new pattern (that I'm so proud of!): Hunger Games-inspired Life and Death socks—designed for those of us who tend to give their socks a beating (more details on). * * * , I think you'll agree, rocks the Gulliver text. grab the code And, of course, I'm racking up moments of the usual start-of-book zeitgeist. (Have you seen the advertisement yet? Thank you, Jill!) Book talk starts at 28:30 and you can listen to it .

BONUS EPISODE! "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald—part 2. Join the conversation by tweeting a response to this question by using a hashtag (): Question: What is your favorite bit from the second half of "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz"? I will randomly select a name from this episode's responders and whoever I choose will get their very own WWMDfK? bracelet. * * * Defarge 2——this time in color!—is in pre-orders! 25+ patterns of yarny goodness (sweaters, mittens, a devilishly cute layette, and more all await you!). The good people at Cooperative Press have found a local printer who can bring you our new book still printed in the USA! Mwah! Have I told you how much I love indie publishers? And speaking of Cooperative Press! Two new goodies for you! First, the . Second, the ! Both of which yours truly will be working on! Yay! What is CP saying about the Magazine? Let me share what CP said: Our intentions are as follows: as with all things CP, we compensate our contributors fairly, work with indie designers and dyers, and generally keep great content coming at you; we will be publishing 3x per year (though we’re doing a special “issue zero” in time for TNNA, the big pro fiber arts tradeshow in June) via our own app. This app will eventually also offer other Cooperative Press content, too. Ebooks, special issues, etc.; by popular demand and in response to some early feedback, we’ll do a PDF version of the magazine, which will be available via our website and Ravelry. It won’t have the video/audio/interactive functionality of the main version, but for readers who aren’t interested in reading via app, it’ll offer access to most of the content; each year, we’ll collect the magazine content into a book book -- think the way or Martha Stewart republishes their "best-of" each year. Hopefully having multiple access points for the content will make everyone happy. And by having several digital options, it makes it possible to buy it from anywhere (even Australia and the UK!), because as we’ve learned selling books, not everyone feels like paying the (frankly absurd) postage rates these days. It makes me ill to have to charge half again the cost of a print book just to ship it to Europe, and from a purely capitalistic perspective, I’d rather you put that $12 towards another one of our ebooks! :) And, more happiness—the husband gets more , too! Yay books! Yay literate people! * * * And my new pattern (that I'm so proud of!): Hunger Games-inspired Life and Death socks—designed for those of us who tend to give their socks a beating. (more details on) Let me know what you thought of the movie by tweeting a response using this hashtag (): Question: What did you think of the Hunger Games movie"? (Thank you , for the idea—and ditto on selecting a name for a bracelet!) * * * , Zora Neale Hurston's lovely Their Eyes Were Watching God. Soon and I'll have Gulliver ready for you. I'm racking up moments of the usual start-of-book zeitgeist. (Have you seen the advertisement yet? Thank you, Jill!) Woven Fabric Social Media Icon Set by Book talk starts at 11:55 and you can listen to it .

Last weekend Alisha, Stacey, and Jenny attended The National Needlearts Association winter show held in Phoenix, Arizona. This industry trade show is put on several times a year and lets venders, yarn shop owners, and designers connect with each other as well as find new and exciting yarns and accessories. As much as we enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine, we also loved chatting with all of the friends that stopped by our booth! While being around so many wonderful designers, Jenny was able to set aside some time to chat with a few designers that are part of the Knit Picks IDP program including Audrey Knight, Stephannie Tallent, and Sarah Wilson. Hear all about how they started knitting and transitioned into designing in this behind the scenes sneak peek at TNNA!

