Stress and Inspiration Episode 25

Listen here.

Latte: Ben is working on a hat of his own devising; Abby continues with the Canopy Socks and Cassidy. She's also started Stephen West's Flagstone and Gudrun Johnston's Norie hat. An original cowl is still on the needles as well.


Grande: Ben finished the Brambles hat with an unplanned modification. Abby finished Chadwick (see photo above).


Taste: Abby reviewed The Shetland Trader. She wants to knit everything in the book (except the leg warmers).


Chai: Abby had a fabulous time at Vogue Knitting Live, as well as other events around town. She met Felicia Lo of Sweet Georgia Yarns as well as Maria from Subway Knits. At VKL, she attended a lecture by Clara Parkes and took a class with Jared Flood. More tales of VKL will follow in later podcasts.


Bite: Inspired by Clara's talk, Abby wants to know "where are your knitting dollars going?" and "do you care"? There's a thread on the ravelry board where you can respond, or simply post a comment here.


Tip Jar: Ben recommends charting your designs before knitting them. Abby shares some handy things about ease that she learned from Jared Flood.

Knitting Anarchy Episode 24

Listen here.

Latte: Ben is really working on Brambles. Abby's working on Cassidy, Canopy Socks and Chadwick.

Grande: Abby finished the Passerine Socks (see photo above) and a new logo for the podcast.

Brewing: Ben is designing Guitar Hero mitts; Abby has cowls exploding in her head.

Little Taste: Abby waxes rhapsodic about Anna Zilboorg's Knitting for Anarchists and suggests you get yourself a copy! One thing Anna explains is how changing needle size might not change your stitch gauge, but it can wreak havoc with your row gauge.

Stir: Abby is spinning Lemon Creme Foot Notes Unspun Pencil Roving from Fiber Optic Yarns. She is making 3 or more ply sock yarn.

A Bitter Cup: Ben's Beer Gloves attacked him and they are now doing time out in a corner.

Demi Tasse: We both love TV show "The Walking Dead" and the movie "Black Swan". If you are squeamish, however, you might want to avoid both. Abby also has discovered the "historical timeline" feature on Google Earth, where you can see a place literally change over time.

News & Events: Vogue Knitting Live is next weekend. Abby will be there. Will you? 

It's a Man Shawl! Episode 23

Listen here.

Pogona blocking (top) and off the wires (below)

Latte: Abby's almost finished with the Passerine socks, while she continues to work on Cassidy. She's also designed a simple cowl. Ben is working on Beer gloves.

Grande: Ben finished Chadwick, and Abby finished Pogona, both by Stephen West. Ben is so stoked, he is pursuing other "man-shawls" and welcomes your input!

Taste: Abby reviewed Color by Kristin, by Kristin Nicholas.

Tip Jar: Ben recommends keeping track of your needle sizes on ravelry; Abby talks about shopping for organizers in the hardware and sporting goods departments.

News and Events: Abby is thrilled and amazed to have won the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin'Sock Club contest. Here is a photo of the skein she named "Rumplestiltskein" for the win!

Abby will be attending Vogue Knitting Live and would like to meet you if you're going to be there. If you're new to New York, be sure and get yourself a Metrocard, some good maps and check out shopping opportunities (besides yarn)! You can find some shopping advice here. In SoHo, Ben likes Uniqlo, and Abby had to mention the new Doc Martens store on Spring Street. There are some wonderful apps for your smartphone which show you all the transit opportunities in NYC. For a listing of places to spend your money in NYC, look here, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Finally, don't forget about Camp KIP, organized by Jackie of the KIPing It Real Podcast. The camp is going to be full of podcasters, but space is limited, so if you want to go, get over to the website and sign up pronto!

Knitting for Knitters Episode 22

Listen here!

Lots of talk this week! 

Latte: Ben is working on Chadwick, and Abby is knitting Pogona, both by Stephen West. Ben continues to work on the "Weasley" sweater, see it in progress below.

The Weasley sweater, in progress.

Abby is also working on Passerine socks by Cookie A.

Grande: Abby finished the Snapdragon Mitts, and also Ben's birthday TARDIS socks.

Chai: Ben and Abby went to the Olympia Knitters' Group, where they met up with Rachel from the KnitCents Podcast and many other nice, friendly knitters! (See photo, top). They also attended an early-morning yarn sale at Yorkshire Yarns, and made quite a haul at 40% off!

Taste: Ben and Abby reviewed Power Cables by Lily Chin, and both gave it a thumbs up.

Bite: We ask, "Should LYS charge to help you with your project?" Please comment here or on the ravelry thread.

Demi-Tasse: Ben is very excited about a video/computer game called "Braid" which adds time as the third dimension in a side scroller platform game. You can purchase it here.

