Abby Goes Batty - Episode 33

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Latte: Abby is working on some Surprise Socks for her mentor, Transatlantic for the Westknits KAL and has cast on Ptarmigan again thanks to a very generous listener who sent another skein of (gasp) cashmere! Ben is still working on Westknits Flagstone.

Brewing: Abby wants to knit a big lace shawl but is still undecided on a pattern. Meanwhile, she wants to finish Ptarmigan and also start and finish Hawthorne out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Mopsy. Ben is trying to consolidate his notes from various sweaters he's designed so that he can publish them here. Go Ben!

Stir: Abby finished her 3 ply Lemon Meringue sock yarn from FiberOptic pin drafted roving. She's also experimenting with long draw, funky batts and "letting go" in her spinning. 

Bite: Listeners have offered some great suggestions for the Evergreen Knitters' Group library, including the Stitch n' Bitch books, the Knitter's Book of Yarn, the Knitter's Book of Wool, the Nicky Epstein "Edge" books,  and The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. Abby also recommended Bust magazine, edited by Debbie Stoller for the adventurous among you. 

Double Chai: Abby visited and talked about Seaport Yarn. We also finally hear the Brooklyn General conversation between Abby and Melanie of the Savvy Girls Podcast.

Barista's Special: The Westknits KAL has been extended (at least) through April 7th. Knit on!

Demi Tasse: Ben and Abby got a kick out of a promo for a live-action Mario parody. Again, explicit language warning.

Tip Jar: Keep your ball bands! Put them inside your yarn cakes and when your project is complete, file them with pertinent reference information. Also, when you give a knitted gift, include a ball band for the care instructions.

Knit, knit!

I Love Lucy Episode 32

Is this your granny's afghan?

Latte: Ben continues to knit Flagstone for our Westknits KAL. Abby's knitting was bitter this week!

Grande: Ben finished some dice bags; he's not sure how many. Abby finished the Distelfink socks and feels very accomplished!

Distelfink!

Taste: Abby sat down to watch a Lucy Neatby DVD and was transfixed. Meals went uncooked, laundry unfolded (midterms unwritten); you get the idea.

Bite: The knitting group at Ben's college wants to start a knitting library. We ask what you would put on your list of must-have knitting books. Books on our list include: Barbara G. Walker's Treasuries, Knitting in the Old Way, Knitting from the Top, everything by Elizabeth Zimmermann and Anna Zilboorg's Knitting for Anarchists.

Stir: Abby got some spinning time in and watched Abby Franquemont's DVD Drafting: The Long and the Short of It. 

Bitter Cup: Abby started and frogged her Transatlantic shawl three times, but is now on the right track. Her Potpourri socks suddenly looked an awful lot like an old fashioned afghan after she listened to the Knitmore Girls' review of Around the World in Knitted Socks.

Tip Jar: We described how each of use uses Excel spreadsheets to help with out knitting. We've posted our "sample" spreadsheets, Ben's for Devon and Abby's for Cassidy so you can see what we were talking about. Ben's spreadsheet is here, Abby's is here.

On a final note, Abby warned against over-zealous trimming of yarn ends. If you don't give them enough length, they will pop out on the right side of your knitting, which is not a happy sight.

Excitable Barista - Episode 31

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Kitten Mittens!

Latte: Ben is churning out those stranded knitting dice bags. He's currently on his fourth one.  Abby cast on Potpourri Socks, and continues to knit Cassidy,  Distelfink and Bandwidth.
Grande: Ben finished three dice bags. Abby finished the Stricken socks and the Derry Raglan and Cowl. Ben also finished the Kitten Mittens.
Chai: Abby visited Wool and the Gang, a very unusual knitting shop in SoHo.
Taste: We reviewed The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman. 
Bite: Abby is in search of the perfect circular needle: slick, pointy tip, almost indestructible. Advice, anyone?
Caffeinated: Both Abby and Ben are reading the Dresden Files books and thoroughly enjoying them. Ben also recommends the audio books.
Barista Special: It's not too late to sign up for our Westknits knitalong! You can do that on our ravelry group, or via email.

Norwegian Star Earflap Hat, Ben finished it last week.

Tip Jar: Ben advises that a change in posture can really affect your gauge. Abby shared a few tips from the Wiseman book.

Just When You Think You're Done - Episode 30

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Latte: Ben is making a colorwork drawstring bag for gaming dice. He used Judy's Magic Cast On to start it. Abby is finishing Stricken, and continuing to work on the Derry Raglan, Distelfink socks, and Cassidy. She also cast on Bandwidth.


Grande: Ben finished the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat, and is almost done with Kitten Mittens.


Brewing: Ben wants to compile a small library of original stranded knitting patterns. Abby is thinking about summer knitting. She wants to spin, knit lace shawls and socks.


Bite: What is your next knitting challenge? Can we help? We're both wanting to take on intarsia. Ben is challenged by the "mohawk dragon hat" and Abby wants to knit the Geek Chic Argyle Vest.


Chai: Ben comes on strong at his local yarn shop.


