Fiber Hooligan

Monday (04/11/2020) my guest was Gaye Glasspie a.k.a. GGmadeit or GG. Gaye is a 50-something-year-old who fell in love with knitting late in life—in just the last 9 or 10 years. She is also a force of nature!

GG is self-taught via YouTube, some wonderfully friendly yarn stores... and she is obsessed with all things orange. GG discovered knitting during a very challenging time in her life. She says that knitting is her ride or die, her BFF, her kind of therapy. Knitting has also become a beautiful bridge into a world of wonderful people and a way to universally connect with others through knitting.

If you’ve ever met her before, you know that Gaye’s enthusiasm is irrepressible. I’m so pleased that she that she could be on the show. Please tune in and listen to this remarkable lady.

Monday (05-04-2020) my guests were Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby, the dynamic DIY duo known as the Shibaguyz… the inspired creators of Shibaguyz Designz Studio.

Their award winning crochet, knit, and sewing designs have been featured in and on the covers of dozens of domestic and international publications. Together, the Shibaguyz team has over 300 published patterns and 11 books credited to their name since their first design was featured on a magazine cover in 2010. Currently, they are finishing work on a new book with C&T Publishing scheduled for release December 2020.

In addition to their design work, the Shibaguyz are sought-after freelance book-packaging designers having crafted books and photography for major publishing companies like Sterling Publishing, Leisure Arts, and Creative Publishing.

The Shibaguyz have been teaching adults for 30+ years. Their enthusiasm, quirky sense of humor, and relatable teaching style have made them sought after teachers in both local and national venues like STITCHES Events, Sew Expo, and Houston Quilt Market. In addition to their live classes, the Shibaguyz also have a wide range of online classes available from Blueprint and Interweave.

Shannon and Jason are proud ambassadors for Aurifil, Clover, BERNINA, Horn of America, the Daylight Company, and are members of the Justice League (yes, they have capes to prove it).

Shannon and Jason live in Seattle, Washington with their three Shiba Inu who, more or less, support their ventures in sewing, stitching, and crafting… so long as enough time is taken for walks and treats.

Full disclosure… the Shibaguyz are not only very creative people, they are also two of my very good friends. So the show did get away from us a bit. It was still fun. Please check it out.

Monday (04/27/2020) my guest was Cecilia Nelson-Hurt.

As a Diversity & Inclusion practitioner, Cecilia Nelson-Hurt has over 15 years of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion experience. Currently, Cecilia serves as the Assistant Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at L'Oréal USA where she is responsible for shaping diversity efforts through innovative initiatives that underscore the company’s commitment to creating an equal opportunity workplace. In addition to leading the company's affinity groups for the LGBTQIA and Women of Color employees, Cecilia is also responsible for the curriculum development and facilitation of all L’Oréal USA Diversity & Inclusion trainings, having trained over 15,000 employees to date. 

Her maternal grandmother first introduced Cecilia to the fiber arts, she learned to crochet when she was very young. Cecilia later taught herself to knit and has been an avid knitter for over 20 years. 

At the intersection of passion & purpose, Cecilia combines her love for knitting and advancing diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging with a goal to affect and create a more inclusive fiber community.

A self-proclaimed citizen of the world, Cecilia loves to travel.  She makes sure to visit a yarn shop wherever she goes. To date, Cecilia has visited over 130 shops in the United States and abroad. She chronicles her travels on her "CeciKnitsTheWorld" YouTube channel. Cecilia is married to an adventurous and supportive "Yarn Husband" Jerome, is the mother to an incredible daughter Atrice and a fabulous four-legged furry daughter, Dallas Jade. 

Cecilia is not only a wonderful communicator, she is also very passionate and genuine. I'm so pleased to have had her on the show so you could hear from this Incredible lady.

This Sunday (04/19/2020) my guest was Louis Boria—AKA Brooklyn Boy Knits.

Louis is a self-taught fiber artist who has been in the industry for 12 years. In 2017, Louis went viral after being photographed on a NYC subway by actress/singer, Frenchie Davis. With his newfound fame, Louis decided to use his social media platform to do something positive and so began working with local New York public schools, teaching children to knit.  He has worked closely with with campaigns such as Hat Not Hate, Cancer Awareness Programs at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital and with LGBTQIA young adults by promoting knitting as a therapeutic outlet. As well as working in the community, Louis is a knitwear Designer of both custom pieces and knitting patterns that range in style from streetwear design to runway couture.

In April 2019 Louis did his first Tedx Talk, "Making The Most of Your Moment". Later that year, he became one of the founding members of Soho Publishing’s Diversity Advisory Council which was set up to address the lack of diversity and inclusion in the fiber arts industry.  He has also taught at STITCHES and spoke as part of a diversity panel at STITCHES Midwest 2019.

Louis believes in building up our community one stitch at a time.

Louis is currently recovering from the Coronavirus… and I'm so pleased he could join on the show so you could hear from this remarkable and creative individual.

Laura Zander, is the co-owner of LYS & market leading online retailer of yarn, Jimmy Beans Wool. Laura, along with her husband Doug, worked as software engineers during the dot-com era in the San Francisco area. When they saw the dot-com boom turning to a bust, they decided to leave their jobs, move to their second home in the Lake Tahoe area, and begin a new adventure by opening Jimmy Beans Wool.

They started the business, which has been named four times to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S. list, with a $30,000 personal investment and have since grown it debt free to a booming operation. Laura is one of  Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurial Winning Women and 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.

An innovator in the Needlearts industry, Laura has created successful national high-profile campaigns such as Stitch Red, Stitch Mountain, & Beans for Brains. She authored and launched her first installment of a three-book series drawing awareness to heart disease, Knit Red. When not knitting or working, Laura spends most of her time on the ski hill, running, playing tennis, or relaxing with Doug and their ten-year-old son, Huck.

Jimmy Beans recently acquiried Namaste, della Q, and Madelinetosh—three beloved companies amongst knitters, crocheters, and makers. Jimmy Beans will continue to develop products under their patent pending Jimmy’s SmartStix, plus hooks, needles, and notions.

Laura joined us this week to talk about all the things she and her company are up to as well as many of the challenges that businesses and creatives face in the world of the COVID-19 virus. Please join us!

On the next edition of Fiber Hooligan (05/12/14), my guest will be Stuart Hochwert, President and Founder of Prime Publishing.


Stuart is an expert and really a cutting edge entrepreneur in world of internet marketing and content creation. He’s also, in my opinion, a giant in the online fiber arts world.


Prime Publishing is his 4th media start-up. Their group of 27 cooking and crafting properties creates, aggregates and reviews original content. The brands span digital websites, e-mail newsletters, social media, licensing, e-commerce, business information, and marketing services.


If you don’t recognize the name, Prime Publishing, that’s because you probably know them from their more well know online presciences like favecrafts.com, AllFreeKniting.com, AllFreeCrochet.com, StitchAndUnwind.com, and the Knit Picky Patterns eNewsletters… to name just a few. 


He and his team are great folks that do a wonderful job reaching millions of knitters and crocheters with killer content. And they’ve been great partners me, to our company (XRX, Inc.), and to many of our STITCHES vendors and sponsors that we work with.


I’m excited to have him on the show to talk about himself, his company, and something new that we have planned. I hope you’ll join us for what I can guarantee will be an exciting show.

On the next edition of Fiber Hooligan (04/28/14) my guest will be Laura Zander of Jimmy Beans Wool. Originally from North Carolina, Laura earned a Master's in Poli Sci but switched gears while earning her PhD to computer programming (a favorite subject of hers). After lots of hard work, she landed a software developing job in Palo Alto, which is where Laura met her future husband, Doug! Wanting a change from the hectic pace of Silicon Valley, they moved to scenic Tahoe where Laura started to design websites for small companies. During this time, she learned to knit and loved it, which is how Laura met Lorna - owner of a local hand-dyed yarn company. She encouraged Laura to follow her true passion (knitting!) and voila! Doug and Laura emptied their savings account and Jimmy Beans Wool was born!

We're going to be talking about the evolution of Jimmy Beans Wools, Sitch Red, her philosophy on business, the fiber arts industry, successes, challenges, and what's in store for the future.

Laura is one of the most savvy business people in the fiber arts world. She's also someone who's courageous and generous of spirit. I’m so happy to be able to have her on the podcast. I hope you’ll tune in for what should be a great show.

On the next edition of Fiber Hooligan (04/17/14) my guest will be Julia Grunau of Patternfish.com.

Julia grew up amongst engineers (dad & brother, summer jobs). She got an English degree, then worked for some R&D tech companies before 1990 becoming (as far as she knows) the first woman to sell printed circuit boards in Canada (having become interested in knitting two years before). After seven years, she decided that she would rather sell yarn instead of torpedo and telecommunications parts, so she became an outside sales rep, selling yarn to yarn stores in the Toronto area. 

In 2005 Julia became frustrated by having to go to 40 different websites to find PDFs to buy. She wanted a kind of Barnes & Nobles for knit/crochet PDFs and there wasn't one. It occurred to her that she might be well placed to do it (techie background, techie friends, lots of knitting contacts by then). So Patternfish.com was incorporated in October 2006 and launched a year and a half later, in June 2008.

Since then Patternfish.com has become the largest pay-only site on the internet for knit and crochet designs, with over 16,000 top-notch patterns from hundreds of fine publishers (both corporate and indie) including Sirdar, Knitting Pure and Simple, Mirasol, Prism, Classic Elite Yarns, Lucy Neatby, Anne Hanson's Knitspot, Rowan, both the Noro and Debbie Bliss Magazines, Cabin Fever, Bergere de France, the UK Hand Knitting Association, and many others. Over 6,000 of them are exclusive to Patternfish.com as digital downloads, so there’s a lot of unique things to see.

Julia is really smart and a lot of fun. I hope you’ll join us so you can hear from this remarkable woman.

On the next edition of Fiber Hooligan (04/07/14) my guests will be Pam Haschke of Halos of Hope and Marian Rose from the Atlanta Knitting Guild. 


We’re going to be talking about our ‘On Safari for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta' campaign; an animal themed hat drive for children who are being treated for cancer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta - Egleston & Scottish Rite. 


These ladies are not only dear friends of mine... they both inspire me. And you're going to want to tune in to hear their stories and how these amazing women are once again helping the community of Atlanta.

Next week my guests will be my dear friends BeLinda Creech and her wonderful daughter Cee Cee, now famous for her Elephants Remember Joplin campaign.


Eleven year old Cee Cee Creech started her journey with elephants as a little girl with a big vision. In 2011, at the age of eight, she became aware of the disaster that was unfolding in Joplin in the aftermath of a devastating tornado, and she was sure that she could do something to help. She started knitting elephants for the children impacted by the tornado, while people caught her enthusiasm and spurred her on by donating money to the Red Cross for each elephant she brought to life. Since then, Cee Cee has been featured in 6 national publications, was a runner up for the Hearthsong Heroes award, and was the 2013 Jay Buckey Humanitarian Award recipient. She has also been interviewed on numerous radio programs, and even managed to get an elephant to NBC’s Brian Williams as a reminder about the needs remaining in Joplin. With the support and encouragement of her mother, BeLinda, and much of the knitting community at large, Cee Cee has continued to give to others through the simple gift of creating things with yarn. Cee Cee has raised over $12,000 and donated more than 1450 handmade toys for a variety of charities. Currently, Cee Cee is working with Ty Pennington (formerly of ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover”) on his Pencils of Promise fundraiser, with the goal of building schools in Guatemala, and her “Elephants for Guatemala” campaign has a new herd in the making. 


I hope you’ll all join me next week for what should be a wonderful and heartwarming show.