The Fibre Muse Podcast

Tina is a knitwear designer based in Detroit, Michigan. After studying knitwear design in college, she fell in love with the use of different fibers, colors, and textures to create her own fabric.By day, she designs on an industrial knitting machine for the sporting goods industry. By night, she spends most of her time creating handknit designs. Tina tries to design wearable pieces for any wardrobe while still creating intriguing designs to keep the process interesting.Download the transcript for this episode here.You can find her at:Tina's website: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/tina-tseInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tina.say.knits/Want to support the podcast? Buy us a coffee or become a Patreon supporter.

CheyOnna is a Colorado based maker, who loves to knit lace and hats. She founded and continues to work closely with The Yarn Mission - an organization dedicated to highlighting people of color.The Yarn Mission prides itself on being Pro-Black, Pro-Rebel, and Pro-Community for the achievement of Black Liberation.CheyOnna believes The Yarn Mission paves the way to freedom by allowing a society worth living for to be created. Download the transcript for this episode here.Website: http://theyarnmission.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theyarnmission/FB Groups: The Yarn Mission, Black Fiber Society Want to support the podcast? Buy us a coffee or become a Patreon supporter.

Yoriko is an indie yarn dyer and passionate knitter. Based out of Vancouver, she is one of the owners of Fibre Art Studio. Working alongside four other women, Yoriko is responsible for managing the Etsy shop.With a background of training in architecture and fashion design, Yoriko approaches her art from both aesthetic and technical standpoints.Download the transcript of the episode here.You can find her at:Kate’s website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/fibreartstudioInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoriko.oki/Want to support the podcast? Buy us a coffee or become a Patreon supporter.

Kate O’Sullivan is a writer, photographer, and host of the Conversations From Our Days podcast. In addition to the podcast, Kate is a writer, and a natural light photographer, specializing in LGBT+ couples and their families.Located in Edinburgh with her girlfriend and daughter, Kate’s passion is for creating content that helps every person feel safe and seen.Website: https://www.kateosullivan.orgInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/kateo_sullivan/

Brooke was seeking something more creatively fulfilling than her day job - and found it with Fully Spun, her hand-dyed yarn company. Her mission is to provide high quality, colorful, beautiful yarn to fiber artists while staying genuine and authentic to what inspires her.Fully Spun is unique in the way that Brooke hand-dye’s the wool roving and has it spun at a mill. This process creates an effect similar to the fractal method of hand spinning. Her yarn is alo special because every colorway is the translation of a visual or conceptual inspiration.You can find her at:Brooke's website: https://fullyspun.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamfullyspun/

This past week I did something scary: I reached out to the Māori artists community and wrote a piece for Toi Māori Aotearoa (a nonprofit supporting the Māori arts and culture - I’ve been donating to them every month) talking about my mahi (work), feelings of displacement and creating something new and beautiful from a mix of different cultures. This is a community that I’ve always wanted to connect with but stayed away from for the longest time out of the fear of not being “Māori enough” to qualify. But as I wrote in the article... “Since learning how to design and establishing myself as a designer, I have learned much about my ancestry and where I come from, with this most importantly: I am enough. While I have so much still left to learn, my desire to do so now isn’t out of a need to “prove my Māori-ness” but to enrich my life and, hopefully, empower the Māori community." The link to the article is here, I would be honored if you took a bit of time out of your day to read it - and to hear your thoughts. A lot of people who’ve read it so far really resonated with the feeling like they are not enough.So that’s why this is the focus on this week’s episode of the Fibre Muse Podcast: Living a Creative Courageous Life. This episode is divided into two parts. The first part dives in a bit deeper on my experience reaching out to and writing to Toi Maori Aotearoa, the fears I had to fight against and what I’m experiencing now as a result. The second part flips the script and focuses on you: how you can start creating courageously. I’m sure just like me, you have big dreams and goals for your crafting. Whether it’s learning a new technique, putting your work out into the world, or wanting to make a connection, there’s that small voice in our heads that want to hold us back. So I’m diving into both the mechanic (the how to’s and practical strategies) and the mindset roadblocks. Links Mentioned:Storytime Teller: @creatyveknitstudio

With the next collection of the Fibre Muse Quarterly coming out next Tuesday, you'll be getting an in-depth look into the stories and inspirations for the pieces and learn how each pattern ties into its respective Fibre Muse. Which Fibre Muse are you? Which pattern will you be working on during the Fibre Muse KAL?Discovery Test Patterns in the collection:Atawhai Hat - GiverMarino Wrap - DreamerKahurangi Cowl - MysticKarekare Pullover - SeekerView the lookbook. Pre-order the collection for $16.

