S5 E12: Crochet Designer Britt Garber of KnotBadBritt & the Makers of the Color Collective

In this episode of the SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo speaks with Britt Garber, a designer and advocate in the crochet community. They discuss Britt's journey into crochet, her design philosophy, the importance of community, and her initiatives like the Makers of Color Collective. Britt shares her experiences with Tunisian crochet, the challenges of designing patterns, and her commitment to inclusivity in the craft. The conversation highlights the significance of representation and support within the crafting community, as well as Britt's future plans for teaching and expanding her reach.

Takeaways

• Britt started crocheting in 2015 and founded the Makers of Color Collective in 2019.
• She is self-taught and initially struggled with crochet before finding her passion.
• Britt emphasizes the importance of designing patterns that she enjoys making.
• Tunisian crochet is gaining popularity and offers a unique blend of knitting and crocheting techniques.
• Britt created a Discord community to foster support and connection among crocheters.
• The Makers of Color Collective aims to uplift and support makers of colour in the crafting industry.
• Britt believes in providing opportunities for others and sharing resources within the community.
• She values authenticity and encourages others to embrace their identities in crafting.
• Britt is focused on teaching and expanding her reach in the crochet community.
• She plans to continue creating patterns and supporting other designers.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Sweet Georgia Show. I am Felicia Lowe from Sweet Georgia Yarns and I will be your host. Our guest today is a designer, an advocate, and a true visionary in the world of crochet. Through her brand, Not Bad Brit, she is not only creating stunning modern patterns that challenge our perceptions of the craft, but she is also building a more inclusive community with her unique initiative, the Makers of Color Collective. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Brit Garber. Thanks so much for being here today.

SPEAKER_00: 0:31

Thank you for having me. Hello everybody.

SPEAKER_01: 0:35

Well, so I'm really excited about this because I feel like I have been living under a rock. And I know that like lots of things have happened over the past couple of years, but I have discovered that you started crocheting around 2015. And you started this Makers Color Collective in 2019. And then you started designing in 2020. And I know like lots of things happened in 2019 and 2020. And so just like, I remember all of that being quite a blur. And so recently, you know, crochet has been having a moment. It's going through a big resurgence. Lots of people are coming to crochet, wanting to learn to crochet, wanting to learn to make lots of new projects, all sorts of things like that. And so people in our Sweet Georgia community were reaching out to me and saying, hey, you should talk to Britt from Not Bad Britt. And I was like, oh, okay. And then we were also talking about bringing in crochet classes for the School of Sweet Georgia. And they were like, oh, you should talk to John Pat Britton. And then it turns out that you were going to H&H as well. And so... At least we finally got a chance to meet in person at H&H ever so briefly. But, you know, we got a chance to talk for just a few minutes and I've been wanting to sit down and have a longer conversation with you about, you know, everything that you're doing. So can you sort of start us off from the very beginning for anybody in our community who doesn't know you or what you're doing? Sort of what's your background? How did you get started? Where are you from? All of these things.

