We Digress - Episode 38

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Latte: Abby is still working on Cassidy. She has started the sleeves, and also is still knitting the Marilinda socks. Ben is continuing on with his Paraphernalia socks.

Brewing: Ben is thinking up designs for whimsical 3-D yarn bombs. We talked about stuffing knitted items to give them shape and also about knitting with wire. Abby shared that her favorite stores for art supply inspiration are hardware stores. Abby is designing a small shawl. We discussed how we feel about knitting patterns and other things going "viral". Abby has surrendered to the Camp KIP KAL madness and is ready to cast on Daybreak with the yarns pictured above. They are from Malabrigo, Artyarns and Koigu. Abby also talked about the book Astounding Knits! where yarn bombing is just one of many fascinating examples of "knitting art". 

Bitter Cup: Abby knit quite a bit of an Elektra shawl before deciding she was using the wrong yarn. We discussed the seductive nature of variegated yarns as well as the challenges of working with them successfully.

Chai: Abby had a visit from the exterminator and discovered that, even in New York City, there is no such thing as a "better mousetrap".

Bite: We ask listeners two questions: Do you abandon things you like when they become "too popular"? Also, what is the most ill-considered or craziest thing you've ever made (need not be knitting)? The last question was inspired by Susan from the Knitajourney podcast describing a vintage magazine she recently acquired. Ben talked about attempting to knit a dalek, which led us to.....

Caffeinated: We are both totally pumped about the new season of Doctor Who. 

Demi Tasse: After Ben's discovery of a bag of googly eyes, Abby got curious and discovered this very amusing site.

Taste: Ben gave us an update about Knit Visualizer. It does, in fact, "know how" to vary the stitch count from row to row if you set it up properly. Again, you can download a free trial and the manual here.

Tip Jar: Ben talked about some of his favorite increases, lifted increases, which are sometimes called KLL or KRL, or, as Cat Bordhi calls them, La-Link and La-Rink. You can see Cat demonstrate these increases here. 
Abby talked about some of her favorite project bags: Keep Calm and Carry Yarn, Goknits pouches, Pretty Cheep bags and Tom Bihn yarn stuff sacks.