Craft Talkin'

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-9781446314517https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/crochet-stitch-companion-for-blankets-and-afghans-book-anna-nikipirowicz-9781800922938You can find out more about Anna and her patterns on her website here: https://moochka.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOopjZW3E8o_FL-pF-KIdovvDtltlm0B-yXJ9kGXveubXyXPliPBdFollow 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/mechaWe 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-alongAnna 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-vouchersThe 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

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

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

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

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

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/

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!

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!

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/1919178015We'll see you next week for Week 5!