The SweetGeorgia Show

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This week, Felicia is joined on the show by Mariana Frochtengarten: a textile artist and art educator with an extensive background in dyeing. Specifically, she's had more than 20 years of experience in resists dyeing techniques like batik and shibori. A few years ago, Mariana worked at SweetGeorgia as one of the dyers in our dye team but now has begun teaching art. This past summer, Mariana has once again been reunited with us as we recorded a course for The School of SweetGeorgia all about shibori dyeing techniques. Join Felicia and Mariana as they chat about textile arts and it's many different values in our society.

"...focusing on technique, teaching technique but also just... approaching textiles as a language, as a form of expression, as a way of doing something that... is in a way... is so present in every culture and in everybody's life so that was really a way for me to... link with community, link with people..." - Mariana on why she enjoys being an art educator

In this episode, we talk about:

• 1:24 Mariana chats about her background in dyeing
• 4:23 Mariana and Felicia discusses the struggles of making a living off of your craft without feeling you are losing the personal, handcrafted quality of the product
• 9:45 Mariana chats about how her production dyeing turned more towards community work and teaching people about textiles
• 12:58 Felicia asks Mariana about her experience in art therapy and using art therapy to help new immigrants to Canada adjust to their new life
• 20:19 Chatting about the importance of the process of creation
• 23:08 Felicia asks Mariana about how her values have changed over time
• 26:01 Felicia and Mariana chat about the loneliness of dyeing and how to make it a more social process
• 29:16 Discussing Mariana's Shibori Dyeing Basics course on The School of SweetGeorgia and the element of surprise that goes with resist dyeing
• 32:20 Where you can find Mariana online
• 35:26 Felicia's Final Notes and Giveaway!

Here's Where You Can Find Mariana:

Instagram: @nanafro

Email: [email protected]

Shibori Dyeing Basics Course Forum Page: www.schoolofsweetgeorgia.com/community/forum/shibori-dyeing-basics

Enter the Giveaway for a Free 3-Month Subscription to The School of SweetGeorgia:

If you want to check out Mariana's course on shibori dyeing and all of our other fibre arts courses in The School of SweetGeorgia, enter our contest to win a free 3-month subscription!

Click here to enter the giveaway »

Thanks for Listening!

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,

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This week on the show, Felicia chats with Abbye Dahl: a Vancouver-based knitwear designer and professional photographer. Abbye is no stranger to SweetGeorgia Yarns as she created a collection of hat patterns using our yarns called: Cloche Knits. Abbye has also designed a follow-up collection called Cloche Knits 2. If you haven't seen the photos in Cloche Knits, they are stunning and elegantly shot. Now Abbye is about to share her deep photography knowledge and experience with knitters and she is created a course specifically teaching knitwear designers how to photograph their garments.

"...one of the things I love about knitting... is the colours and the textures are so rich and... as I was doing it I was like 'Ah these things are... calling out to be photographed' So then I would spend time with my knitting just taking pictures of it... just being really inspired by all the different textures and then I was sitting at home and I'm like 'Well I have all of these awesome pictures of my knitting... just sitting on my hard drive, what can I do with this? How can I start sharing this with other people?' So I would honestly say it was the photography that got me to start designing just because I felt like I really wanted people to see these pictures of knitting, so I might as well write a patter to go with the pictures. " - Abbye Dahl on what inspired her to start designing knitwear patterns

In this episode, we talk about:

• 1:30 How did Abbye get into the fibre arts?
• 4:46 Abbye chats about the cloche-style hats she designs and what she loves about them
• 8:11 Felicia and Abbye talk about the Louise Poncho that Abbye designed for her Rockies collection
• 10:38 Felicia asks Abbye about her experiences in photography school
• 13:21 It's a small world after all: Abbye chats about her connections to two of our former podcast guests: Mariana Frochtengartenand Katrina Stewart
• 15:14 Discussing Abbye's upcoming Photography for Knitwear course
• 20:10 How designers can work effectively with knitwear models
• 27:02 The challenges of self-portraits
• 30:50 Abbye's chats about editing and re-touching knitwear photography
• 32:41 How Abbye's new photography course can be for non-designers as well
• 34:38 Where you can find Abbye online
• 36:09 Felicia's Final Notes and Giveaway!

Here's Where You Can Find Abbye Knits:

Website: www.abbyeknits.com

Knitwear Photography Course: www.abbyeknits.com/photography-for-knitwear

Instagram: @abbyeknits

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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

In this episode, we talk about:

• 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!

Here's Where You Can Find Kelly:

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

Enter the Giveaway for 5 Free Weaving Patterns from Kelly's Etsy Shop:

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!

