Episode 67: Stitches West~it's a party!

Hello Dear Knitters and welcome to our 67th podcast! Kim and Marcy recorded while at the knitting expo, Stitches West, in Santa Clara, California. Marcy's mom, Terry, and good friend, Brooke, joined them and they had a wonderful time and lots of laughs while discussing what they wore at SW and their buying strategies...or lack thereof! Grab your knitting, a bracing beverage and join us.

Episode 67 Audio

 

What's in our Lesson Plan?

Well, nothing today will resemble an average D2K podcast. We talked about what we wore and how we planned for SW. Amidst all of the laughter and strategizing we mentioned the popular and ever present designers Andrea Mowry and Caitlin Hunter about 1,000 times!

What did we wear?

1. Marcy's mom, Terry, who is Pansy2horses on Ravelry, wore her 001 Pattern by Veronika Jobe on Friday and on Saturday she wore her gorgeous Wool & Honey pullover by Andrea Mowry. 
2. Brooke, who is Brookali on Ravelry, wore her Big Haring bone cowl, by Purl Soho on Friday and her Dahlia cardigan by Heather Zoppetti (featured in the Interweave Knits, Fall 2011 magazine,) on Saturday.
3. Kim wore her Little Bird pullover by Veera Valimaki on Friday and her Tegna by Caitlin Hunter on Saturday. Of course, her outerwear all weekend was her Ninilchik Swoncho by Caitlin Hunter. 
4. Marcy wore her Dawning pullover by the Berroco Design Team on Friday and her stunning P-rex cape by SoSu on Saturday. 

Kim forgot to take any pics on Friday and so
she took one in her hotel room. She is wearing
her Ninilchik Swoncho over her Little Bird
pullover.

Brooke trying on a sample its Tilly by This Bird Knits.

Marcy's Mom trying on the beautiful shawl that she was admiring.

Brooke in her Dahlia Cardigan, its so pretty.

Marcy in her Dawning, Brooke in the Haring Bone Cowl, and Terry
in her 001 sweater, sitting waiting for the fashion show to start.

What's on our Black Board? 

In episode 68, Marcy and Kim will be in the classroom and share all of their FO's, Wip's and new CO's. Kim will tell us how her 'Finish or Frog it February' went AND we'll hear about how all four women did with their purchasing plans at SW. 

Thank you for joining us! We hope that you're enjoying your knitting and making and we look forward to seeing you in a few weeks.

Episode 66: 3rd Podiversary Celebration!

Hello dear knitters and welcome to our 66th episode and our 3rd podiversary! Today, Marcy and Kim pop open a bottle of champagne and share what they've been making and also list their favorites from this year.  Spoiler alert, Andrea Mowry and Caitlin Hunter are mentioned about 100 times! Grab your knitting, a glass of something bubbly or fizzy (or just nice and warm!) and join us!

Episode 66 Audio

Marcy is holding up her Zweig & Kim has her frankensocks
and the advent shawl from Forbidden Fiber Co.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. After the Finish Line
3. 3rd Podiversary favorites
4. Show & Tell (including FOFIF)
5. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

• Kim talked about her Spinning and Weaving Guild's Open House that she chaired last weekend. It was a great event and the Sacramento Weaving & Spnning Guild is a wonderful group of  talented people. She displayed several of her hand spun, hand knit items, hand spun skeins of yarn and a woven scarf. 
• Kim stumbled upon some fun Ravelry facts: there are 8,376,501 registered users and 1,014,821 makers have been active on the site during the last 30 days.
• Stitches West is next weekend, February 22-24, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Both Marcy and Kim will be there and they hope to see/meet you if you're there too! If you see us, please say hi!

After the Finish Line

Kim wore:

• her Tegna
• her P-Rex
• hand knit socks
• her Waiting For Rain shawl
• her Ninilchik

Marcy wore:

• her Just Like Honey shawl
• her Project Peace shawl 2017
• her Hitofude cardigan
• her Spring Cloche
• her Light Gale

Our 3rd Podiversary Favorites

1. Favorite pattern: Marcy = Wool and Honey pullover by Andrea Mowry. Kim = Tegna by Caitlin Hunter and Gilead by Leila Raabe.
2. Favorite yarn: Marcy= Spincycle dyed in the wool. Kim= any of her hand dyed or hand spun yarns.
3. Favorite new tool: both agree that it's the Gleener!
4. Favorite Episode: Marcy=Episode 53 & Kim =episode 56.
5. Favorite designer: Marcy = Andrea Mowry & Kim = Caitlin Hunter.
6. Favorite knitting event: Marcy=Stitches SoCal and Kim= Stitches West.

Marcy & Kim saying Cheers to 3 Years of Podcasting together!
Marcy is wearing her Reflected Lines cardigan, and Kim
has on her new FO marled pullover.

***Kim mentions that her favorite retreat was a Knit For Fun retreat with Ann Budd.

Show & Tell

Kim is doing a FOFIF (Finish or Frog it February,) and she's really enjoying it. She made a project page for it on Ravelry and it has been very rewarding to finish things from her pile of wip's (17!!!).  So far, she has finished her faded and marled pullover, a baby blanket and a pair of shorty frankensocks. She is actively working on her Lissycasey cabled sweater and her Advent Mkal shawl. 

She has decided to continue the FOFIF into March, so stay tuned for more news about her progress in the next couple of eps. Kim also finished her Ravello pullover since the last podcast. 

Marcy finished her Just Like Honey shawl and she loves it and is wearing it a lot. She is now knitting monogamously on her Zweig pullover by Caitlin Hunter. She got her color inspiration from Andrea of the Fruity Knitting video podcast. 

Marcy is knitting on her Zweig and is wearing her After the Rain
sweater and she has her Ramble shawl around her neck.

We are Uber Crafty

One of Kim's FOFIF projects that she wants to finish is her Rose Gold shawl by Andrea Mowry. She is using a skein of her handspun  yarn and a set of gradient minis.  She ran out of her handspun, so she spun a skein using some natural white fiber and she'll dye it and then carry on and finish this beautiful brioche shawl.

What's on our Blackboard?

Kim and Marcy plan on recording at SW and Marcy's mom and friend Brooke will be there too and hopefully join in! It'll be a fun Stitches podcast party. 

Thank you for joining us! We hope that your knitting and making are going well and we'll 'see' you again in a few weeks. Happy knitting!

D2K-Episode 66: 3rd Podiversary Celebration!

Hello dear knitters and welcome to our 66th episode and our 3rd podiversary! Today, Marcy and Kim pop open a bottle of champagne and share what they've been making and also list their favorites from this year.  Spoiler alert, Andrea Mowry and Caitlin Hunter are mentioned about 100 times! Grab your knitting, a glass of something bubbly or fizzy (or just nice and warm!) and join us!

You can find our show notes on our blog here!

Check out this episode!

D2K-Episode 66: 3rd Podiversary Celebration!

Hello dear knitters and welcome to our 66th episode and our 3rd podiversary! Today, Marcy and Kim pop open a bottle of champagne and share what they've been making and also list their favorites from this year.  Spoiler alert, Andrea Mowry and Caitlin Hunter are mentioned about 100 times! Grab your knitting, a glass of something bubbly or fizzy (or just nice and warm!) and join us!

You can find our show notes on our blog here!

Check out this episode!

Episode 65: What do we glean about a Gleener?!?

Hello dear Knitters and welcome to our 65th podcast. Grab your knitting, a soothing beverage and join us! We talk about whats going on in our knitting community, what we have been working on lately, and Marcy has done some research on Gleener's.

***This is Kim and I write the show notes. I just got acrylic nails and I'm having a heck of a time typing with the dang things ... : (  Until I figure this out, I'm  going to make the show notes today a little briefer. All of the important links will be here and I'm hoping that this will be a steep learning curve!

Episode 65 Audio

Marcy is holding up her Just Like Honey shawl and Kim is showing off
the new Gleener and wearing her beautiful Find your Fade
shawl that she is trying to figure out how to style.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. After the finish line
3. Show & Tell
4. Research paper: The Gleener
5. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

Here is all of the info for the Open House.

1. Stitches West. We'll be there!
2. In the last couple of weeks, Instagram, in particular,  has been a forum for conversations about race, inclusion and diversity in the fiber arts community. Here are some  links to follow the conversation: *Forum on Ravelry *Kristi Glas Knits video  *The Healthy Knitter blog post by Christina Campbell  *The Bright Blossoms blog post from Atia *Heather Zoppetti Designs blog post on Race Relations
3. Read physical books!
4. The Sacramento weaving & spinning Guild is having their annual Open House on February 9 & 10th in Sacramento Ca. Free event and all are welcome.
5. Bullet journal    

Pippa, sporting her Marian Dress
and high heels!

After the Finish Line

Kim has been wearing her:

• Ninilchik Swoncho
• Gilead pullover
• Socks
• Sternanis Hat

Marcy has been wearing her:

• #01 Star Motif Pullover
• Cancun Boxy Lace Top
• Marian Dress
• Winesap Angel
• Pussy Hat Project

Show & Tell

Kim is working on her Ravello pullover. She has knit 2 baby hats for her niece's preemie twins. She is working on Mystery socks. She is prepping for her Finish or Frog it February.

Marcy has been a monogamous knitter and knit exclusively on her Just Like Honey shawl. She'll be done soon! She also talks about how she overcame knitting brioche from a chart.  She visually likes seeing colors on the chart to help her know if she is brioche decreasing right or left or brioche increasing.  This made it to where she only had to glance at the chart on the row to see which form of increase or decrease she was doing.  It made knitting the center brioche pattern much faster.  Maybe this tip is something that might interest you when knitting from charts.

Marcy's Just like honey shawl, the
center back of the shawl has a
brioche section in it. Marcy talked
about how she made knitting this
section easier.

Marcy's example of how she marks up
knitting charts to read quicker.

Research Paper: The Gleener

This is a fabric shaver that comes in 2 types, The Gleener Ultimate Fuzz remover, and Gleener on the Go Travel Fuzz remover. We enthusiastically give this wonderful product 2 thumbs up! Go check it out. (Marcy purchased the Gleener and we are not sponsored or paid by the company.)

Gleener Ultimate Fuzz remover in the works! 

Marcy's After the Rain sweater, with lots of pills all over it.

Marcy's sweater, after she used the Gleener on it.

Marcy Gleened her entire sweater and got this huge pile of
pills off it. The Gleener has given new life to her sweater.

 It has 3 main edges, and you can buy replacement edges for it, see below about the different edges that come with the Gleener.

1. Big Bulky Pills: use on those found on heavy woolens blends and synthetics.
2. Medium pilling: like those found on cashmere, merino and finer wools, it also works great on synthetics like acrylic, synthetic blends and fleece.
3. Fine Pills: for summer knits, t-shirts, silk blends and ultra-delicates
4. It also has a Pet Brush Fuzz remover Pet Grooming Accessory furniture brush- It’s a rubber attachment that goes over one end on the ultimate gleener, the lint brush end and it has electrostatic rubber bristles that you can use to groom your cat or dog. Clean up is easy as the hear builds up just push it off the bristles with your hand and when the job is done, just pop it off and put it in the top rack of the dishwasher.

What's on our Black Board?

In our next ep. Kim and Marcy will have an in the classroom podcast and share all of their fo's and wip's.

Have a wonderful few weeks everyone. Happy Knitting!

Episode 64:Happy New Year and New Goals for 2019

Hello knitters, Happy New Year and welcome to our 64th podcast! Today, Marcy and Kim will share their current finished objects, works in progress, new cast ons AND goals for 2019. Grab your knitting, a soothing beverage and join us.

Episode 64 Audio

Marcy is showing off her Honey Shawl she is working on,
and Kim is sporting her Mobius Hat and her Ravello.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. After the Finish Line
3. Show & Tell
4. 2019 Goals
5. What's on our Blackboard?

On the PA System

• Stitches West, which is held at the convention center in Santa Clara, CA  will be held on February 21-24. Marcy and Kim should both be there and are looking forward to seeing you and meeting you if you're there too.
• Sadly, two stores in the knitting community are closing. Alana Dakos, who is Nevernotknitting on Ravelry and is a talented knitwear designer, has had a brick and mortar storefront, Nevernotknitting, for about 6 years and she is closing her doors. Her online shop will remain open. Also, the beloved Chicken Boots project bags will no longer be available after February/March. Happily, the owner is transitioning into a new sewing platform that she loves. 
• Kim is a member of the Sacramento Weaving and Spinning Guild and she is chairing their Open House which will be held at the Shepard Garden & Art Center in Sacramento on February 9th & 10th from 10:00-4:00. This is a free event, come and join us!

  

  Here is the marketing postcard and all of the
  information for the Sacramento weaving and
  spinning guild's Open House.

After the Finish Line

Marcy has been wearing:

• Her True sweater by Joji Locatelli.
• Her Wool and Honey pullover by Andrea Mowry.
• Her Confetti pullover by Veera Valimaki.
• Her Lucy Hat by Carina Spencer.

Kim has been wearing:

• Her Ninilchik Swoncho by Caitlin Hunter.
• Her Sunset Highway pullover by Caitlin Hunter.
• Her Zweig pullover by Caitlin Hunter.
• Handknit socks...everyday!
• Her Mobius hat by Cat Bordhi.

Show & Tell

Marcy has finished her Tecumseh color work pullover by Caitlin Hunter! She has made some mods and they are all on her project page.This sweater looks beautiful and Marcy really enjoyed knitting with Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold for the 1st time.  She is continuing to work on her Just Like Honey shawl by Lesley Anne Robinson and this brioche wrap is gorgeous. She has finished her #12 Collared Cardigan by Sharon Sorken. She loves the fit and is happy to have this sweater off her needles! The color and style are so cute and flattering she has been closing it with Jul design closures which are perfect for an open cardigan like this.

Marcy showing off her Tecumseh!

Kim has mainly been working on her Ravello pullover by Isabell Kraemer. She finished her Christmas Tercero socks that she knit from one of her hand dyed sock blanks. She lost steam on both of her Advent projects and hasn't made much progress on them...but they will be finished by the end of February! 1) The Dust of Snow shawl by Helen Stewart and 2) The mystery MKAL from Forbidden Fiber co. She is figuring out vacation knitting!

Marcy is wearing her #12 Collared Cardigan with a Jul design closure,
and Kim is showing off her Ravello!

2019 Goals

Kim and Marcy have both set knitting goals for 2019.

Here are Marcy's goals:

1. To knit 25 projects in 2019.
2. To knit at least 10 projects from her queue.
3. To knit another brioche project.
4. To knit another color work project.
5. To knit more projects from stash than from newly purchased yarn.
6. To knit a project for her son.
7. To knit a skirt! We are thinking about a possible 'skirt along' for March.

Here are Kim's goals:

1. To complete a finish or frog it February.
2. To knit more from stash--3 out of 5 projects from stashed yarn; and track it!
3. To knit 10 sweaters...and track it!
4. To try a new: bind off, cast on and new stitch pattern. 
5. To knit a skirt.
6. To knit at least one pair of non vanilla socks. 
7. To steek a sweater. 

***We mentioned the Happier podcast by Gretchen Rubin and the '19 for 2019' hashtag on Instagram.

What's on our Blackboard?

In our next episode we will have an in the classroom episode where we share what we are working on...and maybe a surprise or two?

Thank you for joining us! We hope that you are having a wonderful and creative time with your knitting and making and we will see you again in a few weeks! Happy knitting.

Episode 63: 2018 Wrap Up

Welcome to episode 63 Knitters! Thank you for joining us today. Kim and Marcy will share their current fo's and wip's, exchange Christmas presents and revisit their 2018 goals to see how they fared. Grab some knitting, a bracing beverage and pull out your yearly goals (if you made any,) and join us.

Episode 63 Audio

Marcy is holding the beautiful sock blank Kim gave her
and is wearing her Weekender, Kim is holding her lovely Xmas
sock blank she died and is wearing her Gingerbread Christmas sweater.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA system
2. After the finish line
3. Show & Tell
4. 2018 wrap up 

On the PA System

Marcy reminds us that Stitches West knitting expo is approaching very quickly. This fun event is held at the convention center in Santa Clara from 2/21-2/24.

After the Finish Line

Kim has been wearing:

1. Her Gingerbread Christmas handspun sweater,
2. lots of hand knit socks, and
3. Her Twigs and Willows cardigan. Here's the button band tutorial.

Marcy has been wearing:

1. Her Ramble shawl,
2. Her newly finished Weekender pullover and
3. Her Reflected Lines cardigan.

Christmas Presents!

We always have fun exchanging birthday and Christmas presents with each other! Kim hand painted/dyed a sock blank for Marcy. The bare sock blank is from KnitPicks and was very fun to dye.

Marcy's Christmas present- a hand dyed sock blank.

Marcy gave Kim some beautiful sweater and shawl closures from Jul and Kim is so excited to use them along with an adorable project bag. 

Show & Tell

Kim has cast on her 3rd sock blank that she dyed (tercero,) and she is knitting a pair of Christmas socks. She is continuing to work on her Dust of Snow wrap by Helen Stewart. She is using minis from the KnitStyle yarn mini advent set. She has put her second advent project aside until she finishes the Dust of Snow, but she's very excited to continue working on her shawl Mkal that accompanied her advent package from Forbidden Fiber Co. The minis are DK weight and they're beautiful. 

Kim's 3rd sock blank- the Christmas edition.

The Ravello pullover by Isabel Kraemer has been a delight to work on and Kim is looking forward to finishing  and wearing it. She has completed her 1st sock blank socks and they're beautiful!

Marcy has finished her gorgeous Project Peace 2018 Mkal Cowl by Christina Campbell. This was a very enjoyable and relaxing knit and KAL. The blog posts written by Christina were inspiring and well composed. 

Marcy has caught the Caitlin Hunter fever and has cast on the Tecumseh pullover sweater and she is using silky wool. She is enjoying working on this color work sweater.

Marcy's Tecumseh swancho.

2018 Wrap Up

Well, it's that time of year again! Kim and Marcy are going to revisit the goals that they set last January and see how they did. 

Kim's Knitting goals:

1. Write and publish the knitting designs that I started in 2017. (Well, she did get a tech editor and design something else, but nothing has been published.) NO
2. Continue to explore color work knitting. (She really only knit on her Damejakka Loppa cardigan a little bit this year...but it's color work, so it counts!) YES
3. To explore brioche lace and cables. (She is currently knitting the Rose Gold brioche shawl by Andrea Mowry.) YES
4. To study sheep breeds, spinning and yarn structure and usage. (Yes, she did that and bought and washed a fleece too! More of that to come in 2019!) YES

Kim's 2018 knitting round up:

• 9 garments
• 1 Blanket
• 10 baby hats
• 6 socks
• 1 shawl
• 5 woven  shawls

Marcy's Knitting goals:

1. To knit 20 projects. (She ended up knitting 28, so she crushed that goals!) YES
2. To knit at least 5 projects from her queue. (She knit 6 projects.) YES
3. Do another brioche project. (She knit the Ramble shawl.) YES
4. Do a pair of socks. YES
5. Knit more projects from stash than from newly purchased yarn. Mas o menos!

Marcy's 2018 knitting round up:

• 12 sweaters
• 2.5 large shawls
• 8 smaller projects: hats, dolls & socks and
• 4 sweaters for Pippa

What's on our Black Board?

In our 1st podcast of 2019, Marcy and Kim will share their new goals for the year along with everything that they've been working on.

We hope that you've all had a beautiful Holiday season and we wish you a healthy and happy New Year! Happy knitting.