My latest podcast episode is with the one and only Stephen West. I completely underestimated how much I would love connecting with people I admire, like Stephen. Just learning about how he works and came to be in the world just as he is, is so fascinating not to mention a huge inspiration. This conversation is so good on so many levels!

Dude! This guy is amazing. My favorite part of the interview is when he talks about graduating himself from school. What I believe he did here was simply drop out because his knitting career was taking off. That was a new beginning. He touches on this idea that letting go of his association with that institution and then subsequently moving to Amsterdam freed him in a way. It’s the idea that when we detach from things – like a place or a school - we free ourselves from the social norms that sometimes consciously or unconsciously influence us. Then we have more freedom to do what we want. In that space blazing your own path, as opposed to being on somebody else’s trajectory, is a wee bit easier. I love that he’s encouraging us all to do this just by doing his own thing in his own way.

Although this was my favorite take away, there were so many things that left me inspired and thinking. I loved hearing about the influences that shaped his creativity and work ethic - from his mother making him never miss a choir practice (good reminder to me as a mom!) to his obsessive knitting habits. He literally knits everywhere and all the time, no wonder he's such a master as his craft. He has also set up his business to delegate many of the other tasks that aren't his forte so that he can knit more. AND he knits in silence - so fascinating. I'm always so busy, listening to things, watching things and generally multi tasking like a mad woman when I knit. What a nice reminder to just sit and be with the yarn. Golly love that. Also, let's all just knit more like him, can we agree on that?!

His favorite movies are those by Christopher Guest like Best in Show and he also loves actres Kristen Wiig. Here's a link to that amazing video she does impersonating Khaleesi from Game of Thrones.

If you're interested check out my Penguono sweater here that we spoke about. Find Stephen online at http://westknits.com on Instagram, Pinterest and Ravelry  @westknits. I think I have to do his next KAL. Let me know if you're in and what you thought about our interview in the comments below. Thank you so much for listening! A few of my most favorite Stephen photos below.