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Episode 43: Paul Haesemeyer
103 Plays1 year ago
We revisit Paul Haesemeyer and hear about his Latvian experience!
Links to Paul:
Instagram: @paul.haze30
Website
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Links from Paul
Pace yarn
Article on Modern Daily Knitting
The common sheep breed is known as the Latvian Blackface. These local sheep begin to appear in the mid-19th century and were improved by breeding with Oxford, Shropshire and Hampshire breeding rams. To read more, see this highly technical article.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to Craft, Design, Edit, Sleep, Repeat. I'm your host, Lisa Conway. Welcome to my world where we try to understand the business of knit and crochet design.
00:00:38
Speaker
Welcome back, everyone.
Paul's Knitwear Journey
00:00:40
Speaker
I am very excited to have Paul Haysmeyer back with us today. I did say that correctly, did I not? Yes, you did. Very impressive. I remembered. Yay. So Paul, let's start out just by letting people know, reminding them who you are, what you do, what kind of patterns you create.
00:01:08
Speaker
Yeah, thank you, Lisa. I'm Paul, and I am a network designer, often focused on exploring
00:01:18
Speaker
sweaters in particular usually, and I've been knitting since I was seven. And I particularly like knitting sweaters, as I said before, but really exploring textures, colors, and making more untraditional menswear, just because I feel like a lot of the men's knitting patterns right now are very classic or super avant-garde, and I'm trying to straddle the two.
00:01:42
Speaker
I've been watching your patterns as they've come out over the last year. And I'll tell you, he's got some beautiful work, guys. Although he does some very unique things, like his cotton shorts. Those were very different. How did those work? Did they go well? They did pretty well. I think it's just something new and different.
00:02:12
Speaker
I love them. Baroko loved working with me for that one. Whenever I'm showing them off at shows and whatnot, I always get a giggle or a laugh like, what? You knit shorts. And I'm like, yes, I did. And they're amazing.
Latvia Project and Fulbright Grant
00:02:26
Speaker
Thank you. Well, Paul, you've had a really big adventure going on. Let's dig into that a little bit and talk about where you are in the world.
00:02:42
Speaker
Yeah, I am currently in Riga, Latvia on a Fulbright grant to write a knitting book. I was awarded this grant middle of May last year. And everyone else found out in April, I found out in May a month later, which is fine. It just gave me three months to figure out how to move to Europe. So I have been here in Riga since September.
00:03:08
Speaker
And I'll be here until June 1st. And really, the goal of this project is I am interviewing a variety of Latvians. Those have to be knitters, some artists, some regular people, et cetera. And then taking their stories and turning them into a knitting book and having knitting patterns inspired by their stories.
00:03:30
Speaker
I'm here as like a Latvian, not so much a Latvian storyteller, but as an outsider saying, hi, I'm here to help tell Latvian stories.
Latvian Context and Language
00:03:40
Speaker
And just because I noticed, I applied for this grant last year, and I realized
00:03:46
Speaker
There's not a lot of Latvian books out there, at least in the US market. And if there are, it's very historically focused, which is fine. Lovely, beautiful. But I was really attracted to Alex Bird's style of Estonian knitting, where she had combined old technique and tradition with new knitwear. So that's really the place that's coming from of like, OK, where can I do something similar to this?
00:04:13
Speaker
How do I do this as an outsider? And I already had the connection with Rotom magazine in Riga Latvia. So Latvia was a natural fit for me to apply there. Help people understand where is Latvia.
00:04:29
Speaker
Latvia is as far north as Juneau, Alaska, and Riga particularly. It is right next to Russia. It is a former Baltic, not a former Baltic, it is a Baltic country alongside Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It is a former Soviet occupied country. So in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 91,
00:04:54
Speaker
Latvia regained its independence. Latvia first obtained independence in the 1920s after World War I and then was occupied after World War II by the Soviet Union. They really don't consider the Soviet occupation a loss of independence, per se, as much as we've always been in Latvia, we just happen to be occupied by this country for 70 years, you know, 60. My math's wrong. More 50.
00:05:23
Speaker
Someone historical out there knows it better. Yes. Yeah. Okay. And how are you managing with the language? Good news. This Fulbright requirement did not need me to learn Latvian.
00:05:41
Speaker
It was sort of recommended. The best way to explain that is I've worked on just knowing some bits and phrases just to say hello, goodbye, thank you, be polite. And anytime a Latvian hears an American or someone else speaking Latvian, they're very proud of it. I did have someone send to me last month an entire how to learn Latvian guide. And I was thinking to myself, I wish I had this beginning of September.
00:06:09
Speaker
But that's fine. I'll be looking over it a bit.
Knitting Book Goals
00:06:14
Speaker
It's not a requirement. I've had a lot of Latvian women already tell me, mostly the older women saying, you're here for so long, nine months. You need to learn Latvian. I'm like, okay. We had a lot of other stuff going on, but okay. We can see what we do, what we can do.
00:06:30
Speaker
So it's been a really fun, magical journey, bringing everyone along for the ride, because it's an opportunity for me to do knitting for nine months straight, which has been a goal of mine. I didn't expect it in this capacity in this way. But it's been really fun just living here. I'm here in my studio apartment in Old Town. I feel like I live in a fairy tale every day. Wow. That's so cool.
00:07:02
Speaker
How many patterns are you going to be producing for the book? And are any of the patterns I've seen you release over the last year going to be in the book? These are going to be completely new patterns, completely inspired by Latvian stories. I am sharing bits and pieces on social medias like sneak peeks of like, hey, this is what I'm working on. Just engage with my audience.
00:07:25
Speaker
For the most part, though, these are completely new designs. And as of right now, I have roughly 15 patterns. I might have a few more later. We'll see what happens. It's been really kind of contingent on who am I going to meet.
00:07:42
Speaker
What do I need to look for? What gaps do I need to fill necessarily? Are there any gaps? I knew coming here that I needed some mitten patterns, a hat, and some sweaters. Those are the things that I knew. These are the general idea. I know I'm going to need to include a classic mitten pattern, whatever that means, because people expect Latvian mittens here. So those are the questions I'm asking myself right now. But I'd say right now, I have about 15 planned.
00:08:12
Speaker
have a lot of editing ahead of me. We'll see what happens. But it'll be fun. I've been chatting with with Nikki a bit. I'm like, Hi, how does this work with tech editing? She's like, Here's my guides. I'm like, Thank you. Thank you, Nikki. I haven't said anything yet, because I'm still trying to figure out bits and pieces. But it's been it's been magical. Well, just just from
00:08:34
Speaker
being near someone who has recently released a book, well, a while back, but not too long ago. Don't expect it to happen overnight. Oh, no, I'm not planning on it. And it's that question of just, A, I'm here for nine months, I don't want to squander my time, but I don't want to kill myself. And it's like,
00:08:59
Speaker
And I'm here really to learn and to get to know people, honestly, like that's what I'm here for. The Fulbright mission is soft diplomacy, pun intended for me at least. That's been a good joke with audiences lately. And yeah, so that's really where I'm at where it's just like, okay,
00:09:19
Speaker
how do I get this done? And really the goal is now is just to get samples done, hopefully by the end of my time here, just so I can do a little display saying, hey, here's all of your stories displayed, you know, invite the community I've engaged with for the past four months, five months, and celebrate that, celebrate these new connections.
Latvian Knitting Culture
00:09:40
Speaker
And it's been wonderful because Modern Daily Knitting, I just wrote an article for them that was received wonderfully. I'll have to go look it up.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. It's Knitter's Weekend Riga Edition. So really for me, this is like, okay, I am here kind of as an agent for Riga and for Latvie in a way of saying, hi, I'm the American knitter. How can I help spread the word about everything knitting wise here? Lisa, there's regions and there's no way I can touch on all of it because I went to a region this weekend that specializes in double knitted mittens. And you have another region that there's shawls and hats and mittens and it's just kind of like,
00:10:19
Speaker
It's infused into everything here. You have to look for it sometimes. Do you plan on doing a double knitted mitten? I was thinking about it. I feel like I have to. I was trying to avoid it for the longest time because I'm like, I don't want to throw in a double knitted mitten. My question is what the book is. This is not a book for beginners. I don't want to include a ton of tutorials.
00:10:44
Speaker
So I'm like, can I just write up a double knitting pad and hopefully someone can figure it out later. I think I probably need to at this point. If you need help, let me know. Will do. You know, you're the woman to talk to. Well, um, I'm real close to Nathan Taylor whose specialty is double knitting. And in October I released a double knit, double knitted brioche cowl.
