Jul 23 2009
episode 81: “Gang Busters”
The month of July’s donation incentive is sponsored by Cosymakes.
She has graciously donated a copy of her book “Knit One, Embellish Too”
she is ALSO going to give you some of her hand dyed farm wool!
interested in seeing all of the patterns, fiber, handspun yarns she also has available? check out her etsy store!
all it takes is a donation to the podcast during the month of july. you’ll help pay for podcasting costs and have a chance at winning this lovely fibery goodness!
on/off the needles:
-handspun socks still being worked on
-lace project…..hitting the wall
-sweater lust Coraline by Ysolda
-swatching for it with handspun, and using a WPI tool
-Owen’s new hat is a triceratops
babble:
-garden and lack of bees
-freezing produce, stocking up, and coupons
-midwest fiber and folk festival (thanks, sherry!)
-pants don’t fit…don’t feel good…time for a change!!!
couch to 5k and yoga!
word of the week:
Nupp- a nupp in knitting is a set of increases done in one stitch, which is later knit together on the other side. ie. knit 1, YO, knit 1, YO, knit 1 is all done in 1 stitch, creating 5 stitches. on the next row, those 5 stitches are purled together into 1 stitch again.
to me? it is a 4 letter word….
spinning:
-how i spun for owen’s hat
-figuring out a balanced ply for resting singles
-my youtube video
Reactivating Twist in Singles to see a Balanced Ply
-plying up the yarn for swatching. is it balanced? look at the skein!
-2 ply swatches. 3ply swatches (made using navajo ply)
favorite thing:
Netflix and Instant Download
8 Responses to “episode 81: “Gang Busters””
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Meghan,
I am a new knitter and would like to suggest a word of the week. What is a chibi?
Thanks,
Deb
Meghan: Thanks for a wonderfully educational and fun-filled podcast. I have two items I wanted to write about.
(1) Could you tell your listeners what the podcast numbers are resulting from your SOAR experience? I’ve just begun spinning and would like to listen to them from the beginning. And,
(2) Did anyone say your lace shawl had to be “people” sized? I took a class some time ago on Faeroese shawls and we made a “teddy-bear” sized shawl in a day. All the elements were in this smaller version but I still came away with a whole shawl, albeit smaller. Thought you might want to cut your losses with lace. Personally I love to knit lace and cringe hearing you having so much difficulty. Then again, nupps are a difficult technique. A simplier design might have also helped you. Chin up – you’ll be finished soon.
Hi Meghan,
Actually, they’re Nupps, rhymes with Soups, or Poops– yes, I hate them too! Good thing about that is, you can go ahead and say “Nupp you!” without fear of misunderstanding.
Thanks for another good cast, and good luck with the life changes; it’s a lifelong struggle for many of us.
Nancy in Holland, MI
You might try hand pollinating your squash. Drastic, but not unheard of!
Love your podcast!! I’m sitting here knitting my little summer scarf and listening. I’m in Dallas, TX and we are pretty hot here! I’d love to know what part of the country you are in with temps so low!! Good luck with your garden. It’s kind of scarey to think of no bees to polinate. You’ve made me sooo hungry with your peach cobbler talk! Thank you!
Marsha
For the bee shortage, you might consider pollinating by hand. Simply go out with a q-tip or soft paintbrush and brush the stamens and pistils of all the plants of one type, then switch to the next. Having bees would be better, but not having a totally bust harvest is the next best thing. (Assuming you still have flower buds on your plants… it is August now.)
For lace knitting, I have two comments. First off, I think you chose alpaca lace yarn, and that’s a really slippery yarn. I started with baby alpaca, and it was miserable to knit with. I’m currently (well, when I’m knitting on it) knitting with Zephyr wool-silk, and the “crunchiness” makes knitting it *much* easier than the baby alpaca. (It’s a nice yarn, don’t let my descriptor put you off!) It used to be distributed by Fiddlesticks, but is now under a different brand, I think. Try also using the name “JaggerSpun”.
Second, are you using a crochet hook to make the nupps? I’ve never knit nupps, but I’ve heard a crochet hook makes all the difference.
I *love* your podcast!
Maybe I missed a podcast or I zoned out when you mentioned it, but when did you stop hooping? You said you were addicted so what happened? Just wondering. Bye!
P.S. Like so many others I am feeling inspired to pick my spindle from where I put it, and to want a wheel.
P.P.S. If you really hate the Lace then stop, it isn’t worth it if you hate it that much. Life should be as happy as possible and because you threw it, you can pick it up.
I just listened to this episode and wanted to tell you that my husband said that as a child he would take a Q-tip and took the pollen from a male plant and put it on the female. They were not getting any pumpkins so his mom told him what to do.
Also, I have loads of trouble making a swatch and getting the gauge to come out. I can’t figure out what happens between the swatch and the actual project. I did a swatch for a shrug and changed the numbers to fit that gauge and then it turned out to be way too big. Do you have any suggestions for me?
I enjoy your podcast.
Sarah in Houston
I’m clarabee72 on Ravelry