Knitting Podcasts

I listened to a podcast this morning for the very first time. It was the Knit Picks podcast and it was pretty awesome. I kind of expected at least a few plugs for some Knit Picks yarn, but not a one to be found. I think there may have been a really subtle plug or two in there, but it was a naturally flowing part of the discussion, not an ad campaign.

There was a kind of 'my life as a knitter' type thing from a Knit Picks staff member (I think looking at the web site that it was Kim Cameron), and then Kelley Petkun, the owner of Knit Picks, talked about ribbing, its characteristics and uses, and why it is important to use ribbing in certain places on garments, and...it sounds really boring (or dirty, depending on who's reading, I guess) when I write it down, but it wasn't at all.

Side note - I was really confused by references to Xena throughout the podcast, and eventually I figured out it must be a pet, probably a dog, and then at the end there was a short spurt of yapping, and I thought, that's definately a small dog, not high pitched enough to be a yorkie, but it could easily be a Pom or something similar sized - and now when I went to the website to find out her name, sure enough, her avatar is her Pom - I win at bark identification! ...or I might just be obsessed with Poms eee hee Poms!)

As a side note to the side note, I often have trouble distinguishing between a decent-sized, really fluffy long-haired chiuahua and a Pom (Pom!!). :oP

Anyway, after the ribbing discussion she went on to stitch dictionaries and what they are and what to expect and not expect from one, and then she talked about her own knitting work and her plans for the week, and - the whole thing was both interesting and soothing. I can see how it would easily bore some, but I really liked it.

I have another episode that I have not listened to yet, and then I have another knitting podcast that I subscribed to that I also haven't listened to yet, so...hopefully this will be a small anchor of sanity in my crazy-nuts week.

I have banned myself from knitting for the next week at least, because there's a LOT to be done on the house. Also, I sped through a scarf for 's dad's birthday and really stressed my hand in the process. It is all knotted and angry at me. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Charcoal and Claret on size 13 needles to make a chunky striped scarf. I started to do it in rib, but decided that it was too narrow and taking too long, so I did the first strip and last stripe in rib and the rest of it was done in garter stitch. The end product that I ended up with was actually pretty huge because - well, because of physics. Garter stitch is flat, and rib stitch is not. So the darn thing ended up being way wide - there is no way to wear it without folding it in half. I think it came out okay, though, the colors looked great and lots of people ooohed over it while I was working on it. It was a race to get it done, though, I did it in well under a week - something like three or four days - and I just barely finished it in time. I was weaving in the ends in the car. :oP Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to take a picture.

(Ooh, this is a cool idea. I'd hate to buy something like that without being able to see the insides first though, and I'm awfully fond of my GoKnit bag. Also - no money!)

I think I would like to start a knitting notebook with pictures of finished projects, notes on what supplies I used, total project cost, and other info like that. Eventually. :oP