SPEAKER_00: 2:11

Oh, yes. So I have such an interesting background because I don't come from craft. No one in my family crochets. No one in my family knits. No one in my family does anything with yarn at all. It's just me. And I'm completely self-taught. I kind of was... brought up to not lean too far into crafty and artsy things, which is really interesting since that's now all that I do. But I wanted to prove to myself when I got pregnant with my first daughter that I could make something, I could create something and I could be creative. And so I, you know, I went down to Joanne's, I got a very, very large hook and got some very, very thick blanket yarn. And I was like, let's go. And I tried to teach myself lot of crochet and I failed miserably. I threw it out across the room and I was just, I rage quit is how I describe it. I got very upset. And, uh, after that I was like, uh, All right. I gave like a week. I said, Brett, you're not a quitter. So, you know, let's give this a go again. And then all of a sudden it clicked. And I was like, okay, I can double crochet. I can chain. I can single crochet. Like those are things. I think that's the basis of something. And I found a simple free pattern to make a blanket that I thought was just the coolest looking texture. And I ended up making a blanket that looks like it has seven sides. I did not know how to finish it. I did not know how to add a border. It was, it is quite interesting looking, but my daughter's now 10 and she sleeps with it every single night. So it is totally worth it. But after that experience, you couldn't catch me without, you know, a yarn and hook in my hand. I am from a tech background. So I used to work for startups and create customer service teams and startups. And so I knew that i would be leaving that job and would be a stay-at-home parent when she was born and so i was just crocheting all the time i was testing i was uh sample making and i was also looking for people in the community that also did this that looks like me and i've always been someone who um has always been attracted to the person who looks like them on television or in movies or in music or anything like that. So I wanted that same experience here. And I was having a hard time finding that. It wasn't until I came across Tony from Teal Yarn Crafts and I saw hands that looked like mine in a video. I was like, oh, I want to know everything that that person does. I want to do everything that they do. Because I know I'm not unique in the idea of being like growing up as a young black girl being told that, hey, you need to go get a corporate job, you need to do this, you need to do this, you need to do this and not being creative. And so for me to see someone else who looks like me in a creative space was very powerful. And I knew very quickly that if I felt that way that quickly, Somebody else wants to feel that way, too. So once I started Not Bad Brit, I almost immediately founded the Makers of Color Collective because I felt like we needed a space to be able to find ourselves and see ourselves doing our favorite thing. And that's always been very, very, very, very, very, very, very important to me to to find space. makers of color in this industry, bring them together, uplift them and whether it is funded by my own pocket or donations, it lives and it keeps going. So I've always just wanted to be a part of that.

SPEAKER_01: 5:56

For sure. So I definitely want to ask you more about the makers of Color Collective. That is a huge topic for sure and a huge project. But just going back to when you first started crocheting, like how were you learning how to crochet at that time? Were you learning from books or from videos? I know when I started learning how to crochet, it was I started crocheting before I learned how to knit, but it was from like the same sort of photocopied booklets. And I like crocheted a little bit. And but then I was like, I don't really know what I'm going to make. So then I put it down and then started knitting and immediately started making things. So I'm wondering like what your learning process was like and what sort of captivated you about crochet over all other kinds of crafts in terms of you wanted to make something.

SPEAKER_00: 6:41

Yeah, I got a book from the library. To be honest, I got a book. I'm a tactile person. I'm actually not that fond of video at the time. And so I needed to be able to see everything as pictorials and to see where everything went and to go from there. So I learned directly from a book. I can't remember which one, but it was a simple book. And I continuously go back to books. I am notorious for when I wanted to learn how to Tunisian crochet, I checked out every Tunisian crochet book that the Seattle public library had and kept them for a while so I could learn and learn the stitches. Uh, yeah, but that's, that's definitely how I did it. And I didn't even consider learning how to knit. I didn't know anything about it. Um, I think I picked crochet cause it's one tool versus two. And I was like, that, That must be simpler. I wasn't sure that I had the hand dexterity for knitting, which is so interesting. Now, obviously, I know how to knit. And it's just like, well, it was literally a flip of a coin, I think, at that point. And

SPEAKER_01: 7:50

so you made this blanket at the very beginning. And then you just started to go down this path of finding other crochet designers and then making their patterns for samples or testing and things like that?

SPEAKER_00: 8:03

Yeah, I quickly jumped right into making shawls because I did not enjoy making a long starting chain. And most of the shawls I started with was like, chain five. I was like, that sounds great. So I dove into shawls and I very quickly discovered fingering weight yarn and just fell in love with drape and the movement of things. I also started Tunisian crocheting very, very, very, very early. It was probably my second project. I don't know why. but I just came across it and continued to do that. And yeah, I, I probably, I think my first, like my first garment was a test. I just was diving right in feet first, trying to stay busy, trying to discover everything I could about different fibers. I think I was following knit crate for a while there and knit crate, like, was just a great supplier of different fibers. And it was just so satisfying to get that little box and learn about alpaca and learning about, you know, merino and different things. And now I'm just obsessed with hand dyed yarn. So it served me very, very well.

SPEAKER_01: 9:14

Fantastic. Like the beautiful pullover that you're wearing right now.

