our guest for episode 5 is amanda barcenas! amanda and her husband alberto raise romneys, lincoln longwools, and romeldale/cvm sheep in stockbridge, massachusetts in the heart of the berkshires. amanda's passion is raising their sheep for wool and educating about rare breeds and wool as a sustainable and beneficial product. two years ago, they opened a yarn and wool shop in stockbridge where the focus is on supporting other shepherds, natural dyers, and celebrating breed specific and small batch farm yarns. you can find them online at pradodelana.com and on instagram @pradodelana.

our guest for episode 4 is patty ryan lee! patty is the witch, tarot reader and web developer behind the fiery well, the only tech and business support space just for service based witches. you can find her online at thefierywell.com and getonlinewitch.com and on instagram @thefierywell.

our guest for episode 3 is christa whiteman! christa is a clinical herbalist working to help folks with gut issues, hormone imbalances and autoimmune disease find help & health through herbs. with her true home in the forests and fields, she works to connect folks with nature and its healing wisdom. you can find her online at wildwomanherbalist.com and on instagram @wild_woman_herbalist.

our guest for episode 2 is casey ryder! casey is the owner of portfiber, a fiber arts supply shop in portland, maine. she is also the distributor of cashmere people yarns, a women-run business made up of hand-spinners, dyers, and fiber producers in tajikistan and afghanistan. non-work-life casey loves to listen to music, dance, cook food, and be with sweet humans. you can find her online at portfiber.com and on instagram @portfiber.

welcome to season 2 of the snort & cackle podcast! today, your host ash alberg will be talking about the ritual of knitting and how #knitwitch life manifests in every aspect of their life (at least when shit's healthy). as we head into deep winter here in the northern hemisphere, aka rest season/hibernation mode according to our ancestors, rituals shift and become even more important as we have less sunlight to structure our days and guide our work. ash talks about being a seasonal creature, the constant search for balance (does that even exist?), and how making as a love language helps to make the winter holiday season a little more enjoyable.

season 1 of snort & cackle is coming to an end, which means it's time for the #snortandcacklebookclub book review! today ash is going over "witchcraft in early modern poland 1500-1800" by wanda wyporska. they'll be taking a deep dive into this very academic look at polish witchcraft history and place it within some context of pre-christian practices within the region. if your hot take of early modern european witchcraft trials is that they were usually highly gendered and influenced by class, economic downturn, conflict, and environmental catastrophe, you're not wrong. but what (if anything) else is under the surface?

our guest for episode 12 is amina haswell! amina is a winnipeg based broomsquire (the official term for broom-maker) and the creative director and owner of prairie breeze folk arts studio (pbfas). pbfas is an artisan driven home décor and household essentials company, specializing in quality crafted brooms, brushes and other household essentials. amina was first drawn to the art of broom-making in 2011, attending various institutions in the US for in-depth training opportunities in folk arts. since then, she has been honing her skills in the folk-art form of broom-making, sharing ideas and collaborating with broom makers across canada and the us. amina also teaches the art form/trade to others which allows her to experiment and develop new techniques. amina is inspired by colour and fibers and so broom-making seemed like a natural fit.

our guest for episode 11 is françoise danoy! you may also know them as aroha knits. françoise is a franco-māori american australian knitwear designer and design coach living in san antonio, texas. they transform their stories into stitches and help other aspiring designers to do the same through the yarn alchemist collective as well as swatch studio circle. frenchie has also recently joined the ranks of natural dye nerds and sells their naturally dyed yarn with seasonal shop updates. you can find them online at arohaknits.com and on instagram @arohaknits.

our guest for episode 10 is sj jones! sj is a fibre artist who lives at pheasant ridge farm, a small subsistence homestead located on the rugged shores of the minas basin in pisiguit, mi’kma’ki (nova scotia). sj is a graduate student in the history department at dalhousie university where they are researching the relationship between folklore and contemporary regenerative agricultural practices, in the context of traditional shepherding and wool production in the maritime provinces. you can find them on instagram @pheasant.ridge.farm.

our guest for episode 9 is angie flynn-mciver! angie is a coach whose area of specialty is communication skills. her work centers on helping clients create intentional and effective communication. her 2021 book, before you say anything, describes a new and innovative approach to connecting, creating results, and feeling confident about how you communicate. angie's company, ignite csp: coaching/speaking/presenting, coaches leaders to be more effective and intentional by focusing on how they communicate their vision and message. the company works all over over the united states and internationally. angie comes to her coaching work from a lifetime spent in theater as a director and producer.

our guest for episode 8 is megan samms! megan is a weaver, natural dyer, farmer, gardener, medicine maker, chicken wrangler, puppy parent, artist, apiarist, and generally magical human. they live on their home territory in katalisk sipu in ktaqmkuk with their partner, where they run katalisk sipu gardens, local markets, and currently are in the process of building out their land to support an on-site artist residency. megan is one of my all-time favourite people and a constant inspiration, and also happens to have a very good collection of tattoos. you can find megan online at livetextiles.online and on instagram @livetextiles.

our guest for episode 7 is maggie smith! maggie is a maker, baker, and birthworker who lives in rural midcoast maine. she runs flax & sage, a small business making bespoke linen garments for all bodies. she also spins, knits, and dreams of one day having a flock of sheep. maggie loves moss, mushrooms, and memes, and educates small children in her day job. you can find her online at flaxandsage.com and on instagram @flaxandsage.

our guest for episode 6 is sheila masterson! sheila is a philadelphia based career and business tarot reader and teacher, energy healing facilitator, and host of the living tarot podcast. she has been reading people her whole life and “hearing” energy since she was a young child. she believes that everyone has the ability to connect deeply to their intuition and that tarot is an excellent tool for learning to trust yourself and learn to hear your own inner voice.

our guest for episode 5 is davis carr! davis is a consulting astrologer and tarot reader based in the traditional and unceded territory of the algonquin nation (ottawa, canada). davis uses ancient astrological techniques to help fellow creative, burnt-out, over-achieving humans connect to their core, authentic self, so that they can stop questioning who they are, and instead lean into their strengths and authentic nature. her tarot readings provide the clarity, objectivity and guidance her clients need to move forward, make important decisions, or simply get some reassurance that they are on the right path. davis writes a monthly astrology forecast, which provides practical tips & guidance for surviving/thriving under the current astro-sky. you can find her online at meridiantarot.com and on instagram @meridiantarot.

our guest for episode 4 is kalea turner-beckman! kalea is a textile maker and natural dyer living on treaty 6 territory in edmonton. as a self proclaimed luddite, kalea owns a local yarn brand, producing yarns from sheep to skein that are dyed using home grown dye plants, kitchen and garden waste, and foraged weeds.

our guest for episode 3 is winifred costello! winifred is an visionary healer, reiki master teacher, tarot reader, mentor and witch. she is the founder and facilitator of the witching well, an online magickal community for earth-centered seekers who are ready to grow their spiritual practice in sustainable, accessible and authentic ways. she is the proprietress of awentree, an online witch shop, that was originally founded as a brick & mortar back in 2006 and recently transitioned to be fully online during the pandemic.

our guest for episode 2 is ana campos! ana is a brazilian shamanic witch, tarot teacher and reader, and fiber witch. she owns circle of stitches in salem, massachusetts where she explores the intersection between witchcraft and the fiber arts. you can find her online at circleofstitches.com and on instagram @circlestitches.

welcome to the snort & cackle podcast! meet your host, ash alberg of sunflower knit, in today's inaugural episode. ash is a natural dyer and knitwear designer by profession, and by life they are a queer femme, fibre witch, hedgewitch, and parent to the resident coven pooch, willow.