Growing into your purpose—Meet crochet artist & Making engineer Abi Santiago w/ Ashley Yousling, ep. 163

In this special episode, I hit the road to Portland, OR, to sit down with Rachel, the creative mind behind Ritual Dyes and founder of Sacred Sheep, a festival dedicated to makers, especially those passionate about the fiber arts. From discovering her love for knitting and hand-dyeing yarn to the creation of a highly curated, community-focused fiber arts festival that celebrates all things making, you'll love getting to know Rachel!Grab your WIP and hit play! Psssst...tickets are still available so I hope to see you there. ;)If you prefer to watch this episode, go here!Music by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

The world of crafting and making should be a space where everyone feels welcome and empowered. However, there are barriers—both visible and invisible—that can exclude or marginalize makers with disabilities. In this episode I am joined by the super fabulous Beth Gorishek, The Adaptive Knitter & Kira Dulaney of Kirk K Designs and we chat about the ways in which ableism manifests in our community and, more importantly, how we can actively work to dismantle these barriers. If you prefer to watch this chat, pop over to our YouTube channel. xoxoBeth Gorishek + The Adaptive Knitterhttps://www.adaptiveknitter.comhttps://www.instagram.com/adaptiveknitter Kira Dulaney + Kira K Designshttps://kirakdesigns.comhttps://www.instagram.com/kirakdesignsMusic by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

We're back with some wonderful Fall episodes to celebrate hunkering down with your current favorite WIP and enjoying an episode of the Making Conversation podcast. ;) Just a heads up, this episode is VERY visual. If you prefer to watch, pop over to our YouTube channel. xoxoIn this episode, I am so lucky to chat with Amy Swanson of June Cashmere and learn all about the special goats and farmers they work with to create their beautiful yarn. We then get to learn about knitting a wedding dress with Rachel Carleton! Rachel dives into the process (of sometimes lack there of) of creating her own dress for the special day! Amy Swanson + June  Cashmere https://www.junecashmere.com https://www.instagram.com/junecashmereRachel Carleton + Zee Zee Textileshttps://zeezeetextiles.comhttps://www.instagram.com/zeezeetextilesMusic by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

To know Jess is to love Jess and Jess' love of this special fiber arts community is very evident in everything she does. From in her yarn shop on Bainbridge Island, WA to Flock Fiber Festival, a yarn show in Seattle, WA, celebrating a love of all things wool, the fibers arts community is so very lucky to have these two spaces to come together and celebrate these things that we love and bring us the most joy! Jen hopped on a ferry and headed out to Bainbridge to chat with Jess about La Mercerie and their new space (which... spoiler alert was the home of Churchmouse Yarns for years!) and also how Flock is growing in its second year and the things that she's doing to keep it so very special.So grab your WIP and hit play and we hope to see you at Flock Fiber Festival! Watch this episode.Get your tickets to Flock!Last year's episode w/ JessMusic by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

The universe definitely brought this fabulous human to Making. Ashley chats with our crochet-loving engineer all about her journey in craft, her path to leadership and computer sciences, and how we were so lucky to have Abi join the team. To know Abi is to love Abi! Grab your WIP and hit play. :) Abi's crochet websiteIf you're in Seattle, catch her at these markets: Pride Market at Lifelong Thrift on June 15thCutiefest Pride on June 22Find us on the Making app:Abi @abisantiAshley @ashelyyouslingJen @knitpurlMusic by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

Award winning embroidery artist, mother, teacher, author, and all around lovely human! If you don't know of Emily Botelho aka Salt Stitches, you're in for a treat! (If you do, you are too!) Emily joins Jen and not only do they chat about her beautiful art, how her favorite places and values come through as inspiration but also her new book which is more than just a pattern book but a guide on how to release self-assigned boundaries of creativity that we can sometimes place upon ourselves. Emily’s website Buy Emily’s book: Abstract EmbroideryPrefer watching to your podcasts? MKNG - Jen + Ashley's consulting advisory biz!Music by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

Ashley and Jen share some really exciting features that are coming to Making VERY SOON. We kick off a new segment where we will share business and/or makers in our community that help spread our values and Ashley dives into the topic of fear and decision-making. Grab your WIP, your favorite snack, and hit play!If you are a designer, sell finished goods, make supplies for makers to create, or just love being a part of a beautifully diverse community in an app that wants to prove that you can build a business based on the idea of people over profit, join the community: https://themakingapp.comFind us on the Making app:Ashley: @AshleyJen: @KnitPurl  Watch this episode! The sweater Jen is wearing Coloring Book Raglan by Aimee Sher Loop Fiber Studio in Song and DanceThe sweater Jen is working onTumble Tee by Lydia MorrowJunkyarn in Side BoobMKNG - Our consulting advisory biz!Common Threads PressFlock Fiber Festival - Get your tickets for this year! Music by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

Hello, makers! Super excited to bring you this episode with our pal, Catherine. Just a heads up, there are parts of this episode that are a little more visual as we give a shop tour. Click to watch instead!Brooklyn General Store has been the go-to place for crafty supplies of all kinds for NYC makers since 2002. We sat down with the Queen of Union Street, BGS owner, designer, maker, event planner extraordinaire–Catherine Clark. Get to know her maker journey, the story of how Brooklyn General moved from the waiting room of Catherine’s midwifery office to the current location, how her and Aimée of La Bien Aimée became besties and more! Brooklyn General Storehttps://brooklyngeneral.com128 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11231Brooklyn General Store is tucked away on a sweet block West of the Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill neighborhoods and North of  Red Hook.  This commercial block on Union Street used to be a thriving shopping block for all types of foods and goods.   Brooklyn General’s home within the Old Frank’s Department Store is a throw back to that era, with its preserved floor to ceiling shelves, rolling ladders and classic old wooden floors.  The vintage interior is not reproduced, just uncovered, cleaned and painted.Brooklyn General Store was created in an effort to provide the highest quality materials to a community of devoted artists and craftspeople and to promote making things by hand through inspiration and education.  Not only is it a place to feast your eyes and hands on glorious colors and patterns and textures but it is a place that respects and honors a time when a trip to the country store was a way of life.  It is a place where a quick trip for a yard of fabric or a skein of yarn turns into an hour of sharing, teaching, inspiring and encouraging all the amazing and creative makers that are also out for that quick trip to the General Store... Following its mission to promote all things handmade, Brooklyn General offers a wide variety of classes in knitting, sewing, quilting, felting, spinning, rug hooking and embroidery.  Classes are limited in size in order for students to have ample individual attention.  Studio time with our fantastic BERNINA classroom machines is also available. BrooklynGeneral.com was created to share our carefully picked goods with all the creative souls outside of Brooklyn, NY.Music by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

Author Jane Cooper joins us to talk all about her book, The Lost Flock: Rare Wool, Wild Isles and One Woman’s Journey to Save Scotland’s Original Sheep. Jane and Jen chat about why the Orkney Boreray sheep are so very special, Jane's maker journey, lambs...lots of lambs, and what it's like writing your first book.About The Lost FlockPurchase PaperbackPurchase AudiobookFrom Viking times to pastoral Highland crofts to odious research experiments, this is the untold, real-life detective story of the remarkable little horned sheep known as the Orkney Boreray and the determined woman who moved to one of Scotland’s wildest islands to save them.About the Sheephttps://orkneyboreray.comhttps://www.instagram.com/orkneyborerayThe sheep who eat seaweedOrkney Science FestivalThe Lost Flock's launch eventYarnhttps://northronaldsayyarn.co.ukhttps://www.blackeryarns.co.ukhttp://www.woolsack.orgMusic by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].

In the final episode of this series, we get to hear from a few more makers that we chatted with during our last visit to NYC! Get to know some very special humans that we invited to join us for our Brooklyn General Store booth Meet and Greets at Vogue Knitting Live and also from our special maker meetup that we hosted with Brooklyn General Store and La Bien Aimée!This episode’s guests:Jennifer WieseWorkroom Social @WorkroomSocial Kassandra [email protected] Solomon Melanated Boho Bae@MelanatedBohoBaeFeaturing special guest: Aimée Gille of La Bien AiméeLauren IrelandByLaurenIreland.com@LaurenClaireIrelandIf you prefer to watch, check out our YouTube channel. Music by Despatches. If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at [email protected].