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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Until next time!

ani