KnottyGirls Knitcast

Catching Up: (0:20) Jen has been working out to get into shape some more and she's enjoying it, but it's hard. She's been working on pattern writing. She's really loving the new season of Orphan Black. She and Ron have been working on the music. And she's enjoying Mad Men but is sad to see it go. Laura is normalizing to her new job. She got her new shipment from Annie Modesitt's yarn club and it's really, really pretty. It's inspired by a moth. And the extra is a matching bag from Namaste. She's working on the Sunnydale Yarn Club Patrol 4 Sign ups. We talk a little bit about Season 4 of Buffy. Even if you don't join to club, join the Dizzy Color Ravelry Group to talk about Buffy. She's also preparing for a trunk show at Ewe+You. She's also working on a new yarn club (Teaser!). In the Knitting Bag: (14:01) Jen has been working on the Ysolda Teague’s Wee Envelope out of Oink Pigments in purple. She's working on the Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee out of Cascade 220 SW Sport. She's regretting not getting the worsted for the blanket, because it's taking forever. She is working on Rainbow socks out of White Birch Fiber Arts self-striping sock yarn in Fade to Gray (rainbow and grey self-striping). She only works on one sock at a time. She worked on that up at a show at the Groundlings. She is working on her sample for Sunnydale so she can take pictures. Laura is working on a hat for Halos of Hope out of Knit Picks Brava. These seem to be her standard Disneyland knitting. She is also casting on the Carson Shawl by Romi Hill out of Forbidden Woolery Pride Fingering. This is her Knitalong (or Slackalong) with her friend. And she is almost done with Swirl Hat (Crochet) from Patons out of Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in black. Finished Objects: (24:03) Jen blocked her Baby Yours sweater and it's not seamed. She has a ton of partially finished stuff, but nothing finished. She is struggling with inspiration to knit. Laura had hoped to finish her Swirl Hat, but isn't done. But she will be done with it tomorrow. Jen is sad about her lack of finishing. We need a finishing bootcamp. We mention Stash Dash by the Knitgrillls and Miss Kalendar's Finishuary. Devil's Tower: (27:24) Jen's Devil's Tower is languishing. Laura pulled out Carson, even though she hadn't really started, but she had swatched so that's kind of started. Her Ink by Hanna Maciejewska is going to escape and get worked on at some point. Frog Pond: (28:52) Jen is not challenging herself as a knitter, so she has no Frog pond. Laura has been having some issues with her Swirl Hat because it's black yarn and crochet and she's not really used to it. We want to hear about your frog ponds in the episode thread! On Deck: (31:00) Jen doesn't feel like knitting and is so uninspired she's not queuing patterns. Laura used up all her On Decks forever in the last episode, with all of her Amy Herzog sweaters. She needs to make herself go kits, because all her yarn will be inaccessible for a while due to some home remodeling. She's overwhelmed by her list a bit, but we love all the designers. But as a bonus, Jen learned the difference between a bedroom and a bonus room! Knit Culture: (33:52) Jen has been feeling uninspired, so we talk about our knitting inspiration. Jen is inspired by her awesome friends who knit and crochet. For example, one of her friends has been posting her Sophie's Universe crochet projects. Her friend Melissa (who is well known to regular listeners) is an inspiration because of her color sense. Laura is inspired by her friend Dorothy, who is an amazing lace knitter. Jen and Laura's mutual friend Erica makes excellent sweaters and her finishing work is amazing. Laura gets hugely inspired by yarns: colors, groupings, etc. Jen used to have this inspiration but lately she hasn't been feeling it. While this keeps her from buying too much yarn, she wants it to be more of a struggle. Jen's friend Sarah is an amazing knitter, especially double knitting. Jen and Laura both find specific patterns pretty inspiring. We talk about how Kristin Omdahl has helped us reconsider crochet. Jen also talks about her friend Sandra who is an amazing fiber artist and does really cool yarn bombing projects and also other fiber art installations (including sweaters for fish). And of course Laura's first inspiration was her friend Jen (different Jen) who taught her how to knit initially. So who are your real life knitting inspirations? Geek Culture: (50:19) Agents of SHIELD has been awesome lately! And we are excited to see Age of Ultron. Jen wants to do a Marvel Cinematic Universe marathon. We also think Hot Topic Marvel Line. We're also a disappointed at the lack of Black Widow on Avengers merchandise. Upcoming Events: (54:48) Laura has a trunk show at Ewe and You on May 31st, for their first anniversary. We will be doing our own version of World Wide Knit in Public Day on June 20th from 2:30 to 5:30 at the Five O'Clock Winde Bar in Alamitos Bay Marina (right next to a yarn store). Camp CogKNITive is August 21-23, Camarillo, CA. It’s a great and relaxing weekend. Knit Dizzney will Sunday, September 13th, 2015. There will be T-shirts, project bags, and exclusive yarn available for pre-order. The meetup will be at 2pm at the Hearthstone Lounge in the Grand Californian. Yarnosphere is October 17-18 EXPO Art Center in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach. Laura is vending. Want Knotty Girls Swag? You can get some by donating! Click the donate button in the right sidebar! $10 gets you a set of stitch markers, $20 gets you a project bag, and $25 gets you both! Please include your name and mailing address when you donate and specify if you want crochet or knitting type stitch markers if applicable.

