Craft Talkin'

Three legends of the knitting world join Jamie and Merion to discuss their contributions to the global platform, KnitStars! Debbie Bliss, Erika Knight and Jeanette Sloan, best friends and geniuses have all worked on seasons of KnitStars, and they joined us to tell us all about it.

You can find Knitstars details on the website, here: https://knitstars.com/

We'll be adding some specific links to Season 11 episodes shortly.

Jeanette Sloan's website is https://www.jeanettesloandesign.com/

Jeanette's instagram is here: https://www.instagram.com/jeanettesloan/?hl=en

Erika Knight's website is https://www.erikaknight.com/

Erika's instagram is here: https://www.instagram.com/knightkraft/?hl=en

Debbie Bliss' instagram page is here: https://www.instagram.com/debbieslifeofbliss/?hl=en

Remember, you can email us at hello@crafttalkin.com - we'd love to hear from you if you've got suggestions for guests, if you'd like us to review a book, or of course, if you'd like Jamie to test a baking recipe for you, hee hee.

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Mia Hansson has single-handedly stitched a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry and created a fabulous book in the process! We talk to Mia about her inspiration, what she learned from those ancient stitches and why there just might have been one stroppy stitcher in the original group of women who created the original masterpiece! You're going to love this one!

You can find Mia on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/needlemia/

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/miasbayeuxtapestrystory

and her fabulous new book at all good bookshops, published by Search Press: https://www.searchpress.com/book/9781800923669/embroider-the-bayeux-tapestry

along with a colouring book to match! https://www.searchpress.com/book/9781800925441/the-bayeux-tapestry-colouring-book

Mia's website is: https://www.miasbayeuxstyleart.uk/

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Zowie! We're soooo thrilled to have the impossibly fabulous Sally Coulthard back on the pod! In this episode, we're chatting about her latest book, History of the Coast in 100 Objects, which is chock-full of interesting stories of craft based chunks of history! Hear all about beads made of shells made thousands of years ago, and even prosthetic noses! Sally's books are the perfect gift for any occasion, and we talk about how craft and making is part of who we are, way back from the dawn of time!

You can find Sally on her website, https://www.sallycoulthard.co.uk/ or on instagram https://www.instagram.com/salcoulthard/?hl=en

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Jamie and Merion meet the fabulous Anna Nikipirowicz,author, designer and teacher! We discuss how to navigate your way around a show or a festival and all about Anna's amazing new books!

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/crochet-socks-that-rock-book-anna-nikipirowicz-9781446314517

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/crochet-stitch-companion-for-blankets-and-afghans-book-anna-nikipirowicz-9781800922938

You can find out more about Anna and her patterns on her website here: https://moochka.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOopjZW3E8o_FL-pF-KIdovvDtltlm0B-yXJ9kGXveubXyXPliPBd

Follow Anna on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/annanikipirowicz/

We talked about the Mecha shawl, designed by Anna in a collaboration with GamerCrafting: https://moochka.co.uk/products/mecha

We talked about the Unravel festival - and you can find out more here: https://www.instagram.com/unravelfestival/

You can find out about the East Anglia Yarn Festival makealong here: https://eastangliayarnfestival.com/pages/make-along

Anna also works with Stitchtopia on fabulous holidays, and you can find out more here: https://www.stitchtopia.co.uk/

If you'd like to make something for Knit for Peace, https://www.knitforpeace.org.uk/shop/sponser-vouchers

The fabulous https://www.bookmarkedhub.com/ contains all the details of new craft books coming out.

Merion's sister's murder mystery novel, The Commoners!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Commoners-Shani-Denman-ebook/dp/B0FQ8W5QK3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32L1SAWH1IJB4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rW-PRSZy76PCYIednLh7jg.4P_KW2_chFu-l1qNhJSiY5Eq8GsYL0ZvH1LkNVnbXpQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+commoners+shani+denman&qid=1774382340&sprefix=shani+denman%2Caps%2C642&sr=8-1

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Ailsa Stephen, finalist on the hallowed first series of Game of Wool, shares her love of vintage patterns and her crafting history with Jamie and Merion in this jolly romp of a pod episode! You'll need your thinking caps on for Jamie's quiz, "Stitch or Witch?" and hear all about Ailsa's knitting journey and behind the scenes stories from the show.

Ailsa's first FABULOUS pattern has just been released on Ravelry, a sock pattern that is dedicated to her gorgeous dog, Brillo!

