Episode 4: Stash Enhancement

Hiya ramblers!  I’m so glad to be back.  Time just gets away from me.  I think my plan of a weekly podcast is just too ambitious cause I’m LAZY!  LOL.  So I think we should plan on it being monthly and then if it is more frequent…bonus!  Here are the show notes.  To listen to the podcast download it from iTunes or listen directly at http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/episode-4-stash-enhancement_2352.

Random Ramblings

The patterns I had in mind at the sale:
1. Baby Tree of Life Throw http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-tree-of-life-throw
2. A Cardigan for Merry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cardigan-for-merry
3. Outdoor Snuggle http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/outdoor-snuggle

My pile of shame and happiness after the sale

Please send me suggestions for what sweater you think I should make with the Debbie Bliss Andes yarn in the Grey colorway.  It’s in the bag next to the orange yan in the pic above. 🙂

Knit WIP

1. Forest Path Stole:  hibernating
2. Zig Zag Socks:  I did maybe one pattern repeat.  Still on the leg of the sock
3. Baby Tree of Life Throw:  see pic below

Friend and FO

1. Baby Hats and Booties

2. Duncan Herschl the Penguin

3. Sheep Hat

4. Spa Day Hand Towel

5. Entrelac Bag

Rambling in Circles

Here’s my new spinning wheel.  No name yet.  Feel free to give me suggestions for a name. 🙂

Here’s a link for info on how to dye using pokeberries: http://osbornfiber.com/2010/09/27/dyeing-with-pokeberries/

Geek Out

Watch for Agents of Shield on ABC starting September 24th.  For more info about the show and sneak peeks try this website http://abc.go.com/shows/marvels-agents-of-shield.

Welcome to Nightvale is one of my fav new podcasts.  I think its a mix of NPR with X-Files.  You can find it on i-tunes and http://feeds.feedburner.com/WelcomeToNightVale.

Chub Creek is great!  I mean it.  I love this podcast.  It’s just nice.  Dave has a calm demeanor and talks about life and nature and anything that crosses his mind.  Plus he has a cute Canadian accent. 🙂  You can find the podcast on i-tunes and at www.chubcreek.com.  Don’t be a dink, listen to it.

Fiber Friends Assemble

Special Events:
1. Knitters Day Out is on September 6-7 in Summerdale, PA.  http://knittersdayout.org/
2. Alpaca Outback Open House is on September 28 in Sharpsville, PA.  Check out their facebook page for more info at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alpaca-Outback/123401637723740
3. Autumn Fiber Festival is on October 19th in Ashland, OH.  For more information check out their website at http://www.autumnfiberfestival.com/.

Regular Knitting, Spinning, Crochet groups
1.  Mondays 5-7 pm at Something’s Brewin in the Shenango Valley Mall in Hermitage, PA.
2. Tuesdays 10:30 am – 1:00 pm at Something’s Brewin in the Shenango Valley Mall in Hermitage, PA.
3. Thursdays 6-8 pm at Wolf Creek Yarns in Grove City, PA
4. Variable times at Never Enough Yarn in Sharon, PA

Classes
Check out the facebook pages for Wolf Creek Yarns and Never Enough Yarn to find their class schedules.  Both shops teach knit and crochet classes.  Find a class that fits your interests and learn a new skill.  If you want to just learn the basics of knitting or crochet or just need a refresher you are welcome at the Monday and Tuesday groups at Something’s Brewin.

Music

This week’s music included Rambling Girl by The Beggars Lake and Most Guitars are Made of Trees by Greg Gibbs.

Tracking the Rambling Knitter

The show notes and blog are right here at http://www.ramblingknitter.wordpress.com.

Like me on Facebook as The Rambling Knitter.

Email me at ramblingknitter.gmail.com

Listen  to the podcast on iTunes or at http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/ramblingknitter.

The rambling knitter must have gotten lost!

Hello my rambling friends! I’ve missed posting for about two weeks now. As you may have guessed I’ve been rambling around the Midwest instead of on my podcast and blog. As you may have guessed from this post there will once again be no podcast this week as today is my birthday and I leave tomorrow to attend my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary and vow renewal.

So, what is on the needles? Exactly the same stuff with little to no progress on all. Not exciting at all. I have not really worked on the ood washcloth either. I did design and test knit a Doctor Who inspired double knit trivet. Once I make a few adjustments to the pattern I will be posting it on ravelry as a free download and here on the blog.

I have done almost no spinning either. What I have done is started preparing the fleeces my father’s cousin’s daughter sent me. There were 4 lamb fleeces waiting for me on my porch when we returned from Origins! On Wednesday this week Tracy and Jan from my stitching group stopped by and we broke out the fleeces! STANKY but with nice crimp. We got about 1/4 of it all picked through and I got a lesson in hand carding. On Thursday I went on a little shopping spree to get bins, lingerie bags and blue dawn to wash the fleece. I was and still am scared to death that I am going to felt this wool when I wash it! One batch has now gone through 2 washes and two rinse baths and I don’t think it’s felted. Lots more to do though, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Lets geek out about board games! Last week from Wednesday through Sunday my husband and I went to Origins Game Fair in Columbus. It was great! We played tons of games, made some convention friends, and ate good food! The ravelry meet-up/kip on Friday went really well. Hanna of The Traveling Sock Knitter came and we drummed up 3 other knitters while there. One I met while in the rio grande room when I asked if she made the scarf she was wearing. Turned out she did!

