Dark Matter Knits with Elizabeth Green Musselman opened our PODCASTER NOVEMBER on the Yarn Thing with Marly Bird.

Elizabeth started knitting at about age 12. Her mother always knit and never attempted to teach her daughter until her daughter asked. She  started with a sweater that never was finished, of mohair/acrylic blend with aluminum needles…  It wasn't until graduate school, that she took it up again, to be productive and not read or researching… Elizabeth's studies lead her to be a history professor, mostly she liked to study the history of science. Once she made her way to the being chair of her department, found she was dissatisfied with any future progress she could make. With becoming a mom, priorities weren't the same anymore. She says she's ‘cobbled together' designing and freelance work since leaving academia behind.

Elizabeth acquired skills as a graphic designer a long the way, which came in handy. At one point the LYS has a visit with Shannon Okey and the owner asked Elizabeth if she would take care of Shannon. Spending time with her and talking to her about what she wanted to do turned out to be an incredibly lucky meeting, as the day that Elizabeth left college life, Shannon asked if she would be her assistant. At first it was just taking care of things that made Shannon's projects overwhelming but it progressed to lay out of publications, book designs.

Podcasting began when she was inspired by the Cast-On podcast (which recently ended) and Craftlit (guest on our next week show) but the thought of post-production was overwhelming. In fact she had experience with creating a video podcast. She does try to make a theme throughout the episode, sharing what she works on and helpful techniques, including recently adding yarn reviews.  She shared that she uses the camera and microphone on her computer as she wants the simplicity of just sitting down to record. The post-production is the challenge as it's a lot of work but invariably something goes wrong and then people can't download the episode.

Her own designs were formed as filling a need for the guys in Elizabeth's life. Most men and boys designs are a bit conservative and her men and boys were fairly adventurous. She began creating for magazine's and books who asked her specifically for a contributions for male audience. Her recent publication Kung Fu Knits was formed of a desire to incorporate what a boy would want to wear. In fact, her son's teacher at his dojo is a comic book artist. So, it seems a great collaboration was meant to me. The collection includes the complete Gi, the jacket, the pants, the belt, nunchuks, throwing stars and a bag to keep it all neat and together for lessons. Or adventures, which ever happens first. The bag, Elizabeth says, will be featured in a segment for Knitting Daily TV, sort of a zippered one-strap over the shoulder, not really for large loads likes books, but gear and lunch, of Berroco Vintage.

You may wish to follow Dark Matter Knits adventures by following the Group in Ravelry and to listen to this awesome podcast with Elizabeth's smooth voice and great knitting tidbits you'll want to bookmark or subscribe (available in iTunes too!) this is the blog link and the episode links will be there, too:  https://darkmatterknits.wordpress.com/

Frequently Asked Questions

So, Elizabeth Green Musselman used to be a history professor?

Honestly… yes! She was even a department chair before she decided to leave academia behind. She mostly studied the history of science and found herself dissatisfied with her future career path. Becoming a mom definitely shifted her priorities.

How did Elizabeth get into graphic design and assisting other designers?

Well… she picked up graphic design skills along the way, which totally came in handy! She met Shannon Okey and ended up assisting her, which progressed from just helping out to doing layout and book designs. Super lucky meeting!

Did Elizabeth find podcasting easy to start?

So here's the thing… she was inspired by other podcasts, but the thought of post-production felt overwhelming at first! She does try to keep things simple by using her computer's camera and mic, but the editing part is definitely a challenge.

Why did Elizabeth start designing for men and boys?

Yes! She started creating designs because she wanted to fill a need for the guys in her life, as most patterns out there were a bit conservative. Her men and boys were pretty adventurous, so she made things they'd actually want to wear.

What's the deal with that Kung Fu Knits book?

Honestly… it was born from wanting to create what a boy would want to wear, inspired by her son's dojo and a comic book artist! It includes a whole Kung Fu Gi, plus accessories like nunchuks and throwing stars, and a neat bag to carry it all.