SPEAKER_00: 9:21

Yeah, this was, this is my first garment design. This is the impressions pullover. Yeah, I'm, I'm someone who geeks out really, really hard on the small things. And so I was teaching myself how to design a garment because what a lot of people don't understand is that there aren't. crochet garment books like to teach you how to make a garment or to teach you how to design a garment or grade a garment they don't exist so I dove into knitting books to get that knowledge and had which is why I learned how to knit is so that I could learn from that and uh it took me I want to say this is probably this took me like 18 months to go from learning, concept, grading to release because I've made three of them. And I took classes and all of these things. So this is currently my pride and joy. I'm going to wear it until it falls apart.

SPEAKER_01: 10:17

It looks amazing. And we are definitely going to put up some photos on the show notes and everything so everybody can see it and we'll link to it and everything. But it's a beautiful pullover. And that's really interesting, the point that you mentioned about how there's no books or learning material to learn from in order to learn how to design a crocheted garment um so you went from learning how to crochet crocheting samples for people and then starting to design um just a few years ago and teaching yourself basically how to design and grade garments through reading knitting books and things like that um what else have you sort of like brought in from your sort of sample making test making sort of um learning and brought that into your design work. What kind of things are you most enjoying designing? I

SPEAKER_00: 11:08

learned very quickly not to design something, not to continue to design something that I don't like to make. So I've been known to start something and try to have these grandiose ideas. And then in the middle of it, I'm like, I really, I'm not enjoying this. And if I don't enjoy it, my customers aren't going to enjoy it. My community is not going to enjoy it. And I don't want to push a design element on someone that they're not gonna have a good time with. It's just not the way that I like to make. Like right now, right below me is a project that I need to frog because no one wants to cut yarn like that. So like it was a good idea, but you know what? No one's gonna wanna cut this yarn. So let's make it into something that they want. So really having a good idea as to who my customers are has always been very important to me. I'm someone who will typically, Use very basic stitches. This is the same stitch. everywhere, but the way that it works with the yarn is something that I pay a lot of attention to. I like to work with a lot of variegated things. I love designing with, with mini skeins, which is its own mental challenge. But I've learned that if I keep things simple so that people can get the concepts really, really early, like 10 rows tops, it's very satisfying. And it's not always, you can't always do that when you're moving towards garments because you do have to work with shaping, but But for the most part, if you can keep it classic, people are going to have more enjoyment in making it. And I've really found that through my sample making because I made some samples where I was like this is awful I don't want to do this but I'm going to but I really don't want to and I don't want someone to have that experience with my own pattern.

SPEAKER_01: 12:53

Yeah I noticed like I think I read on your website you're saying that your designs are aiming to be easy to memorize after a first few rows making them perfect for crocheting in front of your favorite tv show and I used to talk about that with knitting it being like potato chip knitting because you could just like do a little bit and then you don't have you you don't want to put it down, but then it's also really, really easy. And you just kind of keep, keep going with it. Um, I find that if I'm crocheting, I have to look at my work though. So do you get to a point eventually with practice where you can just crochet without looking like, no, no,

SPEAKER_00: 13:27

I don't look. Um, it's probably one of the reasons why, um, okay. So most stitches I have to look if I'm doing, um, a double crochet and it's like there's chains involved or something like that, I can probably get away with just inserting the hook and seeing it and then finishing it without looking at it. But for the most part, I still have to look down at my work all the time. There's just too many places you can misplace that hook and then it's cartons.

SPEAKER_01: 13:58

Yeah, okay, that's good to know. From somebody who's an experienced crocheter, I'm like, oh, should I be able to find the hole to stick the hook into without looking? But okay, that's awesome. For anybody who doesn't really know yet, can you explain sort of the difference between Tunisian crochet and sort of standard crochet as we know it?