Brewing: Ben is inspired by some surprisingly soft acrylic based yarn, and Abby is going to design a top down sweater using her handspun.

Tip Jar: We revisit the idea of alternatives to the standard long-tail cast on. We've made a video of the Old Norwegian cast on, which you can watch here. We also recommend going to the zoo, a museum or other visually stimulating place for inspiration.

Ben is the Designated Driver Episodes 20-21

You can listen to episode 20 here and episode 21 here!

Latte: Ben continues to work on the Weasley sweater, Abby is working on Cassidy, which she's KAL with Gigi of the Knitmore Girls, and she is almost finished with the Snapdragon Mittens, and is still working on the Blattwerk socks.


Grande: Ben finished the Link hat for his girlfriend. In case you don't know, Link is the main character in the Legend of Zelda games from Nintendo. Abby wants one, too. Abby finished the Maia shoulderette and wants to find a way to wear it without looking like an old lady.


Brewing: Abby is trying to figure out how to plan the spinning for the Texting Mitts; Ben wants to make Link gauntlets (hence the theme music throughout the podcast). We talked about looking in the book "Power Cables" by Lily Chin for cable inspiration and illumination.


Abby and Ben are making grand plans for a Knitwiki and Dishwiki (names may change). This was inspired by Meghan from Stitch It's Cranberry Cheesecake Pie. Meghan substituted agave nectar for sugar and greek yogurt for sour cream. Abby kept these modifications and added a crust made from 1 cup flour, 1 stick butter, 1/4 cup ground almonds and a tablespoon or two of agave nectar. We welcome your modifications, too!


Stir: Abby gave her wheel a nice, big drink of Howard's Feed 'n' Wax and recommend that you give your wheel the care it deserves! Also, she is trying to watch Tools for Spinners and stay awake at the same time. Interweave gives you a discount if you download their DVD's rather than pay for the "hard copies".


Bite: We would like listener input on how and what you pack for knitting when you travel. Also, "what are you doing here"? See Ravelry group for further explanation....


Tip Jar: When knitting two socks, sleeves, or mitts at the same time, put each ball in a zip lock bag with the corner cut off for the yarn to exit. Keeps them from getting tangled! Ben says: watch your gauge when you switch needles, for instance from circular to dpns or one circular to two. Abby and Ben both note that increases (and decreases) continue to make themselves "known" even after you're done doing them. When you knit a toe up sock, stop increasing when the width of the sock just touches your pinky toenail. Abby learned this tip from Cat Bordhi.

This garment was grown from bacteria - really!

Demi Tasse: Abby shared one of the New York Times' great ideas of 2010: Biocouture.You can read about clothing grown from bacteria(!!!) here!


Coming next week (or soon)! Knit-Ed - our episode about teaching and learning knitting.

Killer Scarves! Episode 19 (with notes from Episode 18 too!)

Abby's "Firefly" hand spun. It bloomed beautifully!

Listen here!

Lethal knitting? Abby is compared to the murderous Madame Defarge, and relates the tale of Isadora Duncan's "death by scarf" as she speaks of her love for all things Cowl.

Latte: Ben is making a Brambles hat and preparing to make the "Weasley" sweater. Abby is knitting BFF socks, Maia, Tree of Life Socks and Coventry.


Grande: Ben finished the "It Looks Like Rain" sweater and Abby finished the Greenfield Cardigan!


We had a special guest, Deborah. Deborah is an intern at Vogue Knitting, and she is a busy student and yarn evangelist! You can find her blog here. Deborah is teaching people to knit and collecting hats for the needy. She hopes to distribute them at this year's Midnight Run. If you want to knit for charity, you can find a wonderful list of organizations here.


Tip Jar: Ben and Abby both like their wandas, and you can get one here! They also are both fans of KnitPicks Options Needles.


Taste: We reviewed Cookie A's new book, "Knit. Sock. Love."

Cat Dreams and Purple Legwarmers - Episode 17

A close-up of the Vine Yoke Cardigan

Latte: Ben is working on some vanilla socks and a rediscovered sweater. Abby has spent most of her week in the frog pond, ripping out the Maia Shoulderette, but has had a fair bit of success with the Greenfield Cardigan.

Grande: Ben finished his Kindle case with an unusual closure. Abby has completed her Vine Yoke Cardigan.

Demi Tasse: A quick roundup of new knitting magazines. Interweave Knits has a great new article by techknitter.

Brewing: Abby is contemplating colorwork and shoulder shaping.

Bite: Do you ever dream about knitting? Do you know how to pronounce Eunny Jang's name?

Chai: Abby's secret crush revealed! Abby talks about seeing him on Broadway. Our mini-contest winner was Ms. Kalendar of Brass Needles. Also, Patrick Stewart with hair!

Caffeinated: Pie is the new cupcake. Bittersweet Chocolate Cherry Nut Pie and Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel.