Episode 60: Little Ripples

Like many others, I regret I won’t be hearing you as often, but I surely understand and support your decision to find the right path. I really liked Annie Modesitt’s approach to artists / professional knitwear designers charging for their work. Of course it’s important professionals are paid a living wage!

Good luck in seeking your future path, and I look forward to hearing more about your adventures.

Susan Prince
Alta, Northern CA

Talk about ripples . . . As I scanned these comments, I could see how many lives you have touched. How wonderful! This particular episode inspired me in so many ways. I’ll not bother you with details (it’s all in my blog now). I’ve just entered the last 6 months of my 40′s, so “Start as you mean to go on” has a particularly poignant meaning for me. I’ve changed so many things about the way I do things and the order in which I do them. I am grateful for so many things, and hearing this episode at the exact moment that I needed to hear it was, for me, Grace stepping in, through your words and in your voice. Thanks for the nudge!

It’s groundhog day… happy anniversary to you and Tonya, Brenda..!

I remember how hard I cracked up when you explained what groundhog day was. How you would skewer the groundhog over an open fire and sprinkle it with lemon zest…

Thank you, Brenda, for all the thinking and work you put in each and every episode of your podcast and for starting as you mean to go on! I’m really glad to hear that there will be new episodes in the future and I have to admit, I like the concept of having only one each month. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE your podcast, but there are so many others out there I also like to listen to. If every podcaster would post an episode each week, there is no way I could keep up with them and would (and sometimes am) probably listen to them on a hurry. I think in these days there is a lack of longing, because most of our (material) wishes can be fulfilled pretty quickly. I really like the concept of eagerly awaiting something and I will anticipate both your monthly episodes and the knitting scouts book!

Oh, and happy belated anniversary to you and Tonia!

I’m so glad that you have reached a podcasting/knitting level of comfort. I’m sad to know that you’ll only be out there once a month, but I’m so happy for you to enjoy what you’re doing. The episode was great and I can’t wait for all the future episodes.

kind of like the “today’s sweater” stash, i squandered my “cast-on” stash! i hurried up to get through them all so i could listen to the new ones as they came out. i just finished number 60 and there won’t be another til the 25th! waaaaah!
now that that’s off my chest, let me join the chorus of yay-sayers! you have made the decision you felt was best and while us spoiled brats will not like not getting our fix as often, we’ll get over it and support you whole-heartedly! also, thanks for the ‘ripple effect’ idea. i just started a ripple blanket for a baby and have a great idea for a card to go with it now! seeing as how i have reached the maximum number of exclamation points allowed in one comment i must leave you now. . .

Thanks for your wonderful podcasts. I’ve been a loyal listener, and I feel like I’ve known you for years. I really appreciate your decision not to advertise, and I also enjoyed listening to the discussion about artists earning a living wage. This has always been a problem! I would love to see your podcasting efforts better supported through donations (maybe a fund drive is in order?) and I for one am pushing the button right now to donate $2/podcast for this upcoming series.

I just want to say Thank you for your time and effort! I will wait patiently for your next podcast.
best wishes

BRENDA, YOUR EPISODE 60, “LITTLE RIPPLES” WAS EXQUISITE. IT IS NOT OFTEN THAT I READ A BOOK, OR HEAR A PIECE OF MUSIC, OR SEE A PIECE OF ART AND AM TAKEN ABACK IN SUCH A WAY THAT ALL I COULD SAY WAS “WOW”! “RIPPLES” IS AN AWARD-WINNING PODCAST FILLED WITH SOUL-STIRRING EMOTION AND RIPPLES OF INSPIRATION. MY WISH IS THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN AIRED IN A MUCH LARGER PUBLIC FORUM AND ACCESSIBLE TO THE ENTIRE ARTISAN COMMUNITY. BE BLESSED, BRENDA!

Brenda,

I just recently discovered your podcasts about six months ago and boy have I have been enjoying them. I can’t believe the amount of work you must put in these podcasts and they are so professional. I work as a tax accountant, an attorney, and do the books for my subdivision so I basically work three jobs in addition to my house work and my family. I can certainly understand the need to make a living and the desire to do something that is more in line with your beliefs. I will take whatever you can do and enjoy that because this basically free with the exception of me buying some yarn from your sponser, Chris at Briar Rose Fibers every so often.

I know it was probably a hard decision and I can hear it in your voice, but remember god nudges us in the right path, somethimes a little slight nudge and others its a hard push. God must have some other plans for you.

So enjoy what ever podcasts you can get done and also enjoy your new project. And thanks again for the many fie memories and the enjoyment I have had over these past six months listening to the music, the essays, the patterns, stories about your families, and everything else.

From a newer listener and a knit sib.

I’m sorry Brenda, I don’t agree with your podcast this time.

