E62 - Guest Kim Davis
Unravel the secrets!
It's a True Crime Not to Have a Creative Process
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[00:00:00] Welcome creative friends to another episode of create today with Beth Buffington. I love having really interesting guests come on and talk to you about their creativity today. I have a special treat for you. I am bringing in Kim Davis. She is a Knitter extraordinaire, and she has an amazing podcast called Slaycation about true crime that she will share with you as well.
Kim is really going to bring in some interesting ideas about creativity and how you can use it to keep your energy and confidence. at high levels. Kim, I am so excited to have you here today. Welcome to Create Today with Beth Buffington.
Oh, thank you so much, Beth, for having me. I will say that those words are my favorite words. [00:01:00] Create today. I think that, it's what we do, it's how we it, We're doing it right, we should live our lives.
It's something that you just can't help doing every day.
Exactly.
I need to have everyone understand just how you're balancing knitting and true crime. So let's start with just giving everyone an idea of your background and how you came to have the creative passions that we've just talked about.
It's interesting.
I You know, I went to school for dance. I initially was very much into theater acting. And following school, I did a little bit of that. and as I was getting older, it was coming to a place where I still wanted to act, I still wanted to perform.
But I knew I didn't have the temperament for saying waiting table. So I had gotten a job [00:02:00] working in a social service setting in research department, and this work had me working and following women with addictions and women who were struggling with addictions, homelessness. and issues surrounding parenting.
At that time, I believe one of the shelters at this particular agency was, the only facility that allowed women in recovery have their children with them. So that was a special thing. So I got very involved in doing that while still dancing, acting, and doing all of those different things.
And it would actually be through these endeavors that I would meet my husband. I had met my husband. I was working lights in a in a video that was [00:03:00] being recorded in a theater. And I was working lights and he was doing the cameras. So he and I met. And we got together, and cut to seven years later, we got married, and by this time I was mostly working in the field of social work, and mostly doing that with the occasional acting gig, the occasional gig of working in theater.
And I, that was the thing too. I loved all things theater. I loved being a part of the background of stage managing, of helping the artists get ready for the show. I liked being in the show. I just loved the environment. So I was still doing that and I was still working in the, in that particular field.
At a certain point, I began working in a shelter, a crisis shelter for women struggling with domestic violence, fleeing domestic [00:04:00] violence. And I began to do that work as well. And then my husband and I had a baby. And it, and at this time, I, Washome with this baby and I was not at this point planning to return to social work because social work, as I'm sure everybody can imagine, is grueling and it's, it can be inhospitable and it's not known for you're not getting paid.
Like so much money that it, you know, so it, at that point I just decided and my husband and I decided that I would center our daughter and focus on raising her. And I did that. But I will say that it was strange. And the thing that became abundantly clear to me was that I was needing.
something that [00:05:00] was just for me. And don't get me wrong. I loved my daughter and I was very grateful to have that time with her. I would do it again, but at this time I'm not acting, I'm not doing any of those things. So there was a void.
It was a real void. And I knew how to crochet. That was something I could do. and I could knit. I knew the basics. in like my quest for feeding that part of me, I just found myself, I don't even know Beth, if it was something that I said, I'm gonna really get into this knitting and crochet game.
I just found myself just Consuming it anywhere, everywhere I could, I would rap on my baby. I would find the nearest knitting shop. And suddenly I found myself [00:06:00] just there looking at the books, talking to the owner looking at videos. And when I could taking every class that was available to
me
and suddenly I was.
Knitting and crocheting like a maniac,
like a true maniac. I love that. And I, it was just the most amazing thing when I look back on it. And I even look at some of the things that I created back then. I realized that I wasn't even so concerned with how good I was. Yeah, I wasn't that saved me because if I had been I would have stopped. I would have said, What am I doing? But I didn't do that. [00:07:00] I was so like, I need to do this. And I'm doing it.
Yes. I love what you've said. And we've talked about this on the podcast so much that Creativity isn't about the work you produce. It's about the experience you have in creating what you're curious about.
And every now and again, as you're just creating, you'll look up and you'll go, Oh my gosh, look what I just made. That's it. This is amazing. And so one out of a hundred things is going to be a masterpiece. And then 99 of those things, maybe you should just have a big bonfire. Exactly. And that's okay.
Yeah. And that's okay. Because did you have fun making all those things? And then the only reason you made that masterpiece is because you learned so much from the crap you made. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes. That is the journey, and it's one of those things that I can't emphasize enough to my crafting friends or those that are curious, but, [00:08:00] or I'm not any good with that stuff.
I don't have fine motor skills, da. And I am here to tell you none of that matters. None of that matters when I, no, it doesn't. It really doesn't. None of that matters. so that became like a real central focus for me, and I will tell you it was life saving because I think it made me so that I was able to be what I, hope was a very present, a very loving mother.
Because I had this, that was mine.
I think so many moms are like you were before you had your baby. You were so busy. You had you had several different kinds of jobs and they were all time consuming and thought consuming. And then you have this baby. And your life comes to a skidding halt.
And now you're the [00:09:00] caregiver of something that you're not even sure you can keep alive because you've just killed seven plants last month, right? And so you are home alone with someone that can't talk to you that has a lot of needs. Who is crying and all you think you want to do for a while is like, just cry back with them because exactly, like maybe life is over as
you knew it and exactly.
And it was, and the thing too, that I should, just being honest, I was very ambivalent about motherhood. I was never that woman dreamt of having babies and was like, But I knew that I was responsible for giving this baby the very best life that I could possibly and be the very best parent that I could.
And and that's the other thing too. It sounds crazy, but
having [00:10:00] that creative outlet, I really felt was instrumental in giving me the space to be the parent that I envisioned when I decided
Yeah. Yeah. I think that is, those are wise words that so many moms need to hear that it is okay for you to do something for yourself. Absolutely. Even when you take on the responsibility of being a parent.
In fact I encourage it. Yep. And I also love that you were brave enough to say that you are ambivalent about being a parent because you know what? I think so many moms believe that as soon as that baby's born, they're great with babies. And sometimes moms are better with older kids and you just have to deal with those until they're old enough to talk with you.
Exactly. And that is why I truly believe that it is a gift from above [00:11:00] that children have no memory of their babyhood. Amen. Amen.
No, look, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yep.
And that is about the time you think, oh, maybe I'm not such a bad parent that they start having memories of I remember we used to always.
And you're like, Oh yeah, you don't remember me. Melting down when you
wouldn't sleep at three o'clock in the morning. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So that was the thing too. It, and that's the thing like about being creative is having that for yourself because it truly is for you.
So I can see your background is very interesting.
And that the fact that you really had to do quite a large pivots. After your baby was born and that discovering your passion for not just oh, I, I knit while I watch television or I crochet something,
but
that you said, Oh, I am going out to the stores. I'm going to learn some stuff and talk to people.
I know that [00:12:00] from what you wrote to me in your questionnaire that. You took your knitting to a new level. Can you explain a little bit about how you started making your own patterns and and doing workshops?
It was one of those things where I, where if there was something knitting related going on, crochet related going on, I was there.
I was there. And I had become such a fixture. In my local knitting shop like the woman is one of my closest friends today and we're talking over 20 years now if she had a workshop, I was there, I was in it, I was attending it. it was like I was hungry.
It was like, I needed more. I needed more. It was like, oh, you're doing an interlock thing. Oh, I'm in. Oh, we're doing magic loop. I'm in.
I just wanted to be there to do it. then suddenly I just found myself [00:13:00] making these amazing things. And then suddenly people were saying to me, Oh my God, did you make this? Yes. Did you do this? Yes. And then suddenly I realized that I've gotten to be quite skilled at this.
And then what happened was the woman that who owned the shop, was looking for somebody to take over the beginning knitting class. And she asked me if I would do it. And I. Was like, hell yeah, there
let me just say this. It was the, it was a wonderful opportunity for me to share what I had with somebody else and [00:14:00] to give that to them to say, Hey, you see this string, you too could make something this straight.
Yes. When you're able to give back and teach other people the passion that you have around something that you have found as such a lifeline, it is really fulfilling.
It's almost sometimes as exciting as finishing some amazing project. Yes. helping people be creators, become creators, become knitters.
It is just one of the most amazing feelings of my life. When I would get like a email from a student that would show me, look at what I made. I can't even tell you the joy that it would, that, that it brings me. It just was [00:15:00] amazing. , I, I get chills when I think about it.
It's beautiful. Yeah, it's it is. And one of the things that I would say to my students iswe're working on technique. I do not want you to think of this as anything but practice. Just think of doing it is the exercise of the motion. Don't worry about anything else. Don't worry about judging the piece. Worry about doingbecause what I wanted to do was take that pressure
off, right? Take off the responsibility of this has to be perfect.
Yes.
And this is not perfect. It's practice. Exactly. And practice is just for fun. And exactly. The more you do, the better you get.
But you don't get better if you're always worried and paralyzed by thinking everything you have to do needs to be perfect.
Exactly. And even like creating your own patterns it comes in a sense, like it's so [00:16:00] simple. I will look at a pattern and I'll go, Oh, I like this pattern.
I don't really like the neckline.
neck. It's those simple adjustments that make a difference. Yeah,
I think so many people think, Oh, you're talking about something completely unique. That's never been done at all, anywhere in the entire universe.
Nothing has ever entirely. Innovate exactly. It is based off of lots of different things and you're just putting your own spin on it and then it becomes your own.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And that's what it is.
Yeah. So now I want to do a little, like this almost like a one 80 let's, yes, let's move from knitting to true crime for a little bit.
Let's talk about. Your other creative passion. How did that happen? How did you get [00:17:00] interested in true crime? And then how did you decide that maybe that was something that you wanted to look into and share on your own?
So the thing with me is I really enjoy reading.
Me too. Yes. And the thing about me that's always been true is I've always been interested in nonfiction, mostly true crime. my husband will tell the story that when we started dating and he first walked into my apartment and he noticed that I had just a shell of all these.
Serial killers, mass murderers, he was like flummoxed. He was like, Oh my God, you've got a whole library here. Is there something you want
to tell
me? Exactly. Yeah, I was reading, books about Ted Bundy. I was reading about the Green River killer before it was [00:18:00] identified as Gary Ridgeway before DNA.
That's, I'm old school, before Discovery ID, And so cut two years later, my husband is he has podcasts out. He works on a popular children's podcast that he and his partner created. And he also, works on producing, television shows, cable shows. And he was thinking about a show called Slaycation that he thought would be interesting.
And he just happened to be talking to me about it, and the idea which is mysterious deaths, and disappearances while on vacation. And I just rattled off a couple of cases that I just knew off the top of my head from
all you're reading. Yeah.
Exactly. And he was just like, Oh my God, we should do a true crime podcast.
Yeah.
But yeah. [00:19:00] Cause I think you're not the only one interested in true crime. And I'm always surprised when I'm talking to a friend and they start telling me the podcasts they listen to. And so many of them are. About true crime, there, I don't know what it is about that, that we're so mystified and curious and want to know more.
I am curious about people. I love to talk to people. I love to hear their stories. I love to hear where they came from. I love to figure out how they tick.
I love for them to tell me what makes them tick. And the thing that I find very curious about these, murderers I'm always on a quest to Make sense of what you can't really make sense of. But, it is always been something that makes me wonder why would someone do that? [00:20:00] And, I don't know. I, maybe it's my interest in social work, psychology, whatever, but it's always been something that I've tried to investigate, if you will. And all I can say is that it continues to present day.
Yeah I know I told you before we started recording that my grandmother was fascinated with true crime. And she was the nicest person, I loved my grandma, super funny, really kind. And yet her bookcase was filled with all of these serial killers.
why did she have this fascination? I don't know. It never showed up in, in her life, like during the day. That's what she gravitated to. and I know that is not uncommon for a lot of people.
It's just. It's just a fascination.
It really is a fascination. It really is.
So in listening to [00:21:00] Slaycation, what I liked about your podcast is that you help the listener actually feel like they are where the incident, the event took place. Yes. When you're explaining in your most recent one about the Shenandoah Park.
Yes.
I loved all the information that you gave about the park. I've been there and it, and when you were explaining it, it made me think, we need to go back.
Oh, I'm so glad to hear.
Yeah. So I think that it is that here is paradise. Vacation,
you choose somewhere you really want to go and you plan on having a good time while you're there. And then something just doesn't quite go as planned, right? So I love how you are explaining all of that. On top of learning about something that happened you also find out a great [00:22:00] spot to maybe go on vacation.
Exactly. Exactly. I do like to try to bring that into, to focus. I'm like, this is where we're going. So come with me. And
I know when we were in the Grand Canyon, there is a book about mysterious disappearances Of people who are in the canyon who like went on a walk and they never came back and they right, it happens. And you can't help but go, Ooh, tell me more. You just can't help it. I don't know what it is about human nature, but we want to know why or right. So what I love about the fact that you're a knitter and you're making your own knitting patterns and you're teaching knitting.
And now you've got this podcast. Tell everyone a little bit about how you find a passion. that is creative in how you're going about putting together your podcast. Does that make sense?
It does. It makes perfect sense it's one of those things [00:23:00] where I didn't wake up and go, Oh, I am going to tell a story.
That's what I do. And that's what I think about when I'm researching. How can I make this interesting? How can I make this engaging to my listener? How can I make it so that they want to hear more? The other thing too, that I really want to drive home is just the story the people to the forefront
and
try to center them as. Individuals and as people and have their story be told
I feel like I, the memory of Lolly, I honor the memory of Julie, by telling your story and by seeing if there's ways in which we can [00:24:00] share with our audience what they can do. In a situation like this, what can they do moving forward in their lives? They want to go camping.
What can they do? How can we help them protect themselves? How can we help them move in this world more safe,
more
protected, so I really try to approach every case from that perspective. what can we learn from this story? What can we bring to our audience? How are you finding the stories?
are they something that you've actually heard from like a conversation you're having at a dinner party or at the coffee shop or just out in public? Surprised
everywhere. First of all, a lot of the cases are cases
that I remembered. A lot of it is People recommending cases. Now that we've got the show, people are like, Oh, can you do this case?
Oh, can you do that? So we get a lot of recommendations. And one of [00:25:00] the things that I had done, or when we was talking about actually doing the show was to just look at what's out there and was horrified, but curious that there's actually a lot of material. And I actually have this database. Of names of potential cases and stories that are waiting to be told.
So tell me when you're working on something creative, I know that I have a feeling that I get when I.
get to work on a project? Do you know what I mean? Do you get that same feeling when you're doing a knitting project as you do when you are working towards your next episode with your podcast? Or is it different, that feeling that you get?
No, I'll tell you the, there's a sort of I guess you could say reverence. And a seriousness that comes with the work on the [00:26:00] podcast. Because I'm always mindful that these are people's lives. Yes. And that, I'm always aware that I need to honor the life of these people that have suffered, struggled.
so The feeling that I get is, I guess you could say it's different in that the high is a little different if you will, for lack of a better term, because Each story, it's a different story, and how do I make this story different than the last 10 stories?
How do I center this person in this story in a way that differentiates my other stories? And that to me is very creative. And I will say, as a, I consider myself a creative person, so there is like this rush that goes through me. Yeah, that I'm like, Oh my God. And when I think that like I've hit on something or that I've done something, it's just yeah, that's it.[00:27:00]
Yeah. That's, that isa real true, feeling when you
yes. Breakthrough. Yes. there's no better high.
Yeah. Okay. let's talk a little bit about just how, in order to do any creative challenge, there has to be a combination. of energy to get you through the project and then confidence that you can actually get to what it is you want to finish. Because when you're working on a knitting project and you're saying, a lot of your knitting is just like practicing this.
I'm going to just check out this. And then every now and again, you go, this turned out great. But when you're doing a podcast you know that you've got a schedule, you want to have a podcast ready on a certain schedule. And so every time you start something, it has to have a successful finish.
Exactly. How do you [00:28:00] balance your energy and your confidence, the energy to keep going and reach a deadline and your confidence that I've got something to share that's worthwhile. I'm proud to set this out. How do you keep that rolling and how do you keep it at the ready and keep it steady?
An excellent
question, Beth, and I will say that's probably one of the biggest challenges, but having said that, what I realized is that the more I do it, the more I figure out like, One of the first things that I will start to do is. Say today is the day. I'm just going to collect information.
I'm gonna just collect information. I'm going to read. I'm going to research. I'm going to listen to books. and I make sure that I give myself plenty of time, which [00:29:00] I find for me is the key, So what I really try not to do is be up against it.
I always try to be ahead of the game.
I always try to be well, I've recorded this yesterday, but I've already started doing research on this. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. And so just making sure that I have something in the pipe,
I gather that information And then I understand there comes that point where now I have to hunker down. Yeah. Do the work. Yes, exactly. Yeah. And it's providing for myself.
And what I find very helpful with this project is with this process. Is finding a place to do that.
Yeah,
and making the space so it could be. I'm going to have the lights just right. I'm going to make sure that nobody disturbs me. I'm going to light a scented candle. I'm going to have ice water with lemon right here.
[00:30:00] My cup of coffee and I'm there. Yes. You know what I'm saying? I totally do. Yeah. Yep. I totally do. Exactly. And that I find exhilarating because it's I'm going to do it. I know I'm going to do it and I know I'm going to do it well. And I have that inner dialogue with myself where I say that, where I begin every new endeavor with my show.
I'm going to do this and I'm going to do it well. I'm going to tell this story. And I think that's important. And I think it's important that we give ourselves that encouragement, that we back talk the naysayers in our head. Indeed. Oh, I know those loud inner voices.
Exactly. They have a megaphone. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I find that it's important to, take breaks. I will set the timer and Oh, okay, then I'll take a [00:31:00] break. I'll get up. I'll stretch my legs.
But I find that having a little system has been instrumental in this process. and just recognizing this is what I need for myself. So how do I create that? So I'm very happy to be able to talk with you about this, because if I can put it out there and give people this idea of wanting to start something new or take on a new endeavor or learn something that they can go she did that.
You know what? Let me try it. Let me begin by tomorrow creating a space for myself to do it. I'm going to set up my little, castle with my coffee and my ice water, whatever it is that makes it a hospitable place for you.
Yep. Everything you've just said is just yes.
And yes,
exactly. I
I think so many [00:32:00] creatives just don't know what to do with their time and they get overwhelmed by the picture, right? Yes. Yes. I've broken down my creative process into four steps that are interchangeable and can be done together.
And, but it's up to you to decide where you need to be. And it's four steps that allow you to do some resting. So realization, refining, which is doing the work and then release, which is put your tools down and be brave enough to let your work out into the world to do what it was supposed to do.
Because a lot of creatives. Are afraid to let their work go so they never stop tweaking something right
That's right
Yes if you're a writer every preposition needs to get changed right that's right I think it should be for and not about no I think it should be to and not with and then if you're an artist you're just like blending a little bit over here if you're a digital artist you're just tweaking something a couple pixels to the left and to the right but you need to [00:33:00] just say enough.
It's good enough. Let's let it loose. Let's see what happens when I let it out into the world.
Exactly.
And then the fact that you are saying I'm going to take a break. You have to know how to revive yourself and you need to keep that energy flowing.
Exactly. And if you've been working like a couple hours, you do need to get up and stretch your legs. and then come back. And sometimes anything that you were really stuck on suddenly is like, boom, exactly.
Do you ever find that? You'll be like, and then you put it away and you're like, you know what? I'm done for the night. And then you come back and you have fresh eyes and it's a totally different experience.
Totally fresh eyes. Yeah. One of another phase in my process is called realize, and that is just collecting.
And we were talking about like how you find your ideas. You always have that going on somewhere in the background. And there could be an entire day where you're [00:34:00] just researching and collecting. Exactly. So the thing you said that was really important for people to understand is that you're not looking at when it's time to do a podcast, you're not looking at the whole thing.
You're like, sometimes I just do research, I'm just reading and that's okay. And it's those taking those little steps, like what is the next step you need to do? And then just focus on that. That's all you need to do today.
Exactly. Exactly. And look, we're so fortunate because, in this age of, look, I, when I, it's funny.
I laugh because I tell my daughter, you know, yeah, when I went to college. Research was going to the library and going through
books that you couldn't take home. You couldn't take a picture with your phone. You were writing stuff down. It was,
it
was
hard. Girl, [00:35:00] it was. It was hard. Like we got an education.
so I really just. Enjoy the, again, like research could be finding articles and all the newspapers in that area. Research could be downloading a book on Audible and listening to the book while you go about your day. And that's one of the, ways that I've come to really like you said, just collect.
Look for ideas, stay open, stay on the lookout. Then I also loved how you said, and then there's times where I just know I have to shut the doors, get my coffee, my ice water, light the candle and do the work.
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. It's I got to hunker down, I got to put pen to paper. Yeah. And. Get it done.
Cause you can spend a lot of time buying art supplies [00:36:00] and just doing all the prep stuff. And you look really busy, but if you don't sit down to do the work, you're not getting the work done. And then you are never going to practice and you're never going to eventually have that masterpiece happen.
right? You're absolutely right.
when you think about it, Beth, those moments when we are hunkering down Putting pen to paper or whatever it is, paint to, you are your stillest and your quietest, but that is when the most is happening, right?
Yeah. Yes. if there are listeners today who are thinking, I am just starting knitting. I am just starting crocheting, or, I've had a very huge interest in something with true crime or with podcasting. Oh, look at the huge gamut we have here. [00:37:00] What kind of advice do you give to someone who is curious on that?
Maybe I could Scale.
The first thing I would say is check it out. Look into it. If you are interested and say I would like to do a true crime podcast. I'm curious about that. Think about what you would like to talk about in a true crime podcast. Think about what you want your messaging to be.
Think about, What types of stories you want to tell, I think that's a great place to start. That's a great place to start. And I think like even with crafting,
if you started knitting and you just want to take it to the next level or you're curious about knitting, one of the things that I would always tell my students especially when I was doing the beginner class, [00:38:00] I would do a little lecture and I would talk to them about how right now we're just doing, what we're doing is we're doing exercise, think of knitting as an exercise, don't think about making the sweater, don't think about the hat, and I would say, and if you come away from this class with anything else this day, Come away with understanding that knitting and I think it applies with almost everything else, but I would say to them knitting is 10 percent technique and 90 percent desire.
It's so true. Yes. Yes. Yes. I think you're so right. And when you're talking about like a podcast and you're interested in a topic, when you go into podcast land and you start looking at everyone else that's doing what you're thinking about doing, the first thing you're going to do is go, there's no room for me.
[00:39:00] Everyone is doing the thing I think I want to do.
Exactly.
So what you're charged with is how can you bring your personality to the thing that makes you hungry, the thing that you cannot stop thinking about, because if you can't stop thinking about it, then you need to get it out. And there is other people that need to know what you know about the things that you can't stop thinking about.
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. And when you were talking about your knitting, when you got interested in knitting, you couldn't help it, but go to the knitting store and talk to the owner and find out every single workshop she was doing. So that's the other thing is just get in front of the people who are doing the stuff you want to do.
Exactly. And you will find, you will find that there are people that want to share with you. Exactly. Exactly.
Oh, yeah.
Yes,
they will.
They will. Yeah. Some of the [00:40:00] most meaningful relationships I have are with people that I've worked with knitting and crocheting.
I can't remember if you said before or after we started recording that the person at your knit shop that you were always at, she's become a really good friend of yours, right?
Yes.
Yes.
So that happens because kindred spirits can't help but just become friends. Yeah.
No, exactly. Exactly. Because there is that connection.
Yeah. Yes.
It was amazing.
So I, I love the advice that you give is, get out there and just explore. Exactly. and then figure out, okay, what is unique and authentic about what you do?
Because everyone. is different and has a different personality. And so I think that could be a really interesting way for someone to do a little research is okay, of the six or seven or 10 or 20 podcasts that you're listening to [00:41:00] how are they different? How is the personality of that podcaster bringing something different to the table?
Otherwise you would listen to so many different ones. No,
it's true. And understand that every single podcast is different.
Yeah. Yeah. I love listening to podcasts about creativity and everyone has a different way of approaching the stuff I'm curious about.
exactly.
It's the same thing. So if you're curious and you're ready to share there's something about your personality that is going to bring some unique authenticity to the table and absolutely,
Absolutely.
I think like when you get out there and you start to really pull up your sleeves I know for me, there was like an electricity, like a charge, because it's just I'm going to do this. And I just say, lean into that.
Just and just know that, it's, it takes time. [00:42:00] But you will look back and be like, Oh my God, I did that.
And you're going to have a great time. You're doing
right.
Yes. Yes. I think when you look back on the beginning phase of anything that you're building, you don't realize the golden moments that you're enjoying.
Exactly. Remember
to enjoy everything that you're learning and everything that you're building because it's doing a lot of goodness just for your inner soul to be absolutely in that creativity.
Absolutely. It's amazing. It really is. And I think we all need to pay attention to the little things within us.
That are hungry and what can we do to satiate those yearnings, what can I do?
And that could be getting out to the knitting store. It could be [00:43:00] listening to tutorials. It could be memberships and getting together with more of those people that have that same passion.
Exactly.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.
Yeah. Create Today has a membership for creatives. we had a membership meeting yesterday and we had people from the East coast and the West coast and we have someone from the Bahamas and we have someone from Spain. We're from all over.
Wow.
Wow.
there's so much we can do online So taking advantage of all that goodness is really something special.
It really is.
because people are hungry for that connection with like minds.
Yes. So get online and get out in person and look at those things that when you're doing them, you look at me and you go, Oh my goodness, how did that last two hours?
Where'd they go? Because you've had so much fun. Yeah,
exactly. Exactly. It's great. It really is.
So Kim, how can we find [00:44:00] you out in this big wide world? let everyone know how they can reach out and follow you and find Slaycation.
On Slaycation, you could find us on Facebook.
You could find us on our web page we're in Facebook, we're Slaycation. Slaycators only. You can find us there. We have Slaycation Facebook page as well, but we have a private group. So come join us on our private group, Slaycators only. And my Instagram is thatgirlknits. Just one word. So you can find me there as well.
I post a lot of my little, knits and, myProjects there so I can be found there and I encourage you to, come find me and, if you have any knitting questions to, ask away.
Awesome, awesome. And then Cation can be found on any podcast platform, right?
Anywhere you get your Yes. Yes.
anywhere you get your podcast. [00:45:00] Spotify, apple yeah,
yeah. I found you on my Apple platform. And everyone, these links will be in the show notes, so there'll be live links that will take you straight to all these places that Kim has talked about.
Kim. I cannot believe I just met you. Oh my God, you're a creative soul that I find so fascinating. It's been a joy.
just, it felt more like just hanging out with a friend and having, just some girl time. Thank you for this. I really appreciate it.
Just having the opportunity to just You know, talk and, share my passion. What better way to spend the afternoon? Thank you so much. Oh yes.
Creativity is something that, you need to occasionally just get out and look at it and say, yes, this is what I am. This is what I do and this is why.
And it's because I'm creative. And so when I get to talk to other creatives who have passions that are very different from what [00:46:00] I do. We still have so much in common. Exactly. So
much. Exactly.
It has been a joy to talk to you about knitting and true crime today. And I hope Thank you so much
for having me, Beth.
I appreciate that.
You're welcome. So everyone, please check out Kim and go investigate a little bit of true crime with Slaycation. Get on That Girl Knits and take a look at the beautiful projects that Kim has explored and put together. And as always, no matter what you do, how you do it, where you do it, my friends, stay creative.
00:00 Introduction to Create Today with Beth Buffington
00:20 Meet Kim Davis: Knitter Extraordinaire and True Crime Podcaster
01:28 Kim's Journey: From Theater to Social Work
05:16 Discovering Knitting: A Lifeline for Creativity
12:06 The Joy of Teaching and Creating Patterns
16:41 Transition to True Crime: The Birth of Slaycation
24:59 Exploring Creative Processes
27:15 Balancing Energy and Confidence
29:31 Creating the Right Environment
30:51 The Importance of Taking Breaks
36:42 Advice for Aspiring Creatives
43:13 Connecting with Like-Minded People
43:56 Where to Find Kim and Slaycation
Show Notes
Find out more about Kim Davis
Listen to her podcast “Staycation”
https://www.slaycation.wtf/
Staycation on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=slaycation%20podcast
Slaycaters Only Private Facebook (come and join!)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/394778366758281/
That Girl Knits - on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thatgirlknits/
Offerings at BDI Create.Today
Register to the Create-Today Workshops:
https://www.bdi-create.today/workshop-events-calendar
Register for “Learn the Art of Procreate”
https://www.bdi-create.today/courses
Tutorials and other resources at Create-Today:
https://www.bdi-create.today/almost-free-resources
The Create-Today Home Page:
https://www.bdi-create.today
