Speaker 16: Hey everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Knit a Spell.
Today I'm mixing things up because we're going to be doing a deep dive on your favorite knit witch. That's right, me, your host.
There's been a lot of new followers as of late and so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to allow me to go behind the veil and do a little bit about my history, how I became a magical maker, what my knitting journey has been up until now, and maybe even some fun reveals.
for the future.
This is going to be a bit of a vlog style video, so if you're listening, you may want to pop on to YouTube to check it out. Let's begin.
Speaker 14: Light from Lantern presents Knit a Spell. I'm your host, Katie Rempe, designer, knit witch, and your companion in this magical making podcast. Together, let's explore the enchanted world where knitting meets the magic of the craft.
Meet Pancakes!
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Speaker 16: First of all, I want to introduce you to a special co host that often makes an appearance, but isn't talked about too much. This is my Chihuahua. Pancakes. loves it. She's like, I don't like the camera, mom. It's nervous.
Are you camera shy? No.
I got Pancakes in 2019, and she's been my best buddy ever since.
If you're on my newsletter, you've definitely seen her fashioning my self love cowl. Who wore it better? Her or me? It's her. I know.
Speaker 2: If you've been a fan of the podcast for a while, you know that this started with having a co host, James Devine. And in fact, he's the whole reason that Knit a Spell came around.
Magical History
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Speaker 2: But before we go into that story, let's go back even further because I want to share a little secret with you. I've been a magically minded person for a long time. In fact, back when I was a kid, I even made my first book of spells with my friends in elementary school.
We simply named it The Book Of, and left it at that, which really intrigued our friends who weren't in the know.
You may not be surprised to learn that this was about the time that Hocus Pocus and The Craft came out. And you might say, well, that's a different age group. I grew up with three older brothers, and so watching something like The Craft when I was quite young was actually not that big of a deal.
I think I was made of tougher stuff back then.
Having brothers who are nine and twelve years older than you will definitely influence what you're going to watch and the uh, level of appropriateness that ends up being totally okay.
But I turned out fine, so don't worry about it.
Speaker 3: Almost every year I would end up dressing as a witch, so it was definitely highly influential in my younger years.
Little did I know that I would eventually grow up into being an actual witch myself.
Speaker 12: And as I've gotten older, I've had people describe me as magical, or sort of a snow white type of attitude, a friend to the animals, a wood dryad if you're one James Divine. So I guess they're onto something. And I've always been flattered, so I claim it.
Learning to Knit
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Speaker 11: Also as a child is when I was introduced to knitting. My mother was actually the one who taught me how to do it, although maybe she wasn't the most skilled craftsman, so when I would run into issues, we both didn't know how to fix it.
Speaker 5: It wouldn't be until later, around college, that I picked up the needles again, thanks to my friend Jessica, who retaught me how to do it, and then from there it was like, just took off.
This was also around the same time that Ravelry came out and so that opened up a whole new world of possibilities and I think a lot of us came back to knitting or discover knitting for the first time thanks to that website.
Fashion School
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Speaker 17: But I was certainly no designer at that point. And that's when I ended up going to college. I went to school at Kent State University for fashion design, which you might say, Ohio for fashion design? What? Yes, there is a program there. Supposedly ranked third, although I think it's just because they had an extensive museum.
There, I majored in technical design, where I focused on women's wovens, which was pretty much the only thing available.
But that was like 10 years ago, so who knows what they have available now.
My favorite part of the schooling experience there was that during our junior year, we had the opportunity to travel abroad. So I ended up making the most of that by taking one semester to go to Florence, Italy, and the other in New York City, this was like 2009, so this was the first time that I had access to places that would deliver you food to your apartment any time you want.
And as a person who was pretty much an insomniac at that point, it was heaven.
Plus, I just loved the bustling nature of the city. It felt like a whole vibe. We stayed in Chelsea, which was an amazing city. centrally located area.
Between walking and the subway, you could get anywhere and pretty fast.