Cup of Joe to Go: Abby celebrated her birthday with the Columbia Knitters who are both charming and skilled. And there was ice cream cake! Karoknits's Undergrowth hat was so pretty, Abby had to add it to her queue.


Barista's Special: We get our first knitalong underway with a Westknits KAL. Knit any pattern by Stephen West between now and the end of March. There will be prizes, including two copies of Westknits Book 2 donated by none other than Stephen West himself. Sign up on the ravelry board, or email us.


Bitter Cup: Abby learned, again, the perils of the "center pull ball/cake" and wasted more than two hours dealing with "yarn barf". Ben solved his girlfriend's yarn problem by cannibalizing a scarf.

Heckled! Episode 29

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Do you know what kind of birds these are?

I'm having technical difficulties uploading the podcast, but here are the show notes in the meantime! As soon as the episode is available, there will be a link to your right.


Latte: Ben is knitting the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat. Abby continues to work on Cassidy, Distelfink and the Derry Pullover. She is also trying hard to finish Stricken for the Spin Control KAL, but is not hopeful.


Grande: Ben finished his bias knit scarf; Abby finished Flagstone, which might just end up belonging to one of her teachers.


Chai: Ben had a whirlwind Madrona experience, and bought some lovely yarn, including: Dream in Color Starry, Angora Valley Fibers Lacewing Sock and Crown Mountain Farms sock yarn. He also met up with a bunch of friendly podcasters!


Stir: Abby is anxious to finish her yellow sock yarn so she can jump into some strange, experimental spinning, inspired by Jacey Boggs's Sit and Spin DVD.


Bitter Cup: Ben had some stranding mishaps, but Abby is disconsolate over her failed cashmere Ptarmigan. She cannot figure out why she didn't have enough yarn, and is so very, very sad.


Demi Tasse: Check out the Evolving English "Map Your Voice" website where you can hear English in its many regional flavors, and even add your own if you like.


Tip Jar: Abby rants shares her thoughts on how everyone can knit with high quality yarn. She also explains how she remembers how to do kitchener stitch without a visual or other aid. Ben refers to another grafting method from Techknitting.


Yes, we were heckled by Melanie of the Savvy Girls. 

Brooklyn - Episode 28

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Latte: Abby continues to work on many, many projects. Ben is knitting his bias scarf and designing a Teddy Bear sweater. He's planning to knit replacement Hiking Socks but is having some difficulty finding the right yarn.


Grande: Neither of us finished anything!


Brewing: Ben and Abby are both pondering cast ons and other mysteries.


Bitter Cup: Ben's girlfriend learned the pain of stranded knitting with too-tight floats. Abby discovered that her Cassidy's fronts had been started with the wrong size needles.


Taste: We reviewed Westknits Book Two by Stephen West. We are both totally excited, once again, and you'll hear the word "clever" about 20 times. Our advice: buy it now!


Chai: Abby and Savvy Girl Melanie braved the wilds of Brooklyn and lived to tell about it. We visited Brooklyn General (although you'll have to wait to hear about it next time), La Casita Yarn Shop Cafe and One Girl Cookies -- yummy all around!


Tip Jar: Ben recommends Judy's Magic Cast On as the perfect provisional cast on. Abby found this neat yarn calculator on the Jimmy Beans Wool site. 


See you next week. Knit, knit!

Startitis! Episode 27

Latte: Ben is knitting a bias scarf, but Abby has cast on (too?) many things this week, including: Stricken socks by Cookie A, Ptarmigan by Jared Flood, Distelfink socks by Mary Scott Huff and Derry Raglan from New England Knits.


Grande: Ben finished a hat, which he blocked on a dinner plate. Abby finished her Rumplestilksocks.


Brewing: Ben is designing a sweater for a teddy bear. Abby finally began her patternless, seamless cardigan from her hand spun BFL.


Bite: We ask how and when you substitute yarns. Do you have a method? We'd like to know. 


Demi Tasse: Abby encountered three types of dpns this week with varied results: Lantern Moon Rosewood dpns, Kollage square dpns and Blackthorn carbon fiber dpns.


Taste: Abby and Ben are both laughing themselves silly watching Portlandia.

Chai: Abby reveals her haul from Vogue Knitting Live: Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport, Marine Silk Worsted and Silk Hankies; Tess Yarns Fine Cashmere and Donegal Wool Spinning Company 100% Wool.


Tip Jar: Ben recommends constraining your choices to enhance creativity. Abby is enjoying knitting her stranded socks and catching the floats every other stitch. Video to follow (watch this space!). 


Extras!! Special thanks to Sarahmontie and Meshuggeknitter. Sarah sent Abby her Seaweed Scarf pattern, and some very cool Habu yarn for knitting jewelry (!!!) Meshuggeknitter (Diane) gifted Abby Walk Now from Irish Girlie Knits. Proceeds from this pattern are going to Autism Awareness.


Finally, Ben reveals the source behind his rav name, NumbersandNoise. It's from a comic book by Grant Morrison, The Invisibles. So now you know.