The Long Thread Podcast

• Amy Oxford, Oxford Punch Needle

  As a college student and weaver, Amy Oxford fell in love with the punch-needle method of rug hooking almost by accident, a surprising benefit from a babysitting gig. She followed her interest from doing piece work on existing designs to creating large commissioned rugs in her own business. In 1995, she started the Oxford Company to sell supplies and education for punch needle crafters worldwide. The basic techniques of punch needle are straightforward enough to teach in a few minutes, but the opportunities for creativity in line, texture, and color have kept Amy enthralled for 40 years. After completing several large commissioned works, she found herself with repetitive strain injuries in her hand and arm, and she began dreaming of a tool that would let her work pain-free. Partnering with a woodworker and inventor, she developed the Oxford Punch Needle, a groundbreaking wooden-handled tool with a curved grip that’s comfortable to push and pull through fabric. Along with manufacturing her own tool and selling hand-dyed yarn and supplies, Amy expanded her reach by teaching the technique, then opening a school that certifies instructors in her methods. Amy has also authored a number of books, most recently Intermediate & Advanced Punch Needle Rug Hooking: Techniques, Projects, and Inspirations. Since selling her company in 2024, Amy has returned to punch needle just for the joy of it. “I can just make whatever I want and not have to tell anyone how I’ve done it,” she says. “I can just play, which is what my students have gotten to do. . . . And so I’m having a lot of fun now punching just for this sheer pleasure of it.” Links The Oxford Company website (https://amyoxford.com/) The Oxford Rug Hooking School (https://amyoxford.com/pages/oxford-rug-hooking-school) Oxford Punch Needle Handbook (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1085/1826/files/Oxford_Punch_Needle_Handbook.pdf?v=1729862800) Amy Oxford’s books are published by Schiffer Craft. (https://www.schiffercraft.com/search?type=product&q=Amy+Oxford+product_type%3ACraft) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/index.php) is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Follow the Threads (https://www.followthethreads.com/) to France on a 8-day tour of the rich traditions of French textiles. From tapestry of the Middle Ages to contemporary haute couture, our trips immerse you in the colors, forms, and techniques of half a millennium of textile fabrication and design. Guided visits are coupled with hands-on experiences in Paris, Versailles, and Calais. To learn more about this fiber adventure, visit followthethreads.com (https://www.followthethreads.com/). Have you heard of The Woolly Thistle? (https://thewoollythistle.com/) We’re a brick-and-click yarn shop specializing in non-superwash, woolly wool yarns from the UK and Europe. We have fast and free shipping and you can check us out at TheWoollyThistle.com (https://thewoollythistle.com/), two L’s in Woolly. (And let us do the international shipping and tariffs, so you don’t have to.)

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• Jordana Munk Martin, Tatter

  At an unexpected juncture in her life, artist Jordana Munk Martin turned to the legacy of her grandmother’s trove of textile books. Edith Wyle founded the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles in 1973, curating unconventional exhibits and instilling a love of art in her family. Her granddaughter found inspiration and comfort in the books, then opened the library for other artists to explore. That original collection is now the core of Tatter, a nonprofit organization named for soft, worn, well-used textiles. It includes the iconic Tatter Blue Library, an array of classes, a journal, and retail. “We’re really a conversation about cloth, housed in a cultural arts organization,” says Jordana. Tatter’s educational offerings began with classes in stitching, adding online classes and presentations when in-person learning became unavailable. One longstanding subject is the World Embroidery Series, which has offered detailed instruction in dozens of stitches and introduction to the rich cultural origins. The library invokes the cultural and spiritual connotations of the color blue. In an elegant dark blue–paneled space, the collection includes not only books but also drawers of buttons, a collection of swatches following the stitch patterns in Barbara Walker’s knitting treasuries, tools, and textiles. Tatter’s holdings now include treasured collections of 12 women: embroidered samplers, thimbles, darners, textiles, tools, and a luxurious assortment of fiber art books and periodicals. The Brooklyn Museum recently transferred 200 objects to Tatter, reflecting the organization’s deep and growing Brooklyn roots. Like Tatter, our conversation combines cultural inquiry with human connection. Links Read Jordana’s description of the Tatter Blue Library at “The Building of a Library.” (https://tatter.org/the-building-of-a-library/) Fina a list of Tatter’s online and in-person classes (https://tatter.org/events/). The third issue of Tatter’s journal, entitled Blue (https://tatter.org/issues/issue-3/), is available online. Read updates on the organization’s new home (https://tatter.org/230-ashland-place-capital-campaign/) in Brooklyn’s Cultural District. This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/index.php) is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Learning how to weave but need the right shuttle? Hooked on knitting and in search of a lofty yarn? Yarn Barn of Kansas (https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/) has been your partner in fiber since 1971. Whether you are around the corner from the Yarn Barn of Kansas, or around the country, they are truly your “local yarn store” with an experienced staff to answer all your fiber questions. Visit yarnbarn-ks.com (https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/) to shop, learn, and explore. Peace Fleece began in a small Maine town with a mission: to produce a yarn that brings together parties from areas of historic conflict, transcending boundaries through the commerce of wool. From Russian farmers to the Navajo Nation, the original owners set the foundation for meaningful trade. Today, the spinning mill at Harrisville Designs continues the tradition of sourcing fine wool from Navajo farmers, combining it with US wool and a touch of mohair to create the unique Peace Fleece blend. Visit our website at peacefleece.com (https://peacefleece.com/) to learn more.