00:11:15
Speaker
And this month we'll be releasing its fingering weight version. So I've been working on that kind of stuff. So yes, if you need help with that, please let me know because I'd be happy to help. Yeah, I'll be hitting you up then. I'll have to send you some of the photos later because I'm looking at all of these and they're all like
00:11:36
Speaker
very intricately like buying gauges. I'm looking at these women using size zero needles and I'm like, how are your hands not dying right now? They're like, oh, this is normal. Like, okay, I'm happy for you. Yeah. Um, having worked in that gauge, not in double knitting, but in, in lace years ago, um, it, if it almost is a point where you get to where bigger needles are more painful.
00:12:07
Speaker
because your hands are so used to the finer gauge and the position and the muscle memory is all for that real fine gauge. And so bigger needles are clunky and you don't know where your arms should be and it can be challenging to transition.
00:12:25
Speaker
No, yeah, I jumped from I think it was a two for a pair of socks I'm working on to an eight to do a swatch or worsted swatch and my hands were just freaking out like what is this? I'm not like, I didn't expect to get so used to knitting so finely, where a size eight which is not necessarily a large needle for American audiences, but still like it does change that the muscle memory changes.
00:12:51
Speaker
Yes, it most definitely does. That's why it's important to move back and forth and not stick with just one gauge all the time. If you really want to be versatile, you want to do different gauges intermittently so that your hands don't get stuck in a particular gauge. Now, if you want to do nothing but socks, that works too.
00:13:20
Speaker
But if you want to do other things, it's really important to kind of move back and forth and not stick with one thing for a long period of time. Oh, yeah. And my style right now is just working a little bit on everything, which I don't know is the best method because I'm like, I need to get samples done. But it does. It's interesting just how the hand changes. I did a swatch with some U.S. 13 for a super bulky project. I don't know if it'll be for the book or not, but
00:13:47
Speaker
But my hands were like, what are these trees? I don't understand. Yeah, I don't know. It would take me a lot to do something in that big of a gauge because it's been so long. Fair, fair. Yeah. I don't like those large gauges because people say you knit faster with larger needles. I'm like, not for me, no, because it's just, it's so much more work to do that much moving, you know? Yes. 11s, 10s, I'm okay with. But 13, I'm like, nah, nah.
00:14:18
Speaker
Um, I've actually, I've got a pair of needles that my husband helped me make out of, was it three inch dowels? I think it was. They were, you know, like really big round, um, in order to make dog beds out of fabric strips. Interesting. Yeah.
00:14:48
Speaker
I've done it once. And you said never again, did you? Well, not so much never again as not very often. And the charity that I was doing it for kind of didn't need them anymore. So yeah.
00:15:13
Speaker
Um, so anyway, yeah, it, it did, it did, but I still have the needles. You still have that. They're just a nice prop. Yes. Eventually I think they might get hung on a wall, you know, knitting. Yes. Knitting is art. Exactly. You know, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm like, I increased my yarn stash here and I'm like, okay, what can I add to the walls to just hang those saw?
00:15:40
Speaker
I don't know. We'll see. I got 10 kilos of yarn from a yarn factory. It was insane. Oh, wow. So what kind of yarn are you using there? I mean, what describe gauge and fiber and that kind of stuff? It really depends on the project, of course, because I think the cliche people think that they're thinking of stereotypes is
00:16:06
Speaker
only Latvian mittens, but no, they all, everyone uses, they're just like everyone else where they have a variety of projects. All the mittens are fingering weight and knit pretty tightly. Just for windproof sake, there's a whole beautiful like history of
00:16:24
Speaker
historical mittens books published and I'm hoping to go to the museum soon just to look at their collections because it's a part of their history where mittens were considered dowry gifts and dowry payments and I mean it's cold so it's functional and it's beautiful. So a lot of wolves of course for my book in particular I've been using a lot of just European-based brands that I know that Latvians could easily access.
00:16:54
Speaker
I'm just trying to avoid American brands when possible. There's an exception to that. I love Freya, and Freya had a perfect little mini kin for a project. So it's really interesting just because the yarn stores here, there is like eight to 10, I think possibly more yarn stores in Riga, which is a population of half a million. And then I compare it to New York City. New York City has the same amount of yarn stores for 8 million people.