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This week, Felicia talks with Meghan Fernandes and Lydia Gluck: the two co-founders and editors of Pom Pom Quarterly. If you aren’t already familiar with what Pom Pom is, it’s a beautiful, fresh, and modern quarterly magazine for knitting, crochet, and craft that was founded back in 2012. It’s a magazine that has lovely patterns, thoughtful articles, and useful tutorials. This past summer, they celebrated their 5th anniversary of Pom Pom. In the past 5 years, they have expanded out from magazine to also designing and publishing books, hosting awesome events, and producing a monthly podcast called Pomcast.

Meghan is a former American transplant to London, where she lived for a decade. Now back in her native land, she is at the helm of Pom Pom in North America. While in London she wrote her MA dissertation on knitting in 20th century women’s literature and worked for a publisher, a gallery, and a knitting shop, leaving her with a random but particular set of skills that could really only lead to running a knitting magazine. Meghan now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and baby daughter.

Lydia was born in London, grew up in Wales, studied in Manchester, and left her heart in Mexico. Lydia has a background in linguistics, and spends a lot of time trying to draw parallels between knitting and grammar. Now she heads up the London Pom Pom office, which is pretty much her favourite job ever.

Please join us this week as Felicia and the Pom Pom ladies discuss creating a new and unique voice for fibre artists!

In this episode, we talk about:

• 1:35 Introducing the dynamic duo behind Pom Pom and chatting about how they celebrated the magazine’s 5th anniversary
• 4:35 Felicia asks the ladies about tips on how to survive knitwear photo shoots
• 5:20 How Pom Pom Quarterly began
• 7:20 Discussing what Meghan and Lydia thought was missing from other knitting magazines when they decided to start Pom Pom
• 9:00 How Pom Pom makes it work without being funded by advertising and how the magazine is able to attract readers from a wide range of ages
• 12:15 Felicia asks Meghan about her master’s dissertation on knitting in 20th century women’s literature and how feminism fits into Pom Pom
• 17:10 Chatting about Knitting Outside the Box: a new collaboration between Pom Pom Press and Bristol Ivy
• 18:44 Felicia asks Meghan and Lydia how they manage to continue Pom Pom Magazine while living thousands of miles apart
• 22:16 Is there a difference between knitting communities in the US and the UK?
• 23:49 Lydia chats about her new hobby: weaving
• 26:25 What Pom Pom has in store for the future
• 28:00 Felicia's final notes and podcast giveaway!

Links and Things

Here's where to find Meghan and Lydia online:

• Website: www.pompommag.com
• Instagram - Pom Pom: www.instagram.com/pompommag
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pompommag
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/pompommag
• Ravelry Group: www.ravelry.com/groups/pom-pom
• Instagram - Meghan:

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This week’s guest is Alanna Wilcox: a Master Spinner, art educator, weaver, knitter, artist, author, and teacher! Alanna has also written an incredible book on spinning, A New Spin On Colour and a dyeing guide, Dyeing To Get The Colours You Want.

Please join Felicia and Alanna as they discuss spinning and Alanna’s massive dye formula project she is undertaking!

In this episode, we talk about:

• 1:45 Alanna chats about how she got into the fibre arts
• 4:01 Alanna shares her journey of becoming a Master Spinner
• 7:44 Felicia asks Alanna to share more details of the intensive Master Spinner course
• 10:10 Alanna discusses her personal goals with spinning
• 12:15 Alanna shares with us the massive dyeing project she is currently undertaking: colour matching dye formulas
• 17:55 Felicia and Alanna discuss the number of primary colours one can use while dyeing
• 21:36 When Alanna’s project will be available to the public (Note: as of this episode publication, her colour formulas are now available for purchase on her website!)
• 23:32 Felicia asks Alanna how she keeps track of all her swatches and samples while completing this project
• 25:20 Is colour sense and colour theory something anyone can learn?
• 27:17 Alanna chats about what it takes to teach fibre arts
• 30:56 Felicia asks Alanna how she manages to balance teaching, dyeing experiments, and having a family
• 32:52 Alanna chats about her 100 Day Project
• 35:04 Felicia and Alanna chat about electric spinners
• 37:43 Where you can find Alanna online
• 38:46 Felicia’s Final Notes

Here’s Where You Can Find Alanna:

Instagram: @spinnybuns

Website: www.alannawilcox.com

Colour Matching Dye Formulas: www.alannawilcox.com/colormatchingdyeformulas

Facebook: Alanna Rothschild Wilcox

Enter the Giveaway for a copy of A New Spin on Colour and 5 Free Dye Formulas:

Alanna is giving our listeners a chance to win an e-copy of her book A New Spin on Colour and 5 free dye formulas! If you’d like a chance to win this awesome prize pack, click the link below and enter this episode’s secret word. Thank you so much Alanna!

Click here to enter the giveaway »

Thanks for Listening!

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 le