Eva Christie is currently super busy organising the third Perth Festival of Yarn which takes place at Dewars Centre on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September 2018. We caught up with her for a cuppie and a natter and chatted all about this great upcoming festival and Eva's stint performing on the stage at Glastonbury!!
1. What does a typical day at work look like for you?
I start by getting the coffee on to brew and feeding my cats Sméagol and Martha. I'll settle down with my tablet in our dining-room and check my Facebook notifications, Ravelry mail (this is the equivalent of Facebook for knitters) and then my business email. I try to get the bulk of my admin done in the morning and check in again during the evening.
I host a weekly knitting podcast on YouTube which I generally record on Monday mornings, so I like to catch up with my fellow podcasters by watching their episodes while I grab myself some breakfast.
I follow this up with a couple of hours of design work which involves hand knitting the garments I sell and protoypes for future design kits. I sometimes test knit for fellow designers and need to give constructive feedback on the instructions they have provided.
Afternoons usually feature another few hours of coffee fuelled knitting and belly rubs for Sméagol; but I have recently begun to hand-dye my own yarn under the Melted Moglet Dyeworks label. So at the moment I'm breaking out the dye pots on the gas hobs and having my own adventures in colour. I need to get the skeins of yarn dyed, washed, out to dry and the kitchen scrubbed down before I settle down for dinner.
Once the evening meal is over I'm checking back in on social media, doing any other admin that's required and catching up on the industry news. I may even squeeze a bit more knitting in before settling down with a good book.
2. What signals the start of your weekend / days off?
I'll read a novel, preferably in bed, with a coffee that Josh has brought me. If the Farmers' Market is on, or there's a cultural event happening in the Centre, then we'll probably pop down and - more often than not - I'll do an additional little feature for my channel about what makes Perth the perfect place for creative people to live in.
3. What makes for a perfect night in?
Gin and a Chinese meal from the New Diamond Takeaway - in my jammies - followed by my girls snuggling up with me. It's also quite nice to do a bit of selfish knitting or to make something for my loved ones. I'm all about hand knitted socks this Autumn.
4. What makes for a memorable day or night out?
Good company for a start. I don't tend to go out much at night so when I do it's for something special, like Bryan Ferry at Horsecross. Seeing him has been on my Bucket List since I was a teenager!
5. Tell us about the weekend you’d love to live again?
I was lucky enough to perform in a band at Glastonbury in 2000. From arriving in the tour bus in the early hours of the morning to the sounds of the Brand New Heavies - everyone was on their feet dancing on the bus! - to watching Robert Plant, seeing The Waterboys perform 'Glastonbury Song' from the sound desk and catching part of David Bowie's legendary set before we had to leave; everything was magical!! I wanted to stay there forever.
6. And now your best ever day at work?
I took a cheeky chance and contacted Mike Scott (of The Waterboys) after reading a tweet he had made about a particular fashion brand. This led to me being comissioned to work on a merino tie for him. He gave me a rave review on twitter when he received his bespoke item; but I was blown away to later receive just a few days later a hand written thank you note inside a vintage card.
7. Any workday or weekend rituals?
I like to burn scented candles when I'm working on my designs.
8. What’s in the perfect day off breakfast?
Pancakes made to an old family recipe, served hot and smothered with salted butter, topped with Drovers smoked back bacon, just a little Mount Vermont Maple Syrup and strong mugs of Grumpy Mule Coffee from Gloagburn Farm Shop.
9. Any words of wisdom for us?
Be humble for you are made of earth, be noble for you are made of stars.
***
Don't miss this year's Perth Festival Yarn 2018. Check out Eva Christie's Youtube Channel here >>>
Share this with your friends