SPEAKER_00: 14:18

Absolutely. So I like to call Tunisian crochet the link between knitting and crocheting because I think... because you're using both hands, just like most knitters are using both hands, it's an easier kind of concept for them to move into. So I don't happen to have the hooks near me, which is very rare because I moved upstairs, but I do have traditional hooks or Tunisian crochet project. So this shawl is the Elusa shawl, and it's Tunisian crochet. And it uses what we call the Tunisian knit stitch, which looks like a knit stitch. And it uses a purl stitch, a Tunisian purl stitch, which looks like a purl stitch. And the way that it works is you hold your hook kind of more horizontal as you're going across your work. And instead of... Instead of doing one row all the way through, our stable hook will typically be interchangeable and it'll have just the same kind of connectors as any kind of interchangeable knit needle. I'm so used to saying hook. And a stopper on the end. And so you'll go into your project and you'll pick up little loops of yarn as you're going through and inserting it into the project. And as you've picked up each one of those loops on the side, you get to the very end of your project, and then you do what's called a return pass. And so one row actually goes this way and then that way, and that's one full row. And so what you end up with is thicker fabric, which can curl if you are using a hook that is too small. So you'll typically have a Tunisian hook for a DK project. This is DK yarn, and I used a I think I use an eight millimeter hook for this. And that's because I want this very nice drapey look as opposed to something super, super tight and stiff, which you really don't want. And that's what's indicative that people kind of sometimes think about when they think about crochet is the stiffness. And it doesn't have to be that way. All people have to do is change circles and you get something light and airy. This project I would put is very, very easy because you have, these large swatches of the same stitch. And you only need three stitches that you need to do. But yeah, it is... I feel like Tunisian crochet is really having a moment as well right now. People are absolutely loving it. I know quite a few designers coming out with books that are focused on Tunisian crochet. And I have found... I have found it to be really rewarding to be able to design with Tunisian crochet because you... catch the eye of a knitter. You catch that, oh my gosh, what is that? It's just simple enough that they're not sure if it's crochet or knit. And people really like to do it. You can do cables with it in the same way that you do cables with knit, which is really fun. So the crossover is really tight there. And I found more and more knitters giving it a try because it makes quick sense in their head. That is, you can tunish and crochet without looking because just like with knitting you're going into the same spot and so you can do it eventually

SPEAKER_01: 17:42

Yeah, I find that when I just started learning how to Tunisian crochet, and I think it is because it looks a little bit more like knitting. Like you are going on that first pass, you're picking up all these stitches, all these loops onto your hook or needle, and then it looks like you've almost cast on. And then the reverse pass or the return pass is very relaxing because you're like closing everything off almost. It's like a really, really interesting feeling. But I feel like I need to learn more or discover more Tunisian Tunisian crochet patterns to know what to make, which is why like, it feels like very important to see more and more crochet designs out there. So like I've been looking through your website and looking at all the patterns that you've, you've made and shawls, drapey shawls that look like they've been knit. Um, yeah, they're beautiful. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00: 18:33

Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don't have as many Tunisian projects as I would like. Um, That's going to change. I just got new hooks, so got to use them. That's actually why I'm frogging this project, is because I'm going to change it from traditional crochet to Tunisian crochet. But I have so many friends that are doing it right now. Serena from the crochet tier, she is Fabulous, Ecklory Designs, obviously Tony, Just the Worsted. They are just doing amazing stuff with Tunisian crochet. And sometimes I'm too far in awe of looking at their designs to sit down and do my own in Tunisian. So it's always really fun for me because I don't feel like being a designer in this industry is a competitive thing. I just have all these friends that do things that I like doing and I just want to support them and Make sure they're just as successful, if not more. I'm always the kind of person that is saying, I probably can't help you with that right now because I'm a mom of three and I'm a stay-at-home mom first and I'm pretty, pretty busy. But I know at least five other designers that want that opportunity and I love to give their information to other people that are looking for it.

