Casting Pods Lesbian Mother Writing Knitting Life

Just a message about the transfer to libsyn and the new episode in the new feed.

The website will remain at www.castingpods.co.uk, but because of the limited storage capacity of podomatic, some of the previous episodes have been deleted. Over the coming months I will be transferring the podcast to Libsyn, which allows unlimited archive storage. If you listen via iTunes, please resubscribe around Halloween and if I haven’t got around to it yet please be patient and keep trying! If you listen via computer, you’ll find some of the old links don’t work anymore but will be gradually replaced, and any new shows from this point on will come via Libsyn. Happy listening!

In which I discuss the highs and lows and ethical conundrums of being a vegan, my excitement at planning to attend the Plug and Play and Pembrokeshire lace knitting weekend, attempt to make a mwezi pad with my Gran’s sewing machine and generally talk about life, the universe and everything. I read a leaflet about badgers produced by Viva and talk about my own personal theory of the unhealthiness of milk. The book I refer to is Neanderthin and as well as being available on Amazon, the author has a whole Neander industry. Notes, photo and archives of past episodes at www.castingpods.co.uk

...in which I discuss mostly knitting with a bit of crochet, craft socialism, personal ethics, revolutions and fashions in activism, ADHD and some free love thrown in for good measure. I present the recording of a speech at the Knitting and Crochet Guild of Great Britain AGM dinner, and I also talk about the workshops I attended – garter stitch intarsia (tangled web pic to the left), knitting with wire and filet crochet (links go to more information about these crafts if you’re interested). My current projects are mainly spinning and knitting the ‘first spawn’ into frisky blankets. Go to http://www.castingpods.co.uk/ for more info and pics. Music credits: intro and outro are Aran playing the piano, a piece he improvised at age 10, and the ‘knit purl’ chorus is an extract from Barbara Brousal’s Leroy’s Sweater – heard on Cast On episode 99.

A bumper episode to compensate for the long gap between episodes! This show is explicit (if you hadn’t already worked that out by the title). In the first part I talk about polyamory and play an edited clip of myself on local radio discussing infidelity, where I mention poly and defend it to the best of my ability, given that I’d only been officially poly for about a week at that point and had just ‘come out’ on facebook that morning. I read out some extracts from The Ethical Slut by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy, and discuss some of the points raised in terms of my own experience and beliefs. Other books recommended are Opening Up by Tristan Taormino and Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cecilda Jetha. And I promised a link to the Wikipedia page for polyamory as a first port of call. In the second part I talk about stand up comedy, play an unedited clip of myself performing and give a critique afterwards of where I think I did well or didn’t do so well. This performance is also available in edited format as two youtube videos on the Casting Pods channel. The first one is called Lesbian Pussies and the second is Gay Porn. I’m probably quite hard on myself about where I went wrong, but would welcome any feedback from anyone who agrees or disagrees with my critique or with their own experiences of stand up. In the third part I talk about knitting, and this bit isn’t explicit – apart from the mention of knitted boobs if you have an aversion to mentions of female body parts. Show notes with photos and links at www.castingpods.co.uk

This episode has a clean label because I managed not to swear in my stream of consciousness, except one occasion which I edited out. I am lying on my bed recording this, but don’t be dismayed (unless you’re the type who think that the word ‘lesbian’ automatically means explicit, in which case why are you here?). This is a stream of consciousness of my past year and year to come, including writing, PhD and knitting, and where they intertwine. I mention the QN podcast episode which featured me: Small Green Island, which you can listen to by following this link: http://quirkynomads.com/wp/2010/12/27/childhood-walk-small-green-island/. I also mention the fabulous Craftlit with Heather Ordover and Cast On with Brenda Dayne, yarns from King Becky, my Black Cat Pawprint socks, the subversive socks for my son and my keysock, an innovation in keeping the key on the keyring. More photos in the Casting Pods shownotes at www.castingpods.co.uk, where you can also find archived shownotes for previous episodes. Happy New Year everyone. I hope this year is all you wish it to be.

After three years of podcasating I finally get around to making a promo. Please feel free to play these anywhere on podcasts, blogs or elsewhere, and please let me know if you do. There are two versions, the long one is six minutes and the short one is two minutes so you shouldn’t have a need to edit. Both have youtube versions as well as being in the audio feed. Go to www.castingpods.co.uk for more details. Thanks!

After three years of podcasating I finally get around to making a promo. Please feel free to play these anywhere on podcasts, blogs or elsewhere, and please let me know if you do. There are two versions, the long one is six minutes and the short one is two minutes so you shouldn’t have a need to edit. Both have youtube versions as well as being in the audio feed. Go to www.castingpods.co.uk for more details. Thanks!

This is the recording of our trip to Stonehenge at Lamas 2010, where we go inside the circle – a rare treat! This was a special booking as generally people aren’t allowed inside the circle of stones. We discuss the history and significance of Stonehenge to modern pagans and archaeologists, and I get up close and personal with the stones, describing their features with some surprises. It’s been 20 years since I was last inside the circle and the site has changed considerably. I also talk about the magical blanket I was knitting at the time and my latest knitting (socks again). See the show notes at www.castingpods.co.uk for more photos and links.