Plus, we had access to the entire world of the fashion district. Not just Mood, which is a fun place to go to and much bigger than you actually might think it is watching Project Runway, but so many other little stores where you can work on your haggling skills. skills. Find entire stores just dedicated to things like zippers and buttons.
Oof. It was a real mecca. I loved my time there.
And interestingly enough, I actually only took one knitting class. And at that point, I was really bad. The whole concept of gauge was like, a foreign language and even my teacher, I think, got frustrated with me for a long time because I really utilized her office hours and she spent a lot of time just looking at me like, why don't you get this?
Now I'm happy to say, I get it! Hi Linda, look at me now!
Working at LYS
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Speaker 13: it wasn't until actually after I graduated that knitting came back and really became my career path,
it wasn't intentional. I just moved back to Florida where my folks lived and I ended up taking a part time job at a local yarn store, A Good Yarn, in Sarasota.
I started there. as a sample maker and then was quickly hired on to work the sales floor.
I'm a really good salesperson.
And while I wouldn't say I was very skilled at knitting at that point, working at a yarn store will accelerate your knitting skills because once you start helping people with their knitting projects that you have no idea about, that you're not knitting also, that they're in the middle of, And they're like, what did I do?
It's a crash course in problem solving like you wouldn't believe. So if you want to learn how to knit better,
I'll advise you to go to your local yarn store and see if they would allow you to be their knitting help person like once a week or whatever you can get because that will help. Just be patient with yourself and others.
And so I worked there for about 3 or 5 years I can't believe I don't actually remember, but it was really great and the owner, Susan Post, was the one who encouraged me to start designing and also to apply for what was the project runway of the knitting world?
Fiber Factor
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Speaker 13: And that was the Fiber Factor, a knitting competition that actually lasted six months.
It was a long time.
Speaker 8: During the Fiber Factor, I was probably more known for my videos about my designs than the actual designs themselves. Although, I did take it as an opportunity to make sure I designed something different every round. So for six rounds, I knit things like a pair of pants, a sweater, a dog sweater, a bath mat.
All sorts of things so that I could have a unique portfolio at the end.
But really what it did, I think, was instill in me how much I love doing videos. Because, as you can see, that's part of what's become my bread and butter. And something I still enjoy, obviously, to this day.
Skacel
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Speaker 13: And that's where I was introduced to the people who work at skacel that's right, the people who sell Addi needles.
Speaker 9: And while I didn't end up winning that knitting competition, I learned a lot and made extremely useful contacts within skacel so, after a few years when our patterns were released back to us, I reached out to them again, and in a roundabout way, ended up getting hired.
At that point, I had just moved from Florida to New York. to Ohio, and then moved from Ohio to Seattle. So within one year, I had two cross country moves. Do not recommend, unless the opportunity is too good to miss out on, and then I do recommend.
Because sometimes the magic in life is just taking the opportunities when they arise, no matter how unconventional it might be.
Speaker 10: Once I moved out there to work, it was a whirlwind. I spent about five years there, and during that time worked up to becoming the creative director of the company.
So the person who names colors of yarn, decides which colors are coming in and out each season, and works with the mills to blend their own yarns? Yep, that lucky person was me. Also I'm sorry if I named the colors something stupid instead of just naming them what colors they are. We all learn lessons.
It's not nail polish.
I learned and did all sorts of stuff. Basically, I couldn't say no to an opportunity. I would attend trade shows. I would run events. I worked with other designers. I helped edit and organize publications.
I even volunteered as a model in the MAGALOG.
It was a really great place to work because, as Louisa mentioned, it was a small company. A lot of people think skacel is like 50 people, but it was like 13 people. So, if you had an idea, you could actually get it done, and end up seeing all the process of it, and have it come out as a real product within a year, depending on what it is.
And having worked on the retail side of a yarn store, working with yarn store owners was like a very natural next step.
And working with the manufacturing side was very eye opening.
It's great for a person who's organized, knows timetables, and has really good social skills. And isn't afraid to follow up.