SPEAKER_01: 19:54

That's beautiful, the way that you look at that. And also, I know that when I came to H&H and I met you for the first time, it was through watching your panel presentation, talking about community and building communities and how important it is to build communities and where you build communities. How do you engage? How do you support all of that? Can you talk a little bit about this community that you've created around crochet and all the things that you're working on? Because And yeah, I've put my head in and it's very vibrant and it's very warm. People are wonderful and really, really nice. Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about your community? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:30

So I as as we've like grown in this industry and Instagram has become less and less of that community that we're used to in, I think. what, like 2014, of being able to have a conversation under a post, I wanted to bring that back. And so I created a community on Discord, which is kind of a server-based bulletin board sort of community. So it's a little foreign for some people, but once you jump in, it makes a lot of sense. So basically anyone can join. And we talk about anything crochet or we talk about literally just anything. If someone comes in and they have a bad day and they want to share it, we want to help them and support them through it. All we ask is that, you know, you you stay kind and you use kind words and there's places to have certain kind of conversations. You can opt in. You can opt out. Unlike Instagram, like messages or things like that. Everything is still in the conversation always. So if you were searching because someone shared this cool pattern and you were like, oh, what was that? You could actually go find it, which is really helpful. I like to jump in there and. get suggestions on what I should make next or I share other people's patterns or I just got yarn in the mail and I can't wait to share it. I give my Discord community members everything first. They get everything in the inception phase. So they might see a sketch. They might see a swatch. They might just see a photo and they're in and they want to tell me like, Britt, that's a good idea. Britt, that's not a good idea. They'll let me know if they're feeling like doing mohair this year or they're really not into it because at the end of the day, they are who i make for and so i i want to make for them and and they know that and uh because our community is so kind and so open they help each other so i also do run all of my pattern tests through discord as well and i let people know hey you know you can you can be a first-time tester in my group i love that you can be a first-time crocheter and test for me I love that because I want to know how clear my stuff is. But also know that I'm not here 24-7 because that's life. And so if you have a question, you can put a question in there and then someone else can possibly answer that for you and are happy to do it. And there's a lot of ownership and pride in being able to help and build that community. We don't have any issue of like too many disagreements or anything like that. But what I do love is that everyone there is looking to learn. So if someone is using an outdated term that they didn't know that they shouldn't be using, my space is a great place to say hey just so you know that has these connotations and you know we do our best not to use those terms and everyone's happy and appreciative of it because it comes from a place of love and support it's not a hey you said the wrong thing you should know better because we don't all know and at a certain point in time you don't you don't know what you don't know and we we carry on with that knowledge and we move on and sometimes um you know, you fall into bad habits that you were trying to get out of. And it's okay to be imperfect and to make mistakes. And I want people to feel warm there. We also do You know, we'll do like little craft nights sometimes and we'll pop in and turn our cameras on and just chit chat with and, you know, make some stuff and, you know, work on a couple of whips or anything like that. I have an open space where other designers can also be a part of it. So because it's not all about me. I don't want all that attention, to be honest. So I invite as many designers as they want to come and, hey, share your sale with Share your pattern, your new release. Tell us to go like your posts, like whatever you want, whatever, however we can support the craft community and specifically the crochet craft community and people of color. We're going to do it. I also have a little secret spot in my little Discord that's just for designers. So we can talk about whatever we want to talk about. We can share contracts. We can, you know, help each other figure out if this is the right thing to ask for. I'm very, very, very, very big on, hey, you need to ask for what you need. you need to ask for more than yarn support. And I, I drill that down into the people that are there. It's like, it's okay. You can't, you know, buy groceries with yarn. It's very pretty. Yes. But at a certain point in time, we have to ask for what, what we need and helping people craft and navigate those conversations. I, I'm a people manager first. That's like, that was always one of my passions is to help people be their best selves. And so I, I really enjoy bringing that part of me to designers in the craft industry. And honestly, anyone who's in the craft industry, I always have some kind of something that I can share with them to help them make their business just a little bit better. And I feel like if we're all doing better and expecting more, then we're raising up our entire industry.

SPEAKER_01: 25:40

Absolutely. I mean, we always talk about this, like the idea of building a bigger pie, you know, just more people, just adding more people and encouraging more people. And I can just see like your, your personality is so much about sharing and growing and building and lifting each other up. And you can see that in how you describe your community, how you talk about it, how you're wanting to share other people's work and just make connections, help people make connections and meet each other almost. And especially, I think, You know, in some of these crafts where it's hard to sometimes find your people. And so you're collecting together the people. And so I feel like somebody who's joining your community is immediately going to feel at home. They're going to yeah, they're just going to hopefully feel at home. And I think it comes through with what you had talked about before, building that Makers of Color Collective. Can you talk a little bit more about that initiative? Because I feel like that's also very much an extension of this desire to share and to connect people.

