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Making Podcast Woolful Podcast

Episode 17: Kristine Vejar and Molly de Vries – Indian textiles, natural dyeing, perfection and living a non-disposable life

March 31, 2015

I’m very excited to share the 17th episode of the Woolful podcast. Today we get to meet two wonderful fiber folk from here in the bay area, both women I’ve really loved getting to know and have had a special part in contributing to this community on both a local and global scale…Molly de Vries of Ambatalia and Kristine Vejar of A Verb For Keeping Warm.

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Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Knitterly, a very special yarn shop created by Shelli Westcott, based in Petaluma California and online at shop.knitterly.net. I am always so amazed at the well curated selection of yarns, fibers and classes Shelli works so hard to provide all us fiber enthusiasts. Make sure to visit when in Petaluma and online at shop.knitterly.net

knitterly

Fiber folk 1: Kristine has had a beautiful fiber journey, from India to Oakland and many places in-between. She’s has built a yarn, fiber and fabric shop, A Verb For Keeping Warm, where her days are often spent growing and honing her natural dye business. She’ll be releasing a book soon on natural dyeing, which I can’t wait to dive into. You can find her at averbforkeepingwarm.com and on Instagram @avfkw.

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Man on the Street: For this week’s “Man on the Street” I asked a question, shared by Karli in our Raverly group. “If you were on a budget for your fiber goods, how would you go about continuing to buy and use natural/local yarns?” One of our Man on the Street team members Abby @abbygoodknits, had a great answer.

Fiber folk 2: Our next guest, Molly is so passionate and honest, which I’ve come to love as I’ve gotten to know her. She has a beautiful journey in self discovery and part of that has translated into her impactful business, Ambatalia. She’s on a mission to spread the love and simple pleasures of a non-disposable life. You can find her at ambatalia.com and on Instagram @ambatalia.

ambatalia

Giveaway: The winner of last week’s giveaway, is Taralynn Dixon! You’ve won a 2 year subscription to Taproot Magazine. Congratulations!

This week’s giveaway is sponsored by Ambatalia, and we’re giving away a collection of 5 assorted bento bags, which work perfect as project bags, as reusable bulk food bags or to carry any variety of special goods. To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below.

ambataliagiveaway

Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in the March knit along of the Moto vest. Tomorrow we’ll be kicking off the April knit along, a fun quick knit for kids and bunny lovers alike. We’ll be knitting Beau the Bunny, my newest Little Woolens pattern, a small toy bunny who’s ready for Spring. You can find more details on our Woolful Ravelry group and I’ll be posting a blog post launching the knit along as well.

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Music by Jónsi.

Transcription coming soon!

Making Podcast Woolful Podcast

Episode 13: Jocelyn Tunney and Sasha Duerr – Organic fiber, realizing dreams, regeneration and permaculture

March 3, 2015

I’m very excited to share the thirteenth episode of the Woolful podcast. Today we get to meet two amazing women who’ve focused their lives and businesses on sustainability and helping bring awareness to what you live and make with, Sasha Duerr of Permacouture and Jocelyn Tunney of O-Wool.

 

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Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Fancy Tiger Crafts, a beautiful yarn shop based out of Denver, Colorado, who recently launched their online shop, fancytigercrafts.com. They have an amazing selection of fabrics and yarns, including their own Heirloom Romney Yarn, which is grown, milled and dyed here in the US. Make sure to visit Fancy Tiger Crafts in person when in Denver and online at fancytigercrafts.com.

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Fiber folk 1: Jocelyn is a very special entrepreneur who’s had a unique fiber journey that led her to own and build O-Wool, a wonderful yarn company that focuses on sustainable and organic fibers, including a certified organically grown and processed, machine washable yarn. You can find Jocelyn at O-Wool.com and on Instagram @owool.

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Man on the street: For this week’s “Man on the Street” I changed it up a bit and asked a handful of fiber enthusiasts to ask me a question and I’d answer one. Brienne Moody asked a great question about time management, how to make time for making, but also planning and reflecting on what you’re creating.

Fiber folk 2: Our next guest, Sasha Duerr has a background rich in permaculture, regenerative design and thoughtful making and consuming that has been a huge inspiration to me ever since I came across her “Seasonal Color Wheel” which is a beautifully painted color wheel poster which illustrates the palette of natural dyes available from seasonal plants common to the bay area, based on mordants used and time of year. You can find this color wheel for sale at interfaceartgallery.com. You can find Sasha at permacouture.org and on Instagram @sashaduerr.

