EPISODE THIRTY :: Hanna Lisa Haferkamp & Verena Cohrs - Running Values - Aligned Businesses

July 06, 2017 by Ani Lee in Podcast

The Close Knit podcast showcases artists, designers, and makers from all over the world who work with fibre in its many forms. Knitters, spinners, sewers, textile artists - all will be celebrated on the Close Knit podcast.

A huge thank you to this week's episode sponsor, Made In Tasmania.

Made in Tasmania is a small, family owned and mostly family run business operating out of Tasmania. They work with Australia’s oldest wool mill, Waverley Woolen Mills, to weave colorful bed throws from Tasmanian sourced and processed superfine merino. I personally got a chance earlier this year to tour the factory and see how it’s all made - and it’s bloody cool. The wool comes in greasy bales and gets processed up at Waverely right down to the dyeing and weaving. Made In Tasmania also works with Hobart- based not for profit Tastex, who employ folks with barriers to employment, where they add finishing touches to machine knit scarves made from merino yarn. You can find Made In Tasmania at their bricks and mortar in Salamanca Place, Hobart and online at madeintasmania.com and on instagram as @madeintasmania. They ship worldwide!

As a special gift to close knit podcast listeners, Made In Tasmania are offering 10% off your first purchase - use the code close knit at checkout.

Thanks again to Made In Tasmania for sponsoring this episode of the Close Knit podcast!

In Episode 30 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Hanna Lisa Haferkamp and Verena Cohrs. Hanna Lisa and Verena are feminist knitters living in Berlin who work together on a project called Making Stories and separately on their own solo projects, as well.

Hanna Lisa and Verena came up with the concept for Making Stories, an independent knitwear design publishing company, after getting together for knitting hang outs and running a yarn crawl with local knitters in Berlin. We talk about how they navigate the dynamics of working on a project together, in addition to their separate companies and what this looks like on a day to day basis - the necessity of having a similar long term and bigger vision for the project, but the beauty of having differing opinions on the smaller details.

Hanna Lisa explains the turning point for her in her business in 2016 to make a decision to very openly identify as feminist and keep her core values of supporting womxn owned businesses in the running of her own business. Both tell us about their routines around self care and how they work together to keep each other accountable.

People/ Things we mentioned in the podcast:

Fringe Association: basically we just all love Karen a lot.
Vivian kvitka - thegoodviv.com - the graphic designer that Hanna and Verena use/love.
Caroline Frett - surface pattern designer
Gather here - feminist business based in boston that we love (and ani visited in 2015)

Find Hanna Lisa: website | instagram

Find Verena: website | instagram

Find Hanna Lisa & Verena (as Making Stories) : website | instagram

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Awesome! I'm glad you've found your way to this podcast. Please feel free to subscribe, leave a review on iTunes (this makes all the difference to reaching more people!) and share with your loved ones. Thanks for tuning in.

Until next time!

ani

EPISODE TWENTY NINE :: PILLOW TALK with Claire & Ashton of Wax and Wane Fiber

June 08, 2017 by Ani Lee in Podcast

A huge thank you to this week's episode sponsor, Millpost Merino. Millpost is an ethical family farm on NSW Southern Tablelands near Canberra. It’s been in the family since 1922, and Judith (aka Mum) and David (aka Dad) took over in 1979.

The family is now making really lush superfine merino yarn that’s single source (just from their flock). I got a shade card in the mail the other day and guys, this stuff is good. the colours are really considered and they’ve got heaps of choice - 8 different colours that all looks pretty damn good together and undyed hanks for indie dyers. Millpost is run according to the principles of Permaculture, so you can rest easy knowing that your yarn come from a biodiverse, productive, healthy farm. You can find Millpost Merino online, and on instagram.

Thanks again to Millpost for sponsoring this episode of the Close Knit Podcast!

Claire and Ashton of Wax and Wane Fiber are a queer and feminist fibre art operation based in Baltimore.

We talk about the ways in which claire and ashton make space for each other and navigate the dynamics of running a business together, the realities of having day jobs in addition to a creative business and doing taxes. (pro tip - do your taxes). We talk about how fibre art is a political tool and how their work and business has changed as a result of the political climate in the US.

This chat was a funny one, with a lot of editing because the internet connection from Tasmania to baltimore was shaky, so if you notice a couple moments of weirdness, that’s what that was. We also have a few little inside jokes that formed over the course of this conversation, which (side note) was also the first time we’d ever spoken. we get deep into some tender chats about how we all just need some loving, and how earlier wewatched rhianna and jennfier lopes music videos.

