I’m so excited to welcome Chanelle aka Channy, the creative mind behind Channypeascorner, to the blog today! Channy creates playful, fibre-focused enamel pins and we are delighted to become her newest stockists. Jen and I couldn’t stop admiring these lovelies when they arrived (we might have kept one or two for ourselves). I really enjoyed learning more about Channy, her creative life, and how she came to pin designing. So grab something to nice to drink and settle in, and maybe start thinking about what jacket or knitting bag needs embellishing with some flair!

KR: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Who you are? Where you are? What kind of making you do?

CN: Hi I'm Chanelle aka Channy. I am an only child and grew up in Washington, D.C. I moved to Georgia to start a family in 1997. Once I had my first child (who is now 22 and just graduated college) I wanted to do something to tap into my creative side. I shopped at the local scrapbook store so much I ended up buying it and opening a second location. I loved creating and teaching classes for our customers and ended up being an expert in the industry and getting published in several magazines. I did that for about 5 years (and 2 more kids later) before I decided to go back into the corporate world. I have always been crafty with cross stitching, painting, rug making, weaving and scrapbooking, so I kept up with those crafts in the background, while raising three kids who are now 22, 21 and 16.

KR: I’m really excited to hear what got you into designing enamel pins! Can you tell us a little more about how you started? Was there one pin that started it all?

CN: My mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and I promised to make her a blanket to take to chemo, but she passed away 30 days after we found out the news. So I started crocheting and knitting even more as a way to handle my grief… I started saying to myself, “You are the Queen of yarn!” to encourage myself. So I revamped my Instagram to become a yarnie instagram, Channypeascorner, and made a lot of friends that collected enamel pins. I thought "I need my own Queen of Yarn enamel pin,” but I couldn't find one. So I designed one, and it was published in Simply Crochet magazine! Then I made a knitting version, and it was published in Simply Knitting magazine! It snowballed from there, and now I have 50 pins that I have designed over a period of 2 years and I’m still going!

KR: Can you tell me a little about your design process? How do you come up with your designs? How long does it take to go from idea to finished pin in your hands?

CN: I come up with designs daily; I put out maybe 3 pins a month now. My creativity is at an all time high! My bright ideas normally come at 3am when I can't sleep, and my mind will not quieten down. I sketch them up and send to one of the graphic artists on my team, and they will bring colour to my 3am sketch. Once I finalise the colours, I send it to the pin manufacturers. I have three at the moment, and I shop around and compare quotes. Then in 3-4 weeks I have the pins in my hands. I design pins for my shop, for Local Yarn Shops (I'm currently in 33 stores) and for my Queen of Yarn Pin Club.

KR: Do you have a favourite among your designs? Or is that like choosing a favourite child?

CN: I do love them all! So my current favourite is my 2020 Survival Kit – it sold out quickly. We needed so much (yarn, coffee, wine) to get through that year!

KR: We're all about the techniques around here. Have you tried out any new-to-you knitting techniques lately? Any techniques on your to-learn list this year?

CN: I wanted to learn lace knitting a few years ago and I finally got the hang of it so I designed and wrote my first pattern last year. It’s called the Gatlinburg Cowl (Ravelry link). It’s named for the area in the Tennessee mountains we go to every year with my cousins just to relax and chill – it has healing powers.

KR: What's on your needles (knitting or otherwise!) at the moment?

CN: I always have at least two knitting and two crochet projects going at one time. I'm working on a Ripple Wave Blanket, the Lepouf Cardi and a few other random granny square blankets and shawls. When you have a 16 year old that just started driving, you have to keep your mind busy, LOL!

KR: What's in the works currently at Channypeascorner?

CN: Right now I am planning very first Fiber Focused Retreat that will take place in August at Lake Lanier Islands in North Georgia. I’m so very excited, as the host, to bring this fibre-packed weekend to all my fibre buds. I'm expecting 25 participants, lots of vendors, classes and tons of sponsors (find out more at https://channypeascorner.com/retreats).

A huge thank you to Channy for taking time to share her crafty journey with us! You can catch up with her on Instagram at Channypeascorner and her website, where you’ll find an ever changing selection of pins!

We are so pleased to have five Channypeascorner fabulous designs in stock now: the perfect piece of flair for knitting bags, handbags, denim jackets … put a pin on it! We are also participating in Channy’s loyalty scheme. When you buy any five pins, you get this cheery LYS pin free. So why not treat yourself to a set, or grab your favourite designs for you and your knitting friends. You’ll find all five designs in the Accessories section of the online shop, which has also recently been topped up with some new-to-us Cocoknits accessories: joy!