00:17:22
Speaker
which I think is the biggest statement you can make about fitting culture here. Yes. Yeah. And so I've been experiencing a lot of different types of stores. Um, mostly most of them are kind of salon style where you text the owner, you know, the owner personally, you could say, Hey, I'm going to come in and grab some stuff. Can you help me? And they open it up for you. Um, not like some stores have like,
00:17:47
Speaker
open hours, some of them don't. I think the biggest surprise for me is the European Italian style yarn store. It's Italian yarns that they have imported and they're on giant cones and it looks like they're made really for machine knitting. But what you do is you walk in there, you grab the yarn, you say, hey, I want X grams or X kilos of yarn for my project and they'll wind it onto a cone for you.
00:18:15
Speaker
So you have all sorts of interesting specialty stores in that way. A lot of social knitting is focused around the yarn store in the States. That's how I knew social knitting.
00:18:32
Speaker
Here in Latvia, it's a lot more studio-based and club-based where people and artists host studios and people come together to learn different methods and techniques. And it's just not affiliated with the yarn store at all whatsoever. There are a few yarn stores. One of them in particular is Grieta Knits. Grieta Gunder is a wonderful friend of mine here. She hosts a very extensive beginning knitting class and advanced knitting class for knitters.
00:19:00
Speaker
and for Latvian women mostly, just to come in and learn all the techniques that most of these women already know how to knit, but they're there to help take the next step if they need to. Yeah, it's been really interesting just because it's a very introverted hobby here. I'm trying to like host public knitting events and say, hey, here's the wide world knitting. Come take a look. I think you guys could easily contribute to it. I think the most famous Latvian knitter right now is Jeanette Husain of Jeanette Knits.
00:19:29
Speaker
She's now currently based in London. That's how I ended up here, is she was the editor of Rotom. I'm going to be meeting her at Vogue Knitting Live, which will be fun. And I'll be at Vogue Knitting Live in a few weeks. Come see me. So yeah, it's been a really just fun year of, or not fun year, it's only been four months, but I'm like, it will be a fun year of just knitting and what does that mean, you know? Yeah, I think that's the best,
00:19:57
Speaker
I will say super, super bulky gauges aren't super popular here, mostly fingerings, worsteds, BKs, but yeah. Okay. And fiber-wise, is there a particular wool that is native to that area or are the sheep and the wools that they get pretty much the same as the rest of Europe?
00:20:23
Speaker
I'd say they're similar to the rest of Europe.
Challenges with European Yarns
00:20:27
Speaker
I'm sure there are some specific Latvian brands, or not brands, breeds. I'm not familiar with them quite yet. I'm hoping to go visit a factory eventually, not a factory,
00:20:40
Speaker
a farm eventually. I did visit a yarn factory while I was here. They get all of their wool locally, they diet locally, manufacture it locally, some of the most beautiful colors. I'd say it's a pretty standard like merino feeling wool, fairly rustic, but it's nice. Interesting, interesting. Yeah, because I'm not as familiar as what breeds might be in that area as I am some of the other countries, you know.
00:21:11
Speaker
Marino started in Spain. I know that. Anyway, other things. And there's some specific breeds through Norway and Finland that are very specific to those areas. We do have some flocks here in the US, but they're still quite small. They weren't brought in as much as some of the other breeds.
00:21:40
Speaker
But they're very unique, different types of wool that you can get in those areas. So I was curious if it was that way in Latvia as well. I have a garden label here. Nope, it doesn't say what sheep it is. Dang it. It just says wool. It just says wool. Yup. Okay. Well, if I...
00:22:02
Speaker
get a chance, I will look it up and see if I can find anything specific to the area and I'll put it in the show notes just for people's grins and giggles. And this is Paz de Vilnius Fabrica. This is where I'm getting a lot of my local wool from. They're a wonderful factory, family run, over a hundred years old. They are a wonderful group. They're on Facebook and Instagram.
00:22:28
Speaker
One of my knitter friends here says, I was the reason why they got online, but who knows? Go take a look at them. It's wonderful. It is spelled with the American pronunciation of pace, paces, Vilnus, fabrica, but it's pronounced Pahtze with the lovely, lesbian accent. If you could please remember to send me links.
