077: Knitting Design and Life Through the Lens with Sylvia McFadden

The SweetGeorgia Show

Sylvia is a knitwear designer who has self-published several knitwear design collections. She is well-known for her Waiting for Rainshawl which is one of the first shawls of this design to use short rows and lace together. Sylvia is also a photographer and does all the photography for her gorgeous collections.

Please join us this week as Felicia and Sylvia discuss photographing knitwear!

In this episode, we talk about:

• 2:05 Felicia and Sylvia reminisce about when they first met at Knit City years ago
• 4:48 Sylvia discusses her passion to teach other designers photography
• 7:01 Sylvia and Felicia chat about how perfectionism can interfere with artistic progress
• 7:54 Felicia asks Sylvia what her process is as a self-publishing knitwear designer
• 11:07 Discussing the "creative gap" of what vision you have in your mind versus the results you get
• 11:51 Chatting about moody and dark photography trends coming into fashion and the cyclical nature of trends
• 17:46 Discussing the challenges of photoshoots and finding models
• 22:06 Sylvia explains why she left photography school and the issues in fashion photography today
• 24:49 Felicia asks Sylvia if she keeps photography trends in mind when she does her own knitwear shoots and designs
• 26:02 Talking about Sylvia's latest purchase of a Lensbaby lens
• 27:53 The gear Sylvia recommends for photography
• 28:47 Felicia asks Sylvia how she gets her beautiful "thrown in the air" shawl photos
• 31:35 Sylvia discusses what she's working on right now
• 33:33 The difficulty of sizing in knitwear patterns
• 36:49 Felicia and Sylvia chat about dealing with the discomfort of seeing photographs of yourself
• 40:43 Sylvia offers advice to those wanting to get into knitwear design or photography
• 43:35 Felicia asks Sylvia how she manages to publish knitwear designs on her own
• 47:09 Where to find Sylvia online and her new YouTube podcast
• 48:30 Felicia's Final Thoughts and giveaway!

Here's Where You Can Find Sylvia:

Instagram: @softsweater

Website: www.softsweaterknits.com

Ravelry: softsweater

Ravelry group: www.ravelry.com/groups/softsweater-knits

YouTube: The Wrong Side Podcast

Facebook: Softsweater Knits

Enter the Giveaway for a copy of Gentle Armour:

Sylvia has generously offered our listeners a chance to win a hard copy of her shawl collection Gentle Armour: Five Shawls for Sensitive People! If you'd like a chance to win these gorgeous patterns click the link below and enter this episode's secret word. Thank you so much Sylvia!

Click here to enter the giveaway »

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining us this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your fellow fibre art friends. And if you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review on iTunes for the show. We read each and every email and bit of feedback, whether it’s on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, so we welcome your comments.

Thank you all so much for your continued support of our show! Until next time, enjoy colour!

Music Credits:

Playbook of Happiness – by RimskyMusic

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