Send us a text

In this episode of the Sweet Georgia Show, Felicia explores the work of Radical Weavers, a community weaving studio in Stirling, Scotland. Founded by Mairi Breslin, the studio supports young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds through weaving workshops and inclusive teaching methods. Peter Dickie, Mairi’s son, runs the studio’s commercial offerings and community work, showcasing the transformative power of weaving.

The Radical Weavers organization, which started as a small hobby, has grown into a community hub that offers therapeutic weaving workshops and support for individuals facing challenges. Through inclusive and inspiring programs, the organization empowers people to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. The Radical Weavers’ commitment to diversity and inclusion has earned them recognition and support from the community.

Send us a text

Loose Ends is an everyone-is-welcome movement that aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity by matching volunteer handwork finishers with textile projects people have left undone due to death or disability.

In this conversation, Felicia Lo speaks with Masey Kaplan and Jen Simonic, co-founders of the Loose Ends project, which connects crafters to finish projects left behind by loved ones who have passed away. They discuss their backgrounds, the inception of Loose Ends, and how the project has grown to include thousands of volunteers across the globe. The conversation highlights the emotional impact of crafting, the importance of community support, and the future aspirations of the organization as they navigate challenges and seek to expand their reach.

takeaways

• Loose Ends was born from a desire to help those grieving.
• The project connects crafters to unfinished projects left behind.
• Community support is vital for the growth of Loose Ends.
• The organization has grown to over 33,000 finishers in 74 countries.
• Crafting serves as a universal language of comfort and connection.
• The founders emphasize the importance of planning for unfinished projects.
• Loose Ends aims to expand beyond textiles into other crafts.
• Volunteers play a crucial role in the success of the project.
• The organization is adapting to challenges in the crafting community.
• Crafting fosters genuine human connections and kindness.

Send us a text

The SweetGeorgia Show is set to return with a fresh perspective, aiming to explore the deeper intentions behind crafting. This isn't just a podcast about textiles and handcrafts; it's a conversation about the innovation and identity that these crafts represent. We want to understand how the act of making things shapes our identities and how these identities transcend geographical boundaries.

In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo reflects on her journey as a maker and the evolution of her brand, SweetGeorgia. She discusses the importance of community in crafting, the challenges and joys of creating, and the renewed focus of the podcast on meaningful conversations about the act of making. With a commitment to fostering connection and creativity, Felicia invites listeners to join her on this new adventure in exploring the stories behind crafting.

takeaways

• The SweetGeorgia Show is celebrating its 100th episode.
• Felicia started the podcast to reconnect with her craft after a break.
• The podcast has evolved alongside SweetGeorgia's offerings.
• Creating videos for YouTube was pivotal for Felicia's teaching.
• SweetGeorgia now offers over 115 video-based courses.
• The podcast aims to explore the deeper meaning of crafting.
• Felicia emphasizes the importance of community in crafting.
• Listeners are encouraged to engage through comments and Discord.
• The podcast will be available in both video and audio formats.
• SweetGeorgia's mission is to spread joy through color and craft.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to The SweetGeorgia Show

00:59 The Journey of Crafting and Community

03:13 Building the School of SweetGeorgia

03:49 Reflections on Change and Connection

04:55 Exploring the Meaning of Crafting

05:40 Creating a Cozy Podcast Experience

07:10 Invitation to Join the SweetGeorgia Community

Send us a text

This week Felicia is talking with writer and spinner: Debbie Held from Atlanta, Georgia. If you've been following our news at SweetGeorgia this year we created a brand new Ambassador Program this past August and introduced nine people in the knitting  and fibre arts world to help SweetGeorgia share the love of colour and craft and Debbie is one of those ambassadors. Debbie was chosen as an ambassador due to her passion for handspinning and her ability to share it with the community in such an encouraging and inviting way. She has written for Interweave, Schacht Spindle Company, Spin Off, Ply magazine, and more. And her writing has led to teaching opportunities all over the world.

We hope you'll join us for the chat today!

"...finding spinning has brought me an entirely new, incredibly rewarding life... I just feel lucky." - Debbie Held on how her life drastically changed when she was introduced to the art of spinning

• 1:24 Debbie chats about what got her into spinning in the first place
• 5:41 Felicia asks Debbie how she combined her creative life and her professional life
• 9:08 Debbie chats about how spinning helped her in her darkest times in life
• 13:15 How Debbie encourages people who want to spin for fun or for a career
• 17:30 Felicia chats about her new e-spinner with Debbie and how spinning can look different for everyone depending on their circumstances in life
• 20:57 What other kinds of fibre arts are in Debbie's life?
• 22:03 What kind of spinning trends Debbie is seeing lately
• 24:53 Debbie and Felicia chat about being multi-craftual makers
• 25:49 Debbie chats about the fear of creating and how it can hold you back
• 29:48 Debbie chats about her column "Her Handspun Habit"
• 34:24 Debbie chats about her exciting trip to Scotland to research some very rare spinning wheels
• 44:18 Where you can find Debbie online
• 47:34 Felicia's Final Thoughts

Website: www.debbieheld.com

Instagram: @doodler01

Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/doodler01

Thank you so much for joining us this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your fellow fibre art friends. And if you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review on iTunes for the show. We read each and every email and bit of feedback, whether it’s on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, so we welcome your comments.