00:22:49
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That would be awesome. Awesome. Thank you. And are most of your you said that most of your work was not going to be American yarns. They were going to be European yarns. Is that how do you feel that's going to affect the American publication? And I don't think so, personally.
00:23:13
Speaker
I'm one of those people who I always like to substitute yarns anyway, so I'm not really worried about yarns. Honestly, I always see yarns as a suggestion, not as a rule, not as a law. I think it will be easier for some yarns, for Americans to get some yarns than others. I'm working with Shoppel. Shoppel's easy to get in the States. I'm working with each deck through Baroko. That's going to be easy.
00:23:43
Speaker
I think Pazze is going to be the hardest one just because it is so local. Since they're on Facebook, I think they can ship internationally. And the interesting thing about their yarn is all their colors are season-based anyway, so it's going to be impossible for an editor to completely reproduce the garment.
00:23:59
Speaker
So it's one of those things that I've accepted, moved on. I am using some, Rowan felt a tweet I found for cheap in Estonia because it's lovely. So I'm like, you know, it's kind of that idea of, I want to make sure this book is accessible to European knitters too, not just American ones. Well, and it can be harder for Europeans to get the American yarns, I think sometimes than the other way around.
00:24:23
Speaker
Oh, yes, I got that experience here, just even getting like some, just getting some yarns for the states for some projects, like not many, but it was a personal project.
Personal Stories and Emotional Connections
00:24:34
Speaker
And I'm like, it took me weeks. And I'm like, you know, let's just keep this simple and try not to complicate this, you know, for my own sanity. Well, and I, I know in certain areas, it can be expensive in terms of the VAT.
00:24:51
Speaker
you know, the taxes and things like that, especially like the UK anymore. It's horrible. The taxes that they pay, the custom taxes they pay on things coming in is just ridiculous. So, yeah. What I find is it's open to the Europeans makes sense. Exactly. And it really is just more from a practical mindset of just that, what can I get easily? What can my customer base here get easily?
00:25:20
Speaker
It is much easier to shift things to the U.S. than it is to shift things here. I've learned that much. It's also faster that way. So it's been, it's been quirky. Yeah, you're living in a foreign land. I'm a foreign man in a foreign land, you know. Well, talk more about some of the people that you have met. What kind of stories are you hearing?
00:25:48
Speaker
All sorts. In one week, I had two very different stories, two different interviews. On the first one, and I encountered this woman at first at a contemporary fiber art exhibit at one of the art museums. Fiber art is huge here. And it was a piece discussing and reflecting how she used knitting to grieve.
00:26:15
Speaker
and she lost her son a few years ago. It was this beautiful oversized tapestry that's nearly six, I think it's six feet wide, if not wider, and worsted weight yarn, and she used it as an escape tool. So I interviewed her that week and discussing like feelings and what does this mean to you and knitting and all that. And the piece is called Cruel Games. I can find the link for you.
00:26:42
Speaker
And the artist's name was Leonetti Slashani. It was a beautiful, beautiful interview and just heartbreaking and I'm still processing it. And then two days later, I had an interview with, I don't know how old she is, probably in her 70s. She wouldn't tell me her age. Very coy, very energetic, very colorful woman who uses knitting as an exploration of color and makes crazy balls and,
00:27:08
Speaker
She was one who told me, and I quote, I only knit when I'm happy. And so it was just to have two just opposite ends of the spectrum was just beautiful to see that happen. Like this is exactly what I'm exploring here, seeing how knitting connects us both to our positive and negative emotions and feelings. I mean, even just hearing people's stories of where they come from. I interviewed Ina Valtteri. She's in her 80s. She did tell me her age, but I think she's 80 something.
00:27:38
Speaker
or just celebrated deity. And she is a well known historical mitten maker. Excuse me, both in traditional and also some her own designs. And she's just an icon. I've been having fun playing with some mittens for her. I'm like, great, you're my classic mitten gal. We talked for three hours through the help of a translator.
00:28:03
Speaker
just discussing projects and processes and what was life like for you? How did you learn and symbols? And, you know, it's been really fun and just empowering to see people are willing to tell me their story and I'm willing to listen. And they see, it is the kind of a view of, this is a young American man who's knitting. This is not so much bewildering, but it is something new for them.
