[Behind The Scenes] Life As A Knitwear Designer

02/20/24 • 59 min

This week Carmen is joined by Amanda as Kayleigh is working on her PhD this month. We dig into Amanda’s career as a knitwear designer and what it’s really like working full time as a designer (including what it was like working for Mohamed Al-Fayed!)
Happy Knitting!
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Chapters
(00:01:13) Wine we're drinking
(00:04:59) Meet knitwear designer Amanda
(00:06:21) Realities of working as a kniwear designer for magazine publications
(00:22:48) Working for Mohamed Al-Fayed (and turning down Harrods!)
(00:27:00) What does a design process look like and what Amanda's working on
(00:45:10) Knitting retrets with Amanda (subscribe for retreat updates here)
(00:46:36) What we're wearing
(00:50:19) What Carmen is knitting
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Show notes
The wine this week is a Spanish Syrah from Carmen’s Good Pair Days box called Topico.
What we're working on:

Amanda has two designs she’s finishing up: one for Walcot Yarns using Fluff and one for our upcoming retreat using The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering.
Carmen has her Pressed Flowers Cardigan on the go and is nearly done with the ribbing

What we're wearing:

Amanda is wearing a slipover by Petitknits, the Stockholm slipover using Walcot Yarns Origin (Wild River) held with Isager Silk Mohair (100).
Carmen is wearing the Plump it Up shawl by Maxim Cyr in Fluff (Shadow) & Spincycle Yarns Plump (Rosy Maple)

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Get In Touch
Social Media: Instagram | TikTok
Website: www.ayarnstory.co.uk
Email: [email protected]
Visit us:
A Yarn Story,
128 Walcot Street,
Bath,
BA1 5BG
+44 (0)1225 429239
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Huddle Podcasting Ltd

This episode was produced by Huddle Podcasting Ltd. Learn how you can harness the power of podcasts to grow your business at www.huddlepodcasting.com

Amanda has two designs she’s finishing up: one for Walcot Yarns using Fluff and one for our upcoming retreat using The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering.
Carmen has her Pressed Flowers Cardigan on the go and is nearly done with the ribbing

What we're wearing:

Amanda is wearing a slipover by Petitknits, the Stockholm slipover using Walcot Yarns Origin (Wild River) held with Isager Silk Mohair (100).
Carmen is wearing the Plump it Up shawl by Maxim Cyr in Fluff (Shadow) & Spincycle Yarns Plump (Rosy Maple)

Previous Episode

The BEST yarn pairings and discover our KAL selections

Welcome to A Yarn Story. After our wine segment we take a diversion into the house-buying process in the UK (!) before we dive into Carmen's new coaching venture. We share what we've decided to knit for the upcoming KAL and announce that we're heading to Unravel festival of yarn.
Happy Knitting!
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Chapters
(00:01:17) Wine segment
(00:09:04) Kayleigh's mega big news
(00:18:08) Carmen recaps her trip to Puerto Rico
(00:22:45) Carmen announces her new coaching business
(00:37:48) Knit-A-Long update (there's still time to join - DETAILS HERE)
(00:40:22) Kayleigh's KAL yarn choices
(00:44:52) Carmen's KAL yarn choices
(00:59:32) A Yarn Story is heading to the Unravel festival of yarn
(01:03:55) Taylor Swift chat!!
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Show notes
Wine is 28 which is a lovely Cabernet Sauvignon from China that was recommended to us by our friends at Wolf Wine.
Carmen is now an officially certified business coach and talks more about her plans on that front. If you want to hear more about Carmen’s take on business, particularly marketing and team building, she was recently interviewed on the Teames & Co. podcast and you can listen to that episode now.
Walcot Yarns will be at Unravel Festival of Yarn in February and will be sharing a booth with Les Garçons! If you are coming to the event, please do stop by and say hello.
-----------------------------------
Get In Touch
Social Media: Instagram | TikTok
Website: www.ayarnstory.co.uk
Email: [email protected]
Visit us:
A Yarn Story,
128 Walcot Street,
Bath,
BA1 5BG
+44 (0)1225 429239
-----------------------------------
Huddle Podcasting Ltd

This episode was produced by Huddle Podcasting Ltd. Learn how you can harness the power of podcasts to grow your business at www.huddlepodcasting.com

Next Episode

Season 2 Finale 💥 WIPS, colour suggestions and LOTS of 🤣

It's the Season 2 finale. Kayleigh is back, having spent a couple of months in full-on PhD mode, and we have a HUGE amount of laughs this week. We share what we're wearing, what we're working on and share colour choices for the new Saar Vest by our good friend Aleks Byrd.
We hope you enjoy the episode, and a huge thank you for being with us through Season 2. If you've enjoyed it, please do leave us a 5* review on whichever platform you list to us - it REALLY helps us grow.
We're taking a little time off but will be back for Season 3 in a few weeks. In the meantime, happy knitting!
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Chapters
(00:05:26) What we're drinking!
(00:13:56) Unravel roundup
(00:14:07) What Carmen is wearing
(00:20:26) What Kayleigh is wearing
(00:22:39) What we're working on
***A LOT OF LAUGHTER***
(00:37:51) Kayleigh learns what schnitzel is!
(00:51:54) Why starting a project is so hard
(00:54:58) Pattern choices for the new Saar Vest
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Show notes
We toast the end of Season 2 with a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte.
What We're Wearing

Carmen is wearing the Officer Sweater by Maxim Cyr in Walcot Yarns Fluff in Officer and Shadow (in fact she stole this sweater from Max himself - he may or may not get it back)
Kayleigh has on Dark Matter by Cheryl Faust using Walcot Yarns Opus in Hickory with Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool in Dirty Little Secret.

Kayleigh shows off her Pressed Flowers cardigan from the KAL where she’s using Isager Tweed in North Sea with Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool in Light Years.
Saar Vest options
We pick some yarn options for Aleks Byrds’ latest pattern the Saar Vest. It’s a stunning design using Walcot Yarns Opus and Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool
Kayleigh’s picks: