The second episode of the ‘Following the Thread’ podcast has something for everyone! COVER editor Lucy Upward kicks things off by guiding us through her recent trip to Doha, delving into the ‘Weaving Poems’ installation by Maryam Omar at Design Doha, who she interviewed for this episode. Lucy then picks up on one of the defining themes of the upcoming issue of COVER: ‘Women in Rug Design’. She speaks to Bonnie Sutton of Knots Rugs, Nicole Samad of Samad Rugs and Dorothy Bourne of Christopher Farr about how women have only recently started to be taken seriously in an industry historically dominated by men.

The HALI section of this episode features editor Ben Evans interviewing Sheila Fruman, author of Pull of the Thread which is published by Hali Publications. The book has proved immensely popular, and the pair discuss why readers are so enraptured by the untold stories of textile travellers that capture the freedom of the post-World War II era. HALI’s Rachel Meek concludes the episode by previewing the upcoming ‘Decorative Arts of Iberia’ HALI tour with tour leader Gijs van Hensbergen. ‘Following the Thread: Episode 02’ is now available to stream below on SoundCloud and Spotify.