GG has gained popularity on Instagram (check out her account) over the last few years as a “fiber influencer.” But that’s not really what she likes to be called.
In fact, she refers to herself as a Yarnho.
No, really!
Maybe it’s best to let GG explain it: “So many people who send me messages that say don't call yourself a ho. And I’m like ‘guys it’s not that serious.’ Like seriously yarn is my pimp so figuratively I am a ho. I’ve spent money that I should've paid a bill for on yarn. Am I standing on the corner for yarn? It didn't get that far.”
Did we mention that sitting down with GG also made us laugh?!
GG explained to us why she doesn’t feel like an influencer. There’s a reputation that influencers promote products that they are paid to promote, whereas GG only likes to promote things that she legitimately loves.
And perhaps that’s why everyone (including the Team Beans) loves GG so much. The authenticity and “normalcy” that makes her feel like a friend when you’ve never even met her.
“I know that they trust me. I know I have built a community they know, like, and trust. They know me, they like me, they trust me,” GG said. “So they know if I’m going goo-goo-ga-ga over something, I am sincerely from the bottom of my orange heart going goo-goo-ga-ga over it.”
GG said even though she’s been a knitter for at least a decade there are still techniques that scare her so she really is just like every other knitter out there.
And her advice for new knitters?
“Go at it with an open mind--as a people, we compare ourselves. And we all do this. We have a tendency to compare that steals our joy. Whatever you decide whether its knitting or crocheting, get in your lane and stay there. You can’t compare your chapter one to someone else’s chapter 20,” GG said.
And chatting with GG made us tear up.
GG said she learned to crochet first at summer camp when she was a kid, and then later on while working at a Verizon call center one of her coworkers taught her how to knit. She said that knitting became her solace especially after she lost both her parents and her 20+ year job in 2012.
“I knit to keep from falling apart. I wrapped my heart in yarn. When I cried, I knit. When I couldn’t sleep, I knit. When I got tired of answering people’s questions, I knit. Those that have been around me for a long time, they’ll say ‘you’ve made five things in two days what’s wrong? Because you’re knitting like a psychopath.’ It became a coping mechanism,” GG said.
And maybe the entire reason you’re here is to find out the burning question: Why is orange GG’s favorite color?
She said that in the African American community, individuals with darker complexions are treated less than and told not to wear brighter colors.
“I hid the fact that orange was my favorite color most of my life because of the way that I was raised. And once I got older, I realized that life is too short. I lost my parents and my job at the same damn time, I’m going to wear my orange and if someone doesn’t like it that’s their business. I think that’s why there’s such an overload with it, I think that if I had worn orange my whole life it wouldn’t be as intense,” she continued. “If I was allowed to outwardly express my love of orange without having to deal with the stigma that came with my dark skin I probably wouldn’t as intense as I am with it. So when people say ‘does everything have to be orange?’ I’m like ‘yeah kinda. And if you got a problem with that, turn your head.’”
To honor GG’s love of tangerine tones, our sister company, Madelinetosh collaborated with GG on her exclusive colorway, “GG Loves Orange.” She also worked with our Design Dutchess, Amy Gunderson, on the Orange Love Poncho, which has some fancy bobbles, wandering cables, and is available for purchase on Ravelry.
We felt incredibly inspired after talking with GG! Even the reasons behind why she calls her brand “GGMadeIt” are uplifting. She said it means both whatever you purchase from her is handmade by GG and secondly, it means she made it--life threw everything at her all at once and GG. Made. It.
