I like to catch up on blogs during my six (yes six) daily bus journeys, but I hardly ever have time to listen to or watch podcasts so I feel quite out of the loop (pun intended) when it comes to this increasingly popular aspect of the wonderful knitting and yarn community. I suspect I’m missing out on quite a bit of essential yarn chat – please tell me your favourites!
It’s only thanks to a lovely customer’s Instagram message that I discovered we’d been featured in the Canary Lotus podcast. In Episode 2 (English version) Ricardo details his plans for his Dynamite DK and Awesome Aran.
Richardo is an avid knitter, indie aficionado and colour fanatic. He podcasts from Paris in three(!) languages, but the most exceptional thing about Ricardo is that he is a man (which shouldn’t be out of the ordinary at all, but it is).
I believe that knitting, just like other forms of creative self-expression, should be for everyone. I always use gender-neutral language when I talk to customers and readers, and it grates on me no end that so many of my fellow handmade fashion professionals use “ladies” to refer to their audience [there is SO much wrong with that term beyond its lack of inclusivity, that I won’t go into now]. Around 15% of my customers are men, and while some of them are buying gifts for others, plenty are shopping for themselves. I also receive many emails from men knitting my patterns, especially the Staggered Rib Scarf, which I designed to be elegant and wearable for any gender. So please, let’s welcome people of all genders to our woolly world!
Anyway, back to the subject of this post: Thank you Ricardo for sharing the love. We can’t wait to see how your Askews Me sweater turns out!