It's Earth Day! Laura is a Giant Squid; Jen is a Mantis Shrimp. What kind of animal are you? Also, as promised, here is the Radio Lab episode where they talk about colors. We play a promo for the Actually Knitting podcast. Catching Up: (1:51) Laura loves her new job. She had a couple weeks off between jobs and she got to see her stepdaughter and her family for a visit. They went to Disneyland. She a had a pizza party with her step-granddaughter and mother-in-law. She and her step-granddaughter went to see Home and she really liked it. She's doing a fundraiser for the Walk for Wellness House with her boss. She also went to Vogue Knitting Live and had a great time taking Amy Herzog's class. She's inspired to knit all the sweaters. The marketplace was small, but the vendors were pretty good. There were a lot of designers, which is interesting to look at. Jen has had a lot of gigs and is really enjoying that. She went to visit some family for her sister's wedding shower and played with her nephew, who is obsessed with Beymax. She's been working some on her Firefly cross-stitch from Watty’s Wall Stuff. She went to see some films at a David Lynch film festival at a local art theatre. She started her new job as well, it's a little overwhelming in a way, because she's still having to do stuff for her old departments. And being exempt means she's losing some knitting time because she doesn't have to clock out for lunch anymore, so she forgets to take it. She's really enjoying it though. In the Knitting Bag: (15:49) Laura is working on her Swirl Hat (Crochet) from Patons out of Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in black. That was her work training crochet. She's also working on a hat for Halos of Hope out of Knitpicks Brava. Jen started some Rainbow socks out of White Birch Fiber Arts self-striping sock yarn in Fade to Gray (rainbow and grey self-striping). She's swatching for Ysolda's Wee Envelope out of Oink Pigments in purple. And she's still working on her Baby Yours Blanket based on Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee out of Cascade 220 SW Sport. She has been working on some mitts for Sunnydale Yarn Club. Finished Objects: (22:37) Laura finished her taxes! And her studio organization. And Patrol 3 of Sunnydale. But no knitting. Jen just needs to push through and finish some of her stuff that is very close to finished. Devil's Tower: (23:33) Laura's Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs is in Devil's Tower because she doesn't have the freedom to work on Mean Girls stuff at work. Her Carson Shawl by Romi Hill out of Forbidden Woolery Pride Fingering for her KAL with her friend is in Devil's Tower before she even started. And she's glad she put Ink by Hanna Maciejewska into Devil's Tower until after she took Amy's class. She would have made the wrong size for sure. Jen has her Customfit tunic top in there until she has time to block and seam it. She needs to dig some stuff out of her bin and swatch. She needs to organize the pattern charts for her Four Season Summer Symphony Wedding Ring Shawl, so she can actually knit it. Frog Pond: (29:48) Laura and Jen have no frog pond, luckily. But when you don't knit much, you don't frog much. On Deck: (30:26) Laura was really inspired by Amy Herzog. She wants to make Birch Bark, Aislinn, Cushing Isle, Striper Cardigan, and the Drumlin Cardigan. Otherwise, it's the same. Jen wants to make Hitofude and redesign her Joshua Tree Cardigan. She wants to make something for her friend’s baby out of White Birch Fiber Arts Rainbow Warrior colorway. She also has the Watermelon by Alana Dakos planned. Knit Culture: (35:03) We review Defarge Does Shakespeare, edited by Heather Ordover (of Craflit), published by Cooperative Press. It retails for $16.95 for pdf only and 29.95 for print and pdf copy. We LOVE this book. We love the patterns and the essays and that in the electronic copy there is a button to click that takes you to the Ravelry page for the pattern. Basically, we say buy this book and all the other Defarge books. Geek Culture: (55:57) We talk about the new trailer for Star Wars and the return of Orphan Black. Upcoming Events: (59:07) Laura has a trunk show at Ewe and You on May 31st, for their first anniversary. Camp CogKNITive is August 21-23, Camarillo, CA. It’s a great and relaxing weekend. Knit Dizzney will Sunday, September 13th, 2015. There will be T-shirts, project bags, and exclusive yarn available for pre-order. The meetup will be at 2pm at the Hearthstone Lounge in the Grand Californian. Yarnosphere is October 17-18 EXPO Art Center in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach. Laura is vending.

