Knitting Podcast Update

Whoops. It's been a while, no? I thought I'd catch us all up on where my podcast listens now stand and what I've recently given a try.

First, I've given a try to a classic knitting podcast. It has over 90 episodes and it is a surprisingly mellow listen. It's almost always the same length, it comes out with astonishing regularity, and the podcaster's voice is a dream. It's Sticks and Strings! The man who does this podcast is an Australian high school teacher who also likes D&D! (You can never be too much of a geek for me, people.) I really do recommend this podcast. It's like the Snickers bar of knitting podcasts for me. I find it is satisfying to listen to, but it is also short, and it holds me over until my favorite podcasts release their latest episodes. Though, it's rapidly becoming one of my favorites. I haven't gone back to listen to all his old episodes, and I don't plan to, but I have listened to the last twenty or so. Be warned, the podcaster has an essay each week as well as music interspersed with his talking. I like both, but your mileage may vary.

I also gave a try to Destiknit. My experience with this podcast wasn't as great. I am probably not able to clearly indicate why that is, but let me try. I think the problem with Destiknits for me was that I was so hopeful about it. She started her first podcast with information about Custom Knits (my favorite knitting book to date, and one that I will review AFTER I knit something from it). However, after a while, I noticed that I didn't seem to love her content. There was just something about it that rang of advertising to me. The weird part is that she wasn't even advertising anything. I kept going with it until she announced that her husband's job with the military led them to the choice of either living in Italy or Japan and she pressured for Italy. Any person who chose Italy over Japan is probably not someone I should be listening to.

My third new podcast is Gives Good Knit. I know. It's not a great podcast title. Worse, she hasn't had a new podcast in a month. However, our tastes almost perfectly overlap. It is fairly rare this happens in podcasts, so when it does, I cling unless things go horribly wrong. Now, if you are reading my recommendations looking for something to try, I really have to warn you that this podcast is about fifty percent (or even sixty percent) content about literature. I love this, and her discussions of novels have even led me to add a few books to my reading list, but you might prefer pure knitting content, in which case you should give this podcast a skip. But... if you're a geek, you like video games, geek tv, literature, and knitting, it's a pretty good listen. She introduced me to the knit Spiderman blanket again (ravel it!), which I certainly plan to knit sometime in the future for the darling men in my life. I knew I was especially happy with her in the last podcast in which she discussed one of my favorite books ever (Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was), and she discussed one of my favorite current trashy television shows (Gossip Girl - The Complete First Season)!

For those who are new to these podcast reviews, other crafty I like include:

Knit Picks' Podcast -- Informative and calming podcast from the owner(?) of Knit Picks.
The Manic Purl Podcast -- Friendly, casual podcast from a casual knitter/spinner. Very good, possibly my favorite.
Never Not Knitting -- Casual podcast with good sound effects/segments/intro song. The podcaster is a professional knitter, doing work for others and herself.
Sew Forth Now -- Only fashion sewing podcast I'm aware of that doesn't blow. The non-podcast blog of the podcaster is almost more interesting than the podcast, but the podcast has grown on me recently.
Stash and Burn -- Discussion podcast between two friends. Super popular, super on target, and super great. Love it.

Anyone have any recommendations for new podcasts for me to try? I'm going to give Knitmore Girls a whirl. If you're new to my blog, please do not recommend Lime and Violet or Cast On. I dislike both for various reasons even though they are probably two of the most popular knitting podcasts around.

Short Unsweet Update

Last week, Nathan ran his little walker over to my knitting area, picked up my Pomatomus socks in progress and yanked two of the needles out of them. Those socks has taken me like a month just to knit to that point and they were already fairly screwed up with some areas where I had clearly not increased at the right time or I had simple dropped a stitch and then picked it up incorrectly.

This was already after Paul told me that the yarn was so incredibly crazy that he could not see the pattern in them. Also, the socks looked like they would be incredibly tall and I hate incredibly tall socks. I got so depressed about the whole situation that I ripped the socks out.

I've already started a pair of plain stockinette anklets with the yarn, but the whole thing is super depressing. I don't think I like the incredibly variegated nature of most of the Socks That Rock collection. I still plan to do the Pomatomus socks one day, but with a different less variegated yarn.

Ugh, I'm off to be depressed now. Sewing success news on the morrow, hopefully.

Baby Hat

So, quite a while ago, I decided to knit Nathan a little ribbed hat that he could wear this year or next. Haha on the 'this year' thing since it is now Spring, but since I knit a two by two rib, it's definitely good for next year. It is adorable. Nathan doesn't find it amusing, however.



After approximately one photo, he was all, "Seriously, Mom! I just want you to stop taking photos!"



Then he decided that he was too good for the hat I knit for him. Sad!



I think it will be adorable on him next year, when I put him in his little Kenneth Cole black suede jacket, and I will have to get him some cute little jeans and a shirt with a deep red animal on it. I might also have to knit him a red scarf.

Project: Nathan's Red Hat (ravel it!)
Pattern: Improvised 2 by 2 rib.
Yarn: Crazy cabled superwash mystery wool.
Needles: Size 5 bamboo DPNs

I am starting to feel a crafting urge every night. I'm also feeling a drawing urge. Should I start a third blog where I post drawings?! No!

Finished Object Post Coming Soon

I managed to actually finish a hat for Nathan last night. When he eventually sleeps tonight, I'll process and post the pictures of him wearing it.

In the meantime, as you all already know, I'm always willing to whore out my blog for gorgeous items. (I mean, if I'm willing to trade Nathan for a kitten, it's not like I'm not going to trade a blog entry for a chance to win something super cute!) Here's my latest link to a fantastic giveaway.



You can win yarn and a project bag! Go for it. This is one of the blogs that I subscribe to and I think her pictures are fantastic, so I'd even subscribe to her if I were you. She does both sewing and knitting, though I found her through a search for sewing blogs, not knitting blogs. Check out her other posts, such as this post detailing seams or this post detailing a gorgeous sewn shirt she made.

Sewing, I Did It

As many of you know, because you read my blog, last September I received my first sewing machine. My sewing skills were as follows: "I can cross-stitch, and whip stitch. If pushed to."

Well, I did my first pattern, folks. It is a gorgeous little "Easy to Sew" apron from Simplicity. Here is a shot of Paul modeling it.



It was made with a lightweight denim, and it fits Paul very well. This is great except for the fact that it was made for my very short mother. It does not fit her well and she has requested alterations I do not know how to make. Sigh. Either way, I'm pretty proud of it. The ties for it were a complete and utter bitch since they required turning inside out. Paul helped me with the task and he can attest to the fact that it was an utter bitch.

If you'd like to see my Sewing Pattern review, I just put it up. Sewing Pattern Reviews is a nice enough site, but I'd like Ravelry to include sewing, ya know?

I also made some napkins for Spring this year. I was tired of my very autumnal napkins being used all the time.



I used a medium-weight cotton, and I made the binding tape myself. That's why they look so crappy. If I were smart, I would have:

1. Washed my material at least two or three times to prevent shrinking later.
2. Made the bias tape on the bias even though the pattern said I did not need to.

I think next time I'm just going to wait for a Joann sale and buy the binding tape in bulk.

What have you all been doing?

Pretty Pretty Petable Yarn

Guess what came in the mail a few days ago?



Is that some Sundara sock yarn you spy? It is! I took it out back, in the pretty snow, in the fading sunset, to get some not very color accurate photos. I white-balanced as best possible, but I'm not sure of the accuracy still.



That lovely little number above? That's Cranberry Mousse. I'm still working on a good picture of the Bittersweet Chocolate, so you'll have to do with the photo I'm posting for now.

Yum Yum Truffles

I know, I know. I promise to blog more and then I decide to take a two week vacation from blogging. I think the Sundara confused me. On the positive side, someone besides me actually cared that I got that Sundara yarn. I had a conversation with Sophy that went something like this:

Kitten: So, I got two skeins of Sundara sock yarn!
Sophy: Oh. My. God!
Kitten: Are you making fun of me? I don't even care if you are! I'm so thrilled!
Sophy: It's so pretty! I failed to get some myself and I've given up.

I've promised one of my two skeins to Sophy since I realize how sad it is to want Sundara and not have it.

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I've started a small knit hat for Nathan with this yarn.



It has an interesting cabled construction (the yarn, not the hat, which is done in simple two by two rib) but I'm not sure I love it knit as much as I loved it in the little yarn cake. Isn't that always the way? I've only knit an inch or two on it, since a stupid RPG for the PS2 has really taken over my life. In a bad way.

But that's partially a lie. I'm also sewing. I decided to make some spring-ish napkins for a dinner party we're having this weekend. I'm totally using this next picture without the permission of the copyright owner, but I hope that my friend will forgive me. Here is a picture of our last murder mystery get together:



Hopefully this next one will be just as much fun. I've got my tiara and pearls at the ready. I will show you pics of that (and my finished napkins, if I ever do finish them).

Okay, but here's the real deal, the crafting for this post. It's not sewing, it isn't knitting, it's not even card making. It's COOKING. I know! On the night before Valentine's day, Paul came home with four bars of chocolate and a plan. We were going to make truffles. At first, I groaned to myself because it sounded too ambitious for my Friday night plans, but after a bit, I got very involved with it.

