Blog - Marly Bird

Love of Knitting and Love of Crochet Magazines – Jennifer Burt

May

2013

Hi all!

This week, Marly was on location in Golden at the offices for Love of Knitting and Love of Crochet, and spoke with their wonderful editor-in-chief Jennifer Burt.

Jennifer was so wonderful to sit down and talk with Marly about all the ins and outs of things at the Love of Knitting and Love of Crochet offices and what it takes for them to put out these magazines every year. So many different aspects were discussed, what goes into putting the magazine(s) together, what steps are involved in choosing submissions and Marly is doing everything in her power to make her way into the offices for “naming day” to watch how chosen patterns are named for each magazine.

Currently going on for the Love of Knitting/Love of Crochet folks, the summer issues of their magazines are currently out, and then coming up for the magazines are the fall and winter issues as well as two special issues! One being a special issue for wedding related projects in mid-June, and another weekend crochet issue in mid-July. In the weekend crochet issue, they have a side by side comparison of knitting projects vs crochet projects to debunk the myth that crochet uses double the yarn that a knit project does, and that it goes twice as fast. (Hint: it does go faster, but that double number is about to be changed!)

You can pick up the current issues of Love of Knitting and Love of Crochet in your local craft stores, including JoAnn Fabrics, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, as well as local big bookstores.

Now, if you’d rather have a subscription to their wonderful magazine(s), you are a lucky listener! There are THREE different ways to enter for a chance to win a subscription to their magazines!

As usual, leaving a comment here on the blog with the key word/phrase given by Jen, and that winner will be announced next week.
Comment on Love of Knitting or Love of Crochet‘s Facebook pages, also using the same key word/phrase.
Comment on Marly’s Facebook page, and be entered to win, and if you enter on this page, Marly will draw a name THIS Friday (May 24th).

www.loveofknitting.com is their website, and there is a link in the upper right hand corner for the Love of Crochet links as well.

Next Week on the podcast: Kristin Omdahl!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Crochet, Giveaway, Knitting, ShowNotes, Uncategorized

Gwen Bortner

May

2013

28 Comments

Hi Everyone!

This week, Gwen Bortner joins Marly on the posdcast!

Gwen has a new class on Craftsy.com, “How to Teach It” and is here to tell us more! Not only can her class apply to crafty teaching, but applies to many different aspects of teaching something in general!

Gwen is also known as the Entrelac Queen, and has a book out regarding this as well as another Craftsy.com class, called “Entrelac Knitting“.

Gwen Bortner is a Craft Yarn Council Certified Teacher, teaches knitting and business classes at venues throughout the country, has been published in a variety of knitting magazines and is the lead designer for her business, Knitability, LLC.

Education is probably the most important component of the Knitability business plan as all efforts focus on the company motto of “Taking Knitters to the Next Level”. Gwen’s passion is teaching and enjoys every opportunity she has to share her love of knitting with others. Whether teaching through the local community education program or at a national knitting convention, meeting new people and sharing the love of knitting is one of her greatest joys.

In recent years, Gwen has combined her previous work experience as a business consultant for Ernst and Young, LLP and her passion for teaching by offering business classes for members of the crafting industry. Her most recent endeavor was converting her class “Share Your Passion, Teach!” into an online offering via Craftsy called “How to Teach It”

Gwen’s teaching philosophy can be summed up in the following quote, “My job is to make the students’ (in this case other teachers’) toolbox bigger. If all you own is a hammer, everything looks like a nail! In the process of providing options, more skills are developed and a better teacher is the result. Handcraft skills are rarely passed down between relatives anymore. Good teachers of all handcrafts are critical to ensuring these creative skills continue to be practiced.”

You can find Gwen on Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry, Craftsy and her website!

As you know, Marly loves her listeners who listen after the live show, so leave a comment with the keyword, and be entered to win Gwen’s Crafty class, “How To Teach It”!

Happy rest of the week y’all!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Giveaway, Knitting, ShowNotes, Teaching, Uncategorized

Daniel Yuhas

May

2013

20 Comments

Happy Tuesday!

Today’s Super Fun YarnThing guest: Daniel Yuhas!

Daniel is the final guest on Marly’s All Male Revue, and a great time was definitely had by everyone on today’s show!

Daniel is not leaving our readers empty handed either, so please leave a comment on the blog here with the keyword to be entered to win a copy of Daniel’s book!!

Daniel learned to knit as a college kid nearly 20 years ago, and the obsession grown in him ever since. He believes that knitting is fundamentally good for the universe – every stitch we knit is an act of creativity, and he loves it when his role as a designer and teacher is to encourage that spark of creativity in his audience.

He got hooked on center-out knitting when he knit a baby blanket for his first niece – one thing led to another and the next thing he knew, he was using the center-out technique to knit a toy octopus, then lace, then socks, hats and garments. Now a few years later, his first book, Knitting from the Center Out, came out in 2012 STC Craft.