SPEAKER_00: 26:47

Originally, the Makers of Color Collective was just an Instagram account that I created to reshare and repost things that I saw other makers of color making and just to help uplift and light their signal. It developed into a directory where I allowed people to create listings and be more specific and intentional about what they're sharing online. So they have a bio, a couple of photos, their contact information, their socials, things like that, what they do. And it was for anyone. You could be a weaver, a spinner, a tester, a grader, more than just being a designer. Everything that has to do with yarn, you belong there in order to lift your light. It was really lovely to get such a great response to it. I think we have over 100 people on there. I want to give it so much more attention and to do a complete rebrand, not a rebrand, but like re, um, restructuring of it just so it can be even more useful but I never stopped talking about it even in its current state because I do believe that you know having it done is better than having it perfect and as a self-proclaimed perfectionist that was really hard for me but I wanted to give it I wanted it to be out there because it's still useful and people still use it one of the things that I was really proud of with doing it is I wanted to provide opportunity for people so I think it was 2023 I created the maker's Color Collective calendar. And so it was 12 different patterns from 12 different designers. And it was lovely. It was sold in a couple of stores, a couple of yarn stores. People were selling it online. It was selling out on my own site. I think we sold like 500 copies or something like that. And it's something that I would really love to get back to because I know how powerful publication can be. And the publications are dwindling. So I would love to be able to provide that opportunity again, because we had some very small designers have their signals lifted just by being a part of that. And having that be something that comes back year after year after year is going to be amazing. So that's probably one of my biggest goals for the Makers of Color Collective over time.

SPEAKER_01: 29:16

It's, it's quite an amazing idea. It's quite an amazing initiative. I remember when you first started it, and I thought about it for years, I've been thinking about it, actually, for years and years, this idea. Because, I don't know, I feel like I might be aging myself. But to look back at, you know, what you're saying about like seeing people like you on screen or in publications or in shows and things like that. When I was growing up, I feel like I saw I saw no Asians represented at all on television. I think the only person I ever saw on TV who was Asian was Yan Can Cook. I don't know if you ever heard of this guy. Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_00: 30:00

Oh my gosh. I'm from California. I love Yan Can Cook.

SPEAKER_01: 30:06

That's all I know about like being Chinese and that's what it was and just never ever saw anybody who looked like me represented in anything and I just always kind of grew up feeling like well that's just the way it is and I just do what I do and I just do the best that I can do. And so a few years ago on my YouTube channel, I started to get some comments from people. They're like, oh, I love seeing you do what you do. And the fact that you're Asian is great. Like you're able to represent. And I was like, I don't know what I'm representing. I'm just me making things and talking about what I make. But now more and more like, I mean, my kids are basically about the same age as your kids. And now my kids are growing up and they are able to see Asians represent on YouTube, on screen, in shows and movies and everything. And I can see how it makes them so proud to be who they are. They're like, oh, they look just like me. And I guess growing up the way that I did, it never really occurred to me how much that would affect me and how different it is their experience has been. And so now the more and more I think about it, I think, yeah, I think it's great to be able to be there doing the things, sharing the things, and hopefully somebody else might also feel, yeah, like they can relate a little bit. So I appreciate that you've put this together. I think it's a huge thing.