00:28:29
Speaker
And they're excited by it for the most part. Like they're like, hey, if he's here to learn, we'll teach him. And it's been really nice. It's been very welcoming, very warm and
00:28:40
Speaker
even during my orientation, they're like, hey, don't be surprised that Latvians are cold and it's hard to get to know them. And I'm like, are you kidding me? It's been easy because I have knitting and knitting is what brings
Creative and Ethical Book Development
00:28:49
Speaker
us together. And that was the project proposal saying, hey, knitting is a form of connection and this is what I'm wanting to explore here. And even beyond that, because it's just knitting as storytelling and
00:29:01
Speaker
I met a painter on my first day here and he'll be in my book with a pair of socks. He's wearing traditional Latvian folk shoes and I think we'll keep it there because I want to make sure there's still a few surprises for people who get the book later, whatever that is.
00:29:16
Speaker
Well, I'm excited. I'm really excited because I'm even more excited now than I was watching you on Instagram because I have been following this story on Instagram very closely because it's just, I don't know, it touches that part of you that is the core knitter, right? And why we knit. And I just really am excited for you and I'm excited for the book.
00:29:45
Speaker
Really, I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you. I appreciate it. I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew. I realize now I'm like, oh, this is insane. I'm excited though. It's one of those things where like 2024, it's a time for New Year's resolutions.
00:30:09
Speaker
It's hard for me to make goals in a way, because it's 2023, I had so many dreams come true in that way of I'm living my life in Riga, knitting, doing what I love. Not that I don't have goals for 2024, main one being finish the damn book, get it all done. And- I'll look for it at the end of 2025. Thank you. That's probably what's going to happen. That's probably what's going to happen.
00:30:38
Speaker
Honey, that's the way writing books goes. It takes time and don't beat yourself up if it doesn't happen in 2024, okay? Because there's a lot to process here. Yeah, there is. And it's going to take you time to process and put it in the words that you are happy with. So take a breath. Don't beat yourself up.
00:31:08
Speaker
give yourself plenty of time. It's okay. Really, it is okay. Thank you. I will. And then you know, and that's what I'm really focusing on right now is just getting the knitting done. Because I know I can get the writing done later, meaning pattern writing, meaning the story. So as I'm recording all of them, I'll listen to them. It's nice because I've already met a few artists have a photographer friend of mine and
00:31:33
Speaker
I mean, in the ideal world, but the dream is, is I get the samples done, so then I can photograph my subjects wearing them, because it's such a personal part of who they are. That's the perfect goal. Yes, that is the perfect goal. So, you know, and I'm looking at my knitting right now, I'm like, well, we'll just take this one step at a time.
00:31:59
Speaker
My friends keep joking. You're just going to be knitting all the time. I'm like, well, I already do. We're just going to be holed up in a coffee shop somewhere because I realize I can't be holed up in my apartment by myself. This project has been more isolating in that way just because it really is an independent study. So I go out, get bring my knitting, and that's how I make friends is just bring my knitting out. People are like, oh, what are you making? Perfect. That's a good intro.
00:32:29
Speaker
It's fun. You're going to have more interviews than you can include. Oh yeah, that's the goal. Just have plenty of material. I was looking at my list of projects and I'm like, oh boy. Oh well. And since I'm saying in Europe, I could potentially
00:32:49
Speaker
get photos done later, because I want to come back to June is the Midsummer Celebration and Solstice is huge here, both the winter and summer Solstices. So I want to experience that. I'll be a private citizen by then, even though I'm sort of a private citizen now. And visas, visas are hard. I don't get visas. It's fine. But I'm just trying to like,
00:33:16
Speaker
I'm trying to have a sense of humor with it. It's been fun. It really has been magical, Lisa, where it's like... I keep asking myself, who am I doing this, honestly? And Latvia's embraced me. I've been featured in their media for one of their articles. I got the modern daily stuff and it was nice because I went...
00:33:41
Speaker
It was February of Vogue Knitting Live when I was interviewing for this position. And I wasn't sure if I was going to get it or not, but I was chatting with a few of my colleagues. They're like, Hey, I have no idea if I'm getting this or not, but what are your thoughts on this? And they're like, Oh, that's incredible. I'm like, great. Thank you. And now I get to go back to Vogue Knitting Live and say, Hey, here I am doing the thing that I was chatting with you about. It was only a dream last year. And that's coming up when?
00:34:05
Speaker
That is January 20. Okay. That's actually going to happen before this releases, just so people know that it's already done. We'll be releasing February 20th, but that's okay. That's okay. So, but that's okay. You'll have seen them by then and they'll be, have already had the chance to celebrate with you.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yeah, just the whole idea of doing this it's just ah That's all I could say there's there's just no words for how exciting it must be to be living that life I Will have to say I'm a little jealous Thank you. I've had I've had a people tell me the jokes too and it's
00:35:03
Speaker
It's been it's it really it's overwhelming honestly like it's good it's magical but it's just kind of like oh I gotta get up and do this again and do this again and what does it mean to have a routine what does it mean to take this seriously because I've always been in environments or working for jobs where I've had a set routine and what does that look like how do I get this all done not even so much how do I get this all done I mean that's one of the questions but
00:35:32
Speaker
What are even the steps I have to take to get it done besides just swatching and making it? Because I still have to think about writing, I have to think about layout. We're not going to worry about that yet, but I do have friends in public. No, do the writing first, layout comes later. Yep, yep. Yeah, do the writing first. I guarantee that's the best way to do it. Yeah, get to know, get to know. I can do that. I can play with that.
00:35:57
Speaker
And it's one of those things where people are like, well, what are you here for? I'm here for anything. And they're like, what? And I explain, as I explain this project, it's one of those things that it's hard to describe because it isn't just a Latvian history book. It's an anthology of people's stories and histories. And it's a bit anthropological. It's a bit historical. It's a bit political sometimes, depending on their views. And it's also just trying to figure out
00:36:27
Speaker
And I'm dealing with it now, like, okay, what projects are worth pursuing? Which ones aren't? What should I edit? What shouldn't I? What are the overall themes? I mean, it's been really good. How am I going to make this cohesive? Exactly. That's the question. And I mean, I even realized the other day, because I was working on a sweater design, I realized it wasn't working for my interview subject.
00:36:52
Speaker
And I went back to drawing board and I realized I have a lot of color
Reflection and Support
00:36:56
Speaker
happening. I have a lot of pattern, which is the Latvian way of life, especially in traditional knitting. I'm like, Paul, you need a bit of minimalism here. And this is the person who's adding, who needs, who is minimalist. I'm like, perfect. That helps add some balance to this. And those are just the constant questions I'm asking. And thankfully being a costume designer or a costume design background helps a lot with that overall picture viewing, being able to see that.
00:37:21
Speaker
from a farm. So it gives you a different perspective. It does. It does. Because you see them as the character and as the person they are and designed for that versus trying to make the design fit. Exactly. That's what I realized is I thought this design, it's a beautiful design. And I'm like, it just didn't fit. And I'm like, okay, back to the drawing board and
00:37:47
Speaker
I said to her, she's like, oh, that's nice. I'm like, ha ha, we did this. And I had a feeling like she liked marbling. I'm like, okay, let's do some marbling with this. And then it came together. And that's what I've kind of realized is ruminating as a part of that process. I can't just bust out a pattern a week. That's not how this works. This isn't sustainable. And I'm here to be thoughtful. I'm here to tell the story. And there've been moments where I'm like,
00:38:15
Speaker
am I doing the wrong thing here in terms of am I trying to take advantage or use their stories for my advantage? And I'm like, no, I'm not because that's not who I am. But it is at the back of my mind because I'm the outsider here. And they're like, well, why Latvia? I'm like, do you have Latvian heritage? I'm like, oh, no, I'm German. And even then, I'm just mostly American at this point.
00:38:41
Speaker
And I just explained, well, I was included in this Latvian magazine and that's why I'm here. And they look at me like, what? And I'm like, yeah. And they're like, well, that's cool. Okay. Moving on. And it's, it's, it's, yeah. I learned a little bit. I wanted to learn more.
00:38:58
Speaker
Exactly. You had that little picture that sparked the interest and you wanted to dig deeper and you found a way to do it that fits who you are and what you are and you wanted to express their interest in that.