After a 6-week hiatus (from recording and blogging, not working!), we finally have a chance to post again.In this podcast episode:1) we get ready for the TNNA show2) I cram to get 2 projects done to wear at the show3) check out the cabling-with-no-cable-needle method videoThe National Needle Arts Association is a trade organization that most people involved in making/wholesaling/retailing yarn belong to. There are many designers, teachers, and publishers who are also members. The organization hosts 2 large shows, with a couple of smaller ones, every year. We exhibit at the 2 larger shows. The June show is where we showcase our fall/winter yarns, along with any new designs and accessories.We begin the packing process in early May, with me coming up with last minute display ideas, and with Joyce pulling her hair out and gritting her teeth to accommodate these requests --- she is in charge of making sure everything is included in our crates, and I am in charge of making sure I drive her crazy. We have the perfect relationship.So, that is our excuses for going 6 weeks without a podcast. I really enjoy the recording process (and Joyce does too) and wish we could do it once a week, but unfortunately, it will continue to be on an as-we-can basis. Hopefully you will see it as a nice surprise, sort of like getting flowers here and there, just because :-)Back to the trade show process. Our crates got picked up about 1 1/2 weeks before we arrived and were waiting for us in the booth space the morning of set-up. I heard of a small company that came from South America and because of an erupting volcano (how dare it) that disrupted flying, their display items only made their appearance on Saturday morning, mere hours before the show was to officially open. THAT is my recurring nightmare! I am just glad it wasn't us dealing with that. I would have surely required a few slaps from Joyce to make me snap out of it!Here are a few photos of us setting up the booth. I took them using my iPad2 and I have to say that the on-board camera stinks the big one. See how grainy they look? And while I was taking them, they looked really nice on the screen. Not so now. So, sorry for that snafu. I think you can see the process well enough, though, from the very beginning where we started hanging our black curtains (first photo), to the finished look (last 2 photos). We had help from Jennifer who lives near Columbus and knits samples for us (beautifully), and Liz, our sales rep for Minnesota. We started at 8:30 am and were done by noon (woohoo, a record for us, thank you very much ladies). The infamous crates (much discussed on the podcast) are featured in the 2nd photo. Oh, and it's Joyce in the 3rd photo making a cameo appearance.The show went well. Those markets have been slow the last few years, but this one showed a definite upswing. Attending shows is a pricey proposition, both for exhibitors, and for buyers. The shop owners that came were there to buy. Not too many tire kickers this time around. That gave the show a nice upbeat atmosphere, and folks went home feeling recharged with optimism and inspiration.We are introducing 2 new yarns for the fall: Meadow Silk and Ty-Dy Superkid. We already have the Meadow Silk in stock (70% highland wool/30% silk), ready to ship to a store near you. The 6 accompanying patterns are being completed right now and will be available by the end of June (next week).The yarn has a nice twist especially designed to prevent PILLING! Don't you just hate to spend $$ on a nice yarn, and hours knitting a sweater only to have the fabric pill after one or two wearings? So do we! So instead of designing a single ply yarn that looks real nice in the ball but will pill the first time you wear your sweater, we came up with this yarn. It feels a bit crispy in the hank, but it softens up nicely with steam blocking (apply a wet dishtowel to your work, and place a hot iron on the towel --- you should hear some hissing sound). It works wonders with this yarn. And that is a perfect example why you should not always judge a yarn by the feel before it's knitted and blocked. Ask your yarn shop owner if they have a blocked swatch or finished garment for you to fondle.See what nice twist it has? And the sheen is from the 30% silk content. The close up makes it look quite hairy, but it really isn't. It's pretty smooth, actually.Ty-Dy Superkid is a laceweight blend of superkid mohair, wool and nylon. We selected the 7 favorite Ty-Dy Wool and Ty-Dy Socks colors and applied them to this new yarn. One ball makes the Kurly Kid Scarf.Cute, isn't it?Just look at those beautiful colors...yum! This yarn will begin shipping to shops at the end of July.The word for fall and winter is "Accessories." So I came up with lots of new shawl, capelet, and hat patterns. Here's a sampling of some of those:From left to right, the Crayon Shawlette, the Linus Capelet and Hat, and the Bowties Scarf. All of these patterns are available now (got those done at least...still have more to go!)Joyce fessed up to having an ongoing allover Alice Starmore cable sweater on the needles for 2 years! Every stitch is twisted both on the right and wrong sides, and it's been taking her one hour to work 1" of fabric. After I showed her my no-cable-needle-cable method, she says she's picked up considerable speed. And as promised in the last podcast, here's the how-to video where I demonstrate the technique:I think it works pretty well and I doubt I'll be using a cable or double pointed needle to work my cables ever again!Oh, and one more thing. The Knit One, Crochet Too Facebook page is up to 886 followers. If we reach 1000 people by July 4th, I will randomly select someone out of those 1000 people to win a kit of the Bowties Scarf (see above, right image)! So be sure to join and get your friends to join, too, so we can reach that milestone in time!Hélène

Kathy & Steve discuss TNNA. Steve shares new yarns & closeouts. (Running Time 27:50)

This show is chock full of interviews from the Summer TNNA 2009. If that isn’t enough, check out the live feed post here. Many thanks to Buffalo Gold for taking me in and letting me go to the show. Interviews Chrissy Gardiner of Gardiner Yarn Works talks about her designs and new book Toe-Up! Patterns … Continue reading "IAPM68 – Summer TNNA 2009 Spectacular"

