Marly Bird

YouTube Instructor, Knitter, Crocheter, Teacher, Friend

  • Patterns
    • Crochet Patterns
    • Knitting Patterns
    • Planned Pooling
    • Marly Bird Crochet Along
    • Marly Bird Knit Along
    • Classic and Colorful Crochet Sock Workshop
    • Bicrafty-champions-workshop
  • Videos
  • Blog
    • Craft Inspiration
    • Giveaways
    • Round Ups
    • Reviews
  • About
    • Newsletter Sign up
    • Contact
    • Media
    • Terms of Use || Privacy Policy

December 2, 2014 By admin 21 Comments

Rachael Herron, Cypress Hollow Series

Rachael Herron, Cypress Hollow series author, Fiona’s Flame most recently, was the guest today on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird.RachaelHerron

She learned to knit at about age 5 with her mother’s help, and it seems that she has kept that skill as part of her life in that she was still knitting when she began her blog Yarnagogo and included her knitting which is how many people found her, including Marly! From there, she wrote her first book and her agent and publisher found her and admired her ‘personal voice’ and she became a writer in the Knit-Lit genre.

By knit-lit, I mean knitting literature. Her works have a background that depicts the comfort of yarn and knitting.  The Cypress Hollow series started with How to Knit a Love Song, Rachael says she ‘pitted a sheep rancher against a knitter’. The publisher requested more stories from the nearby town of ‘Cypress Hollow’, fictional place along the California coast line, and here we go!

How to Knit a Love SongThe books all feature the knitting wisdom of a ‘knitting godmother’, Eliza Carpenter who Rachael acknowledges as based on Elizabeth Zimmerman (Zimmerman is defined as Carpenter!) in spirit. Rachael’s quotes from Eliza were written herself, but always have the enthusiasm of Elizabeth in encouraging the love of fiber.

Rachael has a masters degree in writing and was really impelled to get on with it (it seems) because of the National Novel Writers Month, or NaNoWriMo of which she is an fan, advocate and supporter by way of sharing it at every opportunity. She started writing a blog in 2002. How to Knit a Love Song came in 2010 and the rest of the series (five total with a novella of Eliza’s story called Eliza’s Home (Amazon Link), published in 2013). The most recent was Fiona’s Flame that came out earlier this year. As a fan, I think you may like to know each of the books feature a knitting pattern! One of them is a lace shawl, that was actually designed by Romi Hill (Rachael admits she’s not ready to design with lace yet) and, like all of the books, really became a piece of the book you can see, create and touch!

I really liked the story she shared about how she finds names of her characters…. I won’t include that here, because you really should listen to the episode!

She has written outside of the series as well. Pack up the Moon  deals with the secrets that can divide a family. She has also written her memoirs A Life in Stitches and continues to write her blog and occasionally share what she is knitting.

If you missed getting hear the program live, the archive is still at:  https://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2014/12/02/rachael-herron-cypress-hallow-yarn-series or you can listen in iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rachael-herron-cypress-hallow/id313541727?i=326521755&mt=2

Filed Under: Show Notes

Previous Post: « The Knitmore Girls Podcast
Next Post: How to Crochet Spike Stitch »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Linda says

    December 3, 2014 at 5:57 am

    It was a fun podcast with Rachel. I’d love to read her new book while sitting by the fireplace listening to the rain outside.
    Lmecoll on Ravelry

    Reply
  2. Lori Biamonte says

    December 3, 2014 at 8:31 am

    Come rain or shine, I’m knitting all the time. Love the podcast!

    Reply
  3. Audrey says

    December 3, 2014 at 10:27 am

    Reading one of Rachel’s books is a sure way to heat up a winter day, no matter if there is snow or freezing rain! Another fascinating show. Love hearing the authors speak! I too am a writer (a poet)/editor/knitter.

    Reply
  4. Lydia says

    December 3, 2014 at 11:09 am

    Lovely episode! I enjoyed listening to you and Rachael as I was walking my dog in the rain. Will be looking for Cypress Hollow books at my library today!

    Reply
  5. Suzanne says

    December 3, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    I Am glad that technology glitches didn’t rain on your podcast parade.

    Reply
  6. hotknitter says

    December 3, 2014 at 3:20 pm

    It’s been raining here lately, which is great since I love the rain. I love the fact that Rachel wrote essays about all her knitted sweaters.

