I Can't _fill-in-the-blank_ & Crochet At The Same Time

I can knit socks while reading my email or watching TV. (We won’t count the occasional boo-boos from the minimal and fitful lighting.) But I can’t crochet and do anything else. Which is a real drag because this ruffled scarf is a lot of crochet! And now I’m way behind on my blog-reading. So I’m back to sock knitting while I catch up. No crochet getting done. Later I’m going to try listening to podcasts and crocheting. I think I can manage that at least. I’m almost caught up on my podcast listening though so that may not last very long. And I’m totally sick of listening to the radio, even if the federal election is over and there’s not quite so much politics being discussed.

As for blogs, I’ve discovered a not-so-new one that I haven’t explored before. Mason-Dixon Knitting is two friends in different parts of the US who alternate on their common blog. They are as funny as Yarn Harlot! Didn’t think that was possible. I’m going backwards in the archives. So far I’m reading October 2005. This leaves me with feelings of inadequacy. I can be Amusing occasionally but I know I can’t be Funny. I guess I’ll have to settle for Possibly Interesting To Some.

And as for podcasts, there are a couple of good knitting ones and a fibre one. I’m sure there are others on esoteric subjects like politics and pop culture, but I tend to stick with the ones I can understand. Podcasts are like audio-blogs and are just as personal. Note that I don’t even have an iPod. I do however have iTunes which is pretty much the gold standard for fetching and playing your podcasts. Of course that means I’m stuck in the Study where I can hear my computer’s speakers.

The first one I discovered was KnitCast. Host Marie Irshad is Welsh and her style is to interview people of interest to knitters. This has included folks like Annie Modesitt, Debbie Bliss, and the Yarn Harlot herself, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee — among other notables. Marie is very good at making people feel comfortable and for asking those questions you would have asked yourself if you had the same opportunity. Her lovely diction is pleasant to listen to as well.

Then we have the “other” podcaster in Wales, Brenda Dayne with Cast On. Brenda is a transplanted American so it’s not exactly like there are two Welsh knitting podcasts. Not quite. Her style is completely different and she blends “podsafe” music (most of it quite listenable even for me) with monologues about the sweater she’s wearing and other knitterly (and non-knitterly) topics.

There’s Knitting News Cast with Rhonda Bell from Austin, Texas. Luckily she’s originally from somewhere else in the US so I don’t have to translate from “Y’all”. She does a lot of reviews of yarns, patterns, books, blogs, and the like. She’s pretty new at this (only up to Episode 5) so the quality is a little uneven. But she’s trying and learning. I like that all the knitting podcasts focus on different things so I don’t feel like I’ve heard it all before.

Lastly there’s FiberCast. Hosted by yet another American, Caroline. (Of course! Don’t they run the world? Just joking! Maybe.) This podcast is a little different in that Caroline is more interested in other fibre techniques as well as knitting. This includes spinning, cross stitch and quilting with the emphasis on spinning. She is even more new at this than Rhonda but working on it. That’s the beauty of podcasts: they aren’t like polished radio broadcasts. They’re real people talking about things that interest them because they want to. They aren’t paid. It takes a lot of their personal time. They’re doing it because it’s fun for them. And luckily it’s fun for us too. Give a listen for yourself. All you need is something that will play MP3s.

Late-breaking news! I just discovered another podcast: About Time. I can’t review it because I haven’t listened yet. I’m still downloading the first 3 episodes. And there’s one that I don’t listen to. It’s called Secret Knitting and the host is Daniela in Germany. She reads out patterns and you knit and then find out what it is you’re making! Definitely a secret. This unfortunately doesn’t appeal to me though it’s a great gimmick.

Off to listen to podcasts and get some crochet done.