Teresa Miskin of Buffalo Wool Co was the guest today on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird. As one of our sponsors, it’s a great pleasure to get caught up with this enabler of American Made products!

Teresa’s grandmother attempted to teach her to crochet as a child but apparently it didn’t take as all Teresa can remember is the fiber twisted around her fingers. Ron came into The Buffalo Wool company through his father, Cecil, who is a great advocate for bison in the US. Teresa and Ron have been married for 21 years. As a teenager Teresa knew Ron as her cousin’s ‘silly drummer friend’ and then they were co-workers at a oilman’s club.

When they decided to create projects with this wonderfully soft bison fiber, they were told ‘No, you can’t do that’. This thought is amazing as when their products are seen and felt, whether it’s a read-to-wear product or their marvelous yarns, they are instantly adored.

As for as their yarn lines, they feature: HEAVEN (Pure Bison), SEXY (Bison & Silk), BUFFALO SKIES (Bison & Merino Wool), which will be used with one of their partners in a ready-to-wear assortment of accessories. They also have blankets that are milled and machine knitted, brand-new, as well as felted hats, soon including a bowler style. They’ve also created new colorways with indie-dyers such as Lorna’s Laces. Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley were two such creations, for which a pattern book Cowgirl-Up! e-book was created.

Right now, Buffalo Wool Company is in the finals for the Martha Stewart American Made Accessories Division and would welcome your help, up to 6 votes per day.

They are also encouraging two knitters who have designed shawls in a contest to be worn by Stevie Nicks while on tour with her new album. Check out Judy Ellis and Lynette Meeks by clicking on their names to view their submissions at Tallenthouse Art Works and vote for their designs made with Buffalo Wool Co fiber.

Buffalo Wool Co will be at Taos, New Mexico, for the Taos Wool Festival October 4 & 5. They will then drive across country in Miss Betsy to be at Stitches East in Hartford, Connecticut, October 10-12, then to NY Sheep and Wool, October 19-20. Southeast Animal Fiber Fair or SAFF October 24-26. BUSY OCTOBER for BWC! You can look up their calendar at their website https://thebuffalowoolco.com/ to see if they will be in your neighborhood or follow their adventures on Facebook

Buffalo Wool Company has been a wonderful sponsor of the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird, and for that we are thankful and encourage you to visit their website or their booth at an upcoming event!

Knitwear Designer and Author Andrea Jurgrau was today’s guest on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird.

Andrea was taught to knit by family, Grandmother and great-aunts were all knitters. They didn’t use patterns so for a long time, neither did she until she had a copy of an Elizabeth Zimmerman book. She became serious about knitting when in college during lecture hall at about the time she got that EZ book, where she learned patterns were always ok but not necessary.

When a friend started a yarn company, she supported her friend by creating patterns using the yarn, and that was the beginning of her design career. She also wrote a blog and shared designs through there.  She still has a blog: https://badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ The name Bad Cat was inspired by a kitty they owned named Lucy Fur who lived up to her name!

Writing patterns made her realize ‘how imprecise’ the language of patterns can be, and using charts and tech editors has been an adventure. She knits for her own pleasure any type of projects, from socks to sweaters, and loves to knit lace. When designing, she shares her love of knittin glace and in her new book New Vintage Lace, many of her designs are beautiful shawls, scarves, doilies and hats. They were inspired by Andrea’s collection of vintage patterns, many of doilies, some of which came without written instructions. The challenge was recreating these patterns to lie flat, fix mistakes in the stitch counts and to work-up in a modern way. The patterns are set up in the book that a beginner could start at the beginning and work through.

SIDE NOTE from Tammy: Recently, Andrea’s design made the cover of the special edition magazine Enchanted Knits (both the magazine and the book are from Interweave). The design shown in red is one of a pair in the magazine inspired of Snow White and Rose Red, and there is a Udine Shawlette inspired by mermaids and a Giant Slayer Vine Scarf in the magazine.

Find Andrea Jurgrau in Ravelry too: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/andrea-jurgrau

Yarn Pop by Top Shelf Totes, owner Lori Jordan, our guest today on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird. And we LOVE our Bags, don’t we?

Lori was taught to crochet by an aunt at about 12 years old, and her first project was a blanket. About 10 years ago, she picked up knitting because she was inspired to knit socks! She says socks are still her favorite GO-TO project and that she taught herself and later on, through her local yarn store.

Lori Jordan was working at Paramont Pictures to get movies uploaded in services like iTunes and Netflix, at the time knitting was her zen, she says. She and her husband decided to start their own tech company. While on the plane, she realized it would be nice to have a bag that prevented her yarn from rolling down the aisles. She sewed when she was at home, and began with a bag with grommets for the yarn to thread through. Someone suggested taking her bags to Stitches West. Her first time there, she realized that while she thought she had enough, she ran out of inventory by Saturday of the show and spent the rest of it knitting and handing out business cards.

That was the moment of clarity when she realized she’d found her bliss.

