Yarn Library

This week, I’m joined by Melanie Berg, the knitwear designer behind Mairlynd. I first met Melanie when I accidentally attended one of her shawl-design classes entirely in German. Thanks to Google Translate, I managed to follow the class and came away inspired to create my Tide Path shawl. In this conversation, we explore the relationship between creativity and practicality. Melanie talks about knowing when a design has become too complicated, the difference between designing and writing a usa...

In this episode, I’m joined by Irina Shaar, the creator and host of Fiber Chats. We talk about why she started interviewing people from across the fibre world, what she has learned from those conversations, and the moments that have stayed with her. From finding “your people” at Rhinebeck to knitting through COVID and the way craft connects generations, this becomes a much wider conversation about what knitting gives us. We also talk honestly about social media, going viral, creative confiden...

Chantal Miyagishima is the designer and creative force behind Knitatude, one of the most recognisable brands in modern knitting. We talk about how she went from selling handmade scarves at markets to building a pattern business, writing Sweater Success and creating a community of more than 250 knitters. Chantal explains what really goes into grading garments across a wide range of sizes, what she has learned from ten years of pattern testing, and why inclusive design is much more complicated ...

In this episode of Yarn Library, I’m joined by Aleks Byrd, a designer, teacher and author known for her work with traditional Estonian knitting techniques. Aleks taught me Estonian inlay a few years ago in New York, and I later used that technique on my heavy metal jumper, so this was a particularly lovely conversation to have. We talk about what it’s like to teach knitters all over the world, from adapting Estonian braids for Portuguese style knitters to preparing for a packed teaching tour ...

In this episode of Yarn Library, I’m joined by the brilliant Xandy Peters for a properly thought-provoking conversation about knitting, creativity, originality, and what it really means to design something new. We talk about rage bait in the knitting world, why social media rewards negative hooks, and how that shapes the way craft is talked about online. Xandy also explains the magic of stacked stitches, the design thinking behind Fox Paws, and why mistakes in knitting are sometimes just dis...