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Giveaway: The winner of last week’s giveaway, is Leslie Eaton! You’ve won a skein of Hole and Sons yarn and a pair of Brittany double point needles. Congratulations!

This week’s giveaway is sponsored by O-Wool, and we’re giving away three skeins of O-Wool’s Local, a gorgeous organic merino and alpaca blend yarn, so you can make Jocelyn’s Blue Bell Hill Scarf Pattern. To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below.

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This week we’re beginning the March Woolful Knitalong. I have been waiting weeks to start on this and am so excited March is here! We’ll be knitting the Moto Vest, designed by Shelli Westcott, owner of Knitterly and creator of Radius Yarns. This vest is so simple and versatile in both design and materials and I can’t wait to see all the lovely vests you knit. Later today I’ll be posting all the details about this knit along on both the blog and Ravelry, so stay tuned for some words from Shelli and myself.

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Music by Jónsi.

 

Transcription coming shortly!

Knitting Making Podcast Natural Living Woolful Podcast

Episode 4: Matt Gilbert & Melody Hoffman – Nomadic knitting, self-sustainability, shearing and building a fiber mill

December 16, 2014

I’m very excited to share the fourth episode of the Woolful podcast. Today we get to meet two fiber folk that have inspired many of us in many different ways. Matt Gilbert a shearer and founder of the Mendocino Wool and Fiber Mill and Melody Hoffman of Mandarine’s.

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Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Yarn, a charming online and local yarn shop based in Eureka, California. Yarn was created by Sunni Schrivner who has a dedication for natural fibers and supporting local yarns. Make sure to visit Yarn in person when on the coast in hum bolt county and online at yarn-fun.com.

yarn

Fiber folk 1: Melody is a passionate knitter and maker, with new aspirations as a knitwear designer. Originally from France, she now lives is Latvia where she focuses her days on knitting and self-sustainability. You can follow her journey on her blog at bmandarines.squarespace.com and on Instagram @bmandarines.

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Man on the Street: For this week’s “Man on the Street” I asked a handful of fiber enthusiasts to answer the following question, “If you could raise a flock of sheep in the breed of your choice, which it be?” We had many amazing replies from Melissa (@hey_lady_hey), Jennifer (@jaykay_knits), Andrea (@dreareneeknits), Madeline (hollertree.tumblr.com), Nikki (@woolenviolet) and Sonja (@atreebytheriver)

Fiber folk 2: When it comes to gumption, tenacity and spirit, I’m not sure many come close to having as much as our next guest, Matt Gilbert. For over a decade Matt has been a shearer in Northern California, witnessing parts of the area that very few ever see, while gathering a lifetimes worth of wooly knowledge. A couple years ago he began building the Mendocino Wool and Fiber Mill of which he hopes to launch very soon. You can find and follow Matt’s journey on Facebook at Facebook.com/mendowool.

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Giveaway: The winner of last week’s giveaway, is….Charlene, grandknit on Ravelry. You’ve won 3 skeins of Snoqualmie Valley Yarn, naturally dyed with black walnut. Congratulations!

The giveaway this week is another special one, our first guest Melody’s Pinecone and Mulberry hat pattern along with two skeins of Quince and Company’s Owl Tweet. To enter this giveaway, visit the giveaway post on Instagram @woolful and tag a friend in the comments. You can also enter by leaving a comment below.

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Awhile back I had an idea, to help bring the focus back to smaller producers, those concentrating their efforts on building domestic production (to whichever country they belong) and trying to do so consciously in regards to the environment, animal welfare, economy, and more. This is a lot of why I started this podcast, to give these people a platform to simply share their stories, and by doing so, inspire others to both support and take action. Whether that be as simple as buying a skein of yarn from a place they could trace the source to, becoming a shearer or even building their own mill. As a pairing to the podcast, I opened an online shop that focuses on supporting single farm and small producer yarns. We started with Cormo from Ton of Wool and then introduced a variety of handspun yarns, bred, raised, shorn, scoured and spun by an incredible sheep shearer and someone who happens to be my neighbor in Idaho. I’m humbled to be working with these amazing fiber folk and am excited to  introduce a handful of new yarns in the shop over the next few months, all with their unique story and purpose. If you’re interested in taking a look or getting involved, please visit woolfulmercantile.com

shop

Music by Jónsi

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