This week's episode has been sponsored by: This week: A wide selection of wheels from Louet, Schacht and Ashford for in-store pickup or shipment.. Worldwide shipping is available. Mention that you’re a listener and they’ll include Knitmore Girls swag with your order. All new subscribers receive a free gift from Eucalan as our way of saying thanks for supporting Verena Knitting! Use subscription code: KNITMG Events: (00:30)We will be at the Sock Summit! August 6-9th, Oregon Convention Center. Portland, Oregon.On the Needles: (2:16)Gigi thanks Dr. Gemma (and the Fiber Collective) for their hospitality during WWKIP day. Gigi replies to Episode 57 ("Now with more Sparkle").Gigi has unearthed a pair of unfinished vanilla socks. She has used a channel island cast-on. Gigi applies a sewing solution to knit picot edging. (She recommends going down one needle size, do the picot row, and then go up to the needle size that you're planning to knit the sock on.) She is knitting it out of the Fancy Image Yarns in the "Giants" colorway.Jasmin has only been working on her Katarina sweater. She knit the sweater on US size 6 (4mm) needles (in the Tess Yarns Silk and Merino), and is knitting the collar on US size 3 (3.25mm) needles, and is excited about photographing it finished with the Designs by Romi closures.Gigi laments having no "grab and go" knitting. She talks about some new sock yarn (Berroco Sox Metallic) in a denim colorway, with some sparkle. She plans on knitting a pair of sparkly Mesmers.Jasmin has finished a few pairs of socks, and has picked up some new sock yarn. She has picked up some Dream in Color Starry (in Grey Tabby) and Dream in Color Smooshy in Happy Forest. She also picked up some Claudia's Handpaint Silk for some lace knitting.Gigi is knitting some of the Abstract Fiber Supersock (in Lady Macbeth), which she is planning on finishing soon. Gigi is knitting on her second Coriolis (in mystery Trekking), and has ripped back a sweater and is repurposing the yarn into a baby blanket.Mother Knows Best: (24:26)We discuss reviving knitting mojo.Step 1: Stash dive.Step 2: Check your Ravelry queue.Step 3: In Ravelry, go into your "Friends" page, and select the "Friends Activity" tab.Step 4: Profit.Gigi recommends working in a different medium to kick-start knitting mojo. Jasmin also recommends finishing off UFOs. Or, bake cookies!When Knitting Attacks: (29:12)Gigi continues to try and work her way through the "Little Box of Socks". She chose a yarn that was too busy for the lace pattern, so the socks have been "auf'd". Gigi's pair of Scandanavian socks (from the LBoS) needed ripping out, because the colorwork was too tight.Straw into Gold: (32:02)This week Jasmin has been dyeing! She likes the Jacquard dyes and the Gaywool dyes. Jasmin mentions some safety things (ie, don't dye in your cooking pots, keep your dye pots separate from your cooking pots). Jasmin's order for dyeing: water, dye, a drop of Dawn to break the surface tension, stir, vinegar, add wool.Jasmin has finished washing ALL of the fleece for the Lace Gauntlet Throwdown. She has borrowed a pair of the Forsyth Wool combs and a pair of Louet Mini combs and has found the weight of the larger combs to be a slight hindrance. (Check out the sockpr0n blog for tutorials on combing.) Jasmin has ordered a pair of the Forsyth mini wool combs along with the clamp.Bring it On: (43:48) Sandi and Nathania, from Purlescence Yarns, talk about trends they saw at TNNA. Fair isle is the new black! There are loads of new books with modern approaches to classic techniques (like Twined Knitting, by Laura Farson). There have been technological advances to reflect this, like  the Denise interchangeable crochet set which lends itself to techniques like Tunisian Crochet (and a companion book Tunisian Crochet by Sharon Silverman). Some new books reflecting the fair isle revival include Knits from the North Sea and Norwegian Handknits. Not to be left out is Clara Parkes' Knitters book of Wool. The Knit Kit is now coming in black with white accents. Would you like to see it in a stainless steel? Let us know.

I went to TNNA and all I brought you back is this lousy post… OK, this post and and two podcasts. Todays show is a quick overview of my weekend… secrets revealed… First, all the time below is GMT, so please subtract 4 hours for the real time. I put all the pieces together into … Continue reading "IAPM65:TNNA Updates with link love"