    Reply
  7. knitwitmama says

    December 3, 2014 at 3:38 pm

    I enjoyed listening to Rachel, one of my favorite authors and tweeters, while listening to the pitter patter of rain on my porch roof and winding some new yarn I just got a s a gift. I can’t wait to read Fionas Flame, I want to live in Cypress Hollow. But I have to say my two favorite books are A life in Stitches and Pack up the Moon. Keep writing!

    Reply
  8. Citabria Shipman says

    December 3, 2014 at 6:21 pm

    I am working on an EZ pattern listening to the podcast, we don’t get much rain in AZ, but I love reading romance novels or knitting when it does.

    Reply
  9. Michelle says

    December 3, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    I love to crochet or read on a rainy day. It make me look forward to the wet springs we have in NH.

    Reply
  10. jrouton says

    December 4, 2014 at 6:44 am

    What a wonderful interview. Rain make me want to curl up in a toasty blanket and read. I love Rachel’s books!!!!

    Reply
  11. Jill says

    December 4, 2014 at 9:08 am

    Thank you for having Rachel on your show! I loved listening to you talk about the books and writing! What a spot of sunshine on a day filled with rain!

    Reply
  12. anne j-z says

    December 4, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    No rain in sight here, and the hour flew by. Great interview! Loved “My Life in Stitches.”

    Reply
  13. Kate says

    December 4, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    It’s been a long time since I saw steady rain outside my window – heading into a long, hot summer here (and I love it)

    Reply
  14. Renee' says

    December 4, 2014 at 5:06 pm

    What a fun podcast, Marly! And what great ideas for writing while I was listening to Rachel! I’m going to look for one of her books and I won’t wait for a day of rain to read it – I’ll get started right away! Thanks, Marly!

    Reply
  15. Cheryl clemons says

    December 5, 2014 at 4:50 am

    I love the Cypress Hollow series. I am going to go out and get the new book. I love rain over snow. You don’t have to shovel the rain.

    Reply
  16. Sarah Carpenter says

    December 5, 2014 at 11:47 am

    I have never read any of Rachael Herron’s books. I love how she spells her name – my niece spells it that way too – it’s very unusual. I just downloaded her first book from audible. Today is the perfect day to sit, knit and listen while watching the rain.

    Reply
  17. TopHat says

    December 5, 2014 at 11:46 pm

    I listened to this episode in the rain waiting for the bus. I really liked hearing about how she got into writing.

    Reply
  18. Sarah Short says

    December 8, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    What a great podcast! It’s always nice hearing about how people got started whether it’s in writing or fiber arts. The Cypress Hollow series sounds really interesting, I’m always looking for something to read when I’m stuck inside because of the rain.

    Reply
  19. Mippy/Sabrina says

    December 8, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    Cypress Hollow sounds like an interesting place to ‘visit’. It would be lovely to ‘go’ there for a visit while I am curled up under a blanket and listening to the rain as it pitter-patters on the roof.

    Reply
  20. Amy says

    December 9, 2014 at 5:28 am

    I’ve already reserved How to Knit a Love Song at the library – had to duck rain drops when running into the library! But it will be totally worth it when I sit down with Rachel’s book! The interplay between Marly and Rachel was very entertaining on this podcast. Thanks for making my Tuesday’s and Thursdays fun, Marly!

    Reply
  21. Mary Kay says

    December 9, 2014 at 5:46 am

    I was not familiar with Rachel’s books, but now I can’t wait to try them! By the way, I think you mean “was really compelled to get on with it,” not “impelled.” 😉 We have had a solid week of cold rain, with is my least favorite weather. I wish it was all snow instead!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search The Marly Bird Site

MARLYBIRD.COM is a division of YARNSPORTS. LLC

  • Patterns
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • About

Copyright © 2022 · Yarnsport LLC

  • Patterns
    • Crochet Patterns
    • Knitting Patterns
    • Planned Pooling
    • Marly Bird Crochet Along
    • Marly Bird Knit Along
    • Classic and Colorful Crochet Sock Workshop
    • Bicrafty-champions-workshop
    • Back
  • Videos
  • Blog
    • Craft Inspiration
    • Giveaways
    • Round Ups
    • Reviews
    • Back
  • About
    • Newsletter Sign up
    • Contact
    • Media
    • Terms of Use || Privacy Policy
    • Back