What does it take to disappear? So-called cloaking technology is common on things like fighter jets, but recent advances at MIT have created flexible "fabric" surfaces capable of bending light. It might sound like Harry Potter hocus pocus, but it’s quite possible, in the next decade, to have clothing that makes the wearer invisible. Find Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/cloak-of-invisibility/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 01, 2022•11 min
You go on a trip, and stuff happens. You lose your luggage or miss your plane. But what if the stuff that happens is a little more epic? Like war zone, poisonous snakes, engines-falling-out-of-your-plane kind of epic? Could you roll with that? Find Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/twisted-tales-of-travel/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 17, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 27
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire lasted fewer than 30 minutes and killed 146 people, most of them young women. The disaster’s aftermath would lead to sweeping labor reforms and workplace safety regulations we still have today. It would transform Democrats into a progressive party. And it would, more than 20 years down the road, help elect Franklin D Roosevelt president, paving the way for the New Deal. Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/triangle-factory-fire-part-two/ L...
Feb 17, 2022•36 min•Season 6Ep. 26
On a warm spring day in 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York. Within minutes it engulfed the top three stories of the factory building. 146 people died in the blaze; 123 of them young women who worked there. It was one of the worst industrial disasters in the United States. The fire and its aftermath would transform US politics and shape the growing labor movement for decades. But to really understand the events of 1911, we need to go back two years and tell a mu...
Dec 16, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 25
We’re excited to announce another Fiber Nation Live Knit Night! Bring your knitting, and join us Wednesday, December 8 at 6 pm EST for a talk with Danielle Dreilinger, featured on the “Home Economics vs. Hitler” episode. Since it’s the holiday season, we thought we’d change things up and talk about food, festive or otherwise. (Quite possibly otherwise.) Danielle will introduce us to some wonderful cookbooks and recipes from the Bureau of Home Economics, including 99 Ways to Share the Meat and At...
Dec 01, 2021•2 min
We look at the evolution of men’s fashion, and how it helped turn an obscure ethnic costume into one of history’s most famous garments. We talk about how tartan patterns became a marketing scheme in the 1800s, and, scandalously, we discover that the Scottish kilt we know today…may have been created by an Englishman. Find our Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/scottish-kilts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 18, 2021•28 min•Season 5Ep. 24
The American West is this mythic place…the land of Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane, cattle drives, and cowboys. Myths aside, it's also the land of the western range wars, where cattlemen and sheepmen battled over access to grass and water. Dozens of sheepherders were killed and 100,000 sheep were slaughtered, all before a Colorado congressman ended the violence in 1934. But a mere generation later, it's the sheep owners who had the last laugh. Follow along on the show notes page: https://www.interw...
Oct 28, 2021•34 min•Season 5Ep. 20
In this episode, we dive into a place where art, ecology, science, and math come together into something extraordinary. And we learn how a 2300-year-old geometric system was blown out of the water by a woman crocheting blobby things. Welcome to the Crochet Coral Reef. Link to show notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/crochet-coral-reef/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 30, 2021•31 min•Season 5Ep. 22
Today’s episode is all about artificial intelligence—AI. What it is, what it ISN’T, what it can and can’t do. What happens when you try to teach a computer how to knit? Can a neural network match the creativity of a human? And what might happen if the Terminator became a knitwear designer? Find Show Notes links here. https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/ai-knitting-im-sorry-dave-i-cant-knit-that/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 26, 2021•29 min•Season 5Ep. 21
On today’s episode, we explore the radical origins behind home economics. Hear how it became important enough to have its own federal agency. And learn how one particular sewing magazine became a game-changer during WWII. Find Show Notes here. https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/home-economics-vs-hitler-sewing-wwii/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 24, 2021•35 min•Season 4Ep. 20
We travel to the Isle of Man and hear the story of one of its oldest inhabitants: the Manx Loaghtan sheep. A sheep that’s been on the brink of extinction not once or twice, but THREE times. And we’ll talk about not just how it was saved, but why some things are worth saving in the first place. Find Show Notes here. www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/next-up-in-fiber-nation-manx-for-the-memories/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 29, 2021•33 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Up to now, our daily dose of fiber has always focused on the woolly natural stuff. However, even the best diet has to succumb to a bag of Cheetos now and then. Consider this episode, about the crotch-hugging antics of spandex, as our cheat day. Show notes are here: www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/spandex-fabric-of-our-lives/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 01, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Eliza Hardy Jones was a professional musician and an amateur quilter. Until a once-in-a-lifetime offer made her change her tune. Find out how she turns traditional folk music, sung by women, into a craft traditionally done by women. Show notes: www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/song-quilts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 25, 2021•32 min•Season 4Ep. 17
In today’s episode, we talk to a shearer of sheep. And while there are all kinds of cool things to learn about wool and economics and how to make a sheep sit on its butt, there’s a larger story here, about how people with the weirdest career path ever helped rescue their communities from calamity. Show notes: www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/sheep-wind-and-fire/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 28, 2021•32 min•Season 4Ep. 16
From its roots in Asia to its importance in the colonial US, from WW2 to the war on drugs, hemp has a curious and complicated history. Plus, we talk a lot about smoking pot. Show Notes: www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/hemp-forbidden-fiber-episode-15/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 17, 2020•31 min•Season 3Ep. 15
In 1859, a small island off the coast of Washington state was the site of a war almost no one has heard of. It lasted 12 years, involved 5 British warships, 14 American cannons, 34 uncooperative sheep tossed into rowboats, and General George Pickett. And in the end, it sustained only a single causality: a pig. Show Notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/fiber-nation-the-pig-war/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 11, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 14
In today's episode, we hear a tale of two radically different sweaters. But while we begin by exploring the world of luxury knitwear, we end up discovering something completely different…and completely new. Read the show notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/tale-two-sweaters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 16, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Did you know Oct 10 is I Love Yarn Day? Neither did we. but no matter. Listen to hear how you can win a box of fluffy goodness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 07, 2020•1 min
On the eve of the Civil War, Godey’s Lady’s Book was the most successful fashion and literary magazine in the US. That is, until its editor destroyed it, along with her own place in history. Show notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/godeys/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 16, 2020•35 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Almost one year ago we released this episode, but its story of disaster and resilience has even more relevance today. As we prepare Season 3, we hope you (re)discover the story of Patty Reed and her doll. In 1846 an 8-year-old girl named Patty Reed headed west on the Oregon Trail, along with her family. Among Patty’s few toys was a tiny wooden doll. This doll is maybe 4 inches in height, and there is nothing particularly remarkable about her. Except for one thing: The wagon train that Dolly and ...