Starting Light From Lantern
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Speaker: And so after I was with Skacel for about five years, COVID hit. And as you know, everyone went home. And that really gave me an opportunity to think about where I was in my life and decide, do I want to keep going or do I want to try something a little different?
And since I've never been one to live a conventional life, that's when I decided to leave my amazing job and start my own company. And in fact, that's where Light From Lantern began.
Being the creative director at Ska Cell was really great, but I lost touch with the knitters. I was more involved with administrative work, working with shop owners,
and even that I didn't do a lot of outside of trade shows. So I saw this as my opportunity to relaunch my pattern business that was never super successful because I didn't really have a focus. I just wanted to make knitting patterns that I like to make. And it turns out when you make generic knitting patterns, they're about as popular as you might imagine.
And.
So with Light from Lantern, that's where I have the focus on making knitting intentional. Revealing and reveling in the magic of knitting through these patterns.
And so by choosing a niche, that's really when my pattern making and designs took off. Not only I more focused on what I wanted to design, but knitters were more interested in actually making them.
Knit A Spell
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Speaker: And so once I started looking more into magical processes and how knitting could become more magical, that's when I came across one James Divine. It was Instagram, just flipping through the discovery page, and I saw this gentleman with a charismatic attitude and so knowledgeable and that made me wonder what a palmist would say about the way a knitter knits. Everyone holds the needles differently, does it at a different speed. speed. What would that say to a palm reader? So I sent him a message, and luckily he didn't think I was crazy and block me.
He actually replied.
And so we chatted a little bit, we did a couple of Zoom calls, we got on so well that he said, gosh, this would be such a great topic for a podcast. Which was very convenient of him to suggest, seeing as how neither of us knew how to put one together.
But as many things that are fated to happen, I happen to have a brother who is very good at podcasting and had one at that point for like over ten years. Perhaps you're aware of The BBQ Central Show by Greg Rempe. And if you're not, here's the episode where he appears to talk all about podcasting and how he helped us get things going.
Also, Marie Greene, another previous Guest helped me out a lot with advice, so between the two of them, and thankfully my prior knowledge of things like iMovie, I was able to put them all together, and Jim and I were well on our way to introducing Knit a Spell.
Speaker 7: With Jim as my partner on the podcast for so many years, I can't tell you how many amazing witches, witchcrafters, and knitters we've had the pleasure of talking to.
Plus, I learned so much about magic, it really boosted my confidence. So, Jim, thank you so much for all of your help, your continued friendship,
and your confidence that I could do this podcast on my own too.
Speaker 15: And now with almost 20 years of knitting experience under my belt, I'm feeling like I'm finally hitting my stride, not only with my business, my designs, but also with the podcast, doing this for so many years, meeting so many incredible makers.
And of course connecting with fans has meant so much and really validated my choice to leave and start my own business.
Sometimes we have to take bold action in order to let magic into our lives
responsibly. Of course.
Patreon After Show
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Speaker 6: So there you have it. A little bit more about me, your host, fellow knit witch, and designer of Light From Lander Knitting Patterns. Now you know the whole story.
Or do you? If you're a Patreon subscriber, you'll find even more out in the after show.
And if you're interested in supporting the show, joining us on Patreon is a great way to do it. Even if it's just for one month.
You'll unlock all of the aftershows from the season, and all sorts of fun goodies that we've posted over the years.
And if you have any questions about things that I talked about, or maybe things that I didn't talk about, go ahead and leave a comment. Or send me an email to [email protected].
I hope you'll join me next week for our final episode of the fall season. My return guest is Sasha Ogden because why not end things where we started? For our full circle moment. Until then, Merry Make!
Speaker 19: Thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a friend, leaving a review on iTunes or Spotify, and supporting us on Patreon to enjoy exclusive content. You can also subscribe to the Light From Lantern YouTube channel to receive a notification whenever a new episode of Knit A Spell is released.
And as always, I'd love to hear your feedback on this episode, so be sure to leave a comment on YouTube or on Patreon. See you next week!
