Photo © Norah Gaughan This conversation with Norah Gaughan is a really special one. Norah is an incredibly accomplished knitwear designer who has been sharing her patterns with the world since the age of 17. After a long time on staff at Berroco she has recently gone independent, but her workload has not slowed down even a little bit! She is constantly partnering with some of the biggest names in the yarn world to bring out a steady supply of amazing designs which play with shape, colour, and construction. Having her on the show was such an honour. She talks about developing her new collection with The Fibre Company and shares so many insights into how she conceives, designs, and creates her ground-breaking patterns. If you’re anything like me, I think you’ll find this conversation incredibly inspiring. Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their very wonderful Acadia yarn.   Acadia is named after the oldest American national park east of the Mississippi river, a place of natural beauty where the sea and mountains meet, slopes are densely forested and wild blueberries abound. Acadia National Park is in the state of Maine, The Fibre Co.’s birthplace.  The yarn inspired by this beautiful region has a rustic look and a soft hand. A subtle tweed effect is created by the silk noil that is combined with a heathered base made from fine merino wool and brown baby alpaca. The yarn is a classic DK weight and makes a beautiful textured fabric that is perfect for next to the skin accessories as well as garments. One of my Whispering Island Shawl samples was knit in Acadia, and it's just a wonderful yarn to work with, on every level. You can buy Acadia at our other sponsor's shop, Meadow Yarn:   Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, the Fibre Co and many more. KAL News Pebble Beach KAL Just a little while left in this one, but people are still adding beautiful FOs every day! If you've somehow missed this one, but have ever knit one of my patterns, you can still enter until the 5th of July. Just post a photo in the FO thread, and you're in! Muse 2 KAL The KAL is about to wrap up - be sure to get your entries in by 30 June.  I'm still working on my Rachel Coopey Oleum socks. I don't know if I'll make that deadline, but I should have them finished for the Summer of Socks KAL in the Coop Knits group! Double dipping in KALs is the best. Show links The patterns we discussed in detail from the Norah Gaughan for The Fibre Company collections were: Times Square Skyscraper Oporto Atonium Metropolis District You can find the entire gorgeous collection on Ravelry here. Norah is also designing some really special pieces for Brooklyn Tweed these days, and we specifically mention her pattern Chainlink She’s always busy with yarn shop appearances and teaching engagements, which you can find on her events page. If you’re lucky enough to be nearby any of these opportunities, I highly recommend you check them out! We’re also giving you a chance to win pattern of your choice from Norah’s new collection with The Fibre Company. Be sure to listen to the end of the episode to find out how! As I mentioned, tomorrow I'll be doing a little trunk show for Pebble Beach  in Brighton  at YAK with The Uncommon Thread. June 27th from 2 to 5. That's all our notes for this episode! Thank you so much for joining us, and happy knitting!

  This is a bit of a packed episode! I open the show with some thoughts from the wonderful Blogtacular conference I attended last weekend, talk a bit about upcoming events, chat about the joys and challenges of my Muse 2 KAL project, and share a bit about my special edition re-release of Afternoon Tea. Then I launch into a conversation with Cathryn Bothe from Signature Needle Arts. It’s fitting after yesterday’s post from Blacker Yarns (where I talked about the importance of beautiful materials) that this interview is so focused on the importance of good tools. Cathryn is a keen knitter, and she plays a role in every part of Signature Needle’s daily operations, especially when it comes to building relationships with customers and nurturing their creativity. Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their lovely Acadia yarn.   Acadia is named after the oldest American national park east of the Mississippi river, a place of natural beauty where the sea and mountains meet, slopes are densely forested and wild blueberries abound. Acadia National Park is in the state of Maine, The Fibre Co.’s birthplace.  The yarn inspired by this beautiful region has a rustic look and a soft hand. A subtle tweed effect is created by the silk noil that is combined with a heathered base made from fine merino wool and brown baby alpaca. The yarn is a classic DK weight and makes a beautiful textured fabric that is perfect for next to the skin accessories as well as garments. I've had so many compliments on the Whispering Island sample I knit with Acadia, and it was an absolute dream to work with. You can buy Acadia at our other sponsor's shop, Meadow Yarn:   Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, Hazel Knits and many more. KAL News Pebble Beach KAL It’s so amazing how many FOs are piling up in this KAL. I’ve been featuring some of the projects on Twitter, and it seems like everytime I search the #pebblebeachKAL hashtag there or on Instagram there’s something new and wonderful to see. Remember, the KAL is open until July 5th and you can submit any Curious Handmade pattern, no matter when you made it! Muse 2 KAL Our other KAL is rolling along well in the last week as we count down to the main event! I’m still working away on my entry, a pair of Rachel Coopey Oleum socks in John Arbon Textiles yarn, so if you haven’t cast on yet you’re not that far behind me! Show Links Signature Needle Arts My new edition of the Afternoon Tea Shawl Instagram post about my socks, with other people’s clever advice on avoiding the dreaded in-the-round twist! My yarn crush of the moment: Anzula Yarns I mention the amazing Afternoon Tea modified with a hood, by the talented Lindsay Koehler! Muse Connection is coming up next week! So exciting! I’m going to be at YAK in Brighton doing a little trunk show with The Uncommon Thread for Pebble Beach on June 27th from 2 to 5.   That about wraps up the notes for this week! I hope you enjoyed the show, and happy knitting!