Aug 20, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 11
1n 1951, near Gunnister, Shetland, two men discovered a body in a shallow grave. They called the police, who quickly determined there was something very strange about this burial. The body wasn’t actually a body; it was a full set of woolen clothing that had once contained a body. And that clothing was almost 300 years old. Who was Gunnister Man? How had he come to be in such a remote spot, and what exactly had happened to him there? Read the show notes! https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/g...
Jun 25, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 10
The First World War was the first truly “modern” war, with its wireless communication, tanks, and poison-gas attacks. In the trenches of Belgium and France, however, one of the most important items in a soldier's kit—right up there with a rifle and a gas mask—was a pair of hand-knit, woolen socks. *** SHOW NOTES*** https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/episode-9-world-war-socks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 25, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 9
When it comes to history, wars and plagues and art and science are the exciting stuff. Linen bed sheets are not. But fiber—fabric— is an integral part of human progress. From Neanderthal caves to Egyptian pyramids, from Viking ships to spaceships, we journey through almost 40,000 years of human advancement. And humble cloth is the springboard. View the show notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/episode-8-textile-history/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 30, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 8
We're hard at work on our next episode of Fiber Nation. In the meantime, we wanted to feature a new podcast called the Knitting Nerdcast, where host Hannah Baker goes deep into her random knitting obsessions with friends. In this first episode, Hannah and Andrea Lotz nerd out about knitwear they've been noticing in various prestige television shows, including the Hulu show A Handmaid’s Tale. Enjoy! SUBSCRIBE to the Knitting Nerdcast - https://megaphone.link/GPM2560551780 Show notes and photos fo...
Apr 15, 2020•36 min
As knitters and makers, we understand the siren song of color all too well. But did you know that some colors come at a price? And throughout history, people—not just knitters—have been willing to pay it. From poison dresses to a dye that helped destroy an empire, this episode of Fiber Nation explores our fatal fascination with hues throughout history. Show notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/deadly-dyes/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 03, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 7
When Karen Hostetler’s children started school, she thought about starting a small business. A gift shop, maybe, selling Wyoming souvenirs to tourists on their way to Yellowstone or Montana. But when she discovered that you can't buy Wyoming wool in Wyoming, her desire to sell wool bunnies and blankets took a sideways turn into something much bigger—the largest wool mill in the American West. In this episode, we share the story of how Karen upended her life and started spinning wool, in an attem...
Mar 03, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In this episode we look at the darker side of fiber history, with a surprising twist. Because in Victorian England, newspapers were filled with stories of murder victims, suspicious deaths, and tragic ends. And we’ll learn why, at the heart of so many of those lurid stories, was a woman knitting. Learn more about these stories and our guest Penelope Lister Hemingway on our show notes page: www.interweave.com/article/knitting/new-season-of-fiber-nation-podcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Feb 04, 2020•28 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Stay tuned! Fresh episodes featuring tales of textiles, craft and culture are coming soon with the new season of Fiber Nation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 30, 2020•1 min
In 1846 an 8-year-old girl named Patty Reed headed west on the Oregon Trail, along with her family. Among Patty’s few toys was a tiny wooden doll. This doll is maybe 4 inches in height, and there is nothing particularly remarkable about her. Except for one thing: The wagon train that Dolly and Patty Reed were traveling in became known as the Donner Party. Show notes: www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/fiber-nation-podcast-donner-party-doll/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...
Aug 27, 2019•32 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Hello Fiber Nation listeners! We're re-publishing this episode to celebrate Galina Khmeleva joining us for Yarn Fest Loveland, 2023. Learn more and sign up for classes with Galina at https://www.interweave.com/yarnfest/loveland/ Hand-drawn knitting charts are not normally the target of armed robbery. When you are starting a business in 1990's Russia, however, anything goes. In this episode, we meet Galina Khmeleva and hear a dual story: one about a 300 year-old knitting tradition, and another ab...
May 22, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 3
