080: Cakes, Colourwork, and Vikings with Dianna Walla

The SweetGeorgia Show

This week, Felicia is chatting with Dianna Walla, a knitwear designer currently based in Montreal, Canada. Originally from the United States, Dianna has also lived in Northern Norway for 2 years. The nordic region continues to have a strong influence on her work and she is especially inspired by stranded colourwork in Norwegian knitting. She’s created many colourwork patterns for magazines, yarn companies, yarn stores, and her own brand: Paper Tiger. She also creates videos dealing with colourwork and related topics on the Paper Tiger YouTube channel.

Please join Felicia and Dianna as they discuss revitalizing colourwork knitting in modern aesthetics.

“The hardest thing is figuring out what to relinquish control of, because sometimes when you end up working for yourself it’s because you like to… have control over what you’re doing and as soon as you hand it off to somebody else you’re… trusting them with this piece of your work which matters a lot to you… But it makes a big difference… ” – Dianna Walla on the pros and cons of outsourcing aspects of knitwear design

In this episode, we talk about:

• 1:57 Dianna discusses how she came to love knitting
• 3:23 How did Dianna expand her knitting skills?
• 5:30 How did Dianna get into knitwear design
• 7:00 Digital or analog designing: which does Dianna prefer?
• 8:33 Discussing the balance between Dianna’s creative world and academic world and the complications of translating knitting patterns
• 13:05 How to go about becoming a knitwear designer
• 16:00 How does Dianna find balance between photography, creating tutorial videos, marketing, and all the other aspects of being a self-published knitwear designer
• 18:42 The differences between Dianna’s two blogs: Cake and Vikings and Paper Tiger
• 23:19 What trends are currently being seen on social media in regards to knitwear design
• 25:52 Dianna describes Norwegian style colourwork knitting, why she loves it, and how she uses it in her designs
• 29:29 Felicia and Dianna discuss yarn selection regarding colourwork knitting
• 33:33 How do you help customers find colours that work for them and work well together?
• 38:04 What Dianna is exploring right now
• 40:08 Is there anything Dianna knows now that she wishes she had known when she started?
• 41:42 Where to find Dianna online
• 42:33 Felicia’s Final Notes

Here’s Where You Can Find Dianna:

Instagram: @cakeandvikings

Website: www.paper-tiger.net

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/PaperTiger

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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