She found manufacturers close to her, in fact, the prints are all milled, made and printed in the US. The fabric is a heavier canvas that resists stains and hold their shape and still be machine washable. The prints she uses are great for making the bags coordinate while not ‘matchy-matchy’ although lots of people like having their various bags all the same print.

She loves working with the community, the people, the other vendors at shows, the yarn stores and doing the trunk shows. It’s obvious that these are the things that love her products too!

The first bag was The Single. The yarn threads through the grommet, as stated earlier, and your project can be tucked back in the, there’s a gap that allows the yarn not to get caught in the zipper. She created this bag in this size to be perfect for her socks. Naturally, The Double came next as an option for attendees at the shows, for sock two-at-a-time. Later came The Gadgety, with a pocket for a cell phone with a place to thread the headset cord through. The Commuter came with room for the larger devices like tablets to carry your pattern around with your project. And then the POPULAR Toteable to carry everything!

The bags are becoming collectibles because Lori tries to keep themes and update them. People like the Owl prints, and other people will love the Giraffes. The company is known for the Dandelion print as well.

Joji Knits, designer Joji Locatelli was today’s guest on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird, all the way from Argentina! This made for a Great adventure for a live program.

Joji (pronounced Ho-Hee) says she learned to knit at about age 8, mom taughter her to a garter stitch scarf. Not exciting and the yarn was not a thrill so that was it till she was in University she started thinking about taking crafts up. At 24, she was about to get married but decided to quit smoking. Her mom had left some needles at her house and she picked up knitting again.

At first she didn’t have access to patterns, with her mom’s help she was able to improvise in her knitting. Then she found Ravelry. There she was able to follow her favorite designers and improve her skills, till she became a designer herself.

When she starts a design, she has an idea of what she wants to make but it sounds like the particulars work themselves out in process. In the beginning, she was so engrossed with what she was working on, she would forget to write things down as she worked on them. Even without completely understanding English her designs communicate classic beauty.

In spite of the changes in import/export laws, which makes it hard for someone like Joji to purchase yarn. she says ‘Don’t Worry’ she has a good supply at hand. Malabrigo is from Uruguay, right next door to Argentina! Sometimes, the colors she is sent by a yarn designer is not what she had in mind, and then she finds the design becomes based on the yarn itself.

Her latest design, Japan Sleeves, based on another of her cardigan designs, Old Romance, incorporates lacework from Japanese charts, and has been very popular among JojiKnits fans. Old Romance was very well received, which inspired her to continue the thought of the lace panels down the sleeves and the rest of the sweater constructed from that. Then she was sharing her inspiration for Japan Sleeves and the thought of stripes and her friend reminded her stripes in this would be like shawls that you see often. Working out the stripes in the short rows, but she loves that the design came together well.

Another of Joji’s designs that is popular is Boxy and Buttony. a next step after Boxy, by their nature as oversized and their boxy shape becomes comfortable and drapey. (Joji later shared that she personally likes the Boxy design so much she wears it all the time!) She also discussed how the feminine shape of Meridien comes together.

Joji says she gets most of her designing done in the evenings after her two boys go to bed. Her husband does freelance work as well, so this works for her family very well! Check out her designs in Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/joji-locatelli

Pepperyberry Knits yarn, creator Heidi Hennessy, was the guest on the Yarn Thing Podcast today with Marly Bird, and it was all about the CASHMERE! Marly wanted to meet Pepperberry Knits at TNNA in May, but the booth was so busy. Those that did get in are still talking about it!

Heidi is the mom of four boys and after her third son was born, she picked up a booklet and knit gloves using double-pointed needles, then a cable sweater. She found herself hooked, as it made sense to her. She shared with others at yarn group what how to cable, or other techniques, which progressed to teaching. Recommending yarns to others lead her to wonder about creating her own yarns.

Being entrepreneurial, she began with deconstructing cashmere sweaters found at the thrift stores, plying on her Ashford spinning wheel, and selling recycled cashmere. Of course, knitters LOVE cashmere and wanted a sweater’s worth. Heidi searched sources that would sell smaller quanities. The cones of color would come in laceweight and she would ply them together in solids and marled colorways. In two years, the work has grown into Pepperberry Knits https://pepperberryknits.com/

Heidi has been so busy creating skeins to fill the demand, but amazingly has had some time to design a bit. Some designs come to her in her sleep. That’s where The Karen Double Layer Mittens came about.  https://www.pepperberryknits.com/products/karen

THIS pattern available to fans of the Yarn Thing podcast till SUNDAY NIGHT, September 7th. You can pick up this pattern at the Pepperberry Knits website and get 50% off with codeword yarnthing (yes, all one word and all lower case). Isn’t that great? Marly wants to add to this: to assist those that have not knit mittens or gloves she has a Craftsy class, use this code and get 50% off!  CLICK HERE

What people were so excited about at TNNA was mini skeins, in theme colorways and put together in Fun Size Bundles that can be used to create cowls. It’s a great introduction to using cashmere and at very reasonable, unexpected prices.

They will be at VKLive NYC in January and StitchesWest in Santa Clara, CA, in February, then in Colorado for Interweave in April. Bookmark her Ravelry page for details: https://www.ravelry.com/groups/pepperberry-knits