on my needles no.2 / on my bookshelf no.2

on my needles no.1 + on my bookshelf no.2

source c/o instagram & pinterest

knit wit magazine, issue 3, q&a w/ anabela

knit wit magazine, issue 3, q&a w/ anabela piersol

 Anabela: You're self-taught as a knitter, so why don't talk about what inspired you to start, and how you kept it up?
Tara-Lynn: At the time I was becoming interested in textile and craft. Something about knitting just resonated and I liked the instant gratification of it. Having this ball of wool that I could turn into something: it just amazed me. I relied mostly on library books. It became an obsession. I used any yarn I could get my hands on.

A: How do you design your pieces?
T-L: It always starts with an idea and a shape. I usually start sketching things, then knit swatches. I like it to look easy, and not contrived. It has to feel like it all happened organically, because when I try to force things it never works. I don't get too technical – I mean obviously I do, once I get the pattern written – but in the beginning it's just trial and error.

A: Do you try to work with the yarn available to you or do you seek out a yarn that fits your vision?
T-L: It's both. At this point I exclusively use South American wool. It's everything I desire, with hand spun textures, hand dyed colours, and it’s fair trade. The merino & alpaca wools I knit with feel closest to a natural state, with their natural hues intact.

A: How do you feel when you knit?
T-L: I recently took a break from knitting, because I have a lot of pain related to it. I'd finished the samples for this season, but I found I couldn't not knit. I didn't last a day. It's meditative for me, and I feel that I am my most myself when I'm knitting.

A: A few years ago you made your patterns available for sale for the first time. How do you feel about that decision now?
T-L: It was extremely liberating to make the patterns available. Even though knitting is so solitary, we really are a community, and I wanted other people to know that they could do this

A: What have been some of your career highlights so far?
T-L: Working alongside creatives & other artists I really respect. I am always overwhelmed by this community of independent, supportive women I have met. German Vogue used a headband in an editorial. No matter what happens, I was in Vogue.

A: How do your lookbooks come together?
T-L: Models are usually always friends or friends of the photographer, and this seems to always bring out the most authentic representation. The lookbooks are what I look forward to the most. I love the styling, which is so important to me.

A: You like to keep the makeup light and the styling simple, not overdone.
T-L: Absolutely. This last one we shot was the first time we've shot outdoors and I have always wanted the knits to be shown in this way. The photographer, Arden [Wray], has a very natural and intimate aesthetic, and so it really was a dream.

A: Can you see yourself doing this forever?
T-L: For. Ever. No. But a version of this forever? Sure. I'd have to always be this personally invested and hands on. I'd like to grow it for the makers if I could, and always offering limited edition knits.

A: This, but bigger.
T-L: Bigger, but still me.  

 all photos c/o anabela piersol (of fieldguided), knit issue 3 q&a

Good Night Day FW15 lookbook pt.2

Good Night Day FW15 lookbook pt.2 //

photos Arden Wray / models Ninder Judge & Emma McKenna /

styling Tara-Lynn Morrison / additional jewelry Gamma Folk

Good Night, Day LookBook FW/15

Good Night, Day FW15 lookbook //

photos Arden Wray / models Airin McGuinty & Brooke Manning /

additional clothing Lauren Winter / styling Tara-Lynn Morrison

W/A interview, vol 3

So grateful to be featured in one of my favorite publications out there, amongst so many inspiring individuals in the latest edition of women artists vol. 3. This is a discussion with my friend Amy Egerdeen talking frankly on motherhood, affecting the creative process, isolation, depression, postpartum depression & raising the next generation of women.

W/A interview

A: First I’d love to hear about what you do, why you do it, and what you love about your work:

TL: I run the independent shop Good Night, Day – a knitwear label with an aesthetic that emphasizes sustainability, and incorporates traditional handcrafted skills with a modern & minimalist approach. I hand knit & design limited run exclusive batches, all out of Canada using fairly sourced South American wools. As well, I self-publish knitting booklets & patterns.

I am the sole individual behind everything, all of my work is very hands on, so it is highly personal to me . I love being so deeply invested in my work.  I taught myself to knit as a way to channel my creativity & I immediately loved the empowerment that came with learning such a solitary skill. Knitting feels artistically & politically liberating to me.

T-L: Please tell me about what you create, your process & also your involvement in the community, with such projects as the Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair?

A: I have been making handbound books, prints and zines for about 10 years now, also self-taught and also the sole individual running my business. I draw all my patterns and images, screen-print covers of books, bind the books by hand. I love the whole process of printing and working with paper.

I have always used bookmaking and zine-making as a way to explore creativity and different subjects I’m interested in – feminism and folklore and women’s lived experiences. I also am interested in the community aspect of making – I co-founded the Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair in 2014, and love watching this event grow into something big. The zine fair is all about prioritizing and celebrating voices that are typically ignored in zine-making – feminist, queer viewpoints; folks who are new to zine making and exploring feminism through their work.

A: How did you build yourself as an artist / maker while you had children? How did you negotiate time / your own space / yourself as a maker?

TL: Honestly, I'm still grasping to build myself as a maker & I’m not sure I would call myself an artist. This was hardly premeditated, but more a struggling organic approach to how I now happen to be doing this full time as a way to help support my family. I will be the first to admit, I am terrible at prioritizing my time. I work off my emotions & I take a more visceral approach to my making. I never seem to get all of the things accomplished I wish to each day, there just isn't enough time. Yet I don't want to disappoint myself or lose track of my integrity. I am still balancing it all, like all makers, as well as all makers who happen to have children.

A: One thing that's been strange for me is how the work of raising a little baby feels really invisible – I think it’s tough when you’re someone who is very focused on productivity – making tangible things, being able to take stock of what you got done in a day. It makes me feel disconnected from the making / art community – have you felt this? What does it feel like for you?

T.L:  Even now, I have to struggle with feelings of loneliness & invisibility within the making community as I am not someone that forces myself out there, I have very real social anxieties that are probably the reason I turned to making as a creative outlet to feel less invisible in other ways. Although, I have also had the wonderful opportunities to work with others by way of collaborations or on lookbook shoots & have met some amazing creatives that I can even call my friends & supporters.

T-L: Do you see yourself as both a mom & an artist, & is it important to integrate these or do you see these as two separate roles altogether?

A: I feel like I’m just starting to see myself as a mom. I’ll do something – like wipe my baby’s spit up with my shirt – and think: that was totally something a mom would do. It’s a slow process. But at the same time, I haven’t been making like I used to – I used to be productive and creative every day – and that was such an important and essential part of me. And I took that time and space for granted, honestly. So I feel like right now I would just identify as in-the-middle, not quite mom-feeling, not quite maker, but almost both.  I can’t wait until I can tie in my mom-ness and my making life. I think what that might look like for me is maybe an openness to creativity for the sake of it (rather than a focus on the end product); messiness and exploring craft through teaching my girl; seeing things differently, new-ly. Those and the things I hope for, which make me feel like maybe I’ll get back to a place of happiness with making and creating work. But I don’t think I’ll ever get back to the same place.

T-L: As an artist and creative maker that earns from her work, what skills, coping strategies, struggles or life lessons learnt have you acquired from your craft that you hope to share or do you hope to pass on to your daughter?

A: One thing that I’ve learned is how important it is to really know your trade or arts practice – to be really good at what you do, and know everything about it. I love the process of becoming a pro at something – learning slowly, experimenting, challenging yourself – until it is a skill that becomes second-nature, and your way of understanding the world. I look at something and think of how I can make it a visual work on paper, or using paper. I have friends who do the same but with textiles or paint. I love that way of seeing the world. I would want to pass that on – that focus on something creative and exciting and all-encompassing, that ability to become confident in your work and your skill-set, so that that confidence builds and becomes part of who you are.

But I’d also be honest about the struggles: it’s hard to make money with art and making, it’s important to be able to shift with the creative world and learn new skills and coping strategies and apply them to your work. And I’d want to make sure that we value all work – that money doesn’t dictate what is worth more. I feel like I learn, unlearn, and relearn the same ideas constantly about how to value my work and how to also survive in the world.

A: Postpartum. I’ve had a lot of issues around postpartum, it’s terrible and scary and really hurts. I know you had similar experiences. How did you keep going – to keep feeling positive about making art, about your own creativity – when you were dealing with PPD / PPA?

T-L: I really hope you will be able to receive the care I found through my midwives & through a women’s health centre, of course the reality is there isn't enough help, support or information out there. I have always dealt my entire life with mental illness & depression & I was hospitalized after the birth of my daughter for a brief period. I experienced serious depression throughout my entire pregnancy & I felt so much shame. I kept sketchbooks during this time, photography & journal writing. I still have all these mementos hidden away in some box in my closet. I feel less shame looking back. 

T-L: Have you found any creative outlets to help manage the postpartum or do you feel hindered from this? 

A: I’ve been working on projects while dealing with postpartum – not my own work, but for a couple spaces here in Hamilton. It hasn’t been a release for me at all, but has added extra tension. I think one thing it did was force me to carve out just the smallest amounts of time for myself that were specifically non-baby-related. That was so good, looking back – but so stressful at the time. I love what you did - using your creativity to work through your postpartum. I think that’s a much better way of approaching it, rather than giving yourself deadlines for other people.

T-L: More than ever recently, I have felt so vulnerable & misunderstood about who I am when I tell others I am a mom. I feel that there is so much misrepresentation of what being a mom means, as well I feel like I have to further prove my worth & really express that I am so much more than just a mom. Have you felt this?

A: Mommy blogs, the way we talk about our lives being over once we have kids, labelling moms as asexual and boring and all this shit.  That Tracey Emin quote about art and motherhood - “There are good artists who have children... They are called men.” Or a friend telling me about a 20-something guy coming up to her after a reading to say, “You’re cool for a mom. There aren’t really any cool moms out there.”

I honestly think it’s all just misogyny. I mean, I think part of it comes from motherhood being very anti-individualistic, all about another person really taking over your life and compromising your independence in lots of different ways, and we live in a very individualistic culture currently. But even more, I think it’s misogynist, and it’s another way of grouping women and forgetting about them. Having them become irrelevant because you’ve labeled their work as boring or unimportant. So I like to think about women artists who created work and lived strange and creative and vulnerable lives, who were also moms. I want to think about motherhood as just as complex and as varied as any other big life decisions we make, rather than a label that would ever diminish a woman to a singular space. I think about artists like Pitseolak Ashoona or Shirin Neshat and it excites me knowing the multitudes of things they did with their life.  

T-L: How important is feminism to your art & creating? & do you have new perspectives on your feminist art since having a daughter?

A: I think I grew out of an art/craft movement that was tied up with feminism – in the early 2000’s, making was all about reclaiming women’s work, and making spaces for women in the craft and art communities (at least in my little community). That was a really important part of choosing bookmaking – a very traditionally male craft. It was also why being able to do every part of my craft was important – being able to rely on myself, to be independent. That’s shifted and changed over time, but those are still my roots.

Having my daughter is both really exciting for me, and really terrifying, because I personally think we live in a very misogynist world. I want to make things that are even more political and feminist and I want her to be part of a world that is changing for the better. I hope I can help her to feel powerful and confident in her life and herself.

T-L: What artists/makers inspire you?

A: I love Ness Lee’s work so much.  Also what Sarah Gottesdiener is doing right now - her work is amazing. And the “Stop Telling Women to Smile” project by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. I think Monica Ramos is incredible and makes magical illustrations. And I love my friend’s work so much – Lee Meszaros, Caitlyn Murphy, Kalpna Patel, Krystal Speck.

A:What about you?

T.L: At the moment, some of my favorite artists/makers that inspire me right now include: artists jason lee rhyno, audrey wollen, minka sicklinger, illustrative artists sandi falconer, tallulah fontaine, jen collins, leah goren, photography of  lina scheynius, bee walker, arden wray, jennifer lee, jody rogac, agnes thor, valerie philips, ceramic work by helen levi, jennie jieun lee, textile art of  jeannie helzer, meghan shimek, & independent designers/makers include milena silvano, helen rodel, lauren winter, lisa hackwith, brookes boswell.

A: We both have daughters – what’s been important to you in raising a woman? How do you two talk about art, making, creativity – this whole world that we’re in?

T-L: I am so excited to be raising a daughter in this world where there is so much knowledge available to her, there is honest dialogue happening around her, that I never had growing up, and I am proud to see that my daughter is really strong & self-aware of who she is & who she wants to be.  It has always been important to raise my children with awareness, sensitivity, open discussions, a familiarity with art, books & creating, it has always just been natural in our home.

A: I just want to end with an idea of self-care. I found that that’s something that’s completely diminished in my life as a new mom. Do you practice self-care? How have you been able to reestablish self-care after having children?

TL: For my own sanity, I seek out routines of self-preservation in my own day to day, sometimes it is just a small thing like getting coffee & taking an extended walk or bike ride to mail packages. I find I can get really overwhelmed, depressed & anxious if i don’t find time for my myself. So, sometimes a bath with lavender oil & wine is a quick fix. Now that is it summer, & I am stepping out from my hermit ways I am finding solace in the woods, taking a hike & turning off all my media devices. The best cure for me is catching up with friends & getting away from my work, I can get way too caught up in it all. A book, knitting & some shade under a tree is self-care too, right?

currently on my needles / customized stratford halter

 on my needles / customized stratford halter of merino washable wool from Uruguay / currently reading on photography by susan sontag

airin mcguinty wearing the leeds halter of  merino superwash wool,
this pattern from good night day knitting patterns & available as a pdf on ravelry

model: brooke manning/ photo Hollie Pocsai
(below, model Ninder Judge / photo Arden Wray)

q&a from winter issue 2015, good night day

What’s the story behind your label?

Good Night, Day is a small independently run knitwear label, with an aesthetic

that emphasizes sustainability, ,incorporates traditional hand knitting skills with a modern & minimalist approach. The limited items are handcrafted in small exclusive batches, all out of Canada using  fairly  sourced South American wools.

When did you learn to knit, and what do you love about it?

I taught myself to knit as a way to channel my creativity, it was an immediate obsession. I love the empowerment that came with learning a traditional hands on skill. Knitting is really artistically & politically liberating for me.

What inspires your modern and minimalist designs?

I am deeply & personally invested in my designs, since each piece is hand knit, it all comes from that. I have a strong aesthetic for minimalism, so shape & structure is inspiring . I am also so inspired with textures, fibres, & colour palettes, also obviously a certain mood & emotion.

How do you source the wool used for each collection?

I am strongly drawn to textures that naturally hand spun fibres produce  & that really highlight what i love about hand knit garments. The South American wools I source are so much a part of Good Night Day's aesthetic, there is such attention to tradition & heritage , with these wools from Peru, Uruguay & Argentina, which are spun & hand dyed in small batches.

You make each and every one of your garments by hand. How much time do you spend knitting each day?

Each & everyday I spend knitting, hours on end, I don't actually keep track. I even bring my knitting on the go, I love knitting outdoors especially, I usually have many projects happening at once & I have certain projects that are easy to bring along. If I am not knitting, I am still very hands on, with some other related task.  I feel honestly that I am in some way never not knitting, since everything is so incorporated in this element.

What are some of the challenges of running your own label?

Honestly, this label was founded from a personal obsession & had nothing to do with the business side of things, so obviously this has always been my struggle. I am constantly facing the financial challenges, as well as a workload that is always too overwhelming . I am often sold out  due to these issues, & all of my financial investment is truly just what i put in myself, i have no investors, & it is all just me. Since, it is such a literal personal & emotional investment, it can be quite a struggle with my sense of self, & I constantly just keeping my head above water sometimes. Of course, all of this really drives me, & I am keenly aware of sticking to my own integrity since I am my own boss., so that feels like an accomplishment, that I've been able to stick all out. I have such respect for anyone doing it on their own & their way. I hope to continue to meet other independent makers that are willing to share & support, its what I think makes it all happen for all of us.

Tell us about your ‘seamless knitting’ technique…

When I first started to knit, i was really intimidated & annoyed with tedious tasks of seaming, & many projects would be left unfinished due to the piecing together. Instead, I discovered I could design my own patterns in a way, that allowed me to avoid these hang-ups . I've passed these ideas of seamless knitting involving circular knitting patterns, I think they are a great tool especially for beginner knitters, & I feel it really helps in those early stages of learning when everything might seem so complicated. Of course, over time, I have found new appreciation for all aspects of knitting, including the more daunting techniques. But I still love a good seamless design, without all the fuss, there is something empowering about it all.

You also produced limited-edition knitting booklets, so that people can recreate GND designs in their own homes. How does it feel to see people making your garments?

although knitting is really a solitary activity & skill, & one that i personally crave sometimes for its ability to alleviate my own anxieties, stress & worries. I have really become aware of  the community of knitters, that really supports, encourages & inspires each other. I am so touched in an overwhelming way by the knitters that have reached out to me, & that use my patterns & pass on the love of knitting to their friends & family too. There is nothing as rewarding as hearing that my patterns inspired someone to learn to knit, because knitting empowers me & I know the positive effect it can continue to have. It was always really important that I self-publish the knitting patterns in booklets, as well as downloadable pdfs,  that would be easily accessible, & also share my passion for the printed word. Knitting can be for everyone.

What are your hopes and plans for the future of Good Night, Day?

I have so many hopes & plans for Good Night, Day, that I suppose I just aspire to see

most of them become a reality. I would love to continue to work alongside others in this community, to continue to stick to my own vision & to figure out how to expand in a way to make it works alongside my personally invested  hands on approach. I would love to focus even more on limited  & exclusive projects, while also having more specialty supplies for the makers.

(q&a c/o peppermint magazine)