SPEAKER_00: 31:39

Thank you. That means so much because sometimes I'm like, oh, it's just there. You could do better. You could do more with it. Like a little bit here, a little bit there. But knowing that it still exists, It's, you know, it's not something, I mean, obviously it's free to use. I have this joke where I tell people that, you know, it runs on donations and debt. We just get it done. And I know that I'm providing opportunities. Like, you know, the first year of Flock, I got a booth and I filled it with things from Makers of Color Collective, people that can't get there because it's cross prohibitive. So everything in my little booth was like a little boutique and it was all for Makers of Color. And it was so great because I was able to generate revenue for people half a dozen different makers in the industry and let people know that, hey, we're out here. Here's everyone's card. Please take everyone's card, everyone's information, contact them for other things. Last year, I focused on one designer, did a whole business incubator with Little Wing Fibers, and it was her first big event. And we just rocked it. We sold all of her yarn. I still had a little bit of a little maker booth. I had, you know, the knitting PT came and I was selling her things and Tony was there and Sasha Hyrie was there. Like I filled that corner of people of color because I believe that it is very important for us to see each other in these spaces. And I know I'm not alone because a few weeks ago I went to the, I think it was the Pacific Northwest Garden Show. And I only went because another Black creator that I follow was there. And then when I got there, she introduced me to all the other four Black creators that were there. And we were like, hey, we're here. We're here. We want to support. Bought everyone's book. Got them all signed. We're to everyone's talk. Made sure that they saw a friendly, familiar face that looks like them in the audience because it means something to them. And it means something to me. Seeing ourselves... doing our favorite things and other people is so wildly important. And I don't think that people realize how much they miss it until they actually get the opportunity to see that. Um, I know for a fact, because people have come up to me when I'm out, when I'm at Vogue, when I'm at flock, when I'm out in the world, cause I'm too many places sometimes. And they tell me this directly that, Hey, I went out and crocheted in public because I knew that you were doing that or I I found these other designers because of you. I found this dyer that I really wanted to give my money to a person of color. And that's how I found them was through you. People are using that tool. And I think it's no small thing. I think there's a lot of people that are in the industry that either don't share their heritage or are a little unsure if they should share their heritage. At one point in time, I had, I was pushing a hashtag, which was like melanated hands, like put your hands in your photos and just show us who you are. And I actually got quite a few messages from people who were fair skin and saying, Hey, my skin's not Brown, but I'm a person of color. And I was like, maybe we come in all kinds of shades, be proud, let people know, like, Put your hands in your photos, be proud, say who you are. I don't check people's heritage on the Makers of Color Collective. That's weird. So if you are a person of color and you identify that, whatever that means for you and your heritage, you belong there. I'm just trying to make a space for people to belong.

SPEAKER_01: 35:22

I found that like over the past couple of years, because, you know, we have I have been in this position where I'm like, oh, I don't know how much of, you know, myself I should share because, you know, Sweet George is a company that we make yarn and we make colors and let's focus on those things. And then a couple of years ago. Our team was developing colors and they wanted to develop a color for Chinese New Year to celebrate Chinese New Year. And initially I was like, oh, I don't know if we should do that. And then just me saying that, I think really deflated many of them because a lot of our team is Asian. And I think that they were like, oh, yeah. Well, because it represented so much a part of them and it was part of their identity. And like, I want to share that with everybody in the community. I want to share who I am and what I celebrate and what gets me excited and all these kinds of things. So we did. We released a colorway for Chinese New Year, for Lunar New Year. And we've been doing that ever since. And I think that it's a thing because the people on the team here, they also want to be able to represent and say, like, this is who I am. This is me. what I'm like, and I want to share that with you. And so I think being able to do that has been a really, like a really beautiful thing. So I love that you are encouraging this in everyone. And yeah, definitely using your power of connection to bring people together and share and lift up everyone in the community. It's brilliant. Yeah. I am learning. Yeah, I have been learning a lot about myself and like thinking a lot about about all of this as I've been like learning more about you and what you've you have been doing in the community. So it's been it's been quite enlightening. It's actually been quite enlightening. So thank you. I