There were so many board games that we played and gagillions that we didn’t have time to get to. So here I’ll just tell you about the game I liked best. Mice and Mystics is a coop game where all the players play as humans who have been turned into mice. These mice each have their own characteristics that give different bonuses toward attack or healing or searching etc. The point of the game is to go through the stories and achieve quests while staying safe from monsters such as roaches, spiders, rats, centipedes, etc. I like the coop style games alot and the simplicity of this game is also appealing. Plus it’s cute to be a mouse!

Fiber Friends assemble is limited this week. As always there are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday groups. Never Enough Yarn in Sharon PA has released their class schedule for July which you can check out in their Facebook page. TNNA is in Columbus at the convention center this weekend. You can only get in though if you are a business owner related to fiber arts. Our own Wolf Creek Yarns will be there!

I think that’s plenty of rambling for now. I will try to get an actual podcast out next week before Friday. I can’t do Friday because I will be rehearsing all day for the reunion concert I am participating in the next day. Also my parents will be in town. I am hoping to get back into normal podcast schedule in July!

KEEP RAMBLING ON!

Pics of Projects

Ok here are the promised pics of my current projects.

Forest Path Stole
Here is what it looks like in it’s current state.

These are each of the lace sections.
The evil but beautiful birch leaf.

Lily of the Valley

Fern

Zig Zag Socks

Linen Stitch Scarf

Lavender Sheep Roving

Episode 1 is LIVE!

Episode 1 of The Rambling Knitter is LIVE! I can’t believe it.  There were a few bobbles along the way and quite a few uhhs and ummms, but overall I’m super psyched about it.  The feed has been submitted to Itunes and should now be available there.  The link below is to the feed on podbean where you can listen to the podcast.

http://ramblingknitter.podbean.com/feed/

Show Notes:

Looking for my podcast inspiration?  The shows I mentioned during episode 1 are Cast On, Knit 1 Geek 2, Chubb Creek, and Probably Science.  All of these are available on i-tunes.

Current Projects

• Forest Path Stole: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/1RamblingKnitter/forest-path-stole
• ZigZag Socks: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/1RamblingKnitter/lacy-zig-zag-socks
• Linen Stitch Scarf: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/1RamblingKnitter/linen-stitch-yarn-tasting-scarf
• Lavender Sheep Roving: www.lavendersheep.com

Fiber Events:

• Herb and Fiber Festival http://sawmill.org/festivals.htm, June 1 & 2
• Craft Show and Chinese Auction:  Jefferson Township Building near Hermitage PA, June 1, 10 am – 3 pm
• Wolf Creek Yarns Knitting Group Thursdays 6 – 8 pm. Wolf Creek Yarns on Facebook.
• Something’s Brewin Stitchers Group Mondays 5-7 pm and Tuesdays 10:30 am – noonish. In the Shenango Valley Mall in Hermitage, PA
• Never Enough Yarn on Facebook

Geeking Out

• Origins http://www.originsgamefair.com/: Games I mentioned: Defenders of the Realm, T’zolkin, Dominion, Jaipur, Omen, Dungeons & Dragons, and Mouse Guard
• Geek and Sundry http://geekandsundry.com/

Be a responsible pet owner and leash/supervise your dog!

Music by Uke Stanza entitled “My Ol Dog, Green” http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Uke_Stanza/none_given_1783/

To podcast or not to podcast? That is the question.

OK world. Here it goes. No more ifs ands or buts. Despite the decieving title of this post I’ve decided that I had better quit thinking about it and dive in to this murky modern soup of online life and sharing my thoughts with the world. Why? I don’t really know. Perhaps I am inspired by the podcasts I’ve been listening to like Cast On with Brenda Dayne, or Chub Creek, or Knit 1 Geek 2. Honestly I’m not totally sure what this blog/podcast is going to be about which is why I called it The Rambling Knitter. The operative word being RAMBLING. Obviously knitting will be front and center, but there may be other handcraft info as I am also newly a spinner and dyer. I expect there will be a bit of geekery as I am an avid Dr. Who fan, Trek fan, BSG fan, Marvel fan, table top gamer, and D&Der. There will likely be liberal politicing that may border on raving at times instead of rambling. Since I tend to ramble I’m sure there will lots of other stuff too that I can’t think of now.

I am open to feedback if anyone out there actually will read/listen to this, but if your feedback is about my politics, don’t bother. Ok well I think that’s it for now. I haven’t figured out the whole podcast thing yet, so once I do there will be info here and I will be on Ravelry as well, again once I figure that whole thing out too. Toodle-oo.