My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is the wonderful Anna Nikipirowicz. Anna first learned to knit and crochet as a child in Poland, but she says she found it boring – luckily for us, as an adult she found a new passion for both crafts and is passionate about sharing her love and knowledge of them.
Anna has published a series of books on crochet techniques, embroidery onto crochet, Tunisian crochet as well as a book on crochet & knitting too. Her passion for her craft is truly infectious and she loves to meet makers and help them improve their techniques and try new things in workshops across the UK and also abroad.
Shawls, socks and blankets are Anna’s favourite items to make and she wants everyone else to join her on her brilliant yarny adventure too. You can find Anna’s website & Instagram account here.
Thanks so much for Anna for finding the time to speak to me for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast!
Thank you for listening to Making Stitches Podcast!
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
Two weeks ago, the first ever TexStyle Festival threw open its doors at Manchester Central. It was an amazing weekend of creativity, community and lots and lots of chatting! It was the idea of the mother and daughter team behind the Buxton, Cumbria & Stafford Wool Gatherings, (Michelle Greaves and her Mum, Carole) to create a bigger show encompassing other textile and fibre crafts in their home town of Manchester.
Sophia Gardiner at her standStephen West in action on the Textile Talks stageAmelia from Amelia Stitches
It did not disappoint, it featured dozens of stands showcasing beautiful crafts and items to buy, a range of fabulous workshops, a break-out zone called ‘The Hive’ where visitors could escape the busyness and just sit and chat and even work on their wips. Plus there was a Textile Talks stage hosted by yours truly which showcased some fabulous creative folk speaking on their specialist subjects.
Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn Jane Smith from Atelier NejiribanaDebbie from The Lace Knittery
I was thrilled and very honoured to be asked to host the Textile Talks stage, and loved every minute of it. In this episode you can hear from all of the speakers who stepped up to the mic over the weekend including, textile artist Sophia Gardiner, Stephen West from Westknits, Amelia Rogers from Amelia Stitches, Gareth from the show’s sponsor Manchester Wool and Yarn, Debbie Munro from The Lace Knittery and Jane Smith from Atelier Nejiribana speaking on the history of traditional Japanese embroidery.
Laili Cleasby from Emily FouldsVictoria Salmon from Another Knitted ThingAlena Ruth from Manchester Tufting Workshops
I also spoke to other stall holders and exhibitors who were spending the weekend with us in Manchester and hope you get a real flavour of what the first ever TexStyle Festival was actually like.
The communal rug being created on the Manchester Tufting Workshops standA detail of Sylvia Pankhurst from Sophia Gardiner’s standThe Yarn Addicts of Manchester
My thanks to everyone who spoke to me for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast! You can find all of their websites below:
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
Katy Mitchell is the crochet designer behind Kate’s Crochet Creations, known for her vibrant granny square patterns and beautifully themed blanket designs. Her work celebrates colour, creativity and the joy of crochet, her patterns inspire crocheters of all skill levels.
I was thrilled to be able to chat to her about how her hobby turned into a full-time job. Katy’s work has been featured in magazines, she is a Stylecraft yarns ‘Insider’ and, last year, published her first book; The Granny Square Book which features patterns for 125 different squares.
Thank you so much to Katy for speaking to me for Making Stitches Podcast!
It’s TexStyle festival time this weekend in Manchester, and if you would like to come along to enjoy the creativity & fun, please visit the TexStyle website to get your ticket!
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
Hello and welcome to the 100th episode of Making Stitches Podcast.
Way back in April of 2020 when I published my first ever Making Stitches Podcast episode, I had no idea that over 5 years later, I would be publishing episode 100! That blows my tiny mind!
In the months leading up to this milestone, I had a couple of conversations with my lovely yarny friend, Christine Perry (aka Winwick Mum) and she suggested marking this podcast milestone with a different kind of episode – one with me as the guest.
After much consideration, I took Christine up on her kind offer and let her turn the tables – asking me the questions instead. At the start of December, we had a lovely time having a long chat and recording this episode.
Among the topics we covered were where I first learned to sew, knit and crochet, my career in journalism and how I got started in radio, our family’s time in Gibraltar and how that led to starting my Postcard from Gibraltar blog back in 2015, making friends through the world of creativity, podcasting and blogging and, of course, 5 years of Making Stitches Podcast.
Me back in the late 1990s behind the radio desk at Manchester United Radio – my first job in broadcastingMy news reading days at the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation
I hope you enjoy listening to my ramblings about how I ended up doing what I do now!
Huge thanks to Christine for being the host of Making Stitches Podcast this time! You can find Christine’s website here: https://www.winwickmum.co.uk/
Thank you for listening to Making Stitches Podcast!
You can listen to Gibraltar Stories Podcast in all the usual podcast places as well as on the Gibraltar Stories Website: https://gibraltarstories.com/
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
It’s that time of year again when I take a look back at the past 12 months and choose some of the highlights of my podcasting year.
2025 has been a big year for me, I celebrated 10 years of blogging (Postcard from Gibraltar and then Making Stitches Blog) and 5 years of Making Stitches Podcast.
In this episode I share some of the chats I have had this year and you may have heard before as well as some new chats too.
Included in this episode are:
Christine Perry from Winwick Mum speaking about 10 years of the Winwick Mum sock along.
Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet talking about 10 years of her blog and our celebration of a decade online with our Let’s Celebrate Wreath collaborative crochet pattern.
Sara & Sean MacLeod from Crochet in the Glen chatting about the fun they have together and how they love to share their silliness online.