Catching Up: (0:19) Jen got a new job (new position, same company) and she's really looking forward to starting it. She did some serious spring cleaning at home. She went to Craftcation and had a great time. She even got to hang out with Kim Werker, who is an awesome crochet designer and Amy Tangerine was also there. She has been doing a lot of gigs with Ron. And she's continuing to work on Firefly sampler from Watty’s Wall Stuff. She has a lot of tiny detail work left. Laura also got a new job! This one is at a different company than where she previously worked. She has a few weeks off while she transitions and will get to spend some time with family, including helping her mother-in-law clean house for remodeling and visiting with her step-daughter and her family. She got some new lovely yarn in the mail from Annie Modesitt's yarn club and it's super pretty. In the Knitting Bag: (12:10) Jen hasn't had a lot of knitting mojo for various reasons. She worked on her blanket inspired by the Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in Winter White. She finished all the knitting on her Customfit tunic top out of Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum.  Now she needs to block. Laura worked on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She also worked on her Swirl Hat (Crochet) from Patons out of Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in black.  She worked on her Ink by Hanna Maciejewska in Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock in Applegate and she swatched for her Carson Shawl by Romi Hill out of Forbidden Woolery Pride Fingering. We thank our listeners for the good crochet swatching advice. Finished Objects: (18:36) Jen hasn't finished anything because of no mojo and no blocking space. She also seriously needs to update Ravelry. Laura has finished another preemie hat and all the crocheting on her Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen. She blocked it and wove in ends and it just needs photos. We mention Caro Sheridan's Photography Class on Craftsy. Devil's Tower: (24:46) Jen just has lots of stuff waiting on blocking and finishing. She misses her mojo. Laura had a block party and blocked Quinty, her Night Blooming Shawlette, and her Clapotis. Frog Pond: (26:07) Jen had to rip back to fix a split stitch in the sleeve cap of her tunic. She also had a sad mishap with an order from a company--just a minor mistake and the company had great customer service to fix the problem really quickly, it was just a sad disappointment to open the package and find the incorrect order. Basically, she just isn't very patient. Laura didn't have any issues, luckily. On Deck: (30:58) Jen is having trouble thinking about it because she has lost her mojo, but she wants to make some baby sweaters for various baby-having people in her life. She wants to make one sweater out of the White Birch Fiber Arts. This was inspired by Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls's sweater for her new baby. She has a lot of other stuff, including the Hitofude Cardigan. Laura wants to do a crescent or semi-circular shawl with some of her lovely new gradient yarns. Other than that, she has the same list as previously detailed in other episodes ( Knit Culture: (34:06) We review A Head for Trouble: What To Knit While Catching Crooks, Chasing Clues, and Solving Murders by Julie Turjoman from Passiflora Press. The book retails for 19.95 for a Ravelry download and starting at 20.03 for the hard copy book on Amazon (regular price $26.95). We both LOVE this book. The styling, photography, and patterns are all gorgeous. We love the details on all the patterns and can't wait to make them. The patterns are inspired by the 20's but not costumey. There are patterns for 10 hats and each hat has a matching accessory. Also each hat/accessory combination is inspired by a fictional woman detective and each hat has a paragraph describing the character who inspired it. We like it just as much as the designer's other book, Knits That Breathe. And we are really excited about the fact that this one is called "Volume I" and can't wait for "Volume II". Geek Culture: (45:37) We talk about Con Man, a new project from Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion and also the return of the X-Files (and Twin Peaks and Full House--so it's apparently the 90's again). Also Hot Topic and Torrid have an Orphan Black collection. Events: (50:51) Vogue Knitting Live, April 17-19 at the Pasadena Convention Center. Laura is taking Amy Herzog’s class. Camp CogKNITive is August 21-23, Camarillo, CA. It's a great and relaxing weekend. Knit Dizzney will Sunday, September 13th, 2015. There will be T-shirts, project bags, and exclusive yarn available for pre-order. The meetup will be at 2pm at the Hearthstone Lounge in the Grand Californian. Yarnopshere is October 17-18 EXPO Art Center in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach. Laura is vending.

Catching Up: (0:25) Laura went to Disneyland for Dapper Day. We also talk about Galliday. She's been dying for both Mean Girls and Sunnydale Yarn Clubs. She's really enjoying Agents of SHIELD. And she did some family visiting. Jen has been working a million hours a week, cutting into her knitting time. She and Ron played two gigs, one at a wine bar and one at the Long Beach Art Walk. She visited her family and got to see her new baby niece and her other niece and her nephew. She's continuing work on her Firefly sampler from Watty’s Wall Stuff and spinning on her Threewatersfarm. Melissa went on a cruise with her knitting group and got a lot of knitting done, for the first time in a while (because she likewise work a million hours a week). She has a cold (not Legionnaire's Disease). She saw Kingsman and we talk about the violence in the film. And she's really excited for Furious 7. We also talk about inappropriate work emails. In the Knitting Bag: (11:05) As a note: Melissa is wearing her Customfit Featherweight Cardigan out of Dizzy Blonde DK in the Martha colorway. Laura passed the 2nd corner and on the 3rd side of her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of Berocco Vintage Chunky Mocha. One more row until the second sleeve of Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen is done. She's making the XL size in Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock, color Marie. She started on Swirl Hat (Crochet) from Patons for her mom for Mothers' Day out of Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in black.  She's all ready to start on Ink by Hanna Maciejewska in Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock in Applegate.  She's also doing a magic ball preemie hat out of odds and ends of Knit Picks Brava and Berroco Vintage.  And she's planning to do a Yarn Baby Shawl KAL with her friend Cheryle of the Carson Shawl by Romi Hill in 3-color yarn baby from Forbidden Woolery out of Pride Fingering in Smoke Signal, Illium and Mo Duinne Jen is almost done with the second sleeve of her Customfit Tunic out of Cascade Heritage.  She's also working on her Bohus Cuff from her class from Stitches West.  She's swatching for the Four Season Summer Symphony Wedding Ring Shawl by Russian Lily out of Gossamer Weight Silk/Cashmere from Colourmart in a cream color. Melissa is doing a test knit for Customfit that is way overdue out Wollmeise DK in Erbse. She is also working on her Coracle in Sweet Georgia Trinity Worsted in Oceanside. And another Customfit sweater that she calls her Korl!!! Cardigan out of Cascade 220 in Coral (and yes the name is a reference to The Walking Dead. She is also preparing for a knitalong with a coworker that she taught how to knit. They are going to make an open-front cardigan from the book Knit It!: Learn the Basics and Knit 22 Beautiful Projects, which we recommend for the beginning knitters in your life. Finished Objects: (22:30) Laura finished one preemie stripy hat that she cast on for social knitting for Stitches West. She's made it out of leftover Berroco Vintage and Knitpicks Brava. Jen finished her second 15-color Rainbow Sock in The Fab Funky Fibres self-striping sock yarn of the same name and the heel was out of black Cascade Heritage.  She did the thumb joint top hat afterthought heel by Lara Neel and loves it! (You can find instructions in the Fork in the Road Socks pattern--which is free). We mention Lara's book Sock Architecture and her blog Math4knitters. Melissa blocked and seamed a sweater that had been done since December. She had a pile of stuff to block and seam, but she had a blocking block. All three of us have them. Devil's Tower: (25:37) Which segues to a boring Devil's Tower where we all have stuff to block. Frog Pond: (25:54) Melissa wants to do a shawl collar on her Korl!!! cardigan. She decided to wing it. She had to frog it one time. Then, history repeated itself, so Jen frogged it this time because Melissa just couldn't bring herself to do it...again.  What are friends for? This sweater also had an issue with the sleeves, because Melissa generated the pattern with straight sleeves instead of tapered sleeves. This sweater has been a lot of knitting. This sweater is cursed. We mention the films Snowpiercer and Dracula: The Untold Story. On Deck: (31:31) Laura added Bunnies "R" Us by Marken of the Hat and I to her list of usual suspects. Jen's planning on starting on the Hitofude, redesigning the Joshua Tree Cardigan, something for her friend's baby and a shawl for her to wear at her sister's wedding. Melissa will start the aforementioned cardigan with her coworker. She also wants to make the adult version of the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos, Charlie's Cardigan by Amy Herzog, and she might make a third Leah’s Lovely Cardigan. Jen and Melissa both love how the sweater fits although the find knitting it a bit of slog. Knit Culture: (36:50) Stitches West wrap-up! Laura spent most of the time in her booth, but she enjoyed it. Her haul included a lace-weight linen gradient yarn baby from Apple Tree Knits, another 3-color sparkly yarn baby from Forbidden Woolery, a Little Brother gradient set from Yarn on the House.  Sparkly "Exploding T.A.R.D.I.S." yarn from Steven Be and the book "Crochet so Lovely" by Kristin Omdahl. Jen and Laura got to meet Stephen West at the pajama party and he was very personable and funny (he judged the pajama contest) and he complimented Jen's Leah's Lovely Cardigan. Melissa got a ton of compliments on her Rainbow Sweater. Jen and Melissa had dinner with the Knitmore Girls and Maria from Subway Knits. Jen took a design your own Pi Shawl class and learned a new cast-on she loved. Jen got a mug and some stitch markers from Jennie the Potter, some lovely red fingering weight yarn from Jill Draper Makes Stuff for a sweater, some pink fingering yarn from Miss Babs for a sweater, and lots of vintage buttons, including Bakelite sets. Both Melissa and Jen got some rainbow yarn from White Birch Fiber Arts. Melissa enabled Jen to get some Indigodragonfly for a sweater (and Melissa got some too) from the Yarnover Truck. We love her colorway names. Melissa also got a Jennie the Potter mug and some citrus yellow Jill Draper Makes Stuff Yarn. Melissa got some new yarn babies from Newton's Yarn Country, one in hot pink and one in purple and they were a great deal. She also got several sweater quantities of yarn from Miss Babs in Perfectly Wreckless and Deep Sea Jellyfish and Funny Papers. Melissa and Jen took a six hour class on picking up stitches with Lily Chin and are now experts on picking up stitches. It was amazing. Jen took a class on Bohus Knitting with Susanna Hansson and it was amazing. She even got to see some of the original vintage garments, and even pick them up and handle them. They worked on a cuff in class as well. She wants to get a kit to make a sweater from Angora Garnet. And she also took a great stranded knitting class with Beth Brown-Reinsel, which was amazing, but her brain was seriously fried because it was Sunday. Melissa took color classes with Laura Bryant of Prism Yarns. Jen is not going to take so many classes next year; she is going to do more social stuff. Laura got to meet Marnie McClean in person. And Melissa and Jen got to reunite with a old knitting friend who surprised everyone by coming from England to attend Stitches (who also won the student fashion show). And everyone managed to have great food, including Psycho Donuts. We mention Exploration Station, Rockefeller, Enchanted Mesa, Green Planet Yarn, and Foxy Knits. Geek Culture: (1:05:00) "Goodbye Old Friend", we bid a bittersweet farewell to Leonard Nimoy and Terry Pratchett. Jen shares her favorite Leonard Nimoy story. Upcoming Events: (1:08:32) Vogue Knitting Live, April 17-19 at the Pasadena Convention Center. Laura is taking Amy Herzog's class. Camp CogKNITive, August 21-23, Camarillo, CA. Yarnopshere, October 17-18 EXPO Art Center in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach.

Catching Up: (0:35) Jen has been working out a lot of new music. She's still spinning her BFL from Threewatersfarm; she plans to make a two ply. She's been running and using her new Fitbit to try to be more active, including running. She's continuing work on her Firefly cross stitch sampler from Watty’s Wall Stuff. She and Melissa also watched some terrible movies including Last Stand and Fire with Fire. Laura saw Wicked with her mom. She did a trunk show at Ewe + You and it went really well. Blarney Yarns was also there. She got caught up on Blacklist and thinks it's awesome. Heather shipped the newest installment of Sunnydale Yarn Club, which was based on the episode "The Zeppo". Laura is also really excited for some new crochet patterns from Ann at Freeform Fibers. And we are both really excited for Stitches West! In the Knitting Bag: (17:54) Jen worked on her Baby Yours Blanket based on Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee out of Cascade 220 SW Sport in Winter White, her CustomFit tunic in Cascade Heritage, the second sock of the 15 Color Rainbow Socks from the 15 Color Rainbow self-striping yarn by Fab Funky Fibres. And she's been doing her Stitches Homework and her Playful Stripes Cardigan out of Cascade 220 SW Sport. Laura worked on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs in Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha, her Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Dizzy Blonde Superwash Fingering in the "Marie" colorway. Finished Objects: (25:32) Jen finally blocked and wove in ends on her Leftie, Hitchhiker, and Leah's Lovely Cardigan Laura finished a preemie Hat and blocked and wove in ends on her Down the Garden Path Shawl Devil's Tower: (30:45) Jen pulled out her Rocky Coast Cardigan and her Rockefeller. Frog Pond: (34:56) Laura had some issues with her Quinty caused by "dumbassery" (her words). First, there were gauge issues and we ask for help with crochet swatching. Then she started over and lost some stitches and had to frog again! We mention Craftsy. On Deck: (39:39) Jen really wants to make a Hitofute Cardigan by Hiroko Fukatso. She wants to rework her Joshua tree sweater and needs her charts. She also wants to finish her Sunshine Sock, but it's somewhere safe. Laura has a lot of deck: Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, Loie by Beth Kling, and the Pashley Wrap by Amy Pickard from the current Knitty. Knit Culture: (41:48) My Modern Met article about Teresa Lim: Textile Artist Creates Travel Snapshots by Embroidering with Needle and Thread. We mention Jenny Hart. The Fiber Factor Season 2 call for designers was cancelled. This makes us sad because we will miss the competition, but we do understand the backlash. Geek Culture: (50:27) S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Set is real Lego Doctor Who Is Officially Happening in 2015. And we talk about this Lego In N Out. Events: (53:13) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. The LA County Yarn Crawl will be March 26th through 29th. Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace. Camp CogKNITive will be August 21-23 in Camarillo, CA We mention Amy Herzog and her book Knit to Flatter and Lisa Souza again (cuz we lurves her!). Want Knotty Girls Swag? You can get some by donating! Click the donate button in the right sidebar! $10 gets you a set of stitch markers, $20 gets you a project bag, and $25 gets you both! Please include your name and mailing address when you donate and specify if you want crochet or knitting type stitch markers if applicable.

