Saturday Spotlight | Introducing Marie Carter

It’s time to shine my spotlight and I am super excited about this one in particular. In the past the Saturday Spotlight has been on folks that are in business or sell something for you to purchase, not today. Today all I have is some good ole inspiration.

I have often said that my favorite part of this community is the people and I pray that never changes. This weekend my spotlight is directed at Marie Carter. Join me as we get to know this super talent a little better.

1. Hi Marie, I have often told you how your Instagram feed inspires me. Tell us your crafting story. I say crafting because I know you do it all.
​I have always been interested in crafts. My first memory of crafting is related to making paper dolls when I was about 6 or 7. My mother would buy plain paper, colored pencils and markers and I would draw the dolls. I would then draw all of their clothes, so from a very young age, I was creating an image of myself and dreaming about the types of clothes that I loved! It is ironic that I spent most of my life in an all girls’ school uniform!

​In college, I spent a fair amount of time in the village in NYC, so, I would wear all black all of the time and wear large dangly earrings, while hanging out with my best girlfriends at all of the clubs! Still, I loved visiting the small Indian handmade jewelry shops on the lower east side and was fascinated by stones and their meanings! ​

After college, I went to grad school and studied public and healthcare administration. I also got married and had my son. During this time of dramatic change, I felt that I needed an outlet for my creativity. I focused on jewelry making, starting with beading and wire-work and then moved fairly quickly to metalsmithing (with classes at FIT, Brookfield Craft Center and the 92nd Street Y!). I started and enjoyed a part-time handmade jewelry business for many years, blissfully hammering, soldering and wire-working away on images in my head.
Then one day, I discovered yarn…​I have no idea how it happened, only that it was meant to be. I was on a walk in my neighborhood and discovered a recently opened yarn shop (that had apparently relocated) – Annie & Co. When I walked into the shop and it was like time slowed.

I took in all of the yarn and accessories and just knew that I had to knit and that I *would* knit. I bought a pair of US 8 bamboo straight needles, a skein of Malabrigo worsted singles yarn and went home. After  I found a few tutorials on YouTube, that was it. Knitting became a lifestyle for me immediately and I doubt that I have missed a day without knitting since.

Many crafts

2. I love how you fell in love instantly, a good yarn store will definitely do that to ya.  In reference to knitting, who taught you and how long have you been a knitter?
I learned how to knit via YouTube in May 2014, so have been knitting for almost 4 years now.

3.WOW! Only 4 years? I am completely blown away! I am a graduate of  YouTube University too! LOL! I know you sew too, how long have you been sewing? Who taught you to see?
​I learned how to sew last April (so, 1 year ago). I took a class with Rachel at Purl Soho. She was a great instructor who also helped me to figure out how to cut out my first pattern (Grainline Studio Willow Tank Dress). I immediately became obsessed with learning *everything* about sewing. I think that it is good to have learned to knit before sewing – knitting has taught me patience….and how to set in sleeves!

4. That is simply amazing! I love how you just learn and passionately deliver beautiful projects.  Do you crochet too?
Yes, I learned to crochet at the same time that I learned to knit. I found crochet to be much easier and faster in the beginning. I love a good crocheted blanket, but I love making garments, so knitting quickly became my craft of choice.

MANY PROJECTS

5. Yea I learned to crochet first and I too choose to knit most. What project are you most proud of and why?
Oh…that is hard. I am particularly proud of a few for different reasons. For example I am proud of a simple grey cardigan that I made because it was my first successful set-in sleeve. I still wear it to this day. This is hard because I am proud of my Circlet Shrug because it was designed by the incredible Norah Gaughan and I really thought that I would never get through all of the unusual cables in that pattern.
I proud of my Tetrapods scarf because it is still the hardest lace pattern (different lace pattern on both right side and wrong side of the fabric) that I have ever attempted. It’s an incredible design by Olga Buraya-Kefelian

Favories

6. Before this question can I just pause to say WOW!! Your work blows me away. That Shrug is fantastic! Tell me do you have a favorite yarn?
Brooklyn Tweed Loft – I love how the fabric transforms from feeling a bit rustic, which feels wonderful to work with, to this luxurious fiber after blocking. Plus, the colorways make me swoon!

7. I have yet to work with Brooklyn Tweed, I have to check it out.   Do you have a favorite color?
Though I wear black and grey most of the time, I have 3 colors that alternate in my “favorite” category: peacock blue/green, deep grey/purple and coral/berry (The Fibre Company’s Acai colorway). I am also obsessed with the golden hues of BT’s Hayloft and Julie Asselin’s Cortez.

8. You have done so much in a short peroid of time.  What advice would you give to someone starting out in the world of handmade?
Learn as much as you can about it. Dive into the world of it. Connect with the people that love it and then enjoy every moment as you realize how lucky you are to have found it !

Marie! what fantastic advice! Thank you! If I were you, yea you reading this,  I would go follow Marie on Instagram, yup I would.

Knit on my fiber friends….knit on

GG