Today we’re shaking things up with something exciting! We had the chance to chat with the one and only Deborah Norville. You might recognize her from TV, as she’s been the successful anchor of Inside Edition since 1995, but she’s also a big name in the yarn world!
In 2008, Deborah Norville partnered with Premier Yarns to launch the Deborah Norville Collection of knit and crochet yarns. Since then, the yarn collection has been flying off the shelves in stores everywhere and Deborah’s crafting career has reached new heights.
Check out part one of our exclusive interview below, and keep scrolling for a chance to win a Deborah Norville yarn prize package from our friends at Premier!
Stitch and Unwind: How did you get started knitting?
Deborah Norville: I first started TRYING to knit when I was probably 6 or 7 but just didn’t have the manual dexterity to be any good at it! I was finally successful at making a very pathetic piece of knitted material when I was probably eight or nine, but honestly, it came out so badly that I put knitting aside for a few years and crocheted instead. For me, using one hand was just easier (same reason that I never got very far with piano lessons – couldn’t get both hands to operate independently at the same time!) so for me, crochet was my hobby along with sewing for a very long time… I didn’t really embrace knitting until midway through high school, when finally I got the hang of two needles!
I rarely knit for myself – for me, crafting is a way of connecting, which is also what I do in my professional life – I connect people to issues and ideas via television. Today I knit gifts for others; I recently finished a baby blanket in Snow Everyday and a set of booties and cap in Soft White Alpaca Dance (a girl at my office is having a baby in October.) I have made blankets for all my kids and many of my nieces’ kids – right now I have a pretty lace stitch cowl on my needles. It’s my new Everyday Heathers color in Red Heather – really, really pretty.
The one thing I really like about crafting – knit, crochet, whatever – is when you are making a project, you are almost always thinking of the recipient and what their reaction will be and how they will think of you. As I tell people to whom I give my gifts, there is love in every stitch. What we say for Deborah Norville yarn is “a Smile in Every Stitch.”
Serenity Collection
S&U: When you were younger your sewing talent helped you win pageants. Do you still sew? Aside from knitting, what other crafts do you enjoy?
DN: I won only one contest… it was my local Junior Miss and I was too shy to sing in public so it was a toss-up for the talent competition of either twirling an 8 foot flag pole (which I did in the band) or showing off my sewing skills. I figured more people wore clothes than twirled poles so I went with sewing.
Other crafts, you name it: I used to do hooked rugs. I come from Dalton, GA, which is where the wall-to-wall carpet industry was founded, so I had access to awesome FREE yarn. I did tons of macramé – belts, hangings, plant hangers, etc. Needlepoint was another passion. I used to use craft yarn to do bargello – wool yarns were out of my budget so I bought cheap-o yarns at the dollar store and used that. I recently found a needlepoint pillow I had done for my dad many years ago (he recently passed away.)… Really about the only kind of needlework that I haven’t done is tatting. I do have my grandmother’s tatting shutters – beautiful wood, not the cheap plastic stuff they sell now – but my attention span is just too short for me to take that on!
And of course, sewing, which honestly is probably my greatest love. Sewing has been so good to me. It opened the door to my career. When I started my career, being able to sew allowed me to “look” the part that I couldn’t afford. I made so little money in the early days of my TV career, I couldn’t even buy fabric unless it was on the markdown table. Many of my earliest publicity pictures are of me wearing homemade clothes. The “interview suit” that got me my job in Chicago was one I made by hand (horsehair lining – a work of art really!) My bridesmaids’ dresses were all made by me by hand. My first baby’s room was all done by me. Many of the drapes in my city apartment and country house were all made by me… My sewing machine is always set up, always ready. And while I don’t have the time to sit down at it very often, I know when I do, I will always walk away from it feeling good.
A big thanks to Deborah for taking the time to chat with us, and be sure to come back again next Monday for the second part of this interview, where she’ll tell us all about her favorite projects to make and how her crafting has evolved over time.
Can’t get enough of Deborah Norville’s yarn collection from Premier Yarns? Enter to win this Assorted Deborah Norville Yarn Bundle!
One lucky winner will receive 10 skeins of Deborah Norville Yarn: 2 skeins Cotton Soft Silk in Petal Pink and Aubergine, 2 skeins Saturate in Granite, 2 skeins Everyday Soft Worsted in Glass, 2 skeins Alpaca Dance – 1 in Piazza, 1 in Artichoke, 2 skeins Serenity Chunky Weight in Puppy Dog Tails and one Premier Tote Bag. The deadline to enter is October 28, 2015 at 11:59 PM EST.
How old were you when you learned to knit or crochet?
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