The SweetGeorgia Show

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In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, host Felicia welcomes Grayson Erlbacher, the general manager of Erlbacher Knitting Machines. They discuss the vibrant community surrounding circular sock knitting, the importance of events like the crank-in, and the history and evolution of knitting machines. Grayson shares insights into the company's journey, the significance of fostering a supportive environment for knitters, and the future of machine knitting. The conversation highlights the blend of craftsmanship and community in the fibre arts world. 

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In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, host Felicia Lo interviews Andrew Bryson, a passionate weaver and teacher, who shares his journey into the world of inkle and tablet weaving. Andrew discusses his background in fibre arts, the intricacies of different weaving techniques, and the importance of overcoming the fear of starting a new craft. They discuss the freedom that comes from pursuing creative passions without the pressure of commercial success, the cultural significance of weaving across different societies, and the need for a shift towards sustainable practices in fashion. 

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Join Felicia Lo from SweetGeorgia Yarns as she reflects on the company's upcoming anniversary! September 2025 marks 20 years since its humble beginnings, starting with hand-dyed yarns made right at her dining room table. Felicia shares her amazement at how quickly time has flown by since starting SweetGeorgia Yarns and talks about how and why they founded the School of SweetGeorgia and now the new SweetGeorgia Community.

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In this episode of the SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo speaks with Fiona McLean and Amanda Milne of Knit Social about the evolution of Knit City over the past decade, the challenges faced during the pandemic, and the exciting expansion of their events to new locations. They discuss the importance of community in the fibre arts, the introduction of new shows in Montréal, Calgary, and Toronto, and the unique retreats they offer. The conversation highlights the resilience and adaptability of the knitting community, as well as the innovative approaches they are taking to e...

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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.

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In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo speaks with Evie Schwartz, a multifaceted fibre artist whose path has taken her from accidental yarn making to intentional spinning and weaving. They talk about Evie’s creative evolution, her love for historical textiles, and the role of community in the fibre arts. The conversation also explores time management, the importance of preserving textile history, and how to inspire the next generation to engage with craft. Evie shares updates on her current projects, including her participation in the Tour de Fleece, and reflects on th...

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In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, host Felicia Lo speaks with Star Athena, a multicraftual creative and founder of the Tour de Fleece. They explore Star’s journey through the fibre arts, her experiences across different crafts, and how the Tour de Fleece grew from a small idea into a global community. Star reflects on her creative path, the impact of her autism diagnosis, and the healing nature of making. Their conversation highlights the value of community, personal growth, and the joy that comes from crafting.

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In this episode of the SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo speaks with Victor and Amber Mazza, founders of Gealach Fola Acres, about their transition from military service to becoming first-generation farmers and textile producers. They share their experiences in the Navy, their deep passion for fibre arts, and the challenges they face within the local textile industry. The conversation touches on their vision for the farm and mill, including their plans for fibre production and building community through the creation of a local tartan. They also talk about acquiring and restoring mill equipment, emphasizing...

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In this week’s episode, Felicia chats with Lisa Graves, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Weft Magazine. Together, they talk about how the magazine began, how it's structured, and what kinds of topics readers can look forward to. They also dive into the value of weaving education, both in-person and online, and what makes Kawartha Weaving studio such a special place to learn. Their discussion touches on the challenges and rewards of teaching weaving, the rich content featured in Weft Magazine, and the vibrant community that surrounds the craft.

Felicia and Lisa al...

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In this week's episode, we are excited to welcome Celeste Angello, known as the Cranky Spinster, about her journey into the world of circular sock knitting machines (CSM). They discuss the importance of community, the process of restoring antique machines, and tips for beginners looking to get started in sock knitting. 

Celeste shares her experiences with crank-ins, the innovations in the CSM world, and the creative possibilities that come with using these machines. The conversation highlights the rich history of sock knitting and the excitement of exploring new techniques and ideas w...

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In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo chats with Amy Sadler, editor of Knitty.com, the longest-running free knitting magazine online. They talk about how Knitty got started, Amy’s path through the knitting world, and how both the magazine and the community have evolved over the years. Together, they explore the changing landscape of online platforms, the role of Patreon and BlueSky in building community, and how designers can find support while navigating the pressures of creative work. 

This conversation offers thoughtful insights into the heart of the fib...

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Designer Aimee Sher joins Felicia Lo for an inspiring conversation about creativity, inclusivity, and the evolution of modern knitting. Aimee shares her journey from knitter to designer, offering a behind-the-scenes look at her thoughtful design process, her commitment to size-inclusive patterns, and how yarn choices shape her work.

They dive into the influence of fashion trends, the role of accessibility in pattern writing, and the impact of community through test knitting and teaching. Aimee also reflects on how her Taiwanese heritage and climate awareness influence her craft and how she balances...

