Besides knitting as much as I can all day and night, I also teach knitting at the Fiber Factory in Mesa Arizona, write blogs and technical articles for One Planet Yarn and Fiber and do some private class and individual lessons. I am also working on the TKGA Master Knitter program. As you can imagine all this means that I end up knitting a lot!
So when I go off for a walk you would think I would listen to something other than knitting. But I don’t. I started listening to podcasts about four years ago. In those days there were only a few of them available at the IPOD store. But, like everything else, over the years MANY have come on board. I have a few favorites. One that I still listen to regularly and have for a long time is Sticks and String by David Reidy from Australia. But, before I tell you about that – for those that haven’t heard about podcasts let me tell you a bit about them.
Podcasts are available at the IPOD store for your computer, smart phone, IPAD things like that. If you go into the IPOD store click on podcasts and then search for “Knitting Podcasts”. You will be surprised at how many are available. They are free of charge and you just download them to whatever you want to listen to them on. There are many varieties of podcasts. Some are people just talking about their knitting or their lives and some that do interviews, book reviews, product and yarn reviews, things like that. Those are my favorites. Frankly, I don’t want to hear about the issues someone is having with their children.
“Sticks and String” is one of those podcasts that follows a particular format. David Reidy is the author and generally talks about what he is working on and how it is going. He often interviews people such as authors of books, designers, other knitters, goes to fiber shows etc. and interviews people – that kind of thing. Every podcast has an essay. I always find these very interesting. They have titles like “The Back of the Drawer”, and “Choose Wisely” to name only two of the 157 currently available. It is always has something to do with knitting. He then plays beautiful music from Audible.com and finally does a review. The format is pretty much the same for each podcast. As I said, David is Australian so there are some minor language differences – like sweaters are called jumpers – that sort of thing. But nothing that you can’t figure out.
Another one that I love is called “Its a Purl Man” with Guido Stein. It is a great informative podcast. Also, check out “Never Not Knitting” by Alana Dakos. Many of you may know Alana as a talented designer. Her patterns can be found at One Planet Yarn and Fiber which she mentioned in the podcast I listened to this morning. She also mentioned some fibers from Fleece Artist in Canada that are available at OPYF. Kelly Petkun from Knit Picks has a very interesting podcast with lots of information on techniques and has great interviews and reviews. I could go on but best for you to check it out, listen to a few and find ones that you like. As an aside, most of these podcasters also have blogs on the internet and are on Ravelry.
Ok, my son was right, I need to get a life! I haven’t even mentioned the knitting audio books I listen to – but that’s another topic. For now, listen to a few podcasts, let me know what you think, and have fun!
As an aside, thanks to all of you that have responded to my blogs. It is encouraging to know that people are reading them. Please continue with your comments – Karen and I love to hear from you. If anyone has questions on technique, please let me know and I will be happy to help you out the best I can.
Ewe Can Knit
Mary g
OPYF
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