Episode 24: Captain Puerto Rico (Or Laura and Jen Need Neck Models)

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The I Flunked the Written Cowl for the Sunnydale Yarn Club

This episode is sponsored by the new and improved Dizzy Blonde Studios. Check out our new website at www.dizzyblondestudios.com

Catching Up: (00:55)

Laura was at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company for meet and greets for the Los Angeles Yarn Crawl. We mention Trendsetter Yarns, Baah Yarn, and Reywa Fibers. She got to take a day off and go to Disneyland, where she got to meet Thor and see a lot of props from the Marvel Universe movies. She’s on Round 3 of her final Nerd Wars tournament for a while. She is still working out some of the bugs for the new Dizzy Blonde Studios website. She will use her Etsy shop for patterns and clearance yarns and one-off skeins. She’s also fighting a cold.

Jen was at the Craftcation Conference in Ventura. She stayed at a hotel right on the water. She loves Ventura. And she took a cookingclass with Aida Mollenkamp. She learned to make preserved lemons, took a drawing class, took workshops on branding, social media, and blogs, got to listen to Melanie Falick on a panel, did some embroidery classes (and got embroidery kits from Ugly Baby and La Ru (with patterns from Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching). She’s reading Swamplandia!. She’s working on a monologue from the play Educating Rita for her acting class. And she’s going to write on her blog more. And she released a a pattern! It’s currently exclusive for the Sunnydale Yarn Club, but in six months, you can buy it.

In the Knitting Bag: (15:53)

Laura is working on the left hand version of the Hand to Hold Dishcloth by Rachel van Schie. She has done the right hand square in Berroco Vintage DK in blue. She is also working on a blanket square using the Fruity Oaty Bar Chart by Elizabeth Herac out of Berroco Comfort in a sage green. She is working on her vintage man sock in Lambie Toes in the color No Touching Guns. And she’s continuing to work on the Broncos hat for her brother out of Knitpicks Brava in blue, orange, and cream. And she has put a few leaves on her Leftie by Martina Behm, out of a Miss Babs kit in slate and reds.

Jen is also working on a Leftie out of Knitpicks Palette in Cream, Rouge, Spearmint, and Aster. She is very happy that she went stashdiving. She is working on a Leah’s Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant. She is working on her Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Fibre Company Organik in Highlands.  She regrets not doing the sleeves before she finished the body, so there is less to flip (something she learned fromThe Knitmore Girls), because the body of this sweater is heavy.

We mention Melissa’s custom colorway from the Loopy Ewe.

Finished Objects: (26:36)

Laura finished the right hand Hand to Hold Blanket Square, the Leaf on the Wind “Wash Cloth” by Becca out of Berroco comfort worsted.

Jen finished her 2×2 ribbed scarf out of Patons Wool Classic in the colorway Kimono for the charity Interval House.

Devil’s Tower: (28:45)

Laura has been really good about pulling things out of the Devil’s Tower. Jen’s Rocky Coast Cardigan is hovering around Devil’s Tower. And her Watership Down KAL shawl is Devil’s Tower because she doesn’t have the brain power for it right now.

Frog Pond: (30:55)

Jen has been lucky, but Laura has not been. Laura frogged her initial Bronco’s hat because the pattern with the stripes was looking too feminine. In addition, she put a knot in at the color change and the knot came undone and it unraveled. Plus, she couldn’t figure out a way to do the color changes she liked, so she frogged it and started over in a new pattern of her own making.

On Deck: (33:20)

After Nerd Wars, Laura plans on making an Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde Sock in Timey Wimey (TARDIS Blue). She also will be making some more blanket squares for Nerd Wars.

Jen kind of wants to re-make her Sweetheart of the Rodeo cardigan, because it’s knit at a small gauge in high twist yarn (Wollmeise DK). She may just cut out the colorwork and re-do it as embroidery. Or maybe she will re-make a new one out of fingering weight. She wants to make the Chickadee from Ysolda’s book Little Red in the City in Quince and Company Chickadee in Slate, Egret, Lichen, and Rosa Rugosa.  She also wants to make a Lauriel Cardigan (also by Ysolda and from Little Red in the City) out of Wollmeise DK in Pesto.and a pair of Water for the Elephants socks by Rose Hiver in some Knitpicks Stroll in a bare (natural) and Summer Blooms (pink).  She also has an idea for some mitts with jacaranda blossoms embroidered on them.

We mention Celestarium and Southern Skies by Audrey Nicklin.