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In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo welcomes Andrea Lui for a thoughtful conversation about crafting and health. Together, they explore the importance of ergonomics while we craft and share preventive measures to help ensure many years of comfortable, joyful making. Andrea also speaks to the powerful role crafting can play in supporting our mental health.

Andrea shares her journey from casual crafter to physical therapist, now specializing in craft-related injuries, and emphasizes the importance of staying aware of how we move while we create. They touch on common...

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In this episode of the Sweet Georgia Show, Felicia explores the work of Radical Weavers, a community weaving studio in Stirling, Scotland. Founded by Mairi Breslin, the studio supports young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds through weaving workshops and inclusive teaching methods. Peter Dickie, Mairi’s son, runs the studio’s commercial offerings and community work, showcasing the transformative power of weaving.

The Radical Weavers organization, which started as a small hobby, has grown into a community hub that offers therapeutic weaving workshops and support for individuals facing challenges. Through inclusive and insp...

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Loose Ends is an everyone-is-welcome movement that aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity by matching volunteer handwork finishers with textile projects people have left undone due to death or disability.

In this conversation, Felicia Lo speaks with Masey Kaplan and Jen Simonic, co-founders of the Loose Ends project, which connects crafters to finish projects left behind by loved ones who have passed away. They discuss their backgrounds, the inception of Loose Ends, and how the project has grown to include thousands of volunteers across the globe. The conversation...

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The SweetGeorgia Show is set to return with a fresh perspective, aiming to explore the deeper intentions behind crafting. This isn't just a podcast about textiles and handcrafts; it's a conversation about the innovation and identity that these crafts represent. We want to understand how the act of making things shapes our identities and how these identities transcend geographical boundaries.

In this episode of The SweetGeorgia Show, Felicia Lo reflects on her journey as a maker and the evolution of her brand, SweetGeorgia. She discusses the importance of community in crafting...

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This week Felicia is talking with writer and spinner: Debbie Held from Atlanta, Georgia. If you've been following our news at SweetGeorgia this year we created a brand new Ambassador Program this past August and introduced nine people in the knitting  and fibre arts world to help SweetGeorgia share the love of colour and craft and Debbie is one of those ambassadors. Debbie was chosen as an ambassador due to her passion for handspinning and her ability to share it with the community in such an encouraging and inviting way. She has written f...

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This week on the show, Felicia is chatting with Claudia Gossens: the owner of the yarn shop Lanaphilia in Germany. Claudia has a joyful passion and excitement for yarn, fibre, knitting, and colour in everything she does and recently began sharing her experiences on her podcast: Wollinspirationen (available in German only).

It’s always wonderful to be able to chat with yarn shop owners from all over the world so we hope you’ll join Felicia and Claudia for their conversation!

  "...the feedback is enormous and I love i...

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This week, Felicia is joined by Kara Gott Warner and Stephanie Palmer of The Knitter's Planner. Kara has been on our show not once, but twice before, as she is the former editor of Creative Knitting Magazine and is now the host of the Power Purls Podcast. She is also a coach for creative women and entrepreneurs and is now the editor of The Knitter's Planner. If you want to listen to Kara's previous episodes with us they are Episode 24 and  Episode 50. We are also joined by Stephanie who is the creator and p...

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This week on the show, Felicia is chatting with Abby Glassenberg: a sewing pattern designer, craft book author, writer, and teacher. Since 2005 she's been writing a blog called While She Naps: which is about the home sewing industry and creative entrepreneurship with a focus on craft publishing, fabric manufacturing, feminism, and social justice. Ten years after she started the blog in 2015 she co-founded Craft Industry Alliance and now serves as its president.

Join Felicia and Abby as they chat about the crafting industry and the challenges makers have as they pursue...

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This week Felicia is joined by weaver, teacher, and designer:  Kelly Casanova, from Melbourne Australia. Kelly runs an online weaving school called:  Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons and has been working tirelessly to create ongoing weaving instruction, initially with a rigid heddle loom and now with multi-shaft looms. Kelly has been a huge inspiration for Felicia because Kelly was creating online weaving tutorials when there weren't any available.

Join Felicia and Kelly as they chat about the involvement and control that weaving offers a fibre artist and how to encourage others to sta...

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This week on the show, Felicia is talking with Cameron Taylor-Brown: an artist, weaver, and educator. Cameron studied fibre arts at the University of California, Berkeley with Ed Rossbach and then textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Since 1985 she's lived in Los Angeles where she's still active in arts and education. Her work is widely exhibited and has been featured in many publications including Fibre Art Now, American Craft, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot. She teaches design and colour workshops at schools, guilds, museums, and conferences throughout the United States and a...

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This week on the show Felicia is joined by Angela Smith, the founder and creative director of Purl & Loop. Felicia has mentioned Purl & Loop many times before on the SweetGeorgia YouTube channel because, as an avid weaver, she is a huge fan of their looms. Please join Felicia and Angela as they discuss all things weaving and the big challenges faced when starting out a small business

"...it's an industry I was drawn to because, unlike real estate... well in real estate everyone thinks everything's an emergency... there are no emergencies...