Becky Davies-Downes from William & Tilda who appeared a couple of times on the podcast last year. I interviewed her again at Yarndale this September, and this is the first time I’ve shared our chat.
Also at Yarndale, I spoke to Julie Park, a close friend of Amanda Bloom, who sadly died this year. Julie has taken on Amanda’s social media accounts after her death and has raised funds to support the Yarndale Start-Up Bursary for fledgling creative businesses at the festival in memory of Amanda and her daughter Jenny.
More recently, I was at the Christmas edition of the Crochet Sanctuary Crochet Days just last weekend. While I was there I spoke to Lisa and Lynda-Rose who run the Crochet Sanctuary and, who were my guests on the first ever edition of Making Stitches back in the spring of 2020.
I hope you enjoy listening, and that you have a great Christmas. I’ll be back again soon, with the last episode of the current series – and my 100th episode!
Thank you for listening to Making Stitches Podcast!
Winwick Mum Sockalong 10th birthdayWorld Stitch Day at Woven in KirkleesThe Red Dress on display in Oakwell HallThe Let’s Celebrate WreathMeeting Sara & Sean from Crochet in the Glen up in ScotlandYarndale 2025Settling in to make a stocking at The Crochet SanctuaryFinished!Beautiful Cranage Hall, home of The Crochet Sanctuary
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
In this episode of Making Stitches Podcast I chat to Anita Gibney — the designer behind Made by Anita and the author of the brand-new book; Patchwork Granny Square Blankets. Known for her beautiful crochet blanket deisgns, Anita has become an ambassador for Stylecraft Yarns and has just published her first book.
We chat about how her love of crochet began, the inspiration behind her quilt-inspired granny-square blankets, and what it was like to turn years of designing into her first published book. Anita also shares insights into her creative process, how she approaches colour schemes, and why it’s important to share skills to inspire makers of all skill levels.
Whether you’re a crochet beginner, a seasoned maker, or simply someone who loves hearing from a fellow creative, I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to Anita’s story.
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
December starts next week which means we are officially on the countdown to Christmas, but there’s still time to make a few Christmas gifts for special people or some decorations for your home.
In this special ‘Bonus Episode’ I’m sharing a chat I had with Justine from Little Box of Crochet and Nicky Ward from A Heart Shaped Cherry. Followers of Little Box of Crochet will know that 2025 has been a difficult year for Justine. One of the things she has had to deal with involved being badly let down on a yarn order for her Summer Box of Crochet, which left her severely out of pocket and struggling through no fault of her own.
Justine from Little Box of Crochet
In an attempt to help Justine recoup some of her financial losses, a group of crochet designers have donated Christmas themed crochet patterns to be included in a special E-Book called Merry Crochet Makes, which was curated and edited by Nicky.
Last weekend, I spoke to Justine and Nicky about this special collaboration and how it all came together, including chatting about how difficult things have been for Justine this year. (During our chat, Justine became quite upset – for obvious reasons – however, she has listened back to this episode before being released, and it is being published with her blessing).
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is Kat Molesworth, the creative force behind the Blogtacular Podcast & Festival. With Blogtacular, Kat helped countless creatives and bloggers find their voice and their community online.
Kat during her Blogtacular days (c) Kat Molesworth
These days, Kat’s work means she’s serving another creative community, working for Immediate Live, on the Knit & Stitch Show, the Stitch Festival & the Festival of Quilts. Kat has also been a quilter for years and this summer, qualified as a Master Quilter with the Quilters Guild.
Kat at the Festival of Quilts 2025 with two of her own quilts; Curve Study 1 & Curve Study 2 (c) Kelly Cheesley
Kat and I chatted about her childhood fascination with photography and how that developed into her professional life, her online adventures, hosting live events and what quilting has given to her.
Kat with her Books & Swimming Quilt
I’m really grateful to Kat for taking the time to speak to me for Making Stitches.
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
In this episode, I share a chat I’ve had with Michelle Greaves, one half of the team behind the brand new TexStyle festival which is coming to Manchester next year. Michelle and her Mum, Carole, have been hosting yarn festivals for a number of years including the Buxton, Cumbria and Stafford Wool Gatherings, next year, they are hosting a much bigger event spanning all sorts of textile and yarn crafts in central Manchester.
(Photo Credit: Jenny Wood Photography)
TexStyle is a fresh celebration of all things textile, from knitting and crochet to sewing, weaving and sustainable fashion. It will bring together makers, artists, guilds and other enthusiasts for a weekend of inspiration and creativity in the historic Manchester Central (formerly GMEX).
I really enjoyed chatting to Michelle about how her career has swerved from fashion design to web design alongside organising yarn festivals with her Mum, Carole, who has decades of experience in the yarn industry.
I hope you enjoy listening to our chat!
If you would like to find out more information about the TexStyle festival, please check out the website: https://texstyle.uk/
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is Amy Ting, a crochet designer from the US who specialises in amigurumi. Amy is a passionate advocate for the Japanese technique of crocheting in the round to create soft toys. She has been crocheting amigurumi creatures for 7 years and shares her work online on her website: https://curiouspapaya.com/ and on social media too https://www.instagram.com/curiouspapaya/
This summer, Amy released her first book of crochet patterns called Amigurumi Critters which contains 25 patterns to make cute crocheted animal soft toys. In this chat we spoke about how crochet came into her life and led her to publish her first book.
The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.
You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi. Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.
Making Stitches Podcast 