The worst part of the whole deal was waiting for the stupid coconut and walnuts to brown for the coating toppings. I've learnt that about myself. One of the things I hate about cooking is doing all the small fiddly parts of it. I don't mind stirring, or measuring, or mixing. I hate waiting. I hate knowing that it takes five minutes to brown coconut and that during that time, we're just standing there waiting for it all to be done. It's why when I used to cook for myself to eat when I lived at my mom's, I used to just put a pot of one box meal on the stove, let it cook through and then forget about it while I went to work on the computer. By the time I got back to it, it would invariably be midnight, the food would be dried and cold, and then I'd eat it anyway. No wonder I never gained much weight -- the food I was eating was nearly inedible.

Anyway, so, Paul and I worked together to make some truffles from the America's Test Kitchen recipe and they are DELISH. They are the most fantastic homemade truffles ever. The coating is slightly crisp and shatters slightly when you bite into them. The dusting of cocoa on some of them is so delightful. If you have access to America's Test Kitchen recipes, you need to make some truffles. Hell, sprinkle some sea salt on some. Sprinkle nonpareils on others. Just make them. They are so wonderful. I plan on spiking the next set we make with some Kahlua.

If you'll excuse me, I've got to go eat some truffles.

(When did my knitting blog turn into a life blog? How did this happen?)

Sundara Sock Yarn

Holy crap, peeps. I managed to score two skeins of Sundara sock yarn since she did a 1 am EST yarn update. As those of you who follow indie sock yarn dyers know, this is nearly a miracle. I shouldn't be buying sock yarn, but this stuff is prime trading material, if nothing else.

And Just Where Have You Been?!

I was doing this imaginary interview in my mind, from an anonymous blog reader with me...

Blog Reader: So, why haven't you been posting?
Me: I'm super busy!
Blog Reader: With knitting?
Me: Well... no.
Blog Reader: With Nathan?
Me: No more than normal.
Blog Reader: Then what are you doing that you're so busy that you can't post?
Me: mumble, mumble
Blog Reader: What was that?
Me: I'm playing a videogame and reading FEEDS, okay? It takes time to read eight billion knitting blogs on a daily basis, you know! And my characters are not going to level themselves while I just sit around knitting and blogging, are they?
Blog Reader: You should be ashamed of yourself.

I have imaginary conversations between myself and others all the time, but this time I decided to take the advice of my imaginary harasser and post!

Anyway, since I have little knitting progress to speak of ("knit some more on the never ending Slytherin scarf, tried to pretend my socks dropped off the face of the Earth"), I thought I'd highlight four craft projects that have caught my eye over the last several months.

1) Sophy's Shalom: I love everything about this. The color is great. The stitches look so even and nice. The buttons are sweet. Sophy has stated that she does not wear it much, but I think it's a winner in the pictures, at least.

2) Jackie's Charade Socks: It's the last project on this post. I adore the pattern of this sock, but, it turns out that I only love it when combined with a darker sock yarn such as the Dream in Color Smooshy's November Muse. I've looked at the Ravelry project page for this pattern, and I would never have said I loved the pattern based on the majority of the results I found, but Jackie's socks inspired me to add the pattern to my queue.

3) Joli House's Dublin Bay Socks: This is a case where a blog I read introduced me to both a new sock pattern that I loved and a sock yarn that is both variegated and subtle. I've seen tons of socks using this pattern that I like, which is nice, but not rare. However, I rarely find sock yarns that are variegated and subtle. YAY!

4) The Yarniad's Simplicity 6197, View F: While I enjoy sewing, and I find that many people make stuff that looks okay, I do not often think to myself, "I wish I had that piece" when I see hand made items. This skirt, however, speaks to me. I love it. I found myself mentally checking my wardrobe to see what would go with it. I love the color, the way the pleats fall. I considered making myself my own version! A winner.

And that is it for today, folks. I'll get back to you soon, hopefully, with my own knitting results!

Friendship Fingerless Mitts

These are done and they took less than ten days! They are also super cute and warm.



Project: Burgundy Mitts (ravel it!)
Pattern: Friendship Fingerless Mitts
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino
Needles: Size 4 DPNs.

Thank you for the pattern, Sophy! I ♥ it!



Now, normally I would show you some of my WIPs, but those are boring. Really, I can't show you my stupid Slytherin scarf everytime I add a new section. I'll just answer one of the comments I've received which requires a response.

ECB asked me to post a tutorial for my sewn Thanksgiving napkins. No need, ECB! I found a tutorial online before I made my own napkins. The Purl Bee's napkins are cuter than mine, for sure, but they appear to have better sewing skillz. Check out their other tutorials as well, if you like to sew. It's a wealth of knowledge and project advice!