#138 Minimalism for Makers & Crafters

Being a maker means lots of decisions and lots of "stuff".

Sometimes that can feel a little overwhelming; yarn that seems it'll never get used; pattern decisions; project decisions. Should I use this color or that color? Wait maybe that stitch instead of this one?

If you create with yarn, chances are you're no stranger to questions like these. A refreshing change of pace came in my chat with T from Debrosse, a maker, business owner and minimalist. In this episode I explored all the areas of minimalism as it relates to makers, yarn business owners and yarn enthusiasts in general.

About The BHooked Podcast
Brittany's primary goal is to inspire you and help you grow in your craft with The BHooked Podcast. Through her own stories and the stories of each special guest, you'll discover tips and tricks to improve your crochet and knitting skills and find inspiration to achieve your hobby goals. When you want to kick back and learn from yarn industry experts, grab some yarn and turn on The BHooked Podcast. There's never a shortage of all things crochet, knitting or yarn.

Support the Show on Patreon | You decide what the show is worth to you.

Episode Transcript

Brittany (00:00):
You're listening to the Be Hooked Podcast, episode
138 with Brittany.
Hey there, welcome to episode138 of the Be Hooked podcast.

(00:36):
I'm your host, Brittany, and asalways, thank you so much for
joining me today.
I have a really special treatlined up for you today.
I think you'll really find thisepisode interesting.
Now, when I was coordinatingthis talk with my guest today, I
had no idea how insightful andhow wonderful this conversation

(00:57):
would be.
I connected with Teresa ofDesbrosses, and she taught me so
much about minimalism.
It's interesting, as a personwho crochets and a person who
knits all the time, I have a lotof stuff.
I have a lot of yarn, a lot oftools, and the last thing I

(01:19):
would consider myself is aminimalist.
But Teresa, she is a crocheter,a knitter, a designer, an
all-around wonder woman, andshe's a minimalist.
Now, that's something I wouldhave never thought possible.
So I learned so much from Ttoday about how to incorporate

(01:42):
only the necessary and only theimportant things in your life.
But another really big takeawayfor me was to simplify things,
simplify your projects.
Now, as a person who's alwayslooking to streamline processes
and who really looks for thebest, most practical way route

(02:03):
to get from point A to point B,I never even thought to take
that approach with my projects.
I always thought the more, themerrier.
The more color, the morestitches, always more
complicated, right?
To me, and I know I'm not alonein this, sometimes Complicated

(02:24):
feels better.
It feels like it's worth morein somebody else's opinion, but
that's not always the case.
And what I learned from teatoday is to take a more
simplified approach to creatingyour projects and you can enjoy
the process a lot more in doingso.
Not that I don't enjoy theprocess of creating a really

(02:46):
intricate project, but I do puta lot more stress on myself in
those situations and I know I'mnot alone in that.
Now, this is just one of thethings that you'll hear T and I
talk about on the podcast.
She has a brand new book calledModern Crochet Patterns and
Designs for the MinimalistMaker.
And it's just a real treat.

(03:07):
It's always a treat to sit downand talk to somebody who also
has a maker business.
And anytime I can share thatconversation with you as another
maker business, that warms myheart.
It means I'm doing my job.
I'm helping somebody who needsto hear this conversation.
Now, if you don't have a makerbusiness, don't tune out because

(03:30):
I know there are some valuabletips that T gave about
incorporating minimalism intoyour crafty life.
Maybe not your actual life, butshe did give some practical
tips on on how you can minimizeyour yarn stash.
And in the process, it seems tolift a weight off of your

(03:50):
shoulders when creating thatproject and you can enjoy it
more that way.
Now, real quick, before we getstarted, I want to let you know
that the show notes page can befound at behooked.com slash 138.
I will have a link to where youcan pre-order T's book.
It will be available in variousdifferent places and I will

(04:11):
have that linked in the shownotes.
So if you do want to pick up acopy, you'll hear me say how
this might be a good gift ideafor somebody in your family or
in your life that you know wantsto start crocheting but needs a
little bit of help doing so.
I think this will be a greatbook for somebody who's brand
new to crochet, there are 16different projects in it that T

(04:33):
is certain a beginner can do.
They really are modern designs.
They really are things that youwould want to wear and have in
your home.
So anyways, I will have a linkto where you can pre-order her
book in the show notes page.
There were a couple ofresources that we talk about.
I will have that linked aswell.
So once again, the show notescan be found at behooked.com
slash 138.

(04:53):
All right.
I am just as excited to diveinto this conversation for a
second time with T fromDebrisay.
T, welcome to the Be Hookedpodcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Hey, Brittany.
Thanks so much for having me.
It is my pleasure.
I have sort of been likeInsta-stalking you for just a
little bit because I love thephotos that you share.

(05:15):
I love the projects that youcreate.
And one of the common themesthat I have seen now is totally
ironic because that's what we'regoing to talk about today is
just how… simple and elegant andbeautiful your projects are,
the photos that you share.
And now you sort of have someexciting news to share.

(05:36):
So do you want to spill thebeans?
Yeah.
So

Teresa (05:40):
I wrote a book called Modern Crochet.

Brittany (05:43):
That's amazing.
I'm really excited to talkabout that.
We've done a few episodes hererecently about makers who have
sort of walked down this bookjourney path, and it's really,
really exciting.
I know there's a lot oflisteners out there who want to
do that.
And so it's great to get someof your firsthand experience.
But I also want to talk alittle bit about minimalism

(06:06):
because I feel like that'sreally really interesting for
for for us as makers and it'sthe topic we haven't really
covered here before so hopefullywe can get into both of those
we can talk about your book andthat but before we do I would
love to know a little bit aboutyour story how did you start
crocheting in the first place

Teresa (06:27):
yeah okay so I'll try and give the quick notes of that
story I actually startedcrocheting after my first trip
to Haiti so I went pretty soonafter the earthquake

Brittany (06:37):
and

Teresa (06:38):
And just worked, literally did construction
projects, so had nothing to dowith crochet at all.
But we were working with anorphanage that had come down
during the earthquake.
And after doing constructionduring the day, we got to hang
out with the kids in theafternoon, and I just fell in
love with them.
One of the things that I hadnoticed about their home at the
time was that they didn't haveany bedding on their mattresses.

(07:00):
And it just like really stuckout to me as something that I
couldn't imagine, especially asa child and having grown up with
crochet blankets myself.
So when I came home, which wasAtlanta at that time, I tried to
go back to work on Monday and Ijust couldn't stop thinking of
the kids.
So I asked my mom if she couldteach me how to crochet blankets

(07:23):
like she had made for me when Iwas little.
So I picked it up that way,made about 150 blankets over the
next nine months and then wentback to Haiti.
They were small ones and fullof color.
So it's really funny where thebusiness is now.
But yes, I made that over thenext nine months vacuum sealed
them, packed them, went back bymyself for a month.