Photo credit: Benjamin HoleThis is a really fun episode. Ben Hole of Hole & Sons Farm speaks to me about life on the farm on the Isle of Purbeck in beautiful Dorset. We talk about the process of creating their unique, wonderful, and much-coveted yarn, what it’s like to work in a place with so much heritage, and how he has brought the business into the online world with his wildly popular Instagram account. This interview would have been a great fit with April’s yarn theme, but Ben has so many eloquent things to say about creativity and living a life around your passions that it’s perfect for Ben’s love for his animals, the farming life, and photography is infectious and inspiring. It was such a pleasure to bring all that story and to my newest shawl pattern, Whispering Island. I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their lovely Acadia yarn.   Acadia is named after the oldest American national park east of the Mississippi river, a place of natural beauty where the sea and mountains meet, slopes are densely forested and wild blueberries abound. Acadia National Park is in the state of Maine, The Fibre Co.’s birthplace.  The yarn inspired by this beautiful region has a rustic look and a soft hand. A subtle tweed effect is created by the silk noil that is combined with a heathered base made from fine merino wool and brown baby alpaca. The yarn is a classic DK weight and makes a beautiful textured fabric that is perfect for next to the skin accessories as well as garments. I've just finished knitting a shawl sample with Acadia and it more than lives up to its description. This is very special yarn. You can buy Acadia at our other sponsor's shop, Meadow Yarns:   Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, Hazel Knits and many more. KAL News: Still a few weeks left in both of our KALs. It really isn't too late to hop into either! The Pebble Beach KAL can include FOs that you started or finished before the start date, and the Muse Connection KAL is full of lots of lovely little projects like hats and socks that you can finish up in a week or two - I'm still working on mine! Show links: Hole & Sons (lots of in-depth info about the farm and the yarn here which makes for great reading!) Ben’s Instagram The artisan mill where Hole & Sons yarn is spun: The Natural Fibre Company My newest shawl pattern, Whispering Island (which was inspired by Hole & Sons wool) is now available on Ravelry! The two alternate yarns I used for the samples are: Blacker Shetland in Fawn Fibre Co Acadia in Driftwood and Summersweet The Isle of Purbeck, home to the Hole & Sons farm. It inspired Enid Blyton’s Whispering Island, which inspired the name of my shawl! Events I also mention the wonderful Do What You Love course by last week’s guest Beth Kempton. There’s still a week left to register. As I said last week, this course was really powerful for me and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to invest in their creative life. If you want to hear more from Ben, he’s speaking this weekend at the Blogtacular conference on June 13th in London. I'll be there, and it should be a lot of fun! On Saturday 27 June I will be at YAK in Brighton for a trunk show for Pebble Beach shawl. Hope to see some of you there. Happy Knitting!

  Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by the Fibre Co, and the wonderful Acadia yarn.   Acadia is named after the oldest American national park east of the Mississippi river, a place of natural beauty where the sea and mountains meet, slopes are densely forested and wild blueberries abound. Acadia National Park is in the state of Maine, The Fibre Co.’s birthplace.  The yarn inspired by this beautiful region has a rustic look and a soft hand. A subtle tweed effect is created by the silk noil that is combined with a heathered base made from fine merino wool and brown baby alpaca. The yarn is a classic DK weight and makes a beautiful textured fabric that is perfect for next to the skin accessories as well as garments. I've just finished knitting a shawl sample with Acadia and it more than lives up to its description. This is very special yarn. You can buy Acadia at our other sponsor's shop, Meadow Yarns:   Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, Hazel Knits and many more. KAL News Pebble Beach KAL, There's exactly a month left to join this lively KAL which is being hosted by my friendPaula on the Knitting Pipeline Ravelry Group. I've been marvelling at all the gorgeous FOs people are posting, and it's been thrilling to see all the different patterns people are choosing. It's especially fun to watch the larger Pebble Beach shawls show up. If you can't resist jumping in, here's what you need to know: Any Curious Handmade pattern qualifies You can have begun or even finished the object before the start date? The hashtag for WIPs and FOs is #pebblebeachKAL. I'm stalking the hashtag on social media and it's so fun to watch people's progress! Muse2 KAL The event is just around the corner and the KAL is great fun. I'm participating in this one with a pair of socks by Rachel Coopey! Just a way for everyone to join in on the Muse Connection buzz, from anywhere in world. I’m participating and having a ball, and there’s another month to go (it runs until the 30th of June) so jump in with us! FOs just need to meet one or more of the following criteria: Any pattern from Pom Pom Quarterly magazine or website (hint there are several free patterns ) Any of coopknits- Rachel Coopey’s designs Knit in Anzula yarn Knit on Signature Needles Hashtag #muse2KAL for WIPs and FOs! Show links: I mention that I’m off at the magical Squam art retreat. Just like last year I’m planning to come home with some wonderful interviews with creative people, so we can all look forward to that! Beth talked about the book which started it all for her: Flying Lessons by mixed media artist and teacher Kelly Rae Roberts. We discussed some of the free resources available to anyone on the Do What You Love course website, including the Making Time email program. I personally recommend investing in yourself with the Do What You Love course. I took it last year and I’m still feeling the positive effects rippling through my life today. Beth is generously offering a discount to Curious Handmade listeners who register on the next course, which starts on June 15th. With the exclusive code DWYLHandmade, you can purchase the course for £115 instead of £129. This offer will expire on the 7th of June, but of course you can register for the course right up until it starts. Just a note to say that if you purchase the course after clicking through a link on my site, I receive a small affiliate commission. It’s a lovely way to support the show, so if you do decide to sign up, thank you so much! I also announce the name of my newest design, which will be released on June 12th,