00:39:19
Speaker
I love it. I can feel it coming off of you and it just is wonderful. This book is going to be fabulous, Paul. I promise you it's going to be fabulous. Thank you. I can feel it. I really can. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm so grateful that everyone's
00:39:41
Speaker
received it so warmly and so well and it is interesting just because I've worked for I've contributed to a few books that have to be top secret and it does feel a little strange we're talking about a book that isn't published yet but I'm like well that's what the project is and that's what I'm here to do that's what that's the story right now that's what I have to discuss you know and I'm just I'm very I'm really grateful that
00:40:06
Speaker
people are, I love the support. It feels good. It's really affirming. And it's like, well, let's keep moving forward and seeing what happens. And I know this summer I'm hoping to just travel Europe, visit Franklin Habit and Amy Gelles in Paris, maybe Stephen West and Mika John in Amsterdam, and a few other play people in the UK. And it's like, well, I guess 2024 is the year of knitting. I don't know. Like it's until the fall,
00:40:37
Speaker
We're just going to just keep going. Well, and that's the perfect way to look at it, right? This is the year of knitting. Next year is the year of writing. 2025 can be the year of pulling it all together and making it happen. That's okay, right? That's the process. Let it be. Just embrace it. Embrace every single moment because
00:41:04
Speaker
We are living this vicariously through you. Thank you. And once the book is in our hands, we'll just get to relive it and that'll be the wonderful part of it.
Conclusion and Next Episode Tease
00:41:14
Speaker
Yeah, totally. Yeah.
00:41:18
Speaker
So it sounds like the people there are really embracing the project as well. And that's awesome. I know you've talked on Instagram about the knitting groups that you've hosted and how well those were received and yeah, I just the whole thing just awesome.
00:41:38
Speaker
just awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Even last weekend, my advisor here, her name is Linda Rubena. She is a folk art expert and works for the Ministry of Culture. And one of her roles is visiting different cultural centers and groups throughout Latvia. So this weekend, I had the privilege to go visit one of those regions and
00:42:02
Speaker
just to get to know their stories. And as I said earlier, the Dublin Admittance, and it's like, how cool is this that I get to see all these icons of Latvian heritage and culture? And do I understand any of it? No, but that's okay. Because I'm just there, you know, at least being visible and getting to make some new friends in that way. And I did get quite a few looks of like,
00:42:24
Speaker
That man, he's knitting over there. Who is he? Linda, who is he? Later. Linda was telling me later. I'm like, hey, that's what I'm here to do, is be visible, honestly, in a way. It's just, it's, yeah. And I'm grateful that, I'm glad you're loving him, Lisa, because there are some days where I'm like, I finally posted a video today and I'm like, I haven't done a video for two weeks. I'm like, okay, no, keep doing it, keep doing it, keep doing it. And that's why I'm glad we're doing this right now.
00:42:50
Speaker
because it's so much easier for me to discuss it as a conversation between two people and not just talking to a camera. Oh, tell me about it. Yeah, yeah, you understand. I understand it, believe me.
00:43:06
Speaker
So Paul, we should probably wrap this up and let you get towards bed. It is getting late there. It's morning here. It's night there. Let people know where they can find you so that they can follow your progress on Instagram and elsewhere. You can find me on Instagram at Paul.hays30 and Hayes is spelled H-A-Z-E.
00:43:34
Speaker
paul.hazee30 on Instagram and threads. I've been playing with threads a bit. Also sign up for my newsletter at paulhazemeyer.com slash newsletter. That's where I've been posting a lot, not a lot of updates, but monthly updates on where I'm at. Those are the best places for me. If you're, if you're wanting to see more regular updates, Instagram's up for the place for it. Yeah. All right. Fantastic, Paul.
00:44:01
Speaker
Thank you for joining me again and sharing this story. I'm sure that, you know, people might reach out and say, how did you do this? How did you make this happen? I want to know. I want to do it. Reach out, chat with Paul because he made it happen in his life and he probably has some tips. So thanks again for coming. Thank you for having me, Lisa.
00:44:34
Speaker
So come back next time folks when we briefly talk about why you should tech edit your pattern. Don't forget to like and subscribe wherever you listen and join the conversation in our Ravelry or Facebook groups.
00:44:57
Speaker
For show notes or knit tech editing and related services, please visit my website at arcticedits.com.