The Return of Designer, Teacher Andi Smith
The Return of Designer, Teacher Andi Smith was our theme today, it’s been a couple of years since she was on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird.
Right off the bat, Marly revealed a big secret of Andi’s: She’s a crocheter! Andi is known for her book, Big Foot Knits, published in 2013 by Cooperative Press, but she says crochet is what she does to relax. She loves the old Victorian-styled doilies.
Andi Smith is from the Yorkshire area of England, she came to the US for school. She went back to England and came back to the the States where she met and married her husband. An acquaintance gave her name to someone from Ohio looking for sample knitters, who turned out to be Shannon Okey, who we know as the wonderful publisher Cooperative Press. That was how Big Foot Knits came about. That was the subject of Andi’s earlier visit to the Yarn Thing podcast.
Andi’s next adventure was self-publishing her next collection (she says she didn’t feel it was enough content for a book) Synchronicity, a series of patterns based on two-color cables. She says people think it’s a complicated technique but once they realize they are knitting with one color of yarn and purling with another, they are very excited.
She says she’s working on another collection of gradients, specifically mini-skeins! Those are so popular, I can’t wait to see them. She also says using yarns from independent yarn dyers is where much of the credit for the beauty of her designs should go.
The newest thing Andi Smith shares with us is her new Craftsy Class, Save Our Stitches: Fixing Crochet Mistakes. (Marly’s affiliate link) The classes flow through Reading Patterns and Understanding Charts, Gauge, through Ripping Out, Cutting Out the problem or Patching it. Sharing this knowledge really puts Andi atop the pile for helpful resources for crocheters.
Andi can be found pretty much everywhere as KnitBrit, for instance Ravelry, Facebook and Twitter. She says she is in Instagram, too, so you can follow her there!
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I’m not commenting with the key word because I had the great pleasure of speaking with you both today on the podcast. However, I just wanted to again thank you for a really enjoyable hour. I loved how your friendship enhanced this episode.
Hats off to Ms. Tammy for rocking the show notes once again. I don’t know how she does it. They are up so quickly and are a really good summary of what was discussed.
Big Foot Knits sounds like such a great resource for people like myself who may or may not…but may…have cankles 😉 Andi’s Craftsy class sounds so interesting! I’ll definitely have to check it out. PS- Danica (the makeup artist…I hope I’m remembering her name correctly…) sounds really interesting, have you considered having her as a guest? I’m sure she could give a unique perspective on the industry.
I really enjoyed your show today. The thought of cutting my crochet leaves me in a cold sweat, but it would be good to face my fear. Off topic, my dogs want to be sheep dogs so they can bite the sheep’s cankles.
What an enjoyable & informative show today. I just have to giggle when I hear the word cankles!!! Andi’s class sound like so much fun!
Cankles or ankles – the socks in Andi’s book are wonderful! French Quarter is my favorite pattern! Very pretty!
I so need that class! Every time I make a crochet mistake I just cross my cankles and start cussing to myself.
Cankles… It’s an age thing. Or so I always thought. Synchronicity sounds like a fascinating collection. Will check it out soon.
Confession time! I HAVE CANKLES! Hahahaha! Also from multiple ankle injuries. So I went ahead and bought Big Foot Knits today… because I also have big ol’ feet! HAHA! Cankles + Size 11 footsies = Missy needs this book! Regarding the craftsy class… gotta take it. I need to know how to cut my crochet! LOVED the podcast! LOVE Andi! And of course, I love you Marly!!! (And Tammy too!!!) Have a lovely day!
My sister has complained for years about cankles…I now know what they are! LOL Thanks for the fun ladies….
Another GREAT show! Thankfully I do not have Cankles, well at least not yet!
I was born a crocheter. After listening to your show for a little while, I taught myself how to knit. It sure has been nice to listen to several crochet Podcast here lately. I love the idea of Bigfoot minutes, I don’t have cankles yet but just in case.
Cankles? Marly, my vocabulary is growing listening to your podcast! I didn’t hear it correctly at first and thought “cankles” was actually “tinkles”. Regardless, Andi’s Craftsy class sounds great, and the interview today is right up there among your best, Marly.
So love Andi’s accent and to find out she is a crocheter on top of everything.
I cant wait to try her Craftsy class. My grangkids call thier ankles cankles its a small
World after all.
Cankles is such a humorous word. Like Andi, I love knitting but I also love crocheting. There are times when my fingers itch to crochet so I have to stop knitting.
I’ve so enjoyed all the crochet love on the podcast lately. I sure never thought I’d hear about cankles on the show though! Or coneheads for that matter! Believe it or not, I have just one cankle instead of a matched set.
Fun show with Andi! And who wouldn’t have fear of cutting their work? I guess I’ll have to take her Craftsy class! One never knows what to expect they’ll learn about on your podcasts, Marly! Now I know about cankles!
I, too, suffer from the dreaded cankles. I’m diabetic and it causes my feet and ankles to swell leading to the cankles. Andi’s Craftsy class sounds wonderful.
Not a sock knitter, so I have no idea what to do about cankles. But I am interested in this Craftsy class, I can’t think of any cool techniques for fixing my car ocher mustakes, so I think I could learn a lot. Thanks!!