Placing magazines at a checkout is no more of an evil then placing Briar Rose ads on your website. If I really didn’t want to see that season’s new offerings and be tempted to buy, I wouldn’t walk into a yarn store at all. How are designers going to get paid a better wage if no new magazines or books are sold? It’s fine to be against out of control consumerism and marketing that is obviously sleazy. The examples you give seem like normal, up and up business practices.

I’m also very sad that it *sounds* like since your podcast cannot equal income, you almost called it quits. I can understand the many personal reasons people podfade. However, it really sounds like you almost did it *just* because you discovered that it wasn’t lucrative. As a long time listener, that bums me out. It’s great to get paid for your hobby if you can, but almost ditching us because it didn’t work out? Well, good luck, I hope you can make a living on your book deal.

Brenda,
I am sorry you will not be podcasting as often, but I can understand where you are coming from.

I discovered your podcast shortly after my daughter was born. I was looking for something to do to keep me awake while nursing my daughter, I was very short on sleep. I had listened to a couple of podcasts once or twice, but did not know much about what was out there. I started poking around and suddenly realized “hey, there’s a podcast about knitting, cool!” My first find was knitcast, and cast-on was my second, and I went on from there. Now that my little one is an active toddler, I don’t have as much time to listen. I tend to listen in spurts and therefore don’t often comment. It seems silly to comment on an episode that is months old. This week I caught up on your show again, so I thought I’d leave a quick note to let you know how much I enjoy your show, however often you manage to put it out. I also look forward to checking out whatever writing you do!

OK, now I get it. I like listening to you because the same stuff bothers you as bothers me. The stuff Corporate World thinks is important seems to have less and less to do with helping people lead better (cleaner, healthier, happier) lives and more to do with “How much do you think we can get from them and how can I spend my millions in the most wasteful way?” Apparently we think too much.
I’ll miss your weekly (well, semi-weekly) podcasts but I am glad that you will still let us visit once a month or so (BTW I see my real sib, you know, same Mom and all, once or twice a year. Does that make us closer related?)and hope you can find a way to make a living doing what you love.
Love,
Your Knitsib

Hi Brenda…so many people have said valid important things here that I have little left to add. Here’s the one additional thing: When I submitted an essay on green knitting to IK, the response the editor offered me was “cool, this is a great idea, but I have to check with the advertisers to see if I could run this.” Then the editor changed, and then and then…when my essay was published, it didn’t include some of my more pushy points. Like, be an activist at your local store when you can’t find the eco-friendly options that you want. Oddly, no one reviewed the changes with me, and I felt very disappointed when it came out. So, yes, I made some points IN a knitting magazine about making green choices for knitting…but I had to be satisfied with just some of the choices. Some is better than none, I guess.

Listening to your podcast today (late, I know) made me say, “Amen, sister!” I was so pleased to see you gave Annie a platform to say things we think need to be said, and even more, I knew just how you felt about this industry, and in making the hard decisions that allow the podcast to be BOTH positive and critical. It’s ok to be both. We need more of that. Thank you.

I have listened to your podcast for more than a year or so and have learned a lot of things from it, made some interesting connections and I daresay purchases based on things that were touted here. Is it ‘wrong’ to sell this year’s color to the unsuspecting consumer? I like red. Sell me some fucking red! and then Caveat emptor. From our first purchases as children of worthless dollar trinkets that break in minutes, to our current Retail Therapy of the big fancy wooden skein winder we don’t need but can afford, democracies function on the rights of the seller to sell and the purchaser to buy. The open market. The force of that money is what drives markets and has put so much into the hands of knitters these last few years, things that my friend and LYSO says she would never have dreamed possible the first 20 years she ran her quiet dusty very non-remunerative business. She did not go into a yarn store business to make money. She does OK now, but it’s the first time ever she has actually made a profit. She refers to the change as ‘the Scarf years.’ The Eros craze. I have another friend who did go into the yarn business to make money, and she is a business woman with a business plan with a better location and long long long hours of availability- totally different approach than the first friend. She is doing quite well, but still has issues with health insurance and benefits, paying teachers, etc. etc. There are always quagmires in life, no?

Your approach to your podcast was more like the first friend, having things to say and wanting to share them, with some idea of what could be done to support it but not sure how to achieve it.
I believe more and more as I age, that you must do what you love. The money will follow. Most of us who move from hobby to professional do it through a side door, testing out our little offerings and then gauging the response before coming to realize it has a worth and sometimes a very significant worth. You’ve done this part, and been successful. Why then are you backing away just because you’re ahead of the curve on this one. I have played your podcast for a lot of my knitting friends and had to show them how to down load it. The whole MP3, podcast thing blows them away till you show them ‘push the arrow and it plays’. OHhhhhhhhh……so that’s how that works…….

The other thing I have learned in my 51 years is that there is a lot of success in just showing up. Often in that way, the servant becomes the master. Second guessing yourself, cursing the culture of retail is getting in your way and weighing you down. I’d really hate to see this end, but I think in your current frame of mind, that’s exactly what’s happening. You are talking yourself out of it.

I’m a huge fan of Annie Modesett, and Norah Gaughn and various other familiar knitwear designers. They function as designers on a very different level than say Ralph Lauren or John Galleono. If you want to hand knit for Fred Siegel or any upscale boutique, I can tell you first hand that they take great interest in original designs constructed well, first rate items that celebs and the wealthy pay big big bucks for, and that’s frankly where the money is. It’s a choice in which market you want to appeal to and work with. I will warn you tho, when you make it in blue and spend a long time doing it, somebody is going to ask for it in grey. You lose the autonomy of the art, and become the purveyor of a service. If somebody wants grey, and is willing to pay for it, they get grey. There are a lot more sharks in the water here, however. Change is essential as people who want to be on the cutting edge and willing to pay to be original will look for ‘different’ every time. Coming up with ‘different’ that is still original and quality is a huge challenge and very few designers hang in that arena over long periods of time. I think rather than cursing the compromises we all make to eat regularly, the wise woman accepts the challenge, embraces it AS a challenge and smiles while sitting up all night reknitting in grey wool. Smiles all the way to the bank, as it were. If you choose purity of art over pleasing a customer, then be prepared to be dignified, righteous and broke.

So why not go interview some hoi paloi boutique buyers in London and talk about knitting as an art, and a fashion? There are a lot of very interesting things out there going on that I for one would be very interested to hear about from that side of the pond. Who knows, you show them the numbers of your listeners and they may even pay for an advert to boot.

Brenda,
I wrote you when you first started about the clapotis and where to find it. I thought I’d add my two-cents to the current thread, and tell you about what happened to that pattern with me. I discovered that I didn’t like the pattern. I got it about 1/3 worked, in a silk (I just don’t buy silk) thread, and there it has been sitting for over 2 years. I look at it occasionally. I decided this January to take it out and rip it out. I’ll use the silk for something else, I’m just not sure what yet.

Anyway, on the current thread regarding this podcast, I’d like to add that I’m glad you’re staying true to yourself. One commentor made the observation that we can’t control the retail industry, but we can and do, by purchasing what we wish to own, give or use with care and thought. I agree that when I want red, I want red. I don’t care to wear orange – like black and white, it makes me look sick. But my grandson looks great in orange. So I might purchase a little orange as well. By the same token, I won’t purchase anything with wool in it if it’s to go to my mother – she’s very allergic to wool. She breaks out in hives. That has to be painful.
So, my respectful request, if you have time with the book and all, is if you can locate some information on these “green” fibers. I know, for example, that bamboo is a fun fiber to play with and that it blends well with other fibers. But just how green is it? It is an incredible plant in that it grows fantastically fast. But how about the energy to process it and create the fiber the way they do? It seems almost as wasteful as acrylic at that point, which by the way, I’m not knocking either. Acrylic yarn is made out the waste products of the gasoline industry. Some acrylic is better than others, and certainly has it’s place in the knitting world. Where would we be if we didn’t have that tiny bit of nylon in our sock yarn? Or that certain amount of foxglove glitz to create the sparkle in our shawls?

I do agree that designers – any and all – should get paid fairly. And we as a general rule do not pay them enough. I just also wish that every sock that someone designs shouldn’t be labeled as “original” when all that has been done is that the stitch has been changed. That’s it, no difference in stitches, no difference in gusset, no difference in heel or toe. Just the stitch has been changed. By the way, I am a fan of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s simply because she makes sense to my brain. My mother has been saying the same things for years, and it seems to me that EZ is simply my grandmother (if she knit) saying the same things. Consequently, I tend NOT to purchase patterns unless there is an element I really wish to examine and experience. I tend to create my own designs, which is rather useful since (as in the case of socks) I wear a size that is not routinely written or designed for. I even had to redesign Cat Bordhi’s coriolis socks for myself! But I would still give Cat Bordhi the FULL price of the book she wrote.

So rather than write a book, I will end this by simply asking: Can you do some investigating on the so-called green fibers? How green are they actually? Wool seems to be the only truly green fiber at the moment, can you find me some others? And I’ve already explained that wool sometimes has a problem in my house.

Take care of yourself and Tanya. Be well and love the life you live. I do, thanks to my partner-in-life.

I just discovered your podcast with this episode. Enjoyed every minute, until the part where I thought this was your last one. Very relieved to hear you will be continuing. I will put the time between new podcasts to good use catching up on the ones I missed.

I love your show, Brenda! I’m glad to hear you finding a way to do what you love, even if it does not match your original vision of the podcast.

Um, when the placenta ruptures?! Does this woman know anything about her body? Seriously, screen these better. Other than that though, lovely show as usual. Thanks.