There’s no other way to describe this chat than ~pillow talk~ really really good pillow talk.

People/ Things we mentioned in the podcast:

neighborhood fiber company in baltimore - black, femme owned biz. v badass
beautiful trouble : toolbox for revolution - a book on art as a revolution tool
Zak Foster - quilter in brooklyn/ internet/IRL friend of claire and ashton
sunflower knit - beautiful, inspiring knitting
movement: miracle of movement - a project of claire's friend Laura

Find Claire and Ashton: website | instagram

Want more?

Subscribe: Itunes or Pocket Casts

Like what you're hearing?

Until next time!

ani

EPISODE TWENTY EIGHT :: Emma Peters - Permission to Make Mistakes & Teaching from an Honest Place

May 11, 2017 by Ani Lee in Podcast

A huge thank you to this week's episode sponsor: 100 Acts of Sewing

100 Acts of Sewing is a pattern company making simple sewing patterns for a handmade wardrobe, designed by Sonya Philip. The patterns are geared towards beginners with pieces that are easy to wear and modify. I have personally sewn the dress no2 from 100 acts of sewing and every time I see a new pattern by Sonya I get so excited because of their ease of construction and versatility. Reading Sonya’s instructions was like having a seasoned sewer in the room with me, walking me through the process step by step, something I feel is often missing from sewing patterns and online tutorials.If you’re interested in hand making your clothes and aren’t sure where to start, or even if you’re a really good sewist, I can’t recommend 100 acts of sewing patterns highly enough! You can find 100 acts of sewing on Etsy and follow Sonya’s handmade wardrobe chronicles on instagram at @sonyaphilip.

As a special treat For Close Knit Podcast Listeners, Sonya is offering US$5 off orders placed until 30/6/2017 with the code CLOSEKNIT at checkout.

Thanks again to Sonya at 100 Acts of Sewing for this generous offer and for sponsoring the Close Knit Podcast!

Emma is a textile artist and lecturer based in Sydney.We chat about emma’s childhood and her strong tactile and olfactory memories of textiles as a child on the wool farm with her family.

Emma has spent the last few years exploring wet felting and has incorporated this into her personal and professional work. We speak about how Emma has processed her life experiences through her work, sometimes unconsciously and we discuss how powerful fibre as a medium can be. As a lecturer in auniversity setting, Emma brings her whole self to the classroom and is encouraging of her students to explore many elements of themselves in their work with fibre.We speak about the necessity of bringing and acknowledging the role of self in research and talk about the ways in which spaces displaying art can facilitate safe space for truth telling about ourselves.

Find Emma: website | instagram

Want more?

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Until next time!

ani

EPISODE TWENTY SEVEN :: Anna Barberio of For Flynn Protest Art - Art as Self-Care and an Act of Resistance

April 13, 2017 by Ani Lee in Podcast

In Episode 27 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Anna Barberio of For Flynn Protest Art.

Anna is a cross stitcher, mixed media protest artist and a student of psychology. We talk about anna’s approach to craft, how much of her work has come from a place of necessity, and particularly how her work has come from a place of necessity during the election season and presently, under the new presidential administration in the US. Anna raises some really important points about craft and self care, and we both have a great big chat about the ways in which we look after ourselves (or more often than not, fail at doing that)

People/ Things we mentioned in the podcast:

Ani shouts out to call your girlfriend re: sentient cheeto reference. also CYG is a wonderful podcast that you should listen to if you're not already
badass cross stitch - ep 26 of the close knit podcast!
ali segel alibaby90 - v badass feminist
hot cross puns - R. Jones - very badass crosstitchery.
nerds and needles

Find Anna: website | instagram

Want more?

Subscribe: Itunes or Pocket Casts

Like what you're hearing?

