Episode 45 - Deb Robson

Photo by Kristi Schueler

We hope you will enjoy listening to this chat with Deb Robson as much as we enjoyed recording it. Gayle and I have been doing a lot of research, and we were still nervous to talk to Deb. This woman is a font of information! She has so much specialized knowledge and is so eager to share it and we have so much to learn. :)

I've included a couple of links below to specific topics, projects or books that we discussed. But there is so much more! If you visit Deb's blog, poke around in the topics listed on the lower right side and read some of her older posts as well. The posts are tagged well so you can find specific information quickly.

Deb's Dreaming of Shetland project is her current baby. The Ravelry link is here. You can see the patterns included in the book.

If you are a knitter, crocheter, weaver, spinner, or crafter who uses and loves wool, consider learning more about the origins of the materials you use and love. I know, sometimes it is all I can handle to figure out my yarn substitution! But as crafters, this is part of our world too. We have the chance to learn, to teach, and widen our horizons a little bit. And yes, the sheep are cute. So I hope you will follow Gayle and I along on our Wool Series!
- Sharlene

Deb Robson's Craftsy class
The Field Guide to Fleece
The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook
Deb's blog: The Independent Stitch

Sweet Oak Hooded Cardigan by Megan Goodacre
Jamieson and Smith Shetland Wool
Jamieson's yarns
Deb's Dreaming of Shetland project

Ply Magazine - Deb's article that she references appears in the Summer 2013 issue

Rare wools

Sheep: Suffolk
Sheep: Corriedale

The Livestock Conservancy
Rare Breeds Survival Trust sheep watchlist

Deb recommends Pennyroyal and mint as moth repellents :)

Episode audio link here.

Episode 44 - The one with the dolphins

Last episode crows, this episode dolphins. Welcome to Santa Cruz. We recorded this episode at the coast with the sound of the waves in the background. We hope this is as pleasant for you as it was for us. It had been a warm day and sitting at the beach recording was a wonderful way for our day to close. You will hear us sighting some of the following locals. :)

Western gull
Pacific white-sided dolphin
California sea lion
Pacific sardine

No, we didn't actually see sardines from our vantage point, but found out later the presence of the sardines off the coast had attracted a lot of activity in the bay.

What are we wearing?
Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier
Sharlene's Buttercup

What are we stalking?
Chevzam by Alexandra Tinsley
Hetty by Andi Satterlund
Renfrew hat from Jane Richmond
Susan Ashcroft shawls
TGV
Little Waffles
Big Waffle
Bring Me Flowers by Mia Rinde

Duck Duck Wool

What are we knitting?
Grace by Jane Richmond, from the Island Collection

Kirk Ave Tam by Elinor Hickey

Bumble Beret by Elizabeth Doherty

Following are some links for Craftsy. We are a Craftsy affiliate and will earn a few pennies towards our podcasting expenses if you either join Craftsy or sign up for a class. Thank-you for using our links!

Deb Robson's free Craftsy class

Episode 44 audio link

Episode 43 - The one with the crows

As the end of August draws near, Gayle and I record on one of our typical seasonal foggy afternoons.  The start of the new school year approaches and I have already seen both Halloween and winter decorations for sale in the stores. There is still a month left until the autumnal solstice, giving us a few precious weeks to finish and photograph our KAL entries. The discussion on fall colors and how to wear our hand knits has been so fun and thought provoking. I look forward to seeing all the fall looks, hoping to freshen up my own appearance using all the great ideas. If you haven't done so already, stop by our Yarniacs Podcast group on Ravelry and join in the chat.

Gayle and I recorded this episode at a local park, so there are some crows in the background, and a car or two zooming by. It isn't too distracting, and I hope you will enjoy.
- Sharlene

What are we wearing?
Yogini Bolero by Wendy Bernard
Sharlene's Yogini

What are we stalking?
Vignette by Amy Herzog
Grace by Jane Richmond
Bravura by Tracy Purtscher, as shown on The Fiber Factor
(Bravura pattern not available as of this episode release, but should be available in future)
Casual Lace cardigan by Justyna Lorkowska
Cromarty by Heather Dixon
Gnome is where the ♥ is by Susan Claudino

What are we knitting?
Afternoon Tea by Helen Stewart
Askew by Lisa Mutch
Altostratus by Lisa Mutch
Bumble Beret by Elizabeth Doherty
CustomFit by Amy Herzog
Easy Folded Poncho from Churchmouse Yarns and Tea

What have we finished?
Sharlene's Zip cardigan, designed with CustomFit software from Amy Herzog
Zephyr Cove by Rosemary Hill

Book review
More Modern Top-Down Knitting: 24 Garments Based on Barbara G. Walker's 12 Top-Down Templates by Kristina McGowan from Stewart, Tabori and Chang

Episode 42 - Fall is coming

This episode finds us back in our usual recording spot (my dining table) after recording "in the field" for the past two episodes. We are definitely back in our groove, post-analysis paralysis. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing since for both of us, analysis paralysis seems to yield lots of knit hats for charity! In my case, being trapped in a yarn store adds to the donation pile as well!

Lots of project talk, color talk, and new patterns to check out. Fall--not winter--is coming, and we want to be prepared with the colors and styles of Fall!
- Sharlene

What are we wearing?
February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne
Sharlene's February Lady
Summer Dawn by Andrea Black
Gayle's Summer Dawn

What are we stalking?
Boxy and Buttony by Joji Locatelli
Window to my soul by Joji Locatelli
Aniron by Luise O'Neill
Obsidian by Lisa Mutch

What are we knitting?
Afternoon Tea by Helen Stewart
Askew by Lisa Mutch
Altostratus by Lisa Mutch
Amy Herzog CustomFit sweater
Gayle's Stripey mitts 
Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

What have we finished?
Boxy by Joji Locatelli
Sharlene's Boxy
Brattleboro Hat by Melissa LeBarre
Sharlene's modified Brattleboro
Sharlene second modified Brattleboro
Sharlene's "Trapped in a yarn store" hat
Dance All Night Slouch Socks by Erica Jackofsky
Gayle's Slouch Socks
Seamless Salomas Slippers by Megan Williams
Gayle's Salomas Slippers
Oak Trail by Alana Dakos
Nozky by Monika Sirna
Gayle's legwarmers
Julissa by Vanessa Smith
Gayle's Julissa

Trapped in a yarn store?

The subtitle to this post should be "Fantasy or nightmare?" In general, being trapped in a yarn store would be an enjoyable experience. I can't leave? Oh, darn, let's just feel the fiber. But when trapped inside with a customer who hadn't intended to spend quite that much time and a FedEx delivery guy who cannot stand still, one does start to wonder if the hidden camera person is going to pop out of the classroom. Seriously, a FedEx guy? Oh, the comedic possibilities! The guy came in with one small box, not even yarn-filled, turned to leave and couldn't get the door open.

"Um, does your door stick?" he asked after repeated handle rattlings and some pushing and pulling. No, our door doesn't stick. Not like that, with such purpose and finality. It wouldn't even rattle within the door frame. When it became obvious that the door was definitely not going to open, the aforementioned customer called her husband who was at the bakery having a coffee. We also managed to flag down our regular UPS driver and sent him to fetch the landlord.

Long story short, someone did manage to get the door out of the frame to release the customer, the FedEx guy having jumped out the window. (Note: The store is firmly first-floor grounded.) The door latch had broken in the closed position, not to be released by mere handle rattling. Fortunately, one of our regular knitters Carol was there to keep me company and lend a calming presence. But I would seriously love to hear the story FedEx guy told once he got back to the station. "I was trapped in a yarn store and the door wouldn't open!" Sure you were buddy, sure you were...
- Sharlene

Beta testing: Measurements

You may have heard Gayle and I mention that we are beta testing software for Amy Herzog called CustomFit. I have been looking forward to this since we contacted Amy, have knit my swatch and tentatively tried generating my first pattern. The hard part prior to the pattern generation is taking one's own measurements. Fortunately my partner in crime Gayle is ever at the ready and together we tackled this task. Even with instructions, taking measurements is hard! Why? I think the answer to that lies with the garment industry's one-size-fits-most approach to garments. We are used to being served with minimal choices. Women don't generally shop with measurements in mind, and the average shopper probably can't tell you her measurements beyond her bra size. (And don't get me started on that, since the media would have us believe that we are all walking around wearing ill-fitting bras.)

So, challenge accepted. Measurements taken. I am not sure they are 100% correct, but they can be tweaked further along in the process. Fingers crossed for a good fit!

Episode 41 - Lazy days of summer

For some reason this is a particularly low-key episode. It was a hot day while recording, and I had been a bit under the weather health-wise the past week and though there is a lot of knitting, we are both a little low-energy.

Technical difficulties? If you have had difficulties reaching a few of the older episodes this week, those should be resolved now. We were booted off of our hosting service for using too much bandwidth! No, I don't understand because, well... isn't that what a hosting service is supposed to do? But we are moving on, our files have been moved, and the transition should be seamless to users. If you experience any difficulties, please let us know what episode you are trying to access so that we can make sure all the file transfers function as they should.

What are we wearing?
Low Tide Cardigan by tincanknits
Sharlene's Low Tide
Marion cardigan by Andi Satterlund
Gayle's Marion

What are we stalking?
Ginny's Cardigan by Mari Chiba
Army of Caterpillars by Miranda Harp
Nanook by Heidi Kirrmaier
Buttony and Boxy by Joji Locatelli (pattern not available yet, but you can see Joji's project page here)
Black Mamba by Rachel Frank
Angry Sheep Cardigan by The Needle Lady

What are you knitting?
Boxy by Joji Locatelli
Sharlene's project page on Ravelry
Afternoon Tea Shawl by Helen Stewart
Askew by Lisa Mutch
Julissa by Vanessa Smith
Boxy and Buttony by Joji Locatelli
Nozky legwarmers by Monica Sirna
Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

What have we finished?
Sharlene is swatching for Amy Herzog's CustomFit
Wild Cherry by Melissa Goodale
Gayle's Wild Cherry
Booga Bag by Julie Anderson
Gayle's Booga Bag

Book reviews
History on Two Needles by Annie Modesitt
What (else) Would Madame Defarge Knit? edited by Heather Ordover