Freddie Robins's guest appearances

Freddie Robins

KnitCast

Soft Thoughts

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Peter Ting

Corinne Julius

Celia Pym

Peter Layton

Andrew Waugh

Tom Dixon

Edmund de Waal

Kate Malone

John Barnard

Shelley James

Sebastian Cox

Rachael Herron

Paola Antonelli

Malene Hartmann Rasmussen

Terence Conran

OwlTail

The third 'lockdown special' of Material Matters features the radical knitter Freddie Robins. The common perception of knitting is that it’s a gentle, mindful activity. A thing you can do quietly in front of the television to relax after a hard day. Well Robins’ work is the antithesis of all that. It’s frequently dark, and always provocative. Her subject matter encompasses death, loss, religion, depression and challenges the perceived hierarchy of the art and craft worlds. It is work meant for the gallery rather than to be worn at home and comes with titles such as ‘Bad Mother’ and ‘I’m so Bloody Sad’. Kaffe Fassett she ain’t.In this episode we discuss: the pivotal role her Godmother played in her childhood fascination with textiles; her loathing of conformity and the ‘danger of being ridden over by mediocrity’; her spell working in the fashion world; exploring the dark side through her work; having her pieces vandalised; and why knitting shouldn’t always be good for you. Not only that but we also chat about her appearance on Grand Designs with Kevin McCloud. So something for everybody I think. You can find out more about Freddie’s here: freddierobins.comNB: Like all our lockdown episodes this has been recorded over the internet rather than in our guest’s studio. As a result the sound quality isn’t quite where we’d like it to be all the time. Support the show

The third 'lockdown special' of Material Matters features the radical knitter Freddie Robins. The common perception of knitting is that it’s a gentle, mindful activity. A thing you can do quietly in front of the television to relax after a hard day. Well Robins’ work is the antithesis of all that. It’s frequently dark, and always provocative. Her subject matter encompasses death, loss, religion, depression and challenges the perceived hierarchy of the art and craft worlds. It is work meant for the gallery rather than to be worn at home and comes with titles such as ‘Bad Mother’ and ‘I’m so Bloody Sad’. Kaffe Fassett she ain’t.In this episode we discuss: the pivotal role her Godmother played in her childhood fascination with textiles; her loathing of conformity and the ‘danger of being ridden over by mediocrity’; her spell working in the fashion world; exploring the dark side through her work; having her pieces vandalised; and why knitting shouldn’t always be good for you. Not only that but we also chat about her appearance on Grand Designs with Kevin McCloud. So something for everybody I think. You can find out more about Freddie’s here: <a href="http://freddierobins.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freddierobins.com</a>NB: Like all our lockdown episodes this has been recorded over the internet rather than in our guest’s studio. As a result the sound quality isn’t quite where we’d like it to be all the time. <a href="https://www.patreon.com/materialmatters?fan_landing=true" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>

Freddie Robins on knitting.

In the first ever Soft Thoughts, we welcome Freddie Robins! Robins uses juxtapositions between how knitting is and could be seen, unravelling preconceptions of femininity, motherhood, death and the body, and twists the soft into evil and back again, imbuing a sense of power in using metaphor in knitting. As Catherine Dormer, artist, has said, "Robins offers a challenge to the notion of knitting as a passive, benign activity."Soft Thoughts is a textiles podcast that is flexible, twisting and soft, just like the myriad of textiles we love and wear and see in our every day lives.We want to chat about textiles, with people we know, people we don't know, and everyone in between. We want to be accessible and academic, silly and a wee bit ridiculous, an attempt at bridging the gap between those that practise textiles and those that wear them - the every day and the artists! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the first ever Soft Thoughts, we welcome Freddie Robins! Robins uses juxtapositions between how knitting is and could be seen, unravelling preconceptions of femininity, motherhood, death and the body, and twists the soft into evil and back again, imbuing a sense of power in using metaphor in knitting. As Catherine Dormer, artist, has said, "Robins offers a challenge to the notion of knitting as a passive, benign activity."Soft Thoughts is a textiles podcast that is flexible, twisting and soft, just like the myriad of textiles we love and wear and see in our every day lives.We want to chat about textiles, with people we know, people we don't know, and everyone in between. We want to be accessible and academic, silly and a wee bit ridiculous, an attempt at bridging the gap between those that practise textiles and those that wear them - the every day and the artists! See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

01: Freddie Robins: Softness is Power

Another podcast from The Knitting and Stitching Show! Knitting doctor Freddie Robins tells me how she makes pieces of work when she's too tired to make decisions, what it's like walking down the knitted aisle and how to subvert your knitting.

KnitCast 18 - Freddie Robins