He took the show on the road and started teaching in 2009, and has appeared at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Show, The New England Fiber Arts Retreat, the TKGA Knit & Crochet Show, and STITCHES expos, as well as numerous yarn shops and guilds.

You can find Daniel on Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry (on his designer page), on Ravelry again (in the fan group), on his website (for his patterns) and here for his book!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Giveaway, Knitting, ShowNotes, Uncategorized

Franklin Habit

May

2013

26 Comments

Franklin Habit, the latest on Marly’s All Male Revue!

Franklin and Marly had a spirited discussion on Franklin’s love for the history of knitting, Franklin’s other habit of choice, photography, and how he loves to enter twine the two whenever he can. They also discussed his latest Craftsy.com class, Heirloom Lace Edgings and gave away a class on the show!

In true Marly fashion there is a giveaway via the blog as well. Make sure you leave a comment with the keyword in it, and be entered to win Franklin’s Craftsy class!

Franklin also is going on a cruise with Melissa Leapman closer to Christmas time! Check out the details here!

You can find Franklin on Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry and on his blog! Franklin’s book “It Itches” is available on Amazon here.

Up next week: Daniel Yuhas!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Knitting, ShowNotes, Teaching, Uncategorized

Stephen West of WestKnits

Apr

2013

28 Comments

Marly’s All Male Revue continues with Stephen West of WestKnits!

Stephen joined Marly from right here in Denver, however due to our crazy spring weather, they missed doing the interview face to face. (Bummer!) However, a super fun time was had by all!

Stephen West is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. After moving to the Chicago area, he caught the knitting bug and started designing patterns while epic amounts of wool infiltrated into his life. There was no looking back.

He moved to Amsterdam two years ago to study Choreography at the School for New Dance Development and he travels frequently teaching knitting workshops throughout the United States and Europe. He creates his own series of popular self-published pattern collections and also designs for Malabrigo Yarns and knitty.com.

You can find Stephen on his website, Twitter, Ravelry and his Facebook.

This week, Stephen and Marly gave away a copy of one of Stephen’s books as well as an advanced copy of his Craftsy.com class, coming out in about a month or so! Now, if you listen to Marly’s show at all, you know that there aren’t just on the air giveaways, there are post show giveaways, and this week is no exception! Leave a comment in the thread below, and you will be entered to win a free e-book from Stephen! Don’t forget that keyword!

Up next week: Franklin Habit!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Knitting, ShowNotes, Uncategorized

Rohn Strong

Apr

2013

10 Comments

Hi Everyone!!

This weeks special guest was crochet and knitwear designer, Rohn Strong!!

Rohn Strong is an internationally published crochet and knitwear designer. Rohn is the author and designer of The Heritage Collection WWI & WWII, and the designer of the seasonal publication, Southern Crochet, and numerous independent patterns. He currently designs knit and crochet projects for knitting and crochet magazines as well as his personal pattern line, Rohn Strong.

You can find Rohn on his website, Twitter, Ravelry and Facebook.

On the show, Rohn and Marly gave away a copy of Rohn’s Malabrigo collaboration book(s), and in true Marly fashion, of course there is a giveaway here on the blog! The winner will be announced on next week’s show!

You know what to do, make sure you use the keyword in your comment and be entered to win a copy of Rohn’s book!

Rohn has kicked off Marly’s “Male Revue” of male designers, up next on the podcast next week: Stephen West! Be sure to tune in next week!!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Crochet, Giveaway, Knitting, ShowNotes, Uncategorized

Tot Toppers and When I Grow Up with Kate Oates

Apr

2013

0 Comments

Today’s podcast was all about Tot Toppers and When I Grow Up, all designed by Marly’s friend, Kate Oates!

Kate Oates is the designer for Tot Toppers & When I Grow Up and the author of a brand new book, Knitting Clothes Kids Love.

She enjoys designing hats and garments for babies and children in particular, these projects often reflect a whimsical spirit. Kate’s When I Grow Up line is for those of us who are not tots, featuring a modern classic style.

Kate also strives to add specifically to the growing body of knits for boys as she has three of her own and one on the way! You can find her patterns at your local yarn store or online. She also does freelance work for a variety of publications.

Congrats to today’s lucky call in winner of Kate’s new book!

Kate will be at Stitches next week, so if you want to get your copy of her new book autographed, make sure you find her in her booth at the show!

How to find Kate: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Ravelry, Craftsy, Etsy

A couple of Marly/YarnThing notes!

There is no podcast next week, as Marly is getting ready to head to Stitches, but she will return the week after (4/16) with guest Ron Strong.

