Episode 7: Get Your Goat On!

Welcome to episode 7 everybody! In this podcast we review our 1st LYS (local yarn shop,) sit down and chat with a few of our knitting group friends and talk about all of our WIP's, Fo's and CO's. Grab your knitting, your beverage of choice and join us!

Episode 7 Audio

Marcy and Kim having way TOO much fun recording

What's in our Lesson Plan?

• Show and Tell (including goals)
• An interview with a few of our knitting group friends
• We introduce our LYS spreadsheet and review process
• An interview with our LYS, Got Your Goat
• What's on our Blackboard?

Show and Tell

We start off with a review of Kim's goals that she set last week:

1. Finish her Autumn's End pullover: Frogged! Sadly due to a huge issue with incorrect stitch counts in ALL parts of the sweater. sigh...
2. Cast on a new summer sweater, possibly the Symmetry in Motion by Vera Sanon using her SW 2016 Forbidden Woolery Proverbs yarn. Done!!!
3. Finish her Invictus B & B socks using an afterthought heel and 2/3 of the stitches for the heel as EZ recommends along with putting in contrasting heels and toes. Done! However, Kim knit the heel at a birthday party and went on autopilot and used her regular flat heel instead. 
4. Sit down at her wheel and spin at least 5 times. Done!



Kim"s Lendrum spinning wheel



Kim's handspun gradient yarn





5. Cast on a pair of socks in a pattern. Done! The Achilles HeAL by Lucia Light using Fishknit's panache sock yarn.

Notes: Kim highly recommends the Craftsy Class, "Drafting from Worsted to Woolen," by Jacey Boggs Faulkner. Also, when frogging her Autumn's End she realized that her UFO's often get into trouble when they are put away for long periods of time. She really likes having a variety of items on the needles with a range of difficulty and techniques; however, when a UFO is not worked into the mix on a weekly basis it tends to  languish and is more difficult to pick up and get back on track with.

Marcy finished her Casual Kimono sweater and is really happy with the fit. She highly recommends the mongolian cashmere yarn from Stitchsisterz. She is currently working on her Be My Angel shawl by Martina Behm and is really enjoying the colors of the beautiful Huckleberry Knits yarn.  Marcy recently cast on the Nesoi Tee by Miriam Felton and is using her SW 2016 Anzula Breeze yarn (silk and lace blend,) in the Key Lime color way. 

Kim was swatching for the Nesoi Tee using her Anzula Breeze in the Irene color during the podcast. She also crocheted a stuffy last week for a baby's birthday gift, the "Crochet Giraffe Pattern,' by Emma Dent. This is a free pattern on Ravelry and was a fast, fun and easy crochet project. She has entered it into the Legacy Knitz (a video cast, go check it out,) "Stuffie Along KAL/CAL."

Interview with Kathy and Linda

Got Your Goat group knitting area.

We sat down and chatted with two of our friends from our knitting group, Kathy and Linda. Kathy is ktspinner on Ravelry and Linda is picking2gogranny. Both women are members of the local knitting guild (Camellia City Stockinettes,) the local spinning guild (Sacramento Weavers' and Spinners' Guild,) and the lace guild (The Lacy Knitters Guild.)

Linda is a new weaver, a knitter and a seamstress. Kathy is an experienced and prolific weaver, knitter and spinner. Linda has the Shapely Tee by Joan McGowan-Michaels on the needles using silky wool and this is a KAL with her knitting guild.

Kathy and her woven scarf.

Kathy has attended SOAR (now Yarn Fest) hosted by Interweave, where she had the opportunity to meet and learn from Judith McKenzie, Sara Lamb and others. Both women have attended Stitches West, Lambtown in Dixon, Ca and Linda will be attending the Meridian Farms event (I couldn't find a  link for this )

Kathy only listens to our podcast (such good taste!) Linda watches The Fat Squirrel Speaks video cast with Amy Beth (she's hysterical, go watch her!) and she listens to the Knitmore Girls audio podcast.

Michelle and her hybrid shawl.

Another knitting group friend joined us at the end and she was sporting her newly finished and gorgeous Four Seasons shawl by Alana Dakos. Michelle, who is scaryhairgirl on Ravelry decided to sew a short seam on the sides of the shawl in order to change it into a hybrid shawl/poncho and it looks great. She knit her shawl out of Malabrigo Rios in a beautiful green color way.

Overview of our LYS spreadsheet and rating process

On our main blog page we have a tab on the top of the page, "Yarn Shop Evaluation" where you can find the spreadsheet that we use to list the aspects that we are looking at when visiting and reviewing yarn shops. We are not critiquing, only listing what yarn options, including fiber and price categories, ease of finding, hours of operation and community outreach among other facts about the LYS. Our goal is to give you, our friend the knitter, an overview of what each LYS has to offer so you can decide if it would be a good fit for you as you travel or are just in the area. 

Interview with Got Your Goat

We sat down and chatted with Teresa (frnd4vr) about OUR LYS, Got Your Goat, in Roseville, Ca. She mentioned that one of the trends that they're aware of at GYG is knitters using smaller gauge yarn as opposed to mainly worsted and chunky. They're bringing in many new and beautiful yarns to meet that need: Erica Knight's Studio Linen, Space Cadet fingering, Ito and Shibui,  just to name a few. This past winter, they brought in Woolfolk, which was a huge hit. 

Also, they have regular KAL's (knitalongs, where everyone knits the same thing at the same time and can get help from the other knitters or the leader of the KAL.) Currently, Teresa is leading a Radian Yoke sweater KAL. The pattern is by Wendy Bernard and there are many great spring through fall yarns to use choose from that have linen, cotton and rayon; for example, Firefly and Soft Linen.

Teresa mentions the LYS in Fresno, "Swatches" and the Mountain Meadows yarn mill in Wyoming which is 100% women owned. 

Got Your Goat has classes on a regular basis, with a short break in the summer. Diane Soucy and Nancy Weisman are regular teachers. Check out their class schedule, here. 

Mo, the beloved shop mascot

One of the fun and unique offerings from GYG is their "Mo's Stash Box." This is a quarterly offering of unusual and special tools, yarn, patterns, etc... that aren't available in the store and that are always packaged in cute and innovative ways. Even if you don't live locally, you can still take part in this fun subscription program because they'll happily ship your box to you! ***Mo is the shop mascot, btw. He's a darling little goat that keeps an eye on all the knitters and their shenanigans!

What's on Our Blackboard?

Kim isn't setting any goals this week because she is heading off to Ann Budd's "Knit For Fun" retreat and has homework to complete. She also has another trip after that so she is working on prepping appropriate travel knitting projects. We will be back with a new episode in two weeks and we'll be sharing interviews and stories from Kim's retreats as well as our WIP's, Fo's, and new CO's. 

Have a fantastic few weeks and Happy Knitting!

Episode 6: Yarn Floozy

Welcome knitters! In this episode we are "in the classroom," and it's all about our knitting. We discuss what's on and off our needles in our Show and Tell segment, our goals and if we met them, what's hot right now and we present a research paper about after and fore thought heels. Perhaps we've had a knitting howler or two in the past weeks?  Pick up your knitting and find out as you join us for our 6th episode.

Episode 6 Audio

Marcy, Kim, and Smitten
 Recording episode 6.

What's in our lesson plan today:

• Show and Tell
• Hot Right Now
• Research Paper: After and Fore Thought heels
• Knitting Howlers
• Knitting Goals
• What's on our Blackboard

Show and Tell:

We begin this segment with Kim discussing the goals that she set in the last episode.

1. Finish her Doodler shawl by Stephen West. Kim ended up crocheting the top and bottom borders using stitch patterns from the book, Complete Photo Guide to Crochet.  All info to be found on the project page.  Done!!!
2. Cast on a new sweater. The Breathing Space pullover by Veera Valimaki. Done!!!
3. Pick up her Elsie shawl and knit on it. Kim ended up frogging the original shawl, which was the Better Together shawl by Erica Jackofsky and casting on the Itineris shawl by the Yarniad.  Both shawls are beautiful and the Anzula Cloud yarn is amazing. Done!!!
4. Put her fiber stash on Ravelry. Done!!!
5. Finish her Autumn's End pullover by Nevernotknitting. not done...:  (
6. Finish her "Surprise! IDK where you came from" socks, research after and forethought heels, put in afterthought heels and write up a research paper on the topic to share on the podcast. Done!!!

In the end we decided that Kim had earned an A- for meeting most of her knitting goals during the past weeks. Phew... Setting goals doesn't work for everyone, but so far it has been working for Kim and gently prodding her to start and finish things on her knitting list. 

Errata*** The Tv show mentioned was Knitting Today and should've been Knitting Daily. 

Also, if you're in the area, check out the gorgeous Monarch Knitting yarn shop in Pacific Grove, CA.

Marcy is continuing to work on her gorgeous Casual Kimono sweater by Bonnie Riley. Both yarn and pattern are from Stitchsisterz. She's sadly running out of yarn and will need to order more. While madly perusing Ravelry and trying to decide what to knit next, she cast on the Be My Angel shawl by Martina Behm. Its beautiful and is the perfect comfort knitting for her right now!

Marcy also swatched for several projects: 

Youth Yarn Swatch

Allhemp6 Swatch

1) The Reflected Lines cardigan by Suvi Simola using Yoth Yarn in the kale color way. Although both the pattern and yarn are fantastic, with spring here and summer right around the corner, she's decided to put that on hold until fall, and 2) the Flirty Ruffles Skirt by Lana Hames using Hemp for Knitting Allhemp6 yarn in the aubergine color. Sadly, the fabric that her combination of needles and yarn is producing is not what she's looking for, so she'll continue to swatch and get back to us with the results. 