This week's episode has been sponsored by: This week: Nathania & Sandi are at TNNA, selecting the finest yarns, patterns, and tools. Tune in next week, when they’ll be joining the Knitmore Girls to discuss beautiful yarns, trends for fall, and what great new products to look for on our shelves. Bring a little bit of our LYS to your home by following us on Twitter @purlescence and searching for Purlescence Yarns on Facebook! All new subscribers receive a free gift from Eucalan as our way of saying thanks for supporting Verena Knitting! Use subscription code: KNITMG Events: (00:30) We will be in attendance at the Sock Summit (August 6-9), and will be doing a meet-and-greet with goodie bags! Stay tuned for details. On the Needles: (2:25) Chloe is working on a crocheted starfish blanket (out of Little Lovely Bulky Malabrigo) and a Windfall blanket. Jasmin has finished her Monkeys! She knit them out of the Burgundy color of the Regia Silk. Chloe talks about having finished one Pomatomus and one Baudelaire equaling one pair of Cookie A socks. Jasmin finished her former "show notes" socks, out of Lisa Souza's "Serrano" superwash merino (in Mahogony). She ran short, so one toe is her "warm gold" in superwash merino. Chloe is knitting a Dr. Who scarf. Jasmin's Katarina cardigan is nearly finished. She is knitting it out of the Tess Yarns Silk and Merino. Chloe discusses her method for setting in sleeves. If you're doing either the Katarina Knit-a-long or the Carli Knit-a-long, Julie Weisenberger has offered technical support along with purchase of her patterns. Chloe mentions the ScrunchableSunshine on a Cloudy Day socks, with modifications. cowl. Jasmin continues to work on her Mother Knows Best: (21:45) This week, we discuss answering Muggle questions while knitting in public. We also discuss "Crochate" and "crochenvy". They ask you, "What are the questions you get while knitting in public? How do you answer them?" When Knitting Attacks: (32:46) Jasmin has ripped out her Sunshine socks again for optimal fit. Shoot Jasmin an email (knitmoregirls@yahoo.com) for chart adjustments. (Jasmin also talks about the Dream in Color Starry, which is new at Purlescence.) Jasmin will also be ripping back her Cabletinis, since they are enormous. After discussion about the source of Jasmin's toe-up sock ennui, Chloe suggests a heel swatch. Straw into Gold: (42:53) Jasmin answers Meghan's call out for the Lace Gauntlet Throwdown. Jasmin has been washing her fleeces in lock formation, using tulle. You can see pictures of the fleeces here. Chloe has spun some Alpaca/Merino/Silk from Abstract Fiber in the Autumn colorway, which she Navajo-plied and knit a hat out of. Chloe spins on a Kromski Sonata.

On the show I do some catching up with yall… and I have a great interview with Jacey Boggs of Insubordiknit. She talks about living through this economy as a spinner and her fun spinning DVD called Sit And Spin. My friends and I will be sharing our experience at TNNA here: http://drop.io/TNNAupdate I will … Continue reading "IAPM64: Spinning through May"

In this latest episode of our video podcast we take a field trip to the Stitch N’Pitch NY Mets game in one of the final games at Shea Stadium in Queens, NY. We met with Stacy Charles from Tahki Stacy Charles, Inc. who coordinated this year’s NY Mets event for TNNA’s Stitch N’Pitch Save the Children talks [...]

Kathy & Steve review TNNA and Kathy and Pixie start the Hemlock Ring KAL. (Running Time 27:50)

We have a Take pics of yo' bad self in a shirt and send the pics to me! I'll post them on the blog...just don't expect one of me on that new glass walk-way over the Grand Canyon ! And, please visit to support who has "shirted" us. And Carrie left this note: More random information for you - the Bedlam mental hospital in London still exists - it is now a building called Salisbury House off London Wall and Finsbury Circus in central London and houses several law firms' offices among other things including the London office of the company I work for! (you might say not much change there then!). Although the office parts have been altered and updated the stairwells are still much as I imagine they always have been complete with tiled walls and it is a very strange mixture of a building to walk around in. My First (or, Just Call Me Sucker). And who wouldn't want a ? And, FUN! "With over a million hits to StitchNPitch.com in its first few months, we knew this program was going to be something special," Patty Parrish, Executive Director of TNNA, explains. "Stitch N' Pitch is sweeping the Nation. The response from baseball Clubs, the needlearts industry and fans is overwhelming. Stitch N' Pitch creates a unique and fun environment for families, singles, couples, old, young, kids, women and yes, even men!" Watch carefully and you might "catch" a knitting contest, team mascots wearing handmade colorful scarves, images of men knitting, counted cross-stitch frames, teaching tables full of children learning how to needlepoint, a Ceremonial 1st Pitch with a ball of yarn and so much more!! Special Stitch N' Pitch gift bags, giveaways and surprises will round out each fantastic event. Local needlearts retailers, wholesalers, guilds and groups will come by car, bus and train to be a part of this new American phenomenon - Stitch N' Pitch! !! CRAFT Magazine's Stitch N' Pitch Contest! The contest is open to everyone to enter in their own baseball theme craft in the categories of knitting, crochet, needlepoint, cross-stitch, and embroidery. The contest kicks-off on April 4th with the deadline for submissions on May 31st. And, as a way to date myself, you really should take a look at (some graphic images, not for kids).

Designer Lucy Neatby talks to me about colour, TNNA, knitting bubbles and teaching knitting over a ship's radio while at sea. Read the Show Notes at www.knitcast.com, email feedback@knitcast.com.

Designer Lucy Neatby talks to me about colour, TNNA, knitting bubbles and teaching knitting over a ship's radio while at sea. Read the Show Notes at www.knitcast.com, email feedback@knitcast.com.