Fiber Hooligan

Next Monday (08/10/2020) my guests will be the Oink Pigments team. Est. in 2010, Oink Pigments is a purveyor of small-batch, hand-dyed yarns with over 140 bright & playful colorways, available on over a dozen yarn & fiber bases.

Alexa Wilson (she/her) learned to knit in 2009, & knew from that moment she wanted to build a career in fiber arts. She started dyeing in 2010, & has been in love with adding color to life ever since. Alexa continues to work hard to grow Oink Pigments, along with the rest of Team Oink. You can find her on the couch starting another project, buried under doggos, or both.

Helena Bristow (she/they) has been Vice Pigmentologist at Oink Pigments since its inception in 2010. She learned to crochet at age 4, & taught herself to knit when she started graduate school for the first time. She often jokes that ‘knitting stuck; grad school did not’. Helena has dropped out of 2 different graduate programs because she would rather be playing with yarn. Helena can usually be found driving all over the country in her yarn van.

Julie Gillespie (she/her) is the Chief Oink Operator & head of Social Media & Marketing. She started knitting in 2007 on a whim & has been collecting different crafty skill sets ever since. Julie first joined Team Oink at STITCHES West 2015. She was immediately told she was not allowed to leave. She manages the Oink Pigments social media accounts, surrounded by pugs. Founder of Sparkle Saturday, she encourages others to shine bright.

Harper Hodes (they/he) has been a member of Team Oink for years. They have been knitting since they were in high school & are strongly involved in advocacy for mental health issues, the LGBTQIA+ community, & disability access. Harper is a process knitter who enjoys color work, but much prefers petting & buying yarn. They can often be found in their wheelchair at the Oink booth.

This Monday (08/03/2020) my guest will be Diane Ivey.

Diane Ivey is the owner and Creative Director of Lady Dye Yarns, an indie-dye yarn company started in 2010. A knitter for 18 years and a dyer, spinner and crocheter for 13, Diane looks forward to not only expanding her company but using her expertise in growth and expansion with other BIPOC businesses to grow on a national scale. She spent 16 years in the non-profit sector. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Mass Communication with a concentration in Print Journalism from Georgia College & State University. She also holds a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Non-Profit Management from Suffolk University.

“Our freedom and our equality is tied to each other no matter what race, gender identity, socio economics, or background. If we all want equality in pay, work, reproductive rights, and more, we must work together as one.”

Diane has a lot going on right now, and I so pleased she was able join us. I hope you’ll all tune in to hear from this charismatic and inspirational lady.

Monday (07/27/2020) my guest will be Jennifer Wenger-Turchen from Jennifer Knits.

Jennifer has worked in the knitting industry since 1985. This year she is celebrating her 20th anniversary as the owner of Jennifer Knits, a fabulous, one-of-a-kind knit shop located in Brentwood Village, Los Angeles. She is known for her custom patterns—from her imagination, or inspired by your favorite ready-to-wear designer, and tailored to your gauge and measurements. Over the years, she has developed relationships with textile mills in Italy and imports the finest cashmere and merino directly to her shop. In 2005, she authored Teen Knitting Club, with Maureen Lasher and Carol Abrams, and embarked on a nationwide book tour, inspiring the creation of more than 500 knitting clubs in colleges and high schools across the country. She also offers a “How to Make a Profit” seminar, teaching women how to run successful small businesses (not just knit shops). Jennifer believes that anyone can have their dreams come true with hard work, integrity, and determination. Jennifer was president of the Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce for eight years and served four years on the Brentwood Community Council. Her efforts helped bring local businesses together with the West LA VA to raise money for veteran’s housing, services, and job building. Working with government, the local community, and individuals, she was instrumental in helping to pass the HR3484 bill in 2017, helping to house previously homeless veterans on VA property. Jennifer Knits sells across the country and beyond, with loyal longtime customers of all ages. Jennifer Knits can be your “local yarn shop” no matter where you live! Jennifer is a force-to-be-reckoned-with. If you want to hear about how business should work in this industry (as well as many others) I invite you to join us for this show.

Monday (07/20/2020) my guest will be Adella Colvin of LolaBean Yarn Co.

LolaBean Yarn Co. (formerly Adella’s Crochet Cottage) began 5 years ago with a single stitch; that quickly turned into a thousand stitches as Adella contemplated on what she would do to pass time while her husband was away in Afghanistan.

Adella first learned to crochet and knitting soon followed. She became obsessed with all of the different colors, textures and compositions of the different yarns she came across. One day, she came across a YouTube video of someone dyeing yarn, and she thought to herself…  “Hey I should try this!” So she did. Dyeing came very naturally to Adella and she was encouraged by her friends and family to start her own business and sell her hand dyed creations. The rest is history.

After the birth of her daughter, Adella realized that she had much more to live for and be grateful about. She decided to rebrand her company in honor of her little princess, in hopes that one day she would be able to pass something down to her daughter and keep the legacy alive. As a woman of color, Adella wants to show her daughter, and hopefully inspire others, that they can achieve success regardless of the circumstances.

Adella looks forward to growing and expanding her brand, not only for her daughter, but for the future generation of independent fiber artists. This might be one of my favorite interviews so far. Please tune in and find out why.

Note: This show was pre-recorded to accomodate scheduling.

Monday (07/13/2020) my guest will be the very talented and genrous Heavenly Bresser.

Heavenly Bresser is a self-taught, well-rounded fiber artist from Chicago. She has over 10 years of experience with crochet and knitting, but also loves dyeing fibers, hand spinning, weaving and repairing spinning wheels. Working from fleece to project is one of her favorite things to do. Her passion for fiber arts and the joy of seeing others grow in their craft is part of her motivation as an instructor. Heavenly’s goal is to uplift, inspire and encourage those around her and challenge them to think outside the box and to do things they’d never imagine could be done. Outside of her fiber adventures, her time is spent caring for her husband, two young boys, and Morkie named Samson.

As most of you know, Heavenly has been on the show once before—but we really didn’t get a chance to talk about many of the things she’s doing in the fiber world. I’m so pleases she can join us again. Please tune in to hear from this gracious and talented artist.

Next Monday (07/06/2020) my guest will be the talented designer, author, and teacher Anna Zilboorg. Anna's pronouns are she and her.

Anna, an Elder of the knitting community, is an Anglican solitary who now lives on the seaside town of Rockland, Maine.

According to a quote by her (that I found online), she says that she was… "Born and reared in New York City; educated at Harvard; taught at MIT. Fled from the madding crowd's ignoble strife until I found myself in Big Stone Gap, VA. Got religion. Returned to my childhood love of knitting; became a hermit."

At this point, Anna is retired. Before she retired, she devoted her energy to teaching the living craft (as opposed to just following directions). She has been called the Anarchist Knitter because of her book Knitting for Anarchists, and the 'Mad Bobbler' due to her love of three-dimensional stitches. Other books include Magnificent Mittens and Socks and Splendid Apparel, both available, as well as Sock for Sandals and Clogs, Fancy Feet, and 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats to Knit.

Beyond her impressive career, Anna is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I’m so happy that she agreed to be on the show. Please tune in—you really don’t want to miss Anna!

On Monday (06/29/2020) my guest will be Karida Collins from Neighborhood Fiber Co. Karida learned how to knit immediately after finishing college, and fell in love. Hard. Enamored with knitting, she set out to create her own hand-dyed yarn business in 2006. She taught herself how to dye yarn and thus, Neighborhood Fiber Co. was born. Karida's love of saturated and vibrant colors is what gives her yarn it's signature style. Stirred by her surroundings, Karida set out to provide the world with hand-dyed yarns inspired by and named to reflect the natural beauty and diverse neighborhoods throughout the nation’s capital. Since then, she has added many more colors to reflect a multitude of neighborhoods, both inside and outside of DC. Now based in Baltimore, MD, Neighborhood Fiber Co. continues to offer vibrant, one-of-a-kind colors inspired by urban landscapes. Karida is an amazing person. I hope you join us for what I know will be a great show!

Hello Friends! Here is the special episode with Heavenly Bresser.

Thank you. - Benjamin

Monday (05/25/2020) my guest was Charan Sachar from Creative with Clay. If you’ve been to a STITCHES West in the past couple of years, you might have met him & seen his wonderful work first hand.

Charan Sachar lived in India for a significant part of his life where his mother ran a boutique, designing clothes for brides and bridesmaids. The designs, colors, fabrics, and embroidery he came across then have a strong impact on his work now.

In 2014, Charan took up knitting as a hobby and very soon the knit patterns started making an appearance into his work. Very soon, he purchased a floor loom and a spinning wheel. Now he obsesses over dyeing fiber and is fascinated about color mixing and different spinning techniques which change the appearance of the final yarn. The transformation of fiber to yarn and yarn to fabric inspires him further regarding the textures and colors in his pottery.

He uses a combination of techniques such as wheel throwing, extrusions, slab constructions and alterations to create his forms. Each piece is then further decorated with textures he creates to give it the feel of embroidered and knitted fabric. These are further enhanced with underglazes, slip and glazes that he formulates to add beauty and functionality to the pieces.

In 2011, Charan quit his full-time job of 12 years as a software engineer to pursue his passion in clay. Pottery has given him the much-needed respite from the monotony of everyday life.

His story and work have been featured in the New York Times, HGTV, several knitting magazines such as Vogue, Noro, and Tiny Fiber studio. His goal is to continue to work with this medium to create artwork which can be cherished for life.

Charan is amazingly creative and a delight to talk with. Please tune in!

Monday (05/18/2020) my guest was author, Debbie Macomber. 

Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber's novels have spent over 1,000 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Thirteen of these novels hit the number one spot.

In 2020, Macomber's all-new hardcover publications include A Walk Along the Beach (July) and Jingle All the Way (October). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published three bestselling cookbooks, an adult coloring book, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.

Celebrated as "the official storyteller of Christmas", Macomber's annual Christmas books are beloved and five have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.

She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision's international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie & Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series.

Debbie is warm & thoughtful person whom I've knows for many years. I’m so pleased that she could spare the time to be on the show. Please check it out.