However, if you can’t go a week without your Marly fix (because c’mon, we know we can’t), she will be a guest on The Fiber Hooligan with Benjamin Levisay next Monday. Make sure you tune in, because she will be giving away LOTS OF PRIZES!!!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Knitting, ShowNotes, STITCHES, Uncategorized

Crafty Chica Kathy Cano-Murillo

Mar

2013

12 Comments

March is National Craft Month so what better way to celebrate than to have the very Crafty Chica Kathy Cano-Murillo on the show?

Positivity through creativity! What a great way to put it and live it! Kathy is a crazy crafty tornado!

Since 1990, she has sold her handmade “Chicano Pop Art” crafts to hundreds of retailers including Bloomingdales, Target, and Hallmark.

From 2000-2008, she wrote a weekly syndicated Arizona Republic newspaper column for eight years, and has authored seven books including Crafty Chica’s Art de la Soul andCrafty Chica’s Guide to Artful Sewing.

In 2001, Kathy launched CraftyChica.com, a wildly popular web site to inspire women to brighten their lives with clever craft ideas. She had a podcast series on iTunes, a web series on LifetimeTV.com, has been profiled in The New York Times, USA Today and NPR, and now has a Crafty Chica product line.

Kathy’s mission is to promote, celebrate and share in the American craft experience. Many of Kathy’s designs show a love for her Mexican-American culture. As a professional crafter, she is impressed that Latinos make up a large part of the $31 billion craft industry. Her goal is to promote and motivate women of all backgrounds, ages and ethnicities to join in the art and craft movement.

When she isn’t creating, she writes novels. Her ”Crafty Chica Novel” series debuted in March 2010 with Waking Up in the Land of Glitter (Grand Central Publishing). Her next book, Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing was released in March, 2011.

Plus, as we all know, Marly LOVES audiobooks, and Kathy’s books are also available as audiobooks here!

You can find Kathy on:

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, tumblr, Audible

Don’t forget to mention the secret word in your comment below, and Marly will announce the winner on next week’s show!

Make sure you remember to shake your snowglobes y’all, and don’t let your glitter settle!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Crochet, Giveaway, ShowNotes

Craftsy.com

Mar

2013

27 Comments

Marly had a special sit down at the Craftsy studios in Denver today with the folks from Craftsy, Josh Scott and John Levisay! And what a fun time! We learned so much about Craftsy, the background, the inspiration, the implementation, and now…the BOOM.

Craftsy has made a huge impression on the crafting world, in a very short period of time. Not only do they offer classes in crochet and knitting, but cake decorating, food crafting, holiday, home and garden, jewelry, paper crafts, quilting, sewing, spinning and weaving! (Whew!) Plus, they have a great shop where you can search for that perfect yarn, or fabric, as well as there is a pattern store for independent designers to sell their patterns.

Josh and John broke Marly’s standing record of prizes given away in one podcast, by giving away not 1, not 3, not 5, but SEVEN free online Craftsy classes to lucky callers!! What on earth to do with all those classes?? (New crafty obsession anyone?)

The even more fun thing is, Josh and John aren’t done yet, and are still giving away two MORE classes! One via Marly’s facebook page (click here), and one right here on MarlyBird.com.
For the giveaway on Marly’s facebook page, leave a comment on her page, and she will be picking that winner on Friday (3/22/13).For the giveaway here on MarlyBird.com, leave a comment here with the keyword from today’s podcast. The winner will be chosen in three weeks.

As we all know, Marly has 3 classes on Craftsy, and they are listed here for you, as well as a library of patterns, and that link is listed below for you as well.

Marly’s Craftsy Classes:

Marly’s Pattern Store (click HERE)

As of the writing of these show notes, you have already downloaded today’s podcast over 15 THOUSAND times! Holy cow! Can’t wait to see all of your comments, remember a fun way to work in the keyword from today’s show!

Happy crafting!!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: Crochet, Giveaway, Knitting, ShowNotes, Teaching, Uncategorized

Podcast with Dora Ohrenstein

Mar

2013

25 Comments

It’s National Crochet Month! In a special Wednesday episode of The YarnThing Podcast, Marly chatted with Dora Ohrenstein about her new Interweave book “The New Tunisian Crochet“!

Dora Ohrenstein is a crochet designer and author. Her full-length books include Custom Crocheted Sweaters (2012), Creating Crochet Fabric (2010) and the new title discussed today! Dora’s chic and innovative fashion designs appear regularly in magazines. As of March 2013, she is the Co-Editor of Annie’s Talking Crochet newsletter. Dora is also the founder and editor of Crochet Insider, where she offers online classes in crochet design. She is also a professional singer and voice teacher at Wagner College in Staten Island.

If you want to find Dora online, you can find her on Twitter and Ravelry!

Like this podcast? Be sure to leave a comment/review on iTunes to let other know about it!
Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.
Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/marlybird

This podcast is sponsored by: Knitter’s Magazine, Craftsy.com, Fiesta Yarns, Kollage Yarns, Decades by Drew Emborsky, Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet and Bijou Basin Ranch.

Filed Under: ShowNotes, Uncategorized