Thank you all so much for your continued support of our show! Until next time, enjoy colour!

Playbook of Happiness – by RimskyMusic

Click to subscribe on iTunes

Send us a text

This week on the show, Felicia is chatting with Claudia Gossens: the owner of the yarn shop Lanaphilia in Germany. Claudia has a joyful passion and excitement for yarn, fibre, knitting, and colour in everything she does and recently began sharing her experiences on her podcast: Wollinspirationen (available in German only).

It’s always wonderful to be able to chat with yarn shop owners from all over the world so we hope you’ll join Felicia and Claudia for their conversation!

  "...the feedback is enormous and I love it, it's just like having a huge amount of good knitting friends." - Claudia Glossens on how her podcast, Wollinspirationen enhances her fibre arts world

• 1:20 Claudia's nickname
• 2:31 How Claudia started knitting and how it became such a large part of her life
• 5:05 Knitting over language barriers
• 8:47 Claudia's favourite things to knit
• 9:45 Where Claudia finds inspiration for her knitting projects and her goals to finish before 2019 ends
• 12:45 Does Claudia have any other fibre interests other than knitting?
• 13:35 Claudia discusses her interest in spinning
• 15:21 What Claudia does with all her handspun and the difficulties and fun of blending certain colours with carding and knitting
• 19:00 Learning more about colour and the ones that suit you and bring you joy
• 21:32 How Claudia started running her yarn store: Lanaphilia and her biggest challenges in running a yarn store
• 27:01 Claudia chats about her Lanaphilia works as an online-only yarn store
• 27:45 Felicia asks Claudia about what knitting trends she's finding in Germany and online
• 29:45 Felicia asks Claudia if starting her podcast Wollinspirationen has affected what inspires her.
• 36:42 Where you can find Claudia online
• 37:56  Felicia's Final Notes and Giveaway

Website: www.lanaphilia.de

Podcast: https://wollinspirationen.de

Instagram: @lanaphilia

Ravelry Group: https://www.ravelry.com/groups/lanaphilia

Claudia is giving our listeners a chance to win a copy of her  pattern: Taurus a triangular shawl that plays with slipped stitches. Thank you Claudia!

Click here to enter the giveaway »

Thank you so much for joining us this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your fellow fibre art friends. And if you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review on iTunes for the show. We read each and every email and bit of feedback, whether it’s on Instagram,

Send us a text

This week, Felicia is joined by Kara Gott Warner and Stephanie Palmer of The Knitter's Planner. Kara has been on our show not once, but twice before, as she is the former editor of Creative Knitting Magazine and is now the host of the Power Purls Podcast. She is also a coach for creative women and entrepreneurs and is now the editor of The Knitter's Planner. If you want to listen to Kara's previous episodes with us they are Episode 24 and  Episode 50. We are also joined by Stephanie who is the creator and publisher of The Knitter's Planner.

Please join us this week and get ready to nerd out about planning and time management!

"...we live in a hybrid time... we are in between two worlds in a sense... I do love my digital planners... but I think that there is just no replacement for putting a pen to paper... there's something meditative about it that you don't get with digital planning and there's a peaceful calming portion and there's a different level of commitment when you're thinking of your own goals and how you're structuring your time with pen to paper... that I just don't think digital can replace." - Stephanie Palmer on analog planners in a digital age

• 1:20 Stephanie and Kara introduce themselves to the listeners
• 4:12 Felicia asks Stephanie why she decided to first make The Quilter's Planner
• 5:40 How is The Knitter's Planner different from other planners?
• 9:03 Sunday-Starter vs Monday-Starter: the customization options in The Knitter's Planner
• 13:24 Discussing how to merge a digital and analog planning systems
• 17:05 How using a planner can make a difference for fibre artists who want to create more
• 22:34 Chatting about the fear of "ruining" a beautiful planner
• 24:28 Discussing everyones personal workflow around their planner
• 29:50 How to plan around the holiday season
• 33:06 Tips for people who are not planners, but want to become one
• 35:43 Where people can find The Knitter's Planner
• 37:22 Felicia's Final Notes and Giveaway!