SPEAKER_00: 37:20

know what you mean, because it feels like sometimes we We sit back and we're like, well, do we really need to do that on certain things that are personal to us culturally? And I encourage everyone to be there full of self and to take as much space as they want. And to know that everyone, I feel like this industry really wants to know everyone. And authenticity is so huge, right? So showing just a little bit of yourself can go really, really far. You know, yesterday was Juneteenth. Juneteenth means something very specific to me. It's not new. It's not just a holiday that I got off. That's a new thing. But it's very important to me. And I think I take my own time with it. And so I don't really push much into it. I don't put too much into it because it's for me. And I'm also quite a private person. I don't actually share that much of my private life online. I got kids. So it's kind of boring over here, but I got kids, but it's, you know, I want to share those small things. And, and I think that the, I think the internet has made us feel like we have to give so much of ourselves and share and show and perform so much. And I'm trying to take more ownership and take some of that back. and say, hey, I'm going to share exactly what I want you to know. And sometimes it's going to be culturally specific, and sometimes it's not. But I do take a little bit of carefulness, and I share more of that in my Discord of what's going on, of the day-to-day kind of thing, as opposed to on the socials these days, just because it's hard to be everywhere all the time. And I'm exhausted. I know I'm not the only one when I say that the burnout on these socials has been more than it needs to be, which is why I try to bring people into my smaller group to be like, hey, this is where you're going to get the most of me. This is what I can show up the most for, and I will be here more consistently than anywhere else. And it's worked out really, really well. And I think in the industry right now, people are feeling that more. They're definitely feeling like, okay, where am I going to put my energy? Because we want it to be as authentic as possible.

SPEAKER_01: 39:47

I agree 100%. This idea of bringing your community around you rather than broadcasting things on social media. And like I said, my kids are young and I don't really want to post things about them anymore on social media. It just doesn't feel like a place that I want to spend that kind of time. So I appreciate you coming and chatting with me today. I for sure am learning lots and lots of things. And I'm excited to hear more about where you are planning to take things over say like the next year um where can people sort of find you obviously your community is a great place to find you but where else are you kind of focusing a lot of your attention and what are you sort of expanding into

SPEAKER_00: 40:29

yeah so i'm moving into teaching more i have been known to say uh you know we have a lot of crochet one-on-one but we don't have a lot of crochet beyond that for classes. And so I'm putting my money where my mouth is and I'm out there and I'm teaching now. So I've been teaching some Tunisian crochet locally here in Seattle. I'm going to be teaching at Flock, two classes actually, teaching with Kate Oates. We designed something that's like magical, ridiculous, amazing, Rwanda in tandem together. There's a crochet and a knit version, which is something I do rather often. It's designed that way. And so we're teaching that together. I'm also teaching mosaic crochet at Flock. And what else am I doing? After that, I'm going to be at Knit City Vancouver, which is going to be super fun. I'm just going to be, you know, around. I'm just going to be around. I'm very excited. I'm very excited. So I'm coming. I'm coming for you. And then after that... Yeah, I love Vancouver. I can't wait. Just taking the train up north. It's going to be great. What else am I doing? Oh, I'm teaching at Sacred Sheep, more mosaic crochet. I'm really, really excited for that one. I love a startup, so I love the smaller, newer festivals that have been popping up. Outside of that, I'm really focused on... It's funny. This is actually kind of hilarious, but in the spirit of... providing more opportunities for people. I've been working with a yarn company and providing opportunities for other designers to be paid commissions and earn royalties for designing for them. So I've been working with Bad Sheep Yarn to do that, which has been really fun. And so that's been a large part of my business these days is finding people and finding opportunities for them through that. More garments, more shawls. Every year I do a mini skein pattern. This year, We're only going to do one. One year I did two. That was hard. So we're going to do one this year. They always come out right around January 1st-ish. And, yeah, I'm just going to keep trucking, you know, keep fighting the good fight, keep telling everyone to crochet. You know, who knows? Maybe, maybe next year, the calendar will come back. Who knows? Who knows what will happen? Once my kid is in kindergarten, anything's possible. That youngest in that eight hours of school. And maybe I'll be able to think again. I hear you completely.

UNKNOWN: 43:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 43:05

That's already a lot on your plate. And you still have kids at home. That's definitely a lot of things to tackle. So I'm so excited to hear about all your plans. I'm so excited to hear that you're coming to Vancouver. That's going to be super fun. Yeah, fantastic. Thank you so much for spending the time with me today. It's been such a pleasure learning more about your design, about your projects, about all your initiatives. And we will definitely send people to your website and to your Instagram account, but also mainly your community if they want to join there as well. Thank you so much for joining me today, Britt. Thank you. Thank you.