Until next time!

ani

Movin' to Monthly + A Call for Sponsors <3

April 11, 2017 by Ani Lee in Podcast

so earlier this year I was calling myself "joyfully over-committed" but let's be real, that's kinda shit. It was true - I was trying to do too much, but they were all things I really really wanted to do, there was joy, but I also wasn't really sleeping (and by not really sleeping I just mean that I was getting less than 8 hrs a night, which for me doesn't work)

and it's not necessarily shit for me, until it becomes shit for me. you know? it was actually probably really shit for people in my life because i often ran late to things and had to reschedule because i have a lot of feelings and i can't ignore those feelings and had my google calendar soooo packed that i didn't give any time for just feeling of those feelings (which I'm gonna be honest about, I kinda even schedule on my google calendar, like not really, but also I leave blocks of time that say things like "free time/free knit/just hang out", and that's usually when I find myself settling into what i'm feeling, if that makes any sense)

all this is to say that as a person with a lot of feelings (and also a lot of frenetic energy a lot of the time) i am working on being less over-committed (see how i'm going easy on myself there by saying just less over-committed instead of not over-committed? that's cuz i think it's all a big fat work-in-progress - me, this life, the whole thing), and in the interest of continuing to keep the JOY in the work that I do, I'm going to go ahead and formally say that the Close Knit Podcast will be a monthly podcast instead of this erratic, semi-bi-monthly thing I've been trying to do lately.

My intention with moving it to monthly is this: keep the joy and the quality high and the stress loowww (lower?). Learning as I go here, and learning to set expectations both for the audience and myself (the expectations for self thing is damn hard)

Also, in the interest of keeping the podcast a sustainable part of the patchwork way in which I monetise my labour, I'm seeking sponsorship for the podcast, which I have done in the past, but would like to continue to grow this actively as a part of the podcast. Community and connection are at the core of why I do this work, and I want to foster these connections with other makers and producers, and I genuinely feel there is space for wonderful partnerships to grow with the podcast and other small businesses.

Now that the podcast is 1 year old (woah!), I have a good sense of where my audience is and I'm committed to making a quality show that continues to challenge the typical role of craft in the world. This means that I'll be really actively focusing on the intersection of craft and social justice, the realities of small business ownership, intersectional feminism, amongst other timely and important issues as they arise.

Interested in chatting about a potential sponsorship?

Here are some things to keep in mind:

the Close Knit podcast aims to hold safe and inclusive space for conversations about craft/art within a larger context of current sociopolitical issues, social justice issues, amongst other topics (we might touch on some topics that other craft/fibre art podcasts don't)
we're open to working with brands of many sizes and can adjust our pricing model accordingly. not sure you're in a space to sponsor financially? get in touch about collaboration or sponsorship of a giveaway. let's work something out.
the Close Knit podcast is available thru iTunes and has over 15 reviews to date (worldwide), all 5 stars (yay!)
the Close Knit Podcast (as of April 2017) has been downloaded over 20k times (!)

Some praise for the Close Knit Podcast (taken from iTunes reviews)

love!! inspiring for all of the fiber students out there

in iTunes by natoci from USA on January 31, 2017

"I've been listening to this podcast all week while doing fiber art projects for school and it's kept me inspired and hopeful and energized by all of the lovely souls that Ani has brought into her Close Knit community. thank you for this!! "

Kudos!

in iTunes by Hemasan from USA on May 27, 2016

"Ani does a great job of finding and interviewing people with a strong passion for their craft. As I listen, I find myself looking up arts and crafts people from the 19th century to the present day, and I am wowed by them all. Being of the radio rather than the internet generation, I also love the fact that I can tune in and listen whilst going about my day… Love that feeling of having Ani and her guest in my kitchen as I make myself a cuppa! "

Fresh and relaxing...

in iTunes by Ocean_Xoxoxo from UK on March 29, 2016

"A positively delightful podcast, I was fully immersed whilst listening to Ani Lee and guest Caitlin Murray talking about fibre, life, business, art, books, and speaking yarn ;) Felt like a friend sitting in a garden, having an engaging and light discussion about the arts. It gave me a much needed wave of inspiration and motivation, by reminding me about connecting to this humble fibre community. I can honestly say that the Close Knit podcast will continue to be an authentic and essential part of my routine. Check it out, you'll love it! "

A varied collection of fiber artists' inside stories

in iTunes by wendlandcd from USA on August 25, 2016

"As a fiber artist myself, I feel like it's always inspiring to hear how others came to the craft and connect with the similarities and differences in our stories and mediums. Ani is an American based in Australia, so I'm finding we are getting a lot of views from both Oceania and North America - so I'm appreciating learning about what life is like down under! I always leave the podcast feeling inspired and appreciating a new perspective. Thank you, Ani for the work you do and for bringing people together! "

GET IN TOUCH via email: hello@closeknit.com.au

ani