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• Mary Anne Wise, Multicolores

  Fiber artist Mary Anne Wise first went to Guatemala hoping to collect local textiles and inspire her own practice. Just one visit wasn’t enough, and she visited several more times, eventually offering a class in rug hooking to local women artisans. Although the women didn’t have a rug-hooking tradition, they did have abundant material: tons of tee shirts from “donations” that are often shipped to the area, discarded, and burned. After the success of that first class, the idea of creating a cottage industry that would benefit women throughout Guatemala took hold. Called Multicolores, the project is now a nonprofit organization officially recognized in Guatemala. The women join the program to support their families and improve their living conditions. And although many of them cannot read or write, all have something to say through the work of their hands. Mary Anne developed a curriculum of design principles that helped the women market their work in the international market. Although some are also weavers, not all of the women were producing textiles before joining the program. Drawing on family stories and cultural influences as well as their own imaginations, they design hooked rugs and other pieces that find their way to buyers around the world. Mary Anne and her coauthor, Cheryl Conway-Daly, told the story of Multicolores in a book, Rug Money. In the United States, drawing on their love of fabric and experience in interior design, Mary Anne and a friend decided to start a home goods shop specializing in artisan cloth. Based in Wisconsin, Cultural Cloth offers the handwork of artisans not only from Multicolores but from 30 countries worldwide. Although they have sold the shop to new owners, Mary Anne continues to work there one day a week . . . and the inspiration for her own fiber art that initially led her to Guatemala has begun to rise again. Links Multicolores website (https://multicolores.org/) The Art of Being exhibit website (https://multicolores.org/pages/art-of-being-exhibit) Rug hooking tour (https://multicolores.org/pages/rug-hooking-tour) with Multicolores Rug Money: How a Group of Maya Women Changed Their Lives through Art and Innovation (https://schifferbooks.com/products/rug-money) by Mary Anne Wise, Cheryl Conway-Daly, and Joe Coca Cultural Cloth shop (https://www.culturalcloth.com/) Mary Anne Wise’s textile art website (https://www.maryannewise.com/) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/index.php) is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Brown Sheep Company is a four-generation family business bringing you high quality wool and natural fiber yarns. We spin and dye U.S.-grown wool into hundreds of vibrant colors at our mill in western Nebraska. Our mill has something to offer for every craft, from our well-known knitting and crochet yarns to wool roving for spinning and felting. We offer U.S-made needlepoint yarn as well as yarn on cones for weaving. Learn more about our company and products at BrownSheep.com (https://brownsheep.com/). Have you heard of The Woolly Thistle? We’re a brick-and-click yarn shop specializing in non-superwash, woolly wool yarns from the UK and Europe. We have fast and free shipping and you can check us out at TheWoollyThistle.com (https://thewoollythistle.com/), two L’s in Woolly. (And let us do the international shipping and tariffs, so you don’t have to.)

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• Sahara Briscoe, Creative Multicrafter

