Bootie & Bossy. Eat, Drink, Knit!
Keeley Richardson
Founder and Chief Fiber Officer
Who doesn’t love a fiber themed podcast to listen to whilst working on a project? Throw in an appealing recipe idea and the natural, relaxed repartee that flows between two sisters and the result is Bootie and Bossy. Utterly entertaining, often educational and always fun to listen to, their monthly podcast is highly recommended. We caught up with these two lovely sisters who live on opposite coasts but remain united by their love of crafting and cooking. In this Woolpack Q&A we meet the people behind Bootie and Bossy!
Can you tell Woolpack readers about your fiber journey – where/how/when it all began?
We both learned knitting from our father’s mother, though Bootie was the more adept pupil; Grandma decided that Bossy must be left-handed (she is not). After Grandma set her up, Bootie knit a few rows while in the bathroom where she kept her project (can you believe it?!) She gave it up pretty quickly since surprise, surprise she didn’t make much progress and didn’t know how to cast off when
she was finished. She picked back up with knitting when her daughter was born about 20 years ago—somewhat like you, Keeley! Bossy definitely benefitted from the school programs in home economics growing up, and learned how to sew at school when she was in 5th grade—we are just far enough apart in age (6 years), that Bootie did not have the benefit of those craft classes when she was in elementary school. So Bootie had to learn how to sew from Bossy, which is why she still doesn’t know how to sew. Bossy also took a Master weavers course while she was working on her dissertation—that was at the Hill Institute in Florence, Massachusetts. Bossy was definitely more familiar with the fiber arts from a weaving standpoint, and only recently picked up knitting about 10 years ago as a way to pass the time while her son was swimming (swim meets last forever!). Bootie is also a wonderful knitting bully who forces projects on her sister.
What brought you to the different parts of the country that you live in? We grew
up in Philadelphia, but Bootie moved to the Pacific Northwest when her husband took up a position at Boeing. Bossy has remained on the East Coast and ended up in Massachusetts after graduate school and taking a college teaching position.
You both live on opposite sides of the country, how does the fiber community differ on your respective coasts? Within a half an
hour of Bootie’s home, there are 13 yarn stores, so the knitting community in her area is a vibrant one. She also joined Marie Greene’s online Knitcamp about six years ago (she was a founding member), and frequently takes advantage of the programming offered through that, like the knitalongs, book club and the online retreats. She also meets friends—they call themselves “the Fishies” from when they were all knitting the Halibut sweater—regularly, about once a week, to knit together at the Knitters Studio in Bellevue, or Hazel Knits in Seattle.
There is a pretty active fiber community in the Northampton, Massachusetts area (where Webs, America’s Yarn Store is located), including a Weaver’s Guild that Bossy belonged to when she lived out there—there is a long tradition of fiber-arts related guilds on the East Coast. There’s not as much in the Sturbridge, Massachusetts area, and it’s hard to fit in more when working a full-time job! The
podcast keeps both of us plenty busy too!
What is your favorite type of project to work on? For Bootie, it’s definitely sweaters—she is a polygamous knitter who likes to have a variety of projects going at once so that she can have options—a plain stockinette for watching TV or listening to a book, but something more challenging like a colorwork yoke when she wants to lock in and focus on her knitting. She also enjoys a good cable knit—not so much lace though. Bossy has only recently started colorwork and sweaters—she tends to do one project at a time, but does enjoy the occasional lace, and she is historically a fan of the poncho, mainly out of fear of it not fitting.
What gave you the idea for the Bootie and Bossy podcast? Both of us were sending our kids off to college, and we mistakenly imagined having lots of new free time on our hands. We also wanted to do something creative together. We had no idea what we were getting into, especially when it came to mastering the tech issues of editing recordings and maintaining the website. When we first
started, our mom thought we would not get beyond one episode (thanks, Mom!), but one of the surprising things that we have discovered is that there is always so much to talk about between our three subjects—eating, drinking and knitting!
After a few episodes, we started bringing in what we initially called “Knitting in Pop Culture,” and that has really broadened our conversations as we have incorporated discussions of books, like Anne Macdonald’s No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting. We have both really enjoyed learning more about the history of knitting and sharing our discoveries with our listeners (hi,
Mom!).
What can listeners expect to hear about when they tune in? We always start out with a recipe, usually either a family favorite, or something we make pretty regularly, or something recommended by someone we interview. We like recipes that are “tried and true,” and adhere to the following imperatives: one pot; the ingredients are readily available, ideally in your larder; makes a lot so you can have good leftovers; relatively easy to prepare, not a lot of fuss or a lot of planning (or it better be worth it!); crowd pleasers and easily adaptable to family tastes (vegetarian, etc). Then we will turn to either a book or program—like Game of Wool, most recently—that we can discuss. We always find we have a lot to say (mostly Bossy)! Then we talk about our own knitting projects; the good, the bad and the frustrating. Part of the reason we started the podcast was to make other people feel good about their own crafting projects, which means we are generous in sharing our failures and shortcomings. You’re welcome!
What do you think makes a good podcast guest? We have enjoyed having a number of guests, and the first criteria is someone who has a microphone and decent sound! A good wifi connection helps too! But beyond this, we have been blessed to interview people who are willing to share their enthusiasm for the fiber arts. The first person that we interviewed besides immediate family members (Mom! Our sister Melissa) and friends (Layla Pujol), was Cristina Kading, who is a sheep shearer and artist, and had wonderful stories about what it’s like to be a woman in that field. We met her at Rhinebeck, and we were nervous about asking her, but we so enjoyed talking with her at her booth, that it just seemed like the right thing to do to ask her to come on to the podcast. She really helped
us to have more confidence about asking others to be on the podcast. She also had a fantastic recipe for an espresso martini, that we find hard not to make every night. That was the first time we had asked an interviewee for a recipe, and that’s become a regular thing that has been a great way of expanding our recipe repertoire. It’s such a gift when people are willing to take the time to share their
own fiber stories and what keeps them interested in their crafts. A willingness to share and talk is key, and we always learn so much from everyone we interview. We are always interested in interviewing people with different perspectives and experiences with the fiber arts from shearing and spinning (Tasha Darius) to dyeing (Debie Frable) to designing and teaching (Michele Lee Bernstein) to
knitting and blogging (Keeley Richardson!).
What are your podcasting plans for the future? We’d like to continue to learn and grow, interviewing more people and adding more perspectives and experiences. One thing we have consistently discovered is that there is always more to learn about knitting, and more to eat and drink. We would really like to do some travel knitting adventures so that we could share our passion for seeing the world with our needles in tow. We are thinking a MacArthur Grant would be great. Just kidding. Not really. If you know anyone on that committee . . .
If you would like to spend time with Bootie, Bossy and the many fascinating people they have interviewed, head over to their website Bootieandbossy.com. Fiber plus culinary entertainment and inspiration are guaranteed.
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