Catching Up: (0:21) Laura saw Gravity and really enjoyed it. She's adjusting to the new bosses at work. She managed to bruise a rib, which is painful. She's still prepping for Stitches. She released the latest installment for the Mean Girls Yarn Club, based on Moriarty from Elementary. She's been watching Agent Carter, Downton Abbey, and Season 7.2 of Doctor Who. We both gush a bit about Agent Carter. And she's going to see Wicked with her mom soon. Jen has been spinning some BFL she got from Threewatersfarm in the colorway Cherries and Chilis. She saw The Theory of Everything, Birdman, and The Imitation Game and loved both of them. She's working on a Firefly cross stitch sampler from Watty's Wall Stuff. And she has a new baby niece, which is really exciting! We mention this video by Chris Hadfield about How you Cry in Space. Also Odyssey Magazine. In the Knitting Bag: (18:47) Laura is working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs. She’s making it out of Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha.  And she is working on Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen out of DizzyBlonde Studios Sock. Jen is working on her Customfit tunic top out of Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum; she is on the front.   She's working on her Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash in Charcoal, Silver Grey, Turtle, Winter White, and Shire. The knitting is done, but she has a bit of finishing work to do.  And she is working on the blanket inspired by the Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in an off-white (the sweater is done). She finished the first sock out of the FabFunkyFibres 15 Coloured Rainbow self-striping yarn and she is working on the second sock. She did the thumb joint tophat heel from Lara Neel (you can find an explanation in the Fork in the Road Socks. She's working on premie hats. And she's knitting on her Stitches West homework. Finished Objects: (28:49) Laura started and finished a hat for Halos of Hope of her own design out of some Berroco Vintage and Knitpicks Brava. She used a lot of mixed textures. She also finished her Berry Slipped Stitch Hat for Halos of Hope. Jen hasn't finished anything. Devil's Tower (31:31) Laura has put away her Night Blooming Shawlette for the Sunnydale Yarn Club KAL out of Sunnydale Yarn Club color “My Boyfriend is a Demon Robot” until she has time to block it. Jen is pulling out several projects to do that last bit of finishing before Stitches West, including her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan, her Leftie shawls, and her Hitchhiker. And she worked a little bit on the sleeves for her Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Fibre Company Organik in Highlands. Frog Pond: (34:15) Laura has no frog pond because she's actually reading her patterns. Jen forgot to do an decrease in the front of her tunic, because the book she was reading while knitting was interesting. On Deck: (36:02) Laura's next project is Ink by Hanna Maciejewska. She also wants to make the Quilted Lace Ascot by Pam Powers, Death Star by Patricia Castillo, Swirl Hat, Loie, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco and Dreambird by Nadita Swings, and the the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, and the Sea Glass and Stone Cowl. Jen wants to make the Hitofude Cardigan, she wants to change her Joshua Tree Cardigan, and something for her friend's new baby. Knit Culture: (40:54) We review Kung Fu Knits by Elizabeth Green Musselman, illustrated by Ben Bender, published by Cooperative Press. It retails for 9.95 pdf only and 15.95 for print and pdf. We both love this book and think it's really creative and cute. We love the illustrations and the patterns are really creative and it's a great story in the book. Geek Culture: (48:27) Inspired by this article on Comicbook.com, we discuss recurring Whedon tropes in Agents of Shield, Buffy, and Firefly. Events: (1:04:44) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending in booth 924 and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! The LA County Yarn Crawl will be March 26th through 29th. Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace.

Catching Up: (0:25) Jen saw Birdman and she really enjoyed it. She really liked the film and thought the way it was shot was really impressive. She finally caught up on Agents of SHIELD and she really likes the direction it's going, but doesn't like that they killed off on of her favorite characters. And she LOVES Agent Carter. She is really jealous of her friend's cool new yarn bowl that her dad made her out of a salad bowl. Laura has a new boss at work and it's a bit of adjustment. Her stepdaughter and stepgranddaughter came to visit and they saw Into the Woods and they really liked it. She's been dyeing a lot in preparation for Stitches West. And the first installment of Sunnydale Yarn Club Patrol 3 shipped, inspired by "The Wish". In the Knitting Bag: (13:18) Jen is working her Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash in Charcoal, Silver Grey, Turtle, Winter White, and Shire. She has to do the finishing on it. She is also working on her Customfit tunic top out of Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum. And she is working on her Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in an off-white. Laura worked on her Slipped Stitch Hat for Halos of Hope out of three colors of Berroco Vintage. She finished the knitting on her Night Blooming Shawlette for the Sunnydale Yarn Club KