Hello yarn friends –

I’m super excited to share this second episode of series two of the Make Joy podcast with you, and introduce you to a delightful Canadian in the UK, Karla Courtney. It’s always fun making new knitting friends and Karla mentions meeting “internet friends” a few times on this episode so I hope she doesn’t mind that I definitely consider one after our meet up and chat.

You may have seen Karla on Instagram knitting a lobster onesie, or more recently promoting her new book Best Dressed Crab and Friends. But it was her avid support for the Toronto Blue Jays that had me following along and cheering her on as she knit a sweater while the Jays were competing in the 2025 World Series.

On the podcast we chatted about baseball and superstitions, as well as other sports-themed projects that Karla has made. I was pretty surprised to learn that Karla doesn’t usually knit garments, or from patterns but I love her enthusiasm and approach to just making what she wants to make in the moment and going for it. And wow – where this sweater has got legs and taken her places I’m not even sure even she expected, like the Canadian Museum of History (where her sweater will be part of the collection), and even meeting Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney!

I know I definitely need to hear Karla how that meeting with the PM came about – and how amazing that she got his measurements right! Maybe when I return her Strawberry Crab (shared with me so I could give crab an adventure at Wimbledon), I can get the whole story.

It was a fantastic chat, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Cheers!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit champagneqiviut.substack.com