Knit Culture: (40:06)

We answer a question from our Knotty Talk Thread. knitallthestuff asks

Here’s one that falls more under “discussion topic” than “request for help/info”. When selecting what patterns to knit/crochet and which ones to do next, how do you juggle all the conflicting desires/intentions:

1. OMG, SHINY! Must. Make. Now.
2. I should do this now, so I can get some use out of it before next year.
3. It would be really nice to have this, but I should wait until X date (see #2).
4. Other deadlines, whether externally- or self-imposed (Christmas, Birthdays, Ravellenics).
5. That skein of ___ is calling to me from my stash. I must use it and love it and call it George.

We answer, but we want to know what you think. We come up with the overall answer of “it depends on the mood and the pattern.” We both determine that we are more motivated by the pattern than the yarn. Laura has had a great need for deadline work for Nerd Wards and booth samples. Jen takes the cast on time into account. We mention a bunch of patterns, including Yggdrasil and the The Princess Shawl.

But we really want to know about your motivations. So let us know in the Ravelry thread for this episode.

We also announce prizes for the overall Podcaster Throwdown.

PlainJayne12 knit the most hats overall (for Team Sock-a-holic). The most prolific knitter for Team KnottyGirls was Karen E. They both win an “Almost the Works Package” for any Stitches event in 2014 or 2015, donated by XRX Books.

Carrie M. of The Yarn Sellar contributed the most hats overall. She got the residents of a correctional facility to knit and donate 99 hats for Team Craftlit. She wins a membership to the second patrol of the Sunnydale Yarn Club donated by Dizzy Color.

Robdob contributed the most virtual hats. She raffled off a shawl and donated the proceeds to Team Sock-a-holic. She wins a prize package consisting of a 40th Anniversary Large Eden Drawstring Bag from Della Q, 1 Set each Knitters Pride Dreamz US Size 5 in 24” & 40”, Valley Yarns Pattern Series Snowdrop Baby Blanket, and 10 balls Valley Yarns Longmeadow in Natural, donated by WEBS.

Our team MVP is Peggy Baxter (pbaxter), president of ESSS, who was such an enthusiastic supporter. She wins a two-year subscription to Knitter’s Magazine, donated by XRX Books.

Random Drawings:

4 Mini-skein samplers donated by Skeindalous Yarns
1. Estella A
2. Meshuggeknitter
3. Bluesjules
4. Seajaneknit

5 skeins Blondee Merino/Superfine Alpaca blend donated by Dizzy Blonde Studios
1. Kim Rennick
2. indigodogmt
3. CrispyBacon
4. JudithLee
5. Mary

3 Books donated by Heather Ordover of Craftlit
1. What would Madame Defarge Knit?–Edith
2. What else would Madame Defarge Knit?–Susan from Brea
3. Grounded–Barbula

2 skeins of 100% Yak Yarn donated by Bijou Basin Ranch
1. Dark Blue–Glenda from Fullerton
2. Light Sandy Brown–knitsnhikes

1 4oz./100g. Skein Skeindalous Joi Sport 100% BFL in Candy Floss donated by Skeindalous Yarns–Barbula

A copy of History on Two Needles donated by Annie Modesitt–Ruth L

A digital pattern collection of Marly Bird’s patterns donated by Marly Bird herself–Karen E

3 Needle Cases donated by Knit Totes
1. RKSmom
2. Fred from ESSS
3. afreyedknot

2 50-gram skeins FibraNatura 100% linen donated by Laura
1. Regatta color–Shanda S
2. Purple color–KnittyBarb

A Project Back Pack donated by the KnottyGirls Knitcast–E Gould

3 Knit stitch marker sets donated by the KnottyGirls Knitcast
1. k8erpillar
2. Kay from Ladera Ranch
3. scmusicals

2 Crochet stitch marker sets donated by the KnottyGirls Knitcast
1. ariane
2. Lifewithmonkey

Thank you so much to all the prize doners, to everyone who contributed hats (virtual or real) or gave someone yarn to knit hats or contributed in any way. You all did an amazing thing for Halos of Hope.

Geek Culture: (1:01:01)

We talk about knitting webcomics. We mention Worsted for Wear and Knit Princess. We love both of them. Jen also mentions other webcomics she loves: Questionable Content and xkcd. And we want to know what cool stuff you find on the internet. So we started a thread in our Ravelry group where you can post any cool knitting-related or geek-related things you find on the internet. Share the love.

Events: (1:05:29)

Signups for Patrol 2 of the Sunnydale Yarn Club will start April 17th and close on May 2nd. There are 32 spots in the club; if more than 32 people sign up, names will be drawn for the spots on May 5th. First installment will go out in June. Pricing, details, and the signup form are at dizzycolor.wordpress.com

We are planning an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day. Details to follow, but our event will be either June 21 or June 22.

We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25.

Jen will be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th.

We also mention Pear Pie with Red Wine and Rosemary.

Thanks for listening to our 25th episode. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished April projects in the April Thread. You can win yarn!