(07:44):
And then I worked with thatorphanage director and three
other directors to share andpass out the blankets for the
children.
And when I came back from thattrip, it was like, okay, well, I
can't just be like a blanketfactory, you know, forever now,
but like still really wanting toinvest in those kids and be a
part of their lives and sort ofjust not live for myself and

(08:06):
what I was doing day to day.
So that's when I decided tocreate the shop Day Berset.
So it's named after one of thekids there.
And then instead of makingblankets and giving them those
blankets, I'm making, you know,all kinds of things and 15% of
everything that I make, I workwith the directors at those same
orphanages.
We partner with three now.

(08:27):
And so we work with them tosort of fulfill greater needs
than just blankets.
So we've covered surgeries.
We've covered security whenthey have break-ins.
We've done school sponsorships.
We're covering soccer uniforms,just kind of a little bit of
everything and sort of leaningon the directors in country to
find out what their needs areand helping to support through

(08:49):
crochet over here.

Brittany (08:51):
Wow, that's really amazing.
I know there's probablysomebody in the audience who's
also kind of touched by thatstory and maybe wants to
participate.
Do you have anything like thatset up so that other people

Teresa (09:03):
can help?
Yeah, that's a good question.
I do get a ton of support forpeople wanting to be a part of
it.
And I'm just so grateful forthat because it really is a team
effort and the need is alwaysthere.
So right now, the best way tosupport has kind of always been
supporting my work because I'llgive the money that way.
Recently, I did find out thatthere's a need for hats and

(09:25):
sweaters for some of the kids,which trust me, I know Haiti is
a Caribbean climate, but one ofthe orphanages just moved
locations to the top of amountain basically.
And so it gets down into likethe 60s and 70s at night and the
kids think that's really cold.
So I'll put together somethingafter this and maybe we can link
it where people could make hatsand I can share where you can

(09:47):
ship them.

Brittany (09:48):
Oh, wonderful.
That would be great.
I know this audiences soincredibly giving of their time
with doing like the Warm UpAmerica Challenge every year.
There are so many people whojust really want to help.
And so I would love to justhave that in the show notes form
if they're listening and theywant to, or they have the free
time to make some hats andsweaters to be able to donate

(10:10):
those.
So thank you for that.
So you said the other way is toreally support your work.
Now, what does that work looklike today?

Teresa (10:18):
Yeah, that's a good question.
So I first started making theblankets and then transitioned
to basically just sellingfinished pieces.
So scarves, hats, headbands.
And now I've moved a little bitaway from selling goods B2C,
but now working a little bitmore B2B and trying to support

(10:39):
other makers.
So I've been doing a lot oftemplates and tools for other
makers and then patterns, ofcourse, that you can sell the
finished goods from.
And then a masterclass whereI'm sort of detailing just
everything that I've put intopractice to build what was a
weekend hobby into a full-timecareer.
And so, yeah, just trying toinvest in other makers.

(11:00):
And so there's a ton of toolsand opportunities on
daybrisee.com for that.

Brittany (11:04):
Oh, wonderful.
Okay.
So I will have that informationin the show notes as well.
And now I want to transition alittle bit to the central theme
of your book, and that is aboutminimalism.
I know I have heard thatbefore.
I'm sure a lot of people haveheard that before.
But when I really sit down andthink about it, I can't pinpoint

(11:28):
if I would consider myself aminimalist or not.
So is that something that youcan classify?
Can you put a description onthat?
Or does that even make sense?
That's a good question.

Teresa (11:39):
You know, I think minimalism looks different to
everyone.
It sort of depends on what yourstarting point was.
So I would be anxious to putwords to it as to what it is but
I can talk a little bit aboutwhat it is to me for me it sort
of started when we moved to NewYork we have a 350 square foot
apartment it's me and my husbandand when we moved in we just

(12:03):
like we couldn't fit right like350 square feet is tiny and so
so much of what we had to do wasyou know we're like putting
stuff in the microwave to use asa cabinet you know you store
sweaters in the oven and youknow you're always making sure
to like pull them out before youpreheat and you know there's
like toilet paper under the likecoffee table basket like it's

(12:23):
just everything is used to itsfullest potential and over time
what that does is it reallyforces you to figure out what
you need and what you don't needand so you make really
thoughtful decisions reallyintentional decisions every time
you bring something into yourlife, whether that's a new book
or part of your wardrobe or thefood that you prepare.

(12:43):
So yeah, so for us, it'sactually been a need to think
minimally and sort of pare downto just our favorite things or
the things that we use the most,but also think strategically.
So anytime I buy a pair ofshoes or a new coat, like I have
to figure out where that'sgoing to fit in my apartment.

(13:04):
And so I've almost neverpurchased something that's like
a one-time use like oh I'll justget this pair of shoes because
it will work at this wedding Ihave to attend this weekend it's
always a hey what's the mostpractical pair of shoes that I
could wear to a wedding and awork event and to the office and
etc etc because I only have youknow six slots for shoes and so

(13:25):
those six shoes have to handleeverything

Brittany (13:28):
yeah

Teresa (13:28):
so yeah so we've really enjoyed thinking like that and
of course that has transferredover to how I think about my
work Back when I was sellingfinished goods, what was
happening was that I also had tostore a year's worth of
inventory in my apartment allyear.
And so it was integral to myprocess to figure out like,
okay, so which pieces areselling the most?

(13:50):
Because I don't want to keep,you know, 100 different SKUs of
items in my apartment in everyseparate color.
And so I would review my data alot and just sort of figure out
like, okay, everyone seems tobe buying like these three
colors.
So in the future, I'm onlygoing to carry these three
colors, or everyone seems to bebuying these five patterns, I'm

(14:11):
going to ignore all the othercomplicated, more trendy ones
and just stick to the fivebestsellers.
And so with my work, whatyou'll find, if you look at it
at all, it's very simple.
It's using very simplestitches, very few colors in all
of the work.
I try and strive for just avery classic traditional design
that's not going to date itselfor not just going to become an

(14:33):
item that you make one time forthis one thing, but something
that you'll make and mayberemake every Christmas kind of
thing.

Brittany (14:39):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you're selling finishedgoods, are you doing that on
Etsy or are you going to marketsor like craft fairs?

Teresa (14:46):
So I did a little bit of both.
I definitely started on Etsyand that was an incredible
experience.
And then once a year I would doNew York City's Renegade Craft
Fair, which is a huge fair here.
It was an all weekend event.
And yeah, so I would preparefor that.
But again, that was one ofthose things where anything that
I bought for setting up thatbooth.

(15:06):
So like backdrops and tablesand shelves and all of that, I
had to figure out how to storethat.
Yeah.
So anything

Brittany (15:20):
that

Teresa (15:24):
we could buy that I could also use at home, we
definitely tried to do that.
And then I also just workedreally hard to pick out items
that could break down to verysmall pieces.
And so they're just kind oflike tucked in every corner of
my house.
But now that I'm no longerselling finished goods, that was
one of the huge things that Iwas able to do.
able to sort of take out of myhome as well as all the shipping

(15:46):
all the pieces that go intoshipping so I have I have my
living room back and my husbandhas his closet back so it's been
quite nice

Brittany (15:55):
yeah well the reason why I asked that is because you
mentioned that you keep or youdid keep a year's worth of
inventory at once and that'sreally interesting I have never
really had a maker business itjust wasn't in me to make the
same thing over and over but Iam really curious about how that
works.

(16:15):
And I know there are a lot ofmakers in the audience who maybe
have never heard that before.
What was it that drove what youfelt was the need to have a
year's worth of stock at once?

Teresa (16:26):
Oh, yeah.
So what happened was when Ifirst opened my store, I had no
idea what types of things wouldsell and what quantities.
And so I just kind of made oneof each thing, listed it, and
then waited for it to sell.
And then the following year, Ikind of did the same thing, but
I had a bit more traffic.
And so everything was made toorder, but it meant total chaos

(16:49):
on my end in the holiday season,which was such a bummer.
So basically an order wouldcome in and then I would make it
and ship it.
And then at any given time, Ihad quite the backlog of it.
And so eventually what I did,once sales were high enough and
I went part-time at my originaljob as a designer, is my husband
and I took a spreadsheetbasically of all the past year's

(17:11):
sales and then projected forthe following year with whatever
bump increase I thought I coulddo.
Then we took that and basicallyprorated it out to figure out
how many of each product I wouldneed to make in each color each
week so that by the time I gotto Q4, I could basically ship
those items that were allpre-made and not have to make

(17:34):
new items during busy season.

Brittany (17:36):
Is your husband an engineer?
He works with data.
Okay.
My husband is an engineer bytrade, too, and that is such–
that's totally what he would do.
It just reminded me of him.

Teresa (17:48):
Yeah.
It's super fun to have apartner who knows the numbers
much better than you.
So he loves figuring out thatstuff for me.

Brittany (17:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think it's really helpful tohave somebody like that, but
it's, I don't think it's reallya requirement.
I wouldn't want anybody to feellike, oh, they can't do this
because they're not ascomfortable with data and that
sort of thing.
But I think it's a good thingto know that you can do that and
that there are other people outthere who might be able to help

(18:19):
you set something like that upso you can make educated
decisions about what you shouldmake so that you can cut down on
all those things, especially ifspace is limited like it was
for you.

Teresa (18:30):
Yeah.
And so much of it too.
I mean, we looked at the dataso that we could have specific
numbers, but I would imaginethat most makers, myself
included, could kind of thinkback on your previous year and
what you remember having to makeover and over and over again.
So to a certain degree, thenumbers are just bonus
information.
But if you know, hey, thisscarf just always sells the best

(18:52):
and this hat always sells thebest and I can never keep this
purple yarn stocked, then that'sa really great place to start
from too.
You can Yeah, yeah.

Brittany (19:03):
And you know, you said something else that really
struck a chord with me too.
And I think it's so relatablefor makers, but also designers.
You said that you looked at thepattern sales as well.
And if there were only fivethat consistently performed
really well, or that peoplereally loved and bought, those
were the ones that you stuck to.

(19:24):
And I feel like us asdesigners, we're always on this
content wheel struggle where wejust feel like we're stuck.
Like as soon as we finish aproject, we don't even give
ourself time to stop and enjoyit.
It's on to the next thing.
And we're just in this likerace with ourselves and with

(19:44):
each other to some extent.
And I love how you don't makethat a part of your life.
And I want to just tap intothat a little bit.
What was your thought process?
Were you afraid to not designso much and only focus on what
did well?
Kind of talk me through that.

Teresa (20:03):
You know, I love what you said about the content real
struggle.
Is that how you phrase it?
It's still true for me, just tobe honest and not to set up
anyone for failure here.
But I think that the differencethat I feel in what I do is
that to me, the...
the content wheel becomes lessoverwhelming to me if I know

(20:26):
that I tend to work in thesethree colors and I try to use
these three stitches kind ofthing.
So to me, um, having too manyoptions.
So if you're looking at likeevery stitch out there, every
color out there, every type ofyarn out there, I get really
overwhelmed and tend to getparalyzed in being able to move
forward with the next projectand all the possible projects.

(20:48):
And so I think a lot of peoplesee my minimalist aesthetic as
maybe being limiting, but I findthat it actually makes that
content wheel struggle a littleless daunting and a little less
overwhelming because I only haveso many paths that I'm willing
to take and so that sort ofeases that burden a little bit

Brittany (21:08):
yeah it's almost like it's sort of freeing like you
know how they say well have youever heard of Gretchen Rubin I
have not, no.
several different I guesscategories that you could put

(21:48):
yourself into so you canunderstand what makes you have
that inner calm Yeah.
And hearing you talk aboutminimalism, it's sort of

(22:28):
shifting my perspective intothat direction where it makes
sense having things simple andhaving fewer options.
All of those puzzle pieces arecoming together that perhaps
that is a lifestyle that Ishould gravitate towards.

Teresa (22:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's...
I find it really refreshing.
I think it can sometimes lookreally limiting to the outside,
but it just kind of depends onyour personality type.
I would say if you're someonewho does not thrive in clutter
or just really appreciates andfinds cleanliness or tidiness to
be rejuvenating, minimalism isa huge part of that.

(23:06):
I've seen major differencesthrough my work and through my
personal life in trying to justcut all of the extra things that
are making life feel a littleheavier to me.
So I I think in owning my ownbusiness, and a lot of makers
might agree too, there's a lotof decision fatigue, especially
when you're working by yourself.
So everything you do during theday is a decision.

(23:26):
And any one pattern you launchis probably 20 decisions
compiled into a single finalpiece.
So what needles do I want touse?
What color?
What yarn?
What's the design of this?
How do I want to launch it?
All of that.
Those are all decisions.
And so Sort of my MO is tofigure out like where can I pull
decisions out and where can Ilimit my options for decisions?

(23:48):
And then that way I find that Ican sort of expand my potential
and capacity each day.
In the morning, instead oflooking through a whole wardrobe
of a bunch of different colors,do I want to wear black today
or do I want to wear whitetoday?
It's a much easier decision.
And so I just try and makethose decisions easier for
myself whenever possible.

Brittany (24:06):
Yeah, I love that.
I have heard so many times fromjust other podcasts or reading
other books about productivityand lifestyle.
I'm just really interested inthat sort of thing right now and
how people run their businessesand that sort of thing.
But I've always heard that anyopportunity you have to remove a
decision from that part of yourday, you're that much more

(24:31):
likely to make the rightdecision when a really tough
question comes up.
So they'll suggest somethinglike lay your clothes out the
day before and then you don'thave to decide what you're going
to wear.
Eat the same breakfast everyday.
I do that.
I eat the same thing every day.
I don't have to decide what I'mgonna make.

(24:53):
And then that way, when I walkinto my office and I have inputs
coming at me from variousdifferent channels and questions
that need answers, I can givethat 100% of my brain power at
that point.
And I love how you'reincorporating that into your
projects, though, because that'snext level.

(25:13):
That's not really somethingthat I have done before, but
it's certainly something Ishould try out.

Teresa (25:20):
Yeah, I would love to hear back how you sort of see
the difference between beforeand after and if there's been
more clarity or more bandwidthon your end.

Brittany (25:30):
Yes, I would think so.
You know, I was running throughsome things the other day.
Have you ever gotten to the endof the day and you're just...
Like you were saying, decisionfatigue.
I would say that's like everyday.
Yeah, I definitely feel thatevery day.
But one day in particular, Iwas just really, really

(25:52):
exhausted and really feelinglike...
things weren't working andcertain areas of my routine and
my processes needed an update orrefresh.
And I just sat down with anotebook and wrote down all of
the projects that are on myplate right now that are
stressing me out.
Because just something aboutgetting it out of your mind and

(26:14):
getting it onto something thatyou can refer to later, that
feels a little bit more freeing.
But I was going through thisexercise and I ended up writing
out a decision filter.
I'd heard a podcast wheresomebody said– you should really
understand when and why you'regoing to say yes and when and

(26:37):
why you're going to say no.
And that's something I'vealways really struggled with is
I'm sort of a yes person.
I'm a people pleaser.
I'm an opportunity seeker, allof those things.
And so I'm constantly sayingyes and I'm putting myself in
positions where at the end ofthe day, I'm completely drained
because of that decisionfatigue.

(26:57):
So I wrote down I think it waslike eight questions that I'm
going to ask myself if I'mpresented with an opportunity.
And if the answer is yes or nobased on what the question is,
that's how I'm going to tryworking through some of these
requests that are coming in andthat sort of thing so that I can

(27:17):
make sure that I'm keeping mycommitments in check, but also
keeping myself in a situationwhere I can check out at the end
of the day so I can be presentwith my husband and be a good
daughter and be a good sisterand all that stuff.
And yeah, I don't know if it'ssomething that anybody else has
tried before and I'm certainlytesting it out myself, but I

(27:40):
will have to check back on thatto let you all know how this
decision filter is working.

Teresa (27:46):
Yeah, I'm dying to know what your eight questions are.
Can you share like one or twoof them with us?

Brittany (27:50):
Give me just a second.
I've got my book in front ofme.

Unknown (27:53):
Okay.

Brittany (27:54):
Okay, so my primary question is, is it going to
teach somebody about crochet orknitting?
Because at my core, that'sreally what I love to do.
I love to design.
I love...
every aspect of what I do, butthe bottom line is I want
somebody to know that they canexpect learning something from

(28:16):
me.
So that's really one of my mostimportant questions.
If it doesn't meet thatrequirement, then I have to
really sit back and think about,okay, if it's not going to
teach my audience something,what is it going to do for them?
Because I don't want to dosomething that's just for me or
certainly not just for money.
I need to make sure that I'mhaving some integrity with the

(28:40):
promises that I have made tothem, to my audience.
Yeah, there's another one thatsays, will it require me to work
weekends or after 4.30 p.m.?
And that's a tough one for me.
I really struggle to check outthat early.
Most of the time, I want to sitin my office until… the very,

(29:02):
very last second.
Not because...
Yeah, I

Teresa (29:05):
was going to ask.

Brittany (29:06):
I was like, wait, you get to finish working at 4.30?
That sounds so fun.
Well, that is really my goal.
I know that when I do forcemyself to check out at 4.30, I
go downstairs.
I take care.
We have a dog, so I take careof him, give him some attention.
I will start prepping dinner.
Now, my husband gets home alittle bit later than that, but
it gives me time to put somethought into what I'm cooking.

(29:28):
So I don't know.
I really enjoy cooking too.
So sometimes I flip throughrecipes and that sort of thing.
I might get the house ready.
I have these silly littlerituals that I just love the
house to feel very homey andvery inviting.
So we've got some of those likewax melts sort of thing.

(29:49):
So I'll turn some of those onand just light candles, like do
stuff like that that just makesit feel like a very cozy space
for me and for my husband whenhe comes home.
And when I do check out at4.30, I feel like I have the
time to put into that stuff.
But when I'm not checking outthat early, when I'm working

(30:13):
because I want to, not because Ihave to most of the time.
Yeah.
I get downstairs.
I try to switch off that likework mode and go back into like
normal mode.
And I really struggle.
And I feel like I rush througheverything.
And a lot of times like dinnerdoesn't work out as you want.
And then you're cramming like afew stitches on your project.

(30:36):
And for me, that just feels alittle more chaotic.
So yeah, I guess I am sort ofThinking about that minimalist
approach and not really evenknowing it, but just, I guess,
realizing when I feel good andwhen I don't feel good has been
a big driving force for me tosit down and write some of these

(30:57):
questions down.

Teresa (30:58):
Yeah, I love the intentionality behind that.
and sort of figuring out likeis this the best possible
opportunity because at somepoint with our businesses I know
when I was first startingeverything was yes it was like
this will grow the business yesI'll do it yes I'll do it yes
I'll do it and then at somepoint you realize like okay not
every opportunity is a good oneand at some point these

(31:19):
opportunities are actuallycoming at a cost whether it's
something else that would be abetter opportunity or it's my
personal life because now I'mworking you know longer over the
weekend that sort of thing Iwill say as a total caveat on
minimalism I It does not help mecheck out of work at the end of
the day.
Like you said, it's not usuallya need to work, but always a

(31:41):
desire.

Brittany (31:41):
And

Teresa (31:42):
I know it could specifically be this industry,
but we're doing this because welove it.
We love the craft and it's ablessing to be able to turn that
into work.
But it does blur that line.
So what I try and do is makesure that anything that's like a
task, if it's administrative,if it's email, if it's some sort
of coding that that happensduring the day.

(32:03):
And if I want to work at night,it has to be a crochet or
knitting project that I'vealready started and I've already
designed.
And it's just like, you know,you're just going through rows
kind of thing.
But any sort of.
thought work I try and makesure happens before four but I
would say it's almost a dailystruggle to like switch gears

(32:23):
get home like you know put onyour personal face and just like
get back to the normal thingsthat aren't work but

Brittany (32:32):
it is I do the same too I don't really mind knitting
and crocheting in the eveningand actually it really helps me
Yeah.
Oh, it never stops.
It never stops.
Yeah.
Yeah,

Teresa (33:10):
for sure.
You know, ironically, too, Ialmost never get to knit or
crochet during the workday.
Like there's just so many otherdemands on my time.
And so it is funny that if Ihave like a really stressful,
really like invested day andwork when I get home at night,
I'm like, oh, I just want tocrochet

Brittany (33:28):
something.
I'm the same way.
Now, I'm curious, do you do youdo this full time or you said
you do a part time?
No, it's full time.
Yeah, it's been full time formaybe three

Teresa (33:58):
years now.
Totally stressed.

Brittany (34:05):
Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable, especially doing
tutorials because I'm on theother side of the camera.
But something that you mightnot think of as a consumer of a
tutorial is that you typicallyhave...
like a tripod or something infront of you that you're
straddling or you've got acamera on your face and your
arms are like stretched all likeawkward and weird and so no

(34:28):
it's not a comfortable situationwhen you're crocheting under a
camera but yeah

Teresa (34:35):
that's so funny I'm glad to hear you say that though
because I feel like I'm alwayslike balancing in some like
weird position to like make itlook natural and it feels
anything but natural yeah I'lleven be like looking through the
camera to crochet and just likethe depth perception is like
just off.
They just miss stitches andstuff.
Anyway, it's a totallydifferent process than just like

(34:56):
being in your pajamas at nightwith something on Netflix and
making a blanket.

Brittany (35:00):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Right now I'm working on aknitting project that's really
taking up, like I'm reallydevoting all of my time to it.
And I find myself during theday, even though I'm Doing work
that I really do enjoy and thatI love, I am like, man, I really
want to go work on thatknitting project because I can't

(35:21):
wait to see it come together.
That

Teresa (35:24):
was really exciting.
I did a new thing recentlybecause I'm also the world's
slowest knitter.
is I actually will bring in aproject to the office and just
leave it next to my computer.
And so anytime I'm sort ofworking through emails or
waiting on something oruploading or editing, just
something that's sort of likementally heavy to process and I

(35:45):
need a break, what I've beentrying to do is instead of go to
my phone, which is such acommon habit for so many of us,
I'll just pick up that projectand work with a couple of rows
on it.
So it allows me to work on thatsuper fun project during the
middle of the day.
And B, I just find it morerelaxing as far as like if
you're looking for a break fromall the decisions or all the

(36:07):
work and knitting a couple ofrows, like always does it for
me.
And then the greatest thing atthe very end of it is all of a
sudden this thing is knit andyou never really stopped and set
aside hours to do it.
It just sort of happened acouple of inches at a time.
So I would maybe even bringthat piece into your office.

Brittany (36:23):
That's a good idea.
I have not.
tried that.
So I'm going to have to.
A lot of people ask if I knitor crochet while I'm on the
podcast.
And for me, first of all, Italk with my hands.
Oh yeah, I'm doing it too.
Right.
You may occasionally hear mebump the microphone because I'm
talking to my hands, talkingwith my hands.
But I am not really that greatabout thinking and knitting or

(36:49):
crocheting at the same time, ifthat makes sense, or talking and
thinking about that.
And working on it.
So I am not able to do it whileI'm on the podcast, but
certainly there are some uploadtimes and, you know, any
opportunity really where you'vegot a couple minutes here and
there.
So I'll have to give that atry.
That's a good tip.

Teresa (37:10):
Yeah.
I know how you like it.

Brittany (37:12):
Yeah.
Now, one other question came tomind about the whole idea of
being a minimalist crafter, andthat is the yarn and the stuff.
it's really, really hard to notaccumulate a lot of yarn.
Is that something that youstruggled with?
And maybe do you have any tipsfor somebody who doesn't want to

(37:34):
have a gigantic yarn stash?

Teresa (37:37):
Yeah.
So I think the first thing isreally, it comes down to color,
I think, because if you canminimize your colors, then you
won't really end up having theleftovers from each type of yarn
and each color.
And they're all, likeconsidered separate.
So I don't know if that makesany sense.
So right now I'll use likewhite oatmeal or black.

(37:59):
And so if everything is made inthose two colors, then the end
of any skein can always be usedfor the next project.
So I have almost no scrap yarnor I'll have scrap yarn for just
each type of color, but I don'thave like a hundred different
types of scrap yarn if thatmakes sense so it's all going
into the next project so thathas been huge for me another

(38:22):
thing that is just a win allaround is actually in Haiti the
past couple years when I've goneI've taught the kids and a few
of their moms how to crochet andso what I do is I just sort of
gather all of that whateverextra yarn that I do have and
maybe it's been discontinued ormaybe it's a color that I no
longer use or it's justsomething that I love and I want
them to have too I'll just kindof annually clean that out and

(38:45):
bring it to Haiti with me andshare it with the kids.
And so that's also anopportunity for anyone who wants
to donate extra yarn.
I always do a collection, or Itry to do a collection before I
go every time if I have asuitcase room.

Brittany (38:57):
Oh, cool.
Okay.
And that information canprobably be found on your
website too?
Yeah.
Okay.
Awesome.
Sounds good.
What about different types ofyarn?
Like maybe not colors, butdifferent fibers or the next
shiny, fun, new yarn on themarket.
Do you find yourself...
using those or do you findyourself still just kind of

(39:19):
sticking with what you know andwhat you like to use?

Teresa (39:22):
Yeah, that's a good question too.
So I, um, Lion Brand Thick andQuick, I feel like it's just one
of my go-tos for so manymakers.
That one has never failed me.
So that one's definitely one ofmy go-tos.
And then I probably have two orthree other types of yarn that
I really like.
So Bernat Maker Home Deck hasbeen really great.
And then I usually use like aWoolies, um, or Vanna's Choice

(39:46):
for weight core stuff.
So I guess if I think back onthat, I sort of have my go-to
yarn for each weight.
And then I have my go-to colorsin each of those weights.
So it's probably eight SKUs allin.
And one of the things that Ialso like about doing that is
when writing patterns, again,because I'm trying to not just

(40:07):
come up with a thing that'strendy for this year or
something that's super popularright now, is that these
patterns...
I want them to still work infive years.
And so if I can use moretrusted materials that have been
around and sort of have aproven shelf life with the big
box stores, I know that by thetime customers get that pattern

(40:28):
in that yarn three years later,like they'll still have access
to the original materials thatI've used.
And I've really been burned inthe past when I've written
patterns on like this fun newtweed weight three type
situation yarn that just getsdiscontinued in five months.
And then the pattern sort ofloses, it loses what kind of
made it special.

(40:48):
And so in that way, it preventsfuture work.
And it also prevents futureheartache for people that maybe
buy a pattern and they reallyliked it for that yarn, but that
yarn's no longer available.
And so the pattern is actuallya little bit different now to
them than it would have been ifit had been written on more
standard materials.

Brittany (41:06):
Oh yeah, that's a really good tip too.
There are several patterns thatI wrote several years ago that
the yarn is no longer availableand I am still trying to help
some of those makers throughwhat substitution to choose and
that sort of thing.
So it is sort of perpetualwork.

Teresa (41:26):
Yeah, totally.
And that's like, again, withminimalism, one of the things
I'm always trying to do isstreamline the work and always
trying to make sure that youdon't leave customers with
questions.
Because any question I have, ifI've sold 1000 of that pattern
or 5000 of that pattern, that'spotentially 5000 questions, and
then, you know, multiply thatacross all the patterns.
And so, yeah, trying to providepeople with the best user

(41:48):
experience.
And sometimes that looks like,given the name of the yarn that
I use, and potentially analternate, and then that way, if
something does happen, with theinitial yarn that they have
something else to fall back onbefore having to contact me and
sort of losing confidence intheir own ability to pull off
the pattern.

Brittany (42:04):
Yeah.
And I have to ask because Ireally, really geek out on
systems and processes and thatsort of thing.
Is there anything that you useto help you organize all of this
stuff, all of your to-dos ormaybe monitoring the questions
that are coming in and that sortof thing?

Teresa (42:23):
Oh, wow.
So I wish I had more that Icould say about the questions
that come in.
I definitely am handling it onan individual email basis.
One of the things that I havebeen doing recently that has
been really helpful is with eachof my patterns, I've created
like a click through link in thepattern to a page, a password
protected page that correspondsto that pattern.

(42:45):
And so on that page, I'mlinking all of my customers to
all of the supplies that I used.
So A lot of times people willjust like see my crochet hook in
the picture and want to knowspecifically what brand that is.
And so if I can answer thatquestion before they ask it,
that saves me time.
It saves them time.
And then on these pages, theother thing that I've been

(43:06):
adding into it is sort of anupdates section.
So if something does go out ofstock or if, you know, weight
five yarn is just reallydifficult to find, I'll sort of
give updates for how to, youknow, use two weight force
together and stuff like that.
And so creating a common placewhere people can reference
without out me having toindividually chat with people

(43:26):
has been super helpful.
Yeah, that's

Brittany (43:29):
a great tip too.

Teresa (43:30):
Yeah.
And then as far as my end, asfar as managing everything
that's maybe not so muchcustomer facing, I use a
platform called Airtable andit's basically spreadsheets, but
I like to call them glorifiedspreadsheets.
They're beautiful.
They're super intuitive forusers.
And I basically just have aspreadsheet for, I'm going to

(43:51):
pull it up right now.
Actually, I have a spreadsheetbasically for each type of thing
that I'm doing.
So, you know, marketing has itsown spreadsheet and then tabs
within that would be email,blog, Pinterest, Instagram.
Products has its ownspreadsheet and the tabs in that
are patterns, merchandise,tools, that sort of thing.
And so I sort of use, again,it's called Airtable.

(44:13):
I sort of use it as a dumpingground to just collect and
organize every thought thatcomes to mind and every project
and every strategy.
And then sort of each day whenI'm working, I sort of pull from
these spreadsheets to say like,okay, I'm going to move
marketing forward in this way.
I'm going to move productsforward in this way.
I et cetera, et cetera.

Brittany (44:31):
Yeah.
I've heard of air table.
I've played around with it alittle bit, but I haven't gotten
in like really set anything upfor somebody listening.
Who's familiar with Trello.
It's similar.
It's I would say better Trello.
And I mean that in a lovingway, but right now I have, well,

(44:52):
I have been a user ofco-schedule for the last, um,
three years, I believe.
And I just recently, like sorecently, I mean this week,
started implementing Asana.
Oh, cool.
I've heard so much about it.
So many people rave about itand they swear that it's like

(45:14):
the greatest thing.
And so I had to see what it wasabout.
And I am really, really lovingit.
I think Asana is- is similar toTrello in the look of it.
You can do boards.
Like if you're familiar with aTrello board and each board has
lists and then you have cards,you can set it up like that, but
you can also set it up in listform, which is kind of similar

(45:38):
to what you might see inAirtable.
It has timelines and calendarview.
I mean, it really like doeseverything.
Yes.

Teresa (46:10):
Yep, exactly the same.
I've been on the free one sincethe beginning.
And honestly, there's nofunctionality that I need and
don't have.

Brittany (46:17):
Yeah, yeah.
I feel the same way about Asanaright now.
I don't see the need at thismoment to pay for it, but if I
do, it's two-thirds less thanwhat Coach Angela is charging
me.
That's incredible.
Yeah, yeah.
So I think that's a goodapproach.
Anyways, I don't want to gettoo off track with that.
I will have a link to both ofthose in the show notes if you

(46:38):
are a maker and you're needingsome organization in your life.
These are two– great platformsto try out.
I'll also link to CoScheduletoo.
It's super useful, but for theright person.
So I'll have that in the shownotes as well.
But I do want to shift gears alittle bit to your book.
It's so beautiful.
I've been able to sort of flipthrough and see what it's going

(47:01):
to be.
Now, it is right now in thepre-order phases, so I feel
really special that I I'm ableto flip through it before anyone
else, but tell me a little bitabout the book.
What's it called?
Who's it for?
And that sort of thing.

Teresa (47:15):
Yeah, it's called Modern Crochet, Patterns and Designs
for the Minimalist Maker.
It features three sections.
So it kicks off withfundamentals, which is kind of,
you know, learning how to pickout your yarn and your hooks if
you're a total beginner.
But it also goes into how toread a pattern, which I sort of
feel like at any stage in theprocess, we can always sort of

(47:36):
sharpen our skills on what allthe different types of things
mean and do we know all thestandard terms.
Then it dives into 16 patterns.
So most of them are going to beexclusive to the book, meaning
that they won't be on mywebsite.
And then at the end, I sort ofhave an appendix of stitches and
skills.
So it's going over slipknotchain, slip stitch, single

(47:57):
crochet, half double crochet.
And all of those have fullstep-by-step photos, full
written descriptions, and thenthere's online support with
videos.
The videos were not part of mycontracting writing the book,
but I personally swear bylearning by video.
So everything in the book hascorresponding video tutorials to
go with it.
All shot in, as we mentioned, atotally awkward angle when I

(48:20):
had no idea where to put thingsand like balancing over a
tripod, but they're all there.

Brittany (48:25):
Awesome.
And there are quite a fewprojects in there to talk about
a couple of those just so peoplehave an idea of what to expect.

Teresa (48:33):
Yeah, so there's 16 altogether.
Some of them are actuallycrochet versions of my best
selling knit patterns.
I think most of my followersare maybe more so crocheters
than knitters.
I don't know why I don't knowif that's my style or because
crochet was my first love.
And that just sort of comesthrough my work.
But I've had a lot ofcrocheters asking for crochet

(48:53):
versions of knit patterns.
And so you'll find those inthis book one of them is my
coaster pattern so it's justlike a little square coaster
with a wooden ring on the edge Ilove adding wooden rings to
things so that's one of the onesin there One of the patterns
that has gotten the mostfeedback so far, just as far as
people sharing their excitementabout it, is the bobble pillow.

(49:14):
It's also the cover of thebook, but it's just a super
blush, really lovely texturebobble pillow.
And then, yeah, I'm just sortof flipping through right now.
A faux fur cowl is in here.
That was one of those patternsto our earlier conversation
about using yarns that might bediscontinued.
That one's a little bit risky,but the faux fur yarn is just so

(49:36):
lovely.
It had It's so

Brittany (49:39):
soft.
I used it for the first time,gosh, a couple of weeks ago, and
I joked on BeHooked TV that Iwant an entire outfit made of
that stuff and just rubbed

Teresa (49:49):
it all over my face.
Oh my gosh, yeah, like ajumper.
Yeah, it's so soft.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh, I love it.
Yeah, I was really surprised bythe quality of it and just the
finished look of it.
I love that you couldn'tactually see any of the
stitches.
My mind is still kind of blownthat it works that way, but
yeah, super fun to work with.
So yeah, the patterns overallare kind of a split between home

(50:11):
decor and sort of scarves andhats.
No garments.
Everything is on the easierside for sure.
But yeah, it's super fun.
It's got a wide variety ofprojects.
I think anyone can sort of findthings in here that resonated
with them or could sort of usethese patterns as a baseline to
say like, hey, I love the waythis basket works.
But in my house, I'd love onethat was narrower and taller.

(50:33):
And the patterns are going tosort of set you up for success
to do that.

Brittany (50:36):
Yeah.
And I like how it's all really,really simple and really easy
to read and easy to follow.
I can imagine it being like areally good gift for somebody.
If you know somebody in yourfamily who wants to learn how to
crochet, this might be a goodopportunity for them to have
some simple and easy patternsthat don't really look simple

(50:57):
and easy that they can try.

Teresa (50:59):
Thank you for that.
That's such a great complimentthat they are simple, and they
look simple, but and thenthey're also presented simple.
That's like, always the goal ofeverything that I'm trying to
do over here.
I personally can find patternsto be overwhelming.
And so I work really hard tojust sort of pare everything
down to the simplest possibleway to explain

Brittany (51:19):
something.
Sure, though, that the processof creating this book was
anything but simple.
Do you want to talk a littlebit about how that came about
and how it ended up working out?

(51:41):
I mean, obviously it workedout, but I'm sure looking back
on it, you might think of thingsthat...
you could have done differentlyor that could have went better,
or maybe it was all rainbowsand unicorns.
I'm not sure.
How'd it go?
I

Teresa (51:54):
would never describe the process as rainbows and
unicorns.
I'm really proud of the bookand I'm really proud of how it
turned out.
It's really cool to hold it inyour hands and know that you
made it.
It's a very differentexperience than hitting publish
on a PDF.
So that was really fun andreally rewarding, but it was a
full-time job for sure.
I signed contracts overChristmas break this past

(52:19):
Christmas and then we startedyou know like the first Tuesday
of the year and the first copyof the manuscript that turned in
in May I believe so it's aboutfive five months of just like I
don't know that my brain everturned off in that time as far
as figuring out you know theexact patterns that I wanted to
include I And then just workingreally hard to make sure that

(52:42):
the support was there for thosepatterns.
So typically with my patternsonline, I'll just tell you the
skill level and you'll decidefor yourself if you can tackle
it.
But for the book, what I wantedto do was make sure that anyone
who had never crocheted before,they wanted to pick it up and
complete one of these patterns,that they had everything that

(53:03):
they would need to do that.
So if you're an experiencedcrocheter, you could pick it up
and you could enjoy the book forthe six If you've never walked
down the yarn aisle before, youcould also pick up this book.
And so while all of thatsounded like, you know, rainbows
and unicorns, as far as anidea, I was like, oh yeah, let's
make it, you know, superhelpful and super inclusive.
What you realize when you go towrite a pattern is how much we

(53:28):
know as makers that we don'tknow is like considered like
industry knowledge, if thatmakes sense.
So if I want to start a patternand say, you know, chain 20,
well, I first have to teach howto chain.
And I actually first have toteach how to do a slip knot.
And I then I have to explainthat when a pattern is written,
it's never going to sayslipknot.

(53:49):
It's just implied.
And that's a super simpleexample, right?
But if you think of somethingmore complicated...
Any single time I used a wordor a technique in this book, it
meant it needed a full paragraphexplanation in the fundamental
section.
It needed photos.
It needed video.
And sometimes, again, this isthe other funny thing about

(54:12):
makers and the way many of uslearn.
I just learned from my mom.
And so the number of technicalterms I actually didn't know for
things was amazing to me inthis process.
And so I worked with a techeditor, a Bless her.
She was amazing.
It would be a different bookwithout her.
But there were so many times inthe process of writing the book

(54:32):
that she would come in and say,okay, this is industry standard
or this is the technical termyou mean to use here.
Or, hey, I know that row isshort and you're calling it a
short row, but by definition,it's not a short row.
Here's what a short rowtechnically is.
And so it sort of felt a littlebit like walking around with
cinder blocks on my feet, liketo move forward in any moment

(54:55):
meant that there was six othertasks that then were tied to
that next sentence that I wantedto write.
So it did make me supergrateful for the work on a
day-to-day basis as far aspublishing patterns and sort of
not needing to lift someone fromthe ground up.
But with this book, justwanting to make sure that if I
was saying, hey, put this underthe tree at Christmas for a

(55:16):
friend who's never done thisbefore, and I'm going to
guarantee that they can completeall 16 patterns.
It was a huge objective and ahuge lift for me to take off the
ground.
And I just gave it 120% forthose five months of writing.
And I'm still sort ofrecovering from just how intense
it was.
I mean, you know.

(55:36):
You wouldn't know how intensecrochet knitting can be until
you go to write a book.

Brittany (55:41):
Right.
And you were doing this on topof still running your business
too, right?

Teresa (55:46):
Yes.
So, yeah.
So, you know, and because it'sso customer facing, if someone
has a question about a patternand then multiply that by, you
know, however many hundred perweek as far as emails and DMs
and comments, that all, no, Ican't take a break from that,
like ever.
And so, yeah, that's still allran in the background.
I still had to, you know,publish to Instagram every week,

(56:06):
sort of keep chatting, engagingwith my audience and being a
part of the community and theirworld.
And everything that I wasworking on was actually secret.
And so it posed quite thechallenge to figure out how to
talk about what I was doingwithout telling them what I was
doing.
And then every now and then, Iactually felt like for the sake
of the business, I had toproduce this other content on

(56:27):
the side just to keep thebusiness moving forward as well.
So it was, yeah, it was a lotof hours and a lot of work.
And I'm really, really gratefulto be on the other side of it.

Brittany (56:37):
Yeah.
Now, knowing how difficult thatwas, would you recommend
somebody move forward with,let's say that this is their
ultimate goal.
They want to publish a book andmaybe they already have a
full-time job or they have abusiness like you and I do.
Would you say that it was worthit in the long run?

(56:58):
And should they strive forthat?

Teresa (57:02):
I would say yes, I would say still do it.
I would do it again, as well.
Okay, let me clarify, I woulddo this book process again, like
I would still say yes to this,I am saying no to a future book
for the time being.
I think the biggest thing tokeep in mind with doing a book
is if you can just go into itknowing that it's a totally

(57:23):
different ballgame than anythingdigital.
It seems like it should be inthe same realm of digital.
You're writing a pattern for abook or you're writing a pattern
for a PDF, but to me, it feltlike a very different process.
It took everything that I had.
If you want it, I would say beready to give it everything that

(57:43):
you have and also make sure youreally want it.
I definitely would not view itas like, you know, oh, this like
simple thing to create passiveincome on the side because it's
only going to be as good as theamount that you give it.
And if you sort of fathom theweight of something in print on
bookshelves worldwide, like it'san astounding weight.

(58:03):
And so I think it'd be prettyhard pressed to imagine wanting
to do it without giving it yourall.
So anyway, I'm rambling.
I would just say know whatyou're getting into and be ready
to give it everything thatyou've got.

Brittany (58:15):
Yeah, I think that's really great and really
practical advice.
I think not that I haveexperience with writing a book,
but having experience withknowing what to say yes and when
to say no, doing that decisionfilter exercise, figure out what
it means to you to say yes tothat opportunity at that point

(58:37):
or that season of your life.
Because when you're saying yesto that, you probably do need to
say no to one or several otherthings in order to give it your
all.
And I think that is one way ofjust being prepared that you can
go into it knowing that you canfulfill that commitment.

(58:57):
I mean, when you hit publishonline, you're still putting
your name and your stamp onthat, but it feels a lot more
tangible when it's a book.
It's not like you can just goback and edit that post and
re-upload if you make a mistake.
It's quite different for abook.
So anyways, I appreciate thatadvice.
I know this is something that Ihave been considering myself.

(59:20):
I know it's certainly a goalfor me.
I'm not sure when in the futurebut I think it would just be a
really wonderful experienceespecially to be able to share
as well so I appreciate yourperspective that has helped me
and I know you've helped a lotof listeners as well now the
last thing I want to ask becauseI think it would be wonderful

(59:42):
for somebody to pick up thisbook like I said to give it to
somebody who has never triedcrochet before and by the way we
did not coordinate that at allI That's what I saw when I
flipped through the book.
I saw something that I couldgive to my sister who has never
crocheted before, who wants toknow how to do it.
So where can somebody pick up acopy and where can they

(01:00:06):
pre-order it now?
And like, when will it beavailable on shelves and whose
shelves might it be on?

Teresa (01:00:12):
Okay.
Yeah.
So the easiest place to findthe answers to all of those
questions is faberzee.combackslash book.
So what I've done there is I'vehighlighted a bunch of interior
spreads so you can sort of getan idea for the aesthetic of the
book, the way the content islaid out, the density of it, all
of that.
And then on that page, it hasall the current retailers that

(01:00:34):
have it available for pre-order.
So Amazon has it in a number ofcountries as well.
Target has it.
Walmart will have it soon.
Barnes and Noble.
Books a Million.
So those are all the pre-orderlocations.
And then I'm actually stillwaiting to hear back from my
publishers and the sales reps onstore shelves, but it should be
available wherever books aresold.

(01:00:55):
I know Barnes & Noble hasalready placed their first PO,
and we're waiting to hear backfrom Anthropologie and West Elm
and all of those stores rightnow.
But Modern Crochet, Debra Zay,wherever books are sold.

Brittany (01:01:07):
Wonderful.
Okay.
I will have all of that linkedin the show notes page.
And T, thank you so much.
This was such a funconversation for me.
I know it was fun for listeningand it was just

Teresa (01:01:18):
wonderful.
Thank you.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much forhaving me.
I had so much fun and I feellike I want to do this again and
interview you next time becausethere's so many things I want
to learn from you.
I

Brittany (01:01:28):
would love that.
I think this is the start ofsomething more than just this
one podcast episode.
That's for sure.
Awesome.
Well, thank you again.
It was so nice to chat.
All right, that was T fromDebrose.
Once again, I will have all ofher book information where you
can pre-order it over on theshow notes page.
You can find that atbehooked.com slash 138.
I do encourage you to checkthat out to support her if that

(01:01:52):
is something that you're reallypassionate about.
I really love her cause and herbusiness structure and the
things that she's doing forthose orphanages.
So if you want to know how youcan participate in that, I will
have a link to her website whereyou can get all of that
information.
Now, wasn't that a reallyinsightful conversation?

(01:02:13):
I mean, I can't be the only onewho was super thrilled with
that.
I had such an amazing timetalking to team, learning so
much from her about herlifestyle and how she
incorporates her craftiness andher business into sort of her
core values and from somethingthat maybe wasn't a choice, more

(01:02:35):
of a necessity, but now it'sbecome a way of life for her.
And I find that extremelyinspirational.
So thank you, T.
I had an amazing time chattingwith you.
I'm so glad we were able toshare this message with the
entire audience here on the BeHooked podcast.
So thank you.
I also want to say a big thankyou to you as a listener.

(01:02:56):
And if you haven't alreadysubscribed to the show, I would
love for you to do that or toconsider doing that.
Because even though it doesn'tseem like a big, huge deal, it
really is a big help to theshow.
I see that subscriber numberand that lets...
These podcast players know thatthis is a podcast worth
listening to for other makersand for other crocheters.

(01:03:18):
So thank you if you havesubscribed.
Thank you if you have left anhonest rating or review.
I love reading those as well.
And that's all for today,friend.
Thank you again for tuning inweek after week.
I really appreciate you, andI'll see you next week.