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/always-by-your-side-socks

You can follow Ailsa on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/ailsa.makes.things/?hl=en

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Crafting communities are so important to our industry - in this episode, Merion and Jamie talk about community and what they've been up to (and why you haven't seen any recent episodes because Jamie is busy building up an art gallery!) Merion tells us all about The Crochet Community, a gorgeous Bella Coco community online space - find out more at www.thecrochetcommunity/merion) and we discuss the recent chatter on instagram all about superwash wool. ALSO - we are now your agony aunt and uncle - drop us a line and tell us about YOUR community bugbears at hello@crafttalkin.com and we'll discuss on the show! ENJOY!! love, Merion and Uncle X xx

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If you haven't come across Emma Homent, you're in for a big treat with this podcast, recorded at the back end of 2025, and published appallingly late to the party (sorry Emma!)

Tapestry embroidery, as you will discover, is the most fabulous craft, and Emma's designs, kits, books (she's an author!) are incredible. You can find out all about Emma on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/themakersmarks/ or on her website https://www.themakersmarks.co.uk/

Don't forget, we'd love to hear from you - email us at hello@crafttalkin.com and tell us your whole lifestory if you like, or just who you'd like us to talk to next!

Love,

Merion, Jamie, and the Craft Talkin' team

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We're thrilled to bring back our fabulous Game of Wool guests to unpack the final - who will win? and what do we think?

Find out more about Emma Varnam on her website https://emmavarnam.co.uk/

Find out more about Anna Nikipirowicz on her website: https://moochka.co.uk/

Find out more about Janie Crow on her website: https://www.janiecrow.com/

Find out more about Belinda Harris Reid and the Knitting Hotel on her website: https://www.theknittinghotel.co.uk/

Join us next year for a fabulous series of chats with your favourite crafting heroes - thanks for sticking with us and don't forget, you can get in touch on hello@craftalkin.com! We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions, and of course, we're open for collabs and sponsorship, too!

Sending you all our love for a fabulous 2026, Merion and Jamie!

xxx

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This week, our team of two are joined by the beautiful Belinda Harris-Reid; knitwear designer, hotelier and all round brilliant yarnista to discuss the Semi Final of The Game of Wool!

We'd love to hear your thoughts- you can email us at hello@crafttalkin.com, or send us a message on instagram!

You can find out all about Belinda on her website, https://belindaharrisreid.co.uk/ and more about The Knitting Hotel on instagram https://www.instagram.com/theknittinghotel/

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This week, Jamie and Merion welcome craft hero Anna Nikipirowicz, knitter, crocheter, designer and author, to unpack Statement Week, the sixth week of The Game of Wool!

You can find all of Anna's patterns and books at https://moochka.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOor91MPLuyi6IhhFFEyqnF03747O4p5_oSzOCNArJCVp8HDBiO-D and on her instagram, https://www.instagram.com/annanikipirowicz/ - and - we'll be talking to Anna in a few weeks about her fabulous new books!

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Our dynamic duo teamed up with brilliant Emma Varnam again this week to discuss texture for Game of Week's TEXTURE WEEK! Emma Varnam is queen of crocheted food, having written many books on the subject, so we knew she would be the perfect chum to include for this episode! For Emma's books, have a look at www.emmavarnam.co.uk!

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This week, Merion and Jamie are joined by the FABULOUS Emma Varnam to discuss Week 4, Kids Week!

You can find all of Emma Varnam's books and patterns on her website, https://emmavarnam.co.uk/shop/

and you can find Shani Denman's debut novel, The Commoners, on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Commoners-Shani-Denman/dp/1919178015

We'll see you next week for Week 5!

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Jamie and Merion are joined by the INCREDIBLE Jane Crowfoot, fresh from her resounding success as guest crochet judge on Game of Wool, episode 3! Join our intrepid trio for a chat about last night's episode and we'd love to hear your thoughts! Email us your episode reviews at hello@crafttalkin.com !!!!

Follow us at @craftalkin on Instagram and Facebook!

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Join us for a romp through the second episode of the FAB Game of Wool with Jamie and Merion - but beware, this episode includes spoilers! This is ICONS week where the contestants were tasked with creating knits inspired by their icons - which ranged from David Bowie to .... buildings! An 80s jumper proved to be a great team challenge, especially in mohair - and we loved it all.

