We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Kraiter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
A friend of mine taught me how to knit when I was in my twenties. Two decades later, I’m still at it.
I moved shortly afterwards and lost my knitting buddy. She recommended a book called “Stitch n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook”, by Debbie Stoller. This was just before YouTube became a thing, so I didn’t have a whole lot of access to knitting videos. If I had a knitting question, I’d have to go to the LYS, or Local Yarn Store.
Eventually, I found a community of knitters, both in person and online, who would be able to answer my questions.
I can look at my first few projects and laugh, but I can also appreciate how far I’ve come since then. I still wear my first ever knitting project: a scarf.
Knitting is a learning process. I’ve been knitting for twenty years and I’m still learning techniques.
I’m also a baker. I learned to bake from my mother. To this day, I still ask for her cooking advice.
I can’t recall the first time I baked. I don’t have many baking stories, unfortunately.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Crafting and baking come naturally to me. Many women on my mother’s side of the family bake and craft. My parents’ house often smelled of fresh challah or cookies baked by Mom. I mostly bake for friends and my husband’s coworkers. I knit for commission. It’s tough finding knitted items suitable for the weather in central Florida, so a lot of my knitting ends up in NJ, where I am from originally. Oh, and knitted socks! I’ve made a ton of those.
As far as baking goes, I’m most proud of the Pan de Muerto I made for this year’s Día de los Muertos.
My husband works with the Mexico pavilion Cast Members in EPCOT. They typically enjoy my baking, but this bread got the craziest reactions. A few of the Cast Members told me it reminded them of home when they most needed it. That definitely warmed my heart..and made me want to bake more.
Ultimately, I craft and bake to make my friends and family, and myself, happy.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Crafting and baking are tricky for me when I’m not “feeling it”. Knitting moreso than baking, although there have been a few kitchen disasters.
I wish people who aren’t the most creative would understand that, for me, I need to want to create; I can’t just turn it on.
I can’t tell you how many times someone has said, “Just do it. It’s easy money.”
It’s not always that easy.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The heartfelt reactions I received from people is by far the most rewarding part of creating.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahkneadstobake?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sarahkraitersstringsandthings
- Other: My knitting IG is https://instagram.com/kraiter.knits?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==