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This week on the show, Felicia chats with Abbye Dahl: a Vancouver-based knitwear designer and professional photographer. Abbye is no stranger to SweetGeorgia Yarns as she created a collection of hat patterns using our yarns called: Cloche Knits. Abbye has also designed a follow-up collection called Cloche Knits 2. If you haven't seen the photos in Cloche Knits, they are stunning and elegantly shot. Now Abbye is about to share her deep photography knowledge and experience with knitters and she is created a course specifically teaching knitwear designers how to photograph their garments.

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This week, Felicia is chatting with Rachel Price and Kate Burge of Spincycle Yarns. Spincycle Yarns is a very unique yarn company as they create small batch mill-spun yarn, spun from fibre that they hand dye so the yarns look and feel like handspun! You have probably seen Spincycle Yarns featured in such designs like Andrea Mowry's The Shiftcowl and Nightshift shawl among many others. Join Felicia, Rachel, and Kate as they chat about all things colour and spinning!

  "...the first time we ever hung out  it was Easter Sunday and we...

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This week, Felicia is joined on the show by Mariana Frochtengarten: a textile artist and art educator with an extensive background in dyeing. Specifically, she's had more than 20 years of experience in resists dyeing techniques like batik and shibori. A few years ago, Mariana worked at SweetGeorgia as one of the dyers in our dye team but now has begun teaching art. This past summer, Mariana has once again been reunited with us as we recorded a course for The School of SweetGeorgia all about shibori dyeing techniques. Join Felicia and Mariana as...

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On this week's episode, Felicia is chatting with Eli: a London-based Norwegian knitting pattern designer highly influenced by traditional Norwegian knitting. She is also the hostess of the Skeindeer Knits podcast and has published over 100 episodes! Join Felicia and Eli as they chat about colourwork knitting!

"...me personally I think you can change things that have been a certain way and it will still be that thing and ok but even if it's not that thing anymore... that's how things take on new forms and become interesting and new things... either w...

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This week Felicia welcomes Benjamin Krudwig: a textile and fashion designer from Lafayette, Colorado. Benjamin teaches tapestry and rigid heddle weaving in shops along the Colorado front range. When he isn't designing, he's spending time with his wife and two cats!

Join Felicia and Benjamin as they discuss how to welcome more people into the fibre arts world!

"What I've figured out that works best for me is scheduling it into my life... from this time to this time I'm going to be in my studio. And w...

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This week, Felicia is talking with Sarah Resnick, the founder of GIST Yarn & Fibre: a little shop dedicated to providing beautiful and unusual yarn and weaving supplies to inspire the community of weavers.

Join Felicia and Sarah as they discuss the resurgence of weaving within the crafting community!

  "I... like the process of... making it but... one thing I love about weaving is that it's so tangible... and it's so great for making things that people will have for a long time... the Jewish prayer shawls that I have w...

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This week, Felicia has a special in-studio guest: Katrina Stewart of Crafty Jak's. Crafty Jak's was founded by the mother-daughter team of Judi and Katrina as a way to share the things that they love about crafts and the fibre arts such as hand-dyed yarns, as well as hand-dyed and hand-carded spinning fibre. Katrina also teaches various spinning classes at our SweetGeorgia studios as well as other yarn shops in town. We have also recently released a video-based online workshop called Carding for Colourwhere Katrina teaches fibre preparation techniques.

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This week Felicia welcomes Coty Jeronimus to The SweetGeorgia Show. Coty is one of the  co-founders of Nomad Noos: a new mission-driven luxury yarn company that is dedicated to the concept of slow cloth and slow fashion. Coty and her co-founder Alessandra work to bring handspun, sustainably sourced yarn from Mongolia and Nepal to the hand knitting community. At the core of their mission is this question: What if your favourite knitted project not only gives you a good feeling but also has a positive impact on the world too?

Please j...

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This week Felicia is chatting with Hanna Lisa Haferkamp who runs HLH Designs: a project bag and knitting tool company. Alongside HLH, Hanna Lisa also runs a successful coaching practice for creative business owners and co-founded and currently runs Making Stories: an independent knitwear design publishing company.

Join Felicia and Hanna Lisa as they discuss how to start, run, and sustain a creative business.

 “Starting off a production based business, starting off small and really focusing on making products that are really really good that you’re proud of… even if...

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Our guest this week is Tien Chiu: a master weaver and (in Tien’s own words) a “certified colour nut”. Tien’s work has been exhibited in museums and featured on the cover of Handwoven magazine. She’s the author of Master Your Craft: Strategies for Designing, Making, and Selling Artisan Work; a book about creative process in craft. She has woven hundred of handwoven fabric swatches and dyed over 2,500 yarn samples in her quest to understand colour. Tien now teaches about colour in weaving at warpandweave.com.

Please join Felicia and Tien a...