  Sahara Briscoe has a challenge for you: Do more with yarn. Knit your spinning, spin your knitting, rug hook with yarn, paint on your swatches, embroider with yarn, and question your assumptions about what your stash is for. Working from a compact Bronx studio, Sahara can’t be easily classified under any label ending in -er except New Yorker. She spins, weaves on all kinds of looms, dyes, knits by hand and machine, crochets, hooks rugs, embroiders, designs custom fabrics for a range of clients, teaches, and writes, switching happily between them all and combining them as her interests lead her. At present, she is excited about scrappy knitting and a series of hooked-rug trivets. ”My textile life runs under two phrases: What if? And why not?” she says. Instead of staying in craft silos, where we pursue just one set of techniques at a time, she urges fiber folks to combine crafts fearlessly. In both her personal work and commissioned work, she is drawn to crafting for home. Surrounding herself with textiles she loves, especially ones that transform some treasured stash into something useful, make her life more enjoyable at the same time they promote a low-waste, circular way of living. “For me, beautiful home textiles . . . Well, it‘s like us as women,” she says. “We have to be durable. We have to perform a lot of tasks, you know, and we have to hold up and still look good.” “My whole design practice and textile practice is about—why can’t the everyday look beautiful?” Links Sahara Briscoe’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/saharabriscoe/) Sahara’s Super String Theory Design (https://superstringtheorydesign.com/) custom textile studio Cochenille Design Studio (https://www.cochenille.com/) computer design software This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Susan Bateman started the Yarn Barn of Kansas back in 1971. She says, “Since the beginning, it's been important to us to teach the crafts we love—weaving, knitting, crochet, and spinning. Last year, we had nearly a thousand enrollments in our classes. We answered questions in store, by phone, and through email.” When you order from The Yarn Barn of Kansas, you aren’t just ordering materials. You're supporting a business that can support you when you need help. Visit yarnbarn-ks.com. (https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/) Have you heard of The Woolly Thistle? We’re a brick-and-click yarn shop specializing in non-superwash, woolly wool yarns from the UK and Europe. We have fast and free shipping and you can check us out at TheWoollyThistle.com (https://thewoollythistle.com/), two L’s in Woolly. (And let us do the international shipping and tariffs, so you don’t have to.) Peace Fleece began in a small Maine town with a mission: to produce a yarn that brings together parties from areas of historic conflict, transcending boundaries through the commerce of wool. From Russian farmers to the Navajo Nation, the original owners set the foundation for meaningful trade. Today, the spinning mill at Harrisville Designs continues the tradition of sourcing fine wool from Navajo farmers, combining it with US wool and a touch of mohair to create the unique Peace Fleece blend. Visit our website at peacefleece.com (https://peacefleece.com/) to learn more.

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• Bea Bonanno, Wooldreamers

  In the history of wool, Spain means Merino, the legendary finewool sheep so prized that their export fell under royal control. From their Spanish origins, Merino genetics formed the basis of wool breeds around the world. The foundations of most finewools, especially in Australia and the United States, count Merino as a major contributor. Apart from Merino, the Spanish sheep carried by colonizers to the Americas transformed those societies—consider the Spanish Churro in the vital Navajo-Churro breed. Over the last century, the wool industry in Spain has weakened, with sheep increasingly bred for meat and cheese. The once-prized Spanish wool became a burden rather than a benefit, as some wool went to compost or was even burned (sadly, a common practice in many places). In 2019, one family-owned mill that spun hearty yarn for the rug industry received a request from a handdyer looking for yarn made from Spanish wool. Seeing a new opportunity for Spanish wool, the mill’s owner decided to found Wooldreamers in 2020 to produce yarn for crafters. Wooldreamers’ line of yarns includes wool from a number of flocks: sheep that travel along traditional shepherding routes, the rare Navarra breed, some of the finest Merino available from family-owned ranches, and the sheep that produce Manchego cheese. In addition to bringing one-of-a-kind yarns to crafters around the world, Wooldreamers provides income to the ranchers who are preserving and reviving the legacy of Spanish wool. Weaver and fiber artist Bea Bonanno became part of the Wooldreamers story when her grandmother, who raises a small flock of sheep near Avila, Spain, encountered Wooldreamers in her search for a mill. Having worked at the landmark yarn shop Yarn Barn of Kansas, Bea has experience not only in using yarn but helping customers undertand the properties of their materials. Since taking on distributorship of Wooldreamers in the United States, she has relished telling the story of the company’s yarns and its impact on sheep and wool in Spain. “I've been lucky enough to find people who are just as excited about it as we are,” she says. Links Wooldreamers US (https://wooldreamersus.com/) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Brown Sheep Company is a four-generation family business bringing you high quality wool and natural fiber yarns. We spin and dye U.S.-grown wool into hundreds of vibrant colors at our mill in western Nebraska. Our mill has something to offer for every craft, from our well-known knitting and crochet yarns to wool roving for spinning and felting. We offer U.S-made needlepoint yarn as well as yarn on cones for weaving. Learn more about our company and products at BrownSheep.com (https://brownsheep.com/). Appalachian Baby Design offers U.S. sustainably sourced yarns, kits, and patterns for crafting heirloom-quality gifts for the family. Their U.S. organic cotton and Shaniko sportweight wool are soft, resilient and washable–perfect for creating lasting pieces. Whether knitting, crocheting, or weaving—for beautiful creations that will be cherished for generations, start with appalachianbaby.com. (https://appalachianbaby.com/)

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