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Join Jamie and Merion for a week by week catch up following the brilliant GAME OF WOOL! Join the thrills and spills, the dropped stitches and the fraying steeks - we've got it all covered!

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In this jam-packed episode, Jamie and Merion have a good old chat with Adam Cleevely, knitter, designer, comedian and social media wizard about his knitting life.

You can find him on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleevelyknits/

On Ravelry here: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/adam-cleevely

On YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@CleevelyKnits

Who would you like us to talk to next? Email and tell us, at show@crafttalkin.com

We're up for collabs, reviews, and biscuit testing :)

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Jamie and Merion meet crochet giant, Emma Varnam, author of 14 books and crochet designer adored by millions. Emma is well known for her Granny Square books, all celebrations of the vintage favourite, her crochet animals, plants and her giant 10,000 hats books!

In this fun chat, we discuss the publication journey, Emma's inspiration and how crafting is a love language for so many!

You can find Emma on her website, https://emmavarnam.co.uk/on her instagram, https://www.instagram.com/emmavarnam/?hl=en and you can buy her books on her website or online https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/emma+varnam

Merion's favourite glitter hairclips are made by WhatCynMade on instagram, here: https://www.instagram.com/whatcynmade/

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In this fab episode, sponsored by Dark Matter Roasters, Jamie and Merion meet the fabulous Jeanette Sloan, knitwear designer, author and TV star. We hear all about Jeanette’s experiences on Knit Stars, an online learning platform, her experience on TV in Make it at Market, and delve into the challenges of diversity and inclusivity in the craft industry. There’s a cheeky quiz just to keep Jeanette on her toes as a lifelong Duran Duran fan!

You can listen to the first chat we had with Jeanette on the LoveCrafts Show, here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HTWO3vIFLPXDM6y4cwfgQ

Follow Jeanette here: https://www.instagram.com/jeanettesloan/

Read more about BIPOC in Fiber here: https://www.bipocinfiber.com/

Find out more about Dark Matter Roasters here:

https://darkmatterroasters.com/

Coffee that’s out of this world!

We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas - and requests for guests, book reviews, biscuit reviews and more - please drop us a line at hello@crafttalkin.com!

Don’t forget to like and subscribe for lots more juicy pods coming soon!

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Jamie and Merion meet the amazing Paula Milner, aka The Crafty Lass! If she hasn’t pinged up on your crafting radar yet, you’re going to be very excited to meet her, as we talk about her brilliant new book, Simple Paper Flowers.

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You can find out more about Paula’s crafting life on her website and on instagram and see all of her gorgeous fabric designs, collaborations with the Indian Block Print Company and with Aurifil threads.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas - and requests for guests you’d love to hear on the show - please drop us a line at hello@crafttalkin.com!

Don’t forget to like and subscribe for lots more juicy pods coming soon!

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Jamie and Merion meet the FABULOUS Lauren Willis, aka Manatee Squares, to chat about her new, gorgeous book, Filet Crochet to Wear, from David & Charles.

Loz, as she’s known, chats about her love of crochet, maths and her beloved lurchers, Wally and Roxy, and how filet crochet became a favourite technique.

This hilarious episode travels from Pokemon to dog grooming, via the trauma of making Instagram reels, taking photos of herself and her favourite colours - inclusive sizing, writing patterns, where to sell them and what has worked and what hasn’t. It’s a really illuminating chat if you love Lauren’s work, but also a great inspiration if you’re a crochet designer starting out!

You won’t be surprised that Merion is even more of a superfan by the end….

You can find Lauren on her website, Manatee Squares and on instagram here.

Timestamps:

00:00 From Pokémon to Filet Crochet

03:02 Embracing Inclusive Sizing

08:03 The Art of Fillet Crochet

24:47 Making Patterns Your Own

25:34 The Struggles of Taking Photos and Posing

26:31 Colour Preferences and Design Choices

28:19 Selling Patterns on Multiple Platforms

38:01 Insights from Dog Grooming

50:33 The Bond Between Dog Groomers and Dogs

51:07 Trends in the Dog Grooming Industry

54:09 The Origin of 'Manatee Squares'

58:42 Future Plans and Secret Projects

01:06:33 Favourite Ice Cream Flavours and Films

Don’t forget to subscribe to Craft Talkin’ and tell all your craft friends to do the same!

You can send us all your thoughts, suggestions and Dad jokes for Jamie to hello@crafttalkin.com

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