Kim mentioned that she's a combination continental knitter. Follow the link to a wonderful blog post by fellow combination continental knitter, Annie Modesitt.  She would also like to refer listeners who are interested in knitting skirts to this informative episode of the Knitmore Girls audio podcast where they review the book Knit my Skirt by Candace Eisner Strick.

Kim's Black strip version
with a ruffle bottom.

Kim's Blue version
with gray stripe.

Kim had forgotten to talk about her finished Cattails sweater in the last episode and wanted to mention how much she's loving and wearing it. She also added a seam to her finished Four Seasons Shawl,  and she's very happy with it and knows that she'll wear the shawl more often now that it's a hybrid shawl/poncho.

Kim added about a 3" seam to her Four Seasons
Shawl to make it more of a poncho.

Hot Right Now:

Marcy has been madly browsing patterns on  Ravelry while she's trying to decide on her next project. She's currently obsessed with the following patterns:

1. The Tracery pullover by Norah Gaughan
2. The Enchanted Mesa pullover by Stephen West
3. The Andrea Tee Revisited by Modern Culture
4. The Pixielated pullover by Jennifer Beaumont
5. The Faye tee by Tonia Barry, and
6. The Sandshore cardigan  by Alicia Plummer

Kim suggests the Mama Vertebrae cardigan by Kelly Brooker as a good option. Amy Beth, from the hilariously funny Fat Squirrel video cast knit one and she modded it.  Kim is thinking about summer sweaters and is pondering casting on a summer tee with her beautiful Forbidden Woolery Proverbs yarn. 

Research Paper: After and Fore Thought heels

Kim found a great blog called "Knit Better Socks" by raveler reenamd and a fantastic post on AT (after thought) and FT (forethought) heels. Go check her blog out, she's got years of wonderful information about sock knitting and she's very smart and informative. You can find it here. The post leads to another blog post from the Yarn Harlot from 2007 about AT heels and ultimately both bloggers had found their main inspiration from the renowned Elizabeth Zimmerman. Check out her great book, Knitting Without Tears. 

After completing the research Kim concluded that the term  FT heel is when we decide ahead of time, (so, with fore thinking...)to place a row of waste yarn in where the heel will go and then we go back after finishing the rest of the sock and pick up stitches around the waste yarn, unravel the WY and knit the heel. The term AT heel should be used when we knit the entire sock and then go back and cut a stitch to unravel a row where we want our heel placed and we then pick up stitches and knit the heel.

She knit her first AT heel and highly recommends that you give it a try as well. It's fun and interesting to try a new technique and keep our knitting fresh and inspired. Also, check out the great book, by Margaret Radcliffe, Circular Knitting Workshop, and the free pattern,  AfterThought Heel Socks, by Laura Linneman from the KnitGirllls video cast. Leslie, also from the KnitGirllls podcast, has a fantastic video tutorial  for knitting a FT heel. 

Getting ready to cut the
opening for the heel.

Picked up cut stitches.

Knitting the heal in the round.

Both socks done!

Knitting Howlers:

Marcy has a "tentative" knitting howler in that she doesn't know if her Casual Kimono sweater is going to be too big. She's working on the neck and front band and already knows that she'll need more yarn. She's planning on reblocking the garment after it's all done and possibly throwing it in the dryer for 5 minutes. (The Destined2Knit podcast does not advocate or recommend that you put any of your knitwear in the dryer! This is a very personal decision, especially when cashmere is involved!) We are hoping that Marcy's sweater will not be making an appearance in our next Knitting Howlers segment!

Kim howled at her knitting when she had repeated errors after knitting at night on her beautiful Breathing Space sweater and knitting short rows with black yarn. Her knitting resolution = only knit on black/dark yarn during daylight hours!

Knitting Goals:

Kim is setting a new set of goals for the next few weeks. They are:

1. Finish her Autumn's End pullover. 
2. Cast on a new summer  sweater. Possibly the Symmetry in Motion by Vera Sanon.
3. Finish her Invictus B & B socks, using an AT heel, but this time using 2/3 of the stitches as EZ recommends and also, putting in red contrasting heels and toes.
4. Spinning at least 5 times
5. Cast on a pair of socks in a pattern; maybe the Monkey by Cookie A or the Achilles HeAL by Lucia Light. Both patterns are free on Knitty.com.

What's on our Blackboard?

We'll "see you again in two weeks when we will share some fun interviews with you from our knitting group and talk about our LYS and what it has to offer. Have a wonderful couple of weeks, enjoy your knitting and  we hope that you're not howling at your knitting!

Episode 5: Interview with Ann Budd & Knitting Howlers!

Hi Knitters, we're happy to share our 5th episode with you. Kim went to the Strungalong retreat where she got to meet and interview Ann Budd.  We are continuing to learn about podcasting and we are perfecting our style, I hope you are enjoying our conversations and knitting info that we are always excited to share with our listeners.This is another nice, long, meaty episode; so pick up your knitting, a soothing beverage and settle in for a great knitting session. Enjoy!

Episode 5 Audio

Whats in our Lesson Plan?

• Show and Tell
• Field trip Notes
• Interview with Ann Budd
• We are Uber Crafty!
• Homework/Goals
• What's on our Blackboard?

Show and Tell:

Marcy has been wearing and really enjoying her True sweater by Joji Locatelli. She is currently working on her Casual Kimono  pullover  by Bonnie Riley. She bought the gorgeous 100% Mongolian cashmere yarn from the  Lambtown fiber festival that we attended last fall. The cashmere and pattern are from Stitchsisterz Yarn. 

Marcy wanted to pick up and work on the cute Monster pants, but it didn't happen. She finished the Gray Lady Tablet case and is very happy with it. As part of the Stitches West KAL, Marcy is planning on casting on the pretty Be My Angel shawl by Martina Behm using her Huckleberry Knits singular in the winesap color. 

Kim's Doodler Shawl.

Kim finished her Bankhead hat by Susie Gourlay.  She CO three things: 1) the Doodler shawl by Westknits, 2) a pair of socks knit on magic loop 2 at a time with Invictus Yarn, and these socks will have contrasting heels and toes and (for the 1st time!) a Fish Lips Kiss Heel, and 3) another pair of vanilla socks, also 2 x 2 on magic loop with Zauberball yarn.

Kim's other Wips: 1) the Autumn's End pullover by Alano Dakos which is about 3/4 done, 2) the "Surprise! IDK where you came from" second sock (hopefully a horrible case of SSS will not attack her!)

While sick, Kim did some swatching for a few sweaters (there's no better time, right?!) 

1) the Breathing Space pullover sweater by Veera Valimaki using Madelinetosh Merino Light  and 2) the Heartfelt cardigan also by Veera Valimaki which will be knit out of merino light as well. Both of these sweaters are from the beautiful new book by Veera and Joji Locatelli, Interpretations vol 3.

 A good tip when swatching is to tie knots in your yarn tail to remind you of the needle size you used to swatch (for ex, a US size 5 would have 5 knots,) or if you are swatching with multiple sizes, as you change needles indicate the size you used by adding that number of purl bumps to the right side of your work. This works like a charm and your future self will thank you! Also, its always a fabulous idea to wash and block your swatch, especially before investing all of your time and $$$ into knitting a sweater.

A  Show and Tell Note, please check out the Sox Therapist's pattern, Fish Lips Kiss Heel because this very inexpensive $1  pattern will help her pay for some of her medical bills as she is battling cancer. 

Field trip Notes:

Kim attended the Strungalong retreat last November in Port Ludlow, Washington. She learned about this retreat from reading Spephanie Pearl-Mcphee's blog, The Yarn Harlot. This retreat is held three times a year and each session has a different theme. Last November, the amazing Judith  Mackenzie taught the spinning portion, Stephanie taught the knitting and Debbi Stone taught the informative technology class.

While at the retreat, it was really fun to meet and interact with the teachers and other attendees. Kim met:  Ann Budd, Jennie the Potter and Cecelia Campochiaro who wrote the amazing book, Sequence Knitting, along with many other amazing, smart, fun and creative knitters!

Ann Budd Interview:

It was such a pleasure to meet and interview Ann Budd. You can find all of her books here, and the information about her Knit For Fun retreats here.

Ann started working for Handwoven Magazine and moved over to Interweave Press in 1989, first working on the magazine and then as an editor in the book department.

This April's Knit For Fun retreat will be held in Park City, Utah and her guest teacher will be the amazing Nancy Bush. In September, the retreat will be held in Estes Park, Co and her guest teacher will be the  talented Galina Khmeleva.

Cindy Hallam is the event coordinator for the retreats and wants to ensure that all attendees will have a ball and that there will be many fun surprises too!

Ann mentions Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee and the lever knitting technique that she teaches. Head on over to Ann's Revelry group and join in on the fun.

Knitting Howlers:

We really like the Knitmore Girls podcast segment, "When Knitting Attacks!" We don't want to steal a segment name from them, so we came up with our own name, "Knitting Howlers." A howler is defined as," a glaring blunder, typically an amusing one." We know that we've had many howlers in our knitting lives and we will continue to do so (for your amusement, dear listeners : ) We also liked the name because knitters typically want to howl when their knitting misbehaves! ***By the way, we very much enjoy the entire podcast experience with the Knitmore's, please go on over and give them a listen if you haven't already. 

Here are the Knitting Howlers that we experienced since we recorded last: 1) Kim's vanilla socks had some very stubborn stitches that continually wanted to bale out of the sock experience. Even though she's picked up many, many dropped stitches over the years; these proved to be stubborn due to their placement and the dark color of the yarn. 2) Marcy experienced a massive Howler attack while working on her Casual Kimono sweater. There were multiple frogging sessions and issues with cables and finally, some errata in the pattern. The designer, Bonnie Riley, was very responsive when Marcy pm'ed her on Ravelry. She's back on track now and the sweater is coming along beautifully.

We are Uber Crafty:

Kim spent at least 15 hours over the past two weeks re-organizing her stash in both physical and virtual space. It had been at least three years since she'd gone through her stash, skein by skein, and made sure that everything was photographed, in the proper bin and on her stash notebook on Rav. Its a big process, but well worth it. If you're going to truly use that function on Rav, it can only work for you to its full potential if it's complete, accurate and up to date. Also, it's a great opportunity to de stash unwanted yarn and make sure that there are no critters lurking.

The mess that Kim had while organizing her stash.

Marcy took advantage of a wonderful, rainy weekend to get some sewing in. She was able to use up some fabric that was in her stash and sew up two adorable tops. She used the Simplicity pattern #1589.

Homework/Goals:

Marcy has set an "in general" goal of finishing her Casual Kimono sweater before we record next. Kim, who really likes setting crazy goals and is comfortable with not accomplishing all of them, has decided that she wants to: 1) finish her Autumn's End sweater, 2) finish the "Surprise! IDK where you came from" socks and research and be able to talk to you guys about the whole after/fore thought heel subject, 3) enter her fiber stash onto her Ravelry notebook, 4) CO another sweater, 5) finish her Doodler shawl and 6) pick up her languishing Elsie shawl by Fiddle Knits. Good luck Kim! Stay caffeinated!

What's on our Blackboard?

In our next episode we will be in the classroom all alone and spend the entire hour (or two...) talking about our knitting and crafting. We will also have our 1st installment of the Ravelry research paper series. Thank you so much for joining us! Please subscribe to our podcast and join us next time. Happy knitting!!

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Episode 4: SW Part 2

Hi Knitters, we are happy to share our 4th episode with you, it's a long one so prepare yourself for a 2hr D2K episode getting to know more about Stitches West. So make sure an give yourself enough time to enjoy all the information we gathered, fun interviews from random knitters at Stitches, and getting to know us a little more.

Episode 4 Audio

What is in our lesson plan today:

Marcy and Kim on the last day at Stitches in the Marketplace!

Show and Tell:

Kim set some pretty crazy knitting goals last week! She completed  1)her MKAL Shawl by Nevernotknitting, the Four Seasons Shawl. This is a gorgeous cabled worsted weight shawl with botanical elements and was very fun and interesting to knit. The yarn used was Madeline Tosh DK in the Oceana color way.  She also finished her 2) Cabo socks, although there were some issues with starting the toe decreases too early (twice!) These pretty socks were knit with the Fishknits Panache sock yarn. Kim also finished, (well almost! and we're going to count it!) 3) Her Cattails sweater. Melissa Schaschwary designed this cute stripped open front cardigan and it's a great knit. Here is Kim's 1st Cattails, the modded version. Both were knit with Silky Wool. Here's Marcy's  cute Cattails.

Instead of casting on something new, Kim pulled her 4) Autumn's End sweater from Nevernotknitting out of hibernation. This gorgeous, lacy pullover is knit out of MadelineTosh Pashmina in the Amber Trinket color way. She is also continuing to work on her, 5) "Surprise! IDK where you came from" socks. This is bringing up some interesting conversation and blog reading about afterthought and forethought heels. We'll be delving into that topic in two weeks.

Marcy had some really good knitting time while recuperating from knee surgery and was able to finish her 1) True sweater coat by Joji Locatelli. This beautiful sweater was knit on size US 7 and 8 needles and used the Fiesta yarns Grace DK in the Sugar Cane color way. She loves the soft yarn and enjoyed knitting this garment. Sadly, due to sizing issues, Marcy had to frog her 2) Monster pants and hopes to cast on a new pair soon in a smaller size. She is continuing to make good progress on her 3) Gray Lady Kindle case for a friend. 

Both of us had a fun and yet crazy knitting week! Much time was spent perusing patterns on Ravelry, looking at our yarn in virtual and real form and generally planning our future CO's. Both of us have decided to finish up some of our WIP's before delving into our new Stitches yarn.

Research paper:

We thought it'd be fun to do a little bit of research about the topic that so many of us (at least here, in Northern California,) have been obsessed with in recent weeks: Stitches West. We were able to find out some fun information about XRX, the company that owns Stitches, and their first  knitting expo. That was held in October, 1991 in Cherry Hill, NJ. Part of the event was on a race track and was held under tents in a rainstorm! Stitches West is the largest of their expos and attendance is somewhere around 10K. You can find all of this year's Stitches events, here.

Interview with Laura and Pat:

Two Sw attendees, Laura and Pat, were kind enough to sit down with us and talk about their experiences at the knitting expo as well as their own personal knitting story. Thanks ladies! Both women are from San Francisco and one of their LYS's is ImagiKnit. We discuss some of the many needle options for knitters: magic loop, DPN's, straights and circulars. Socks can be knit with afterthought heels on magic loop and either toe up or top down. 

We mention many of the fun activities at the Stiches expos: the fashion show, classes, student banquet and classes. Two other LYS's were mentioned, Greenwich Yarn in SF and Fengari in Half Moon Bay. 

We touch upon the history of knitting, you can read about it here. There's a big difference between a narwhal (which is an amazing aquatic animal that pretty much looks as if it was created as CGI,) and nalebinding (a fabric creation technique that predates both knitting and crochet.) Kim was momentarily confused! We're going to blame that on the yarn fumes.

Field Trip Notes:

Marcy had a wonderful idea for us to talk about what we wore at SW. Here's what we chose:

Kim wore her Radian Yoke Tee by Wendy Bernard on Friday. On Saturday she pulled on her Lillian Tank by Amanda Reed and finished up the weekend by sporting her 3rd Hitofude by Hiroku Fakutsu on Sunday. Her policy for choosing knitwear for Stitches is to treat it like a 95 degree day and dress lightly.

Marcy wore her stunning yellow Veronika by CocoKnits on Saturday and her Snowflake Beauty pullover on Sunday. This gorgeous sweater was only the 3rd sweater that she'd ever made but the construction is quite complex.

Kim added to her fiber stash by purchasing: 1) Greenwood Fiberworks 4 oz sock braid. BFL/nylon blend, 2) Greenwood Fireworks Jingle Bells, heather BFL in a 4 oz braid, 3) two RedFish DyDyeworks, 50/50 blend of silk and superfine merino in a gorgeous red and a red and blue blend, and finally 4) a gorgeous and super soft Redfish Dyeworks 50/50 silk and baby camel in a green color way. Kim is really looking forward to spinning all of this amazing fiber and wants to establish the 15 minutes a day spinning habit.

 Top photo: Marcy and her son Wilson with his bear.
Bottom Photo: Bear for Brooke's new baby girl Lena,
both bears are from Ranch of the Oaks.

We both stopped by the Bar-Maids booth and picked up some of their Lo-Lo bars in the Red Clover scent and Kim also bought some of their Face Pudding. 
Marcy tells the fun story about her friend Brooke,  her adorable new baby girl Lena Elizabeth and the ever so soft and amazingly cute teddy bear from the Ranch of the Oaks booth that she bought in 2014 for her yet to be born son and again in 2016. You can visit Ranch of the Oaks in Lompoc on California's beautiful central coast. Check it out here.

Interview with Celine and Monique:

At the end of the day on Saturday we wanted to interview a few more attendees and we were very fortunate to come across a very special mother daughter duo from France. Thank you ladies for allowing us to interview you! 

These two lovely women discovered Stitches West a few years ago when they were visiting a family member in San Diego and they wanted to visit Ranch of the Oaks; yes the same one that Marcy was just talking about! It's such a small world! They were unable to visit the ranch because they had a booth at SW and weren't open to the public that weekend. Our French friends were so intrigued by everything that they heard about SW that they planned this trip around it so that they could first attend the expo and then go visit family. Good priorities! 

They attended and really enjoyed the Steven and Stephen show on Friday night. Celine took a class from Patty Lyons and really enjoyed it. She has knit Westknit's Enchanted Mesa and really and wants to knit another. 

From Left to Right: Kim, Celine, Monique, Marcy
On the table is Monique's fiber treasures from Stitches.

Fun and Games:

Head on over to the Stiches West Ravelry board and join in on the year long "Use up your SW yarn" Kal! There will be monthly prizes and lots of support and encouragement from other awesome knitters. We will also open a thread in our group; join us!

What's on Our Blackboard?

Our next episode will feature a special interview with the author and designer Ann Budd. Kim had the privilege of interviewing her in November at a retreat. We think you will really enjoy listening to how Ann ended up with a thriving career in the knitting industry. 

In two weeks we will be getting back to, or really just establishing, our regular schedule of recording every two weeks with one week being "In the Classroom," when we focus on our projects, a research paper and whatever we've become obsessed with recently in the fiber field! The alternate weeks will feature a "Field Trip" when we visit a LYS, retreat, festival or other event or group and do some interviews and generally mingle and frolic with knitters in the wild. 

Thank you for joining us today, please subscribe to our podcast and we look forward to "seeng" you again next time. Happy Knitting!

D2K Episode 3 - Stitches West 2016 Part 1 & Yarniacs interview

Hi Knitters, we had a wonderful time last weekend at Stitches West. We were able to sit down and talk with some attendees (two came all the way from France!) as well as the podcasting duo, The Yarniacs.  We will be sharing all three of our Stitches interviews with you in the next two episodes.   We hope you enjoy listening to our experiences at Stitches and the special interview with the Yarniacs, enjoy and happy knitting!

Episode 3 Audio

What is in our Lesson Plan today:

Interview with the Yarniacs, Gayle and Sharlene

Photo with the Yarniacs after the interview at Stitches West.
From left to right: Marcy, Kim, Sharlene, Gayle.

Show and Tell:

Marcy is continuing to work on her True sweater by Joji Locatelli. She is also knitting the adorable monster pants for her son;  Das Monster by Hrönn Jónsdóttir. Luckily, she was able to find the last two skeins that she needed in the colors she wanted at SW (Stitches West.)


Kim is knitting on her, "Surprise! I don't know where you came from" socks while recording. These socks are a total mystery with a lost ball band, an intentional forethought heel (evidently!) and maybe a swirl toe?! She has finished: her Mexico socks and a Bankhead hat for her husband.


Kim's WIPs include: The Four Seasons shawl by Alana Dakos of NeverNotKnitting, she's really enjoying knitting this gorgeous shawl and is almost done; and her Cabo socks knit from the so sparkly and pretty FishKnits Panache sock yarn. 

Kim has set some lofty finishing goals for the next week or so (the after affect from all of the yarn fumes from SW?!) and wants to finish her MKAL shawl, Cabo socks and 2nd Cattails sweater in addition to casting on something from  new stitches yarn. 

Marcy wants to finish her monster pants (because they are super cute and almost impossible to put down,) True sweater and a kindle cover she is knitting for her son's daycare provider. Its the Gray Lady Tablet/Kindle case by Pearl Morgan. In addition, she's madly filling up her queu and linking patterns with new Stitches yarn while trying to decide what she will CO 1st!

Field trip Notes: 

We had a wonderful "field trip" to Stiches West in Santa Clara, California last weekend. Here are some of our stash enhancements:


We both bought some Forbidden Woolery Proverbs yarn. Kim chose the Cymbidium color way, which is a beautiful tonal denim and Marcy bought the Earl Grey and Sunflower colors. This is a sport weight yarn and its 60% organic cotton and 40% linen which is perfect for our hot climate. We are both planning on knitting summer tops with this lovely yarn.

We also both purchased the lace weight Anzula Breeze yarn. This yarn is also a great fit for our  climate and is a silk and linen blend. Marcy got the Key Lime color and is going to knit the Nesoi tee by Miriam L. Felton and Kim chose the Irene color and will be knitting a summer tee as well. 

Kim saw, fell in love with and brought home: 
1) a fingering weight skein of  Forbidden Woolery's Pride yarn in the Horcrux color, 2) a gradient color set from Forbidden Woolery on their Fortitude base, also in the Horcrux color, 3) two fingering weight skeins of gorgeous Theodora's Pearls yarn on their sapphire base. One in the Meteor Showers color and the other in the Canyonlands color way. These two will probably grow up to be shawls and may even be knit together. 


Marcy couldn't walk away from these pretties:

Marcy's stash enhancements from Stitches West.

Habu Textiles, A-1 2/17 Tsumugi silk in colors 82, 50 and 29.
Yoth Yarns, Big Sister in the Mandarin color way.
Anzula, Breeze in the Key Lime color.
Hemp for Knitting, Allhemp3 in the Amazing sapphire color & Allhemp6 in Aubergine.
SpaceCadet, Lyra in the Frigia color.

Marcy has plans to knit the Hemp for Knitting yarn in the Allhemp6 base into the Flirty Ruffles Skirt #359 by Lana Hames. The Space Cadet Lyra will grow up to be a super cute and snuggly Linden sweater by Mel Ski. All of that amazing Habu silk will be magically transformed into the League pullover by Veronik Avery and the Yoth yarn will join some of Marcy's stashed yarn and become the super cute Reflected Lines cardigan by Suvi Simola.

The sample I tried on at the Space Cadet booth.
I have to make this pattern in the exact color. 

The back of the sweater is so beautiful,
I am so excited to get this project started.

What's on Our Blackboard?

In our next episode, we'll continue to share our field trip notes from SW and tell you about the podcaster meet up, more about the marketplace, Kim's fiber purchases, a special book Kim bought, and a few misc. items we picked up. We'll have Show and Tell, which I'm sure will include many FO's and many CO new projects with Sw yarn! Finally, we've got two special interviews with attendees that we know you'll enjoy listening to. 

Interview with The Yarniacs:

We both had a great time sitting down and talking with Gayle and Sharlene of The Yarniacs podcast. As we were preparing to start our podcast, they were kind enough to share some ideas with us when we Pm'ed them on Ravelry. Knitters are the BEST! Here are some of things that we discussed in our interview:

Sharlene has attended a TKGA event. The Yarniacs co host a Northern California knitting retreat with The 2 Knit Lit Chicks (Barbara and Tracie are also two of our favorite podcasters and have very kindly shared podcasting ideas when Pm'ed,) which is called "The NoCKR's (Norther Ca knitting Retreat) Retreat." 

