Podcasts And More

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day”. - Elwyn Brooks White

Yep, I totally agree with that quote from the author of Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. I suffer the exact same problem. The solution is to try to fit both in somehow. We can but try to enjoy ourselves while creating the world we would like to live in.

So I was a naughty damselfly yesterday. You realize I need more sock yarn like I need another pair of thumbs. Nevertheless I succumbed to a couple of balls of Crystal Palace Yarns “Maizy” which is 82% corn fibre and 18% elastic nylon. I’ve never seen it before! It has a really interesting texture and the colours were short one-inch blips of rust, tan, sage and dark teal. Could I resist a new-to-me sock experience? I think not! I’m already casting on. Not sure who these are for yet.


I originally went to Birkeland Bros. to get a new set of 4mm bamboo dpns. I was trying to knit the lace edging on the ruffle of the Unmentionables and by the third time the heavy aluminum needle slid out of all the stitches I got cranky. It’s a very fiddly process even with the light and somewhat more sticky bamboo but it’s infinitely less crazy-making. And worth the price of 2 balls of sock yarn as well as the needles.

I now have 5 of the requisite 8 hearts knitted but only the first one has been fulled. I’m giving myself a week to get them completed and in the mail. I have a guild meeting on Thursday but it’s an evening one so I still have the day available. I’m on library duty again this time! I love that job. Not the least of which is that it gets me out of the executive meeting early. Playing with books and magazines and chatting is good too.

Oh right. I promised to talk about podcasts. They are sometimes the only thing that gets me through the boring housework stuff or anything else where I can’t knit at the same time! First the disclaimers. My favourites are ones that have interesting commentary, interviews or stories and not necessarily about knitting. I sometimes get bored with the “what’s on my needles” and the “ooh, yummy yarns” and also have trouble following anything too technical when I can’t see what they’re talking about. The voices have to be enthusiastic, not a monotone. Being somewhat hard of hearing, I’m more visual than audio oriented so it has to be fun enough to keep my attention or my mind wanders. I also have a very odd sense of humour and I don’t always find the same things funny as you might. And vice versa. These things are very personal and what turns someone’s crank doesn’t necessarily work for another. Don’t forget that sometimes old podcasts fade away and new ones begin so check the listings often.

In alphabetical order, my current top faves are Cast On with Brenda Dayne, CraftLit with Heather Ordover (books read by chapters), Craftsanity with Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood (interviews with many different craftspeople), Knit Picks’ Podcast with Kelley Petkun, limenviolet (very fun but can be raunchy), Socks In The City with Carrie Barraco (just started listening to this one), Stash and Burn with Jenny and Nicole, Sticks & String with David Reidy from Australia, and WeaveCast with Syne Mitchell (not knitting of course). There are others too but if you’re new to podcasts this will keep you busy listening for quite awhile! There’s also Let’s Knit2gether with Cat which is a video podcast rather than just audio. Download episodes of all these individually or better, subscribe through iTunes. If you don’t like it, just unsubscribe! Easy peasy.

Question To Ponder

Why are so many knit-related podcasts created by Texans? Is it something in the water there? Do they just have a lot to say? On the other hand, I don’t think any that I’ve listed are Texan due to one of my favourites having podfaded. Yes, that’s a word.