Today's episode is 100% a stream of consciousness! I share two books that I've read over the past month that's had a significant impact on the way I view my work as a Maori knitwear designer. These texts set the foundation for the direction I'll be taking my work over the next year: transforming myth and legend into knitwear designs to keep the stories of my people alive in a new medium.Outside Mentions:Solene le Roux @solenelerouxKatie Bredbeck and Babs Rudlin @Yarn PeopleMaori weaving with Erenora Puketapu-HetetMy Mother was the Earth, My Father was the Sky: Myth and Memory in Maori novels in English by Nadia Majid @absolutelyknittingVideo of Veranoa Hetet weaving

In this episode I bring on my first guest of the series, Monica Rodriguez of Knits All Folks. We chat about our experiences of being crafters of color in the US knitting community that is predominately white, and why representation is so important. Monica also shares how she uses crafting to navigate her identity, and how the Seeker Fibre Muse has affected that process. We also give our recommendations for how to beat the Instagram algorithm so you can start following and supporting more crafters and designers of color today. Follow Monica Online At: Website: www.knitsallfolks.com Instagram: knitsallfolks Designers or crafters of color to follow online: Tina.say.knits Tlyarncrafts Absoknittinglutely Brandicheynneharper Jeanettesloan Ggmadeit Loopnthreads Nappyknitter Callmedwj Ucrafter Follow the hashtag: #diversknitty

In this episode, I share my thoughts about Slow Fashion October, specifically the paradox I feel as a knitwear designer. How sustainable is it for a craft, such as knitting, which is inherently slow, to be put under the demands of the fast fashion model? I dive into the context and history that’s possibly brought the fiber industry to this point, then discuss some shifts I’ve taken as a knitwear designer to be more conscious and aware of my contribution to the issue.

In this episode, I take you behind the scenes of a commonly asked question from my community of Fibre Muses: how I work my cultural influences into my designs. I share my sources of inspiration and then the process of translating them into stitch patterns. My hopes for this episode is that by sharing my process, you’ll be inspired and empowered to do the same exploration in your own knitting. Books mentioned in the Episode: Maori Myth and Legend by A.W. Reed Maori Weaving by Erenora Puketapu-Hetet Te Taiao Maori and the Natural World by the Te Ara Team

In this mini episode, I give context as to why I created this podcast: what was holding me back, what served as a catalyst to get me out of my funk and my hopes for the future and impact of the show.

The Fibre Muse Podcast is coming back with a new twist. This time it will just be me as the host, though I will be inviting guests to come onto the show. What will the new Fibre Muse Podcast be about? At Aroha Knits, it is my mission to inspire and empower fibre artists to transform their yarn so they can manifest more joy, healing, connection and creativity into their lives, one stitch at a time. My work as a knitwear designer focuses on exploring the intersection of the four aspects of making: self-care, self-discovery, self-expression and selflessness with my journey of making sense of my multicultural identity. And on this podcast, I’ll be documenting this journey of self-actualization; of manifesting the Fibre Muse in my own making experience, through my own personal stories and round-table discussions with guests who use craft to explore their own identity. So in the pilot episode of the newly revamped Fibre Muse Podcast, I share the true story of why I became a knitwear designer: for connection, healing, joy and creativity through the lens of my cultural heritage. It's a bit funny - over the past two years or so, I've felt like I've drifted away from this simple true calling as I was experimenting and testing things out with my work (I am a creative, after all), and now I cannot ignore this pull from within me to return back to my true calling.

In this mini episode, I give context as to why I created this podcast: what was holding me back, what served as a catalyst to get me out of my funk and my hopes for the future and impact of the show.