Sharlene is slowing dipping her toe into spinning and we talk about the famous Rhinebeck and Black Sheep fiber festivals. 

Gayle is interested in these yarn companies because they offer some unique blends and fibers, such as Cormo: Sincere Sheep, Elemental Affects and Elsa Wool Company.

Gayle and Sharlene met at a gymnastics class that their children took.

As podcasters, they really enjoy and have been surprised by the incredible community that podcasting affords. In particular, they both really appreciate their Ravelry group.

The Swift Stitch is their LYS and Gayle talks about how much she enjoys it and Sharlene really likes working there.

Thanks for listening everybody! Happy knitting and we'll "see" you soon.

D2K Episode 2 - Getting to Know Kim

Hi Knitters we are moving along and figuring out how to Podcast.  We are excited to share episode 2 with you where we interview Kim. Take a listen and I hope you enjoy getting to know Kim.

Episode 2 Audio 

What is in our lesson Plan today:

Show and Tell:

Marcy's knitting True by Joji Locatelli using Grace by Fiesta Yarn.

Kim's knitting her 1st MKAL, the pattern is Four Seasons by Alana Dakos. Kim is knitting with Madelinetosh Tosh DK, she started the project with Cascade Venezia Worsted, but planned poorly and didn't have enough yarn so she frogged it and switched to the Tosh. She is also knitting on her Mexico socks, the pattern she is using is the Hermione's Everyday Socks and she is incorporating the After Thought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman and she's using the magic loop method and knitting them two at a time.  

Kim's interview:

•  How did you get into kitting? Learned to knit at College
•  How long have you been knitting? A Looooooong time! Over 30 years!
• On average how many hours a week do you spend knitting? 10-15??I'd be fun to keep track.
• What are your colors you gravitate towards in yarn and has your color choices changed over the years? My color choices haven't changed much over the years. I'm really drawn to blues, greens, teals, peaches. corals and lots of vibrant colors. I often think of using neutrals for the practicality though.
• Do you belong to a knitting group?  I started one over 5 1/2 years ago and we met at my house and a few weeks after our LYS opened we started meeting there every week and we love it!
• Does Ravelry play a huge role in your knitting? HUGE! I really enjoy it and can't imagine my knitting life without it. 
• Do you have a favorite design/project you have made? Maybe my entrelac bag that I designed after taking an entrelac class a few years ago. Its very hard for me to decide. I often like what I'm knitting at the moment.
• Do you have a favorite designer? There're so many that I like! iJoji Locatelli, Ysolda Teague, Nevernotknitting, Cat Bordhi, Cocoknits and Baby Cocktails. 
• Do you have a favorite yarn you like to use? No specific brand, but I do mainly use DK, sport or fingering weight yarns. I did knit a Viajante by Martina Behm (one of my other favorite designers,) out of a boat load of lace weight yarn!
• Do you knit things multiple times? Yes! For example, I've knit 3 Hitofude and really enjoyed making them. You can find them here: 1, 2, and 3. There's a nice feeling of familiarity when you knit an item again; yet, there're so many things that I want to knit and only so much time! I did go through a little stuffed animal phase last year and I knit the Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is a free pattern on Revelry and is super cute. Then, I crocheted a bunch of adorable little bunnies for gifts.  Last fall, my knitting group went on a little stripped sweater binge. The Cattails pattern is fun and easy. See mine, here and here. 
• Do you gravitate towards certain types of projects? Yes, not many pullovers because our weather is too warm here and I like to wear what I knit. I do have a gorgeous pullover on the needles, Autumn's End, and its got a lot of lace so I think it'll be cool enough. I knit a lot of socks, shawls and summer garments. 
• What is the hardest project you have ever made? Maybe a lace shawl (Bryce Canyon) that I knit about 5 years ago. Knitting charts were newish to me at the time and so it was a little challenging, but not really hard. 
• Are there any other fiber/crafts you do? I knit, crochet a little, weave a bit, and started spinning about a 1.5 years ago. 
• Who are your knitting rock stars that you would love to sit down and have dinner with. She's not a knitting designer, but a spinning rockstar, Judith Mckenzie. I can't choose just one, but here are some of the knitter's that I'd enjoy sitting down with and having a drink: Martina Behm and several of the other designers mentioned above in the favorite designer section. 

      What's on our Blackboard? 

We"ll be going to Stitches West in Santa Clara, California on February 19th-21st. We are excited about talking to and interviewing some interesting fiber folks while we are there. We look forward to sharing those interviews with you in a future episode.

Thank you so much for joining us for our 2nd episode! These first two episodes were special interview eps where we talked to each other to learn more about our knitting history, personality and habits. Next time you hear from us we'll be back from Stitches West with lots of interesting interviews and stories to share with you. We'll "see" you then! Happy knitting.