Website: www.knittersplanner.com

Instagram: @theknittersplanner

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KnittersPlanner

Stephanie and Kara are giving one of our lucky listeners the chance to win a free custom Knitter's Planner! This is a giveaway you certainly don't want to miss!

Click here to enter the giveaway »

Thank you so much for joining us this episo

Send us a text

This week on the show, Felicia is chatting with Abby Glassenberg: a sewing pattern designer, craft book author, writer, and teacher. Since 2005 she's been writing a blog called While She Naps: which is about the home sewing industry and creative entrepreneurship with a focus on craft publishing, fabric manufacturing, feminism, and social justice. Ten years after she started the blog in 2015 she co-founded Craft Industry Alliance and now serves as its president.

Join Felicia and Abby as they chat about the crafting industry and the challenges makers have as they pursue the dream of turning their passion into a sustainable business.

"...I want to be where people are... and see what it's all about and not... live in fear... when I posted that there were a lot of people who were... really scared of Tik Tok... this is going to steal my privacy... and I understand the fear... about it but I just also feel like... get in there and play... see it with [your] own eyes... I would rather take a look myself than... believe the hype and... not make my own decision" -  Abby Glassenberg on crafters being on the new social media app, Tik Tok

• 1:29 Abby chats about when she began creating and how she stared her business
• 8:39 How Abby transitioned crafting from her hobby to a business and how it affected her audience base, and how business itself can be creative
• 13:58 Abby and Felicia discuss a common question in the industry: If you help other crafters succeed in their business, aren't you creating competition for yourself?
• 19:23 Abby chats more about Craft Industry Alliance and what it has to offer members
• 23:14 Felicia asks Abby what are the biggest challenges the craft industry and business owners are currently facing
• 26:53 The opportunities Abby is seeing in the creative industry space
• 29:44 Crafting and Tik Tok? Abby discusses the new social media app and how crafters could be a part of it
• 34:45 How Abby's business has changed now that her children are older
• 38:39 Abby discusses the team behind Craft Industry Alliance
• 41:03 What's coming up in the Craft Industry Alliance
• 45:33 Felicia's Final Notes and Special Discount Code for Craft Industry Alliance Membership

Abby's Blog: www.whileshenaps.com

Craft Industry Alliance Website: www.craftindustryalliance.org

Abby's Instagram: @abbyglassenberg

Abby Glassenberg Design Facebook: www.facebook.com/pg/AbbyGlassenbergDesign

If you are a small business owner and are interested in joining the Craft Industry Alliance, Abby has created a special discount code for our listeners to receive 20% off the membership fee! Use the code: SWEETGEORGIA at checkout to receive your discount. Thank you so much Abby!

Thank you so much for joining us this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your fellow fibre art friends. And if you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review on iTunes for the show. We read each and every emai

Send us a text

This week Felicia is joined by weaver, teacher, and designer:  Kelly Casanova, from Melbourne Australia. Kelly runs an online weaving school called:  Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons and has been working tirelessly to create ongoing weaving instruction, initially with a rigid heddle loom and now with multi-shaft looms. Kelly has been a huge inspiration for Felicia because Kelly was creating online weaving tutorials when there weren't any available.

Join Felicia and Kelly as they chat about the involvement and control that weaving offers a fibre artist and how to encourage others to start weaving.

  "...I felt like I was always looking for something really authentic, like I could do it from start to finish and have as much involvement in the process as I possibly could. And weaving was it for that because I could get the fibre, I could spin it, I could dye it, and then I could weave it, and then I could sew it..." -  Kelly Casanova on her love of weaving

• 2:09 Kelly chats about how she first got into the fibre arts
• 3:43 What was it about weaving that captured Kelly's interest so much?
• 5:19 What is Kelly's favourite fibre or yarn to work with?
• 6:20 Kelly discusses her upcoming course on studying Japanese techniques of dyeing and weaving
• 8:37 Felicia asks Kelly how she comes up with her course ideas for her online school
• 12:38 Kelly explains what students can learn at her online school
• 14:05 Kelly gives advice to first-time weavers and how to get started
• 16:49 Felicia and Kelly chat about how to encourage more weavers to create content for the Internet
• 18:31 What are the differences Kelly sees between weaving on a rigid heddle looms weaving on a floor loom?
• 21:30 Felicia chats with Kelly about her Etsy shop and her experience selling on that platform
• 23:06 Kelly's tips for production weavers
• 25:19 Kelly describes why she loves the online weaving community
• 27:19 How Kelly finds the time for self-care in a busy life
• 31:29 What Kelly has planned for her online school
• 33:36 Where can you find Kelly online
• 34:12 Felicia's Final Notes and Giveaway!

Website: www.kellycasanovaweavinglessons.com

Online School: www.kelly-casanova-weaving-lessons.teachable.com

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/kellycasanova

Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/kellycasanovaart

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kellycasanovatextileandfibreartist

Instagram: @casanova_kelly_weaver

If this week's conversation has inspired you to give weaving a try, then enter down below to win 5 free weaving patterns from Kelly's Etsy Shop!

Send us a text

This week on the show, Felicia is talking with Cameron Taylor-Brown: an artist, weaver, and educator. Cameron studied fibre arts at the University of California, Berkeley with Ed Rossbach and then textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Since 1985 she's lived in Los Angeles where she's still active in arts and education. Her work is widely exhibited and has been featured in many publications including Fibre Art Now, American Craft, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot. She teaches design and colour workshops at schools, guilds, museums, and conferences throughout the United States and at ARTSgarage: a teaching studio in Los Angeles. Cameron recently curated the exhibit Material Meaning: A Living Legacy of Anni Albers, which was on view at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles.

Join Felicia and Cameron as they discuss Cameron's past and present in the arts.

  "... I always felt confident that I knew... the material well, but initially I was afraid of public speaking... that was my most nervous thing was standing up in front of a group of people... but what I realized was... when you're teaching... a visual medium the people that you're talking to are focusing on the medium that you're talking about, they're not focusing on you and so I began to realize I was the narrator, but they were looking at something else. The minute I figured that out... it was a lot less scary for me to talk to people... and then it's just about sharing something that you love and figuring out to explain it to people so that they own it, not you... one of the really important things when you're teaching is I don't want to create clones of myself. I want people to discover who they are and what their journey is and help them in their particular journey, and I think that's the art of teaching.  " -  Cameron Taylor-Brown on her transition from maker to educator

• 1:36 Felicia and Cameron chat about how Cameron used to be a sales rep for SweetGeorgia Yarns
• 2:35 Cameron talks about her "retirement"
• 3:56 How Cameron got into the fibre arts, specifically weaving
• 9:00 How Cameron made the jump from maker to educator
• 12:43 Cameron chats about her teaching studio: ARTSgarage
• 19:45 Felicia and Cameron chat about the difficulty of knowing where to start when you want to pursue a new fibre arts skill
• 23:00 Felicia asks Cameron if she has any suggestions for anyone wanting to turn their textile art into a business
• 35:50 Felicia and Cameron chat about the exhibit she recently curated called: Material Meaning: A Living Legacy of Anni Albers
• 46:18 Felicia's Final Notes

Website: www.camerontaylor-brown.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CameronTaylorBrownStudio

Instagr

Send us a text

This week on the show Felicia is joined by Angela Smith, the founder and creative director of Purl & Loop. Felicia has mentioned Purl & Loop many times before on the SweetGeorgia YouTube channel because, as an avid weaver, she is a huge fan of their looms. Please join Felicia and Angela as they discuss all things weaving and the big challenges faced when starting out a small business

"...it's an industry I was drawn to because, unlike real estate... well in real estate everyone thinks everything's an emergency... there are no emergencies in fibre. No one was ever going to call me up at 9 o'clock on a Friday night and tell me they had to look at 10 different looms by 9 am on Saturday morning... " -  Angela Smith on what inspired her to transition from the world of real estate to the world of fibre arts

• 0:51 Felicia and Angela chat about how they first met
• 1:27 Angela describes her company, Purl & Loop
• 2:57 Angela chats about some of Purl & Loops newest projects , including a "delicious" sounding Cord Taco
• 4:29 How Angela got into the world of fibre arts and started Purl & Loop
• 7:18 Felicia asks Angela how she transitioned from the world of real estate to owning a fibre arts supply store
• 11:57 Angela chats about the studio space Purl & Loop occupies
• 15:45 Angela discusses how the partnership with Liz Gibson helped advance Purl & Loop into a larger studio space
• 22:15 Chatting about the laser cutter and process that goes into creating the looms
• 25:15 Discussing the amazing team behind Purl & Loop
• 26:46 Is Purl & Loop going to venture out beyond weaving supplies?
• 29:07 Angela chats about Purl & Loop's new circle looms
• 30:58 What does the future hold for Purl & Loop?
• 32:47 Where you can find Purl & Loop online
• 33:38 Felicia's Final Notes and Giveaway!

Website: www.purlandloop.com

Instagram: @purlandloop

If this week's conversation has inspired you to give weaving a try, then enter down below to win a free circular loom from Purl & Loop! Thanks to Angela and her team for giving our listeners a chance to win one of these gorgeous looms!

Click here to enter the giveaway »

Thank you so much for joining us this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your fellow fibre art friends. And if you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review on iTunes for the show. We read each and every email and bit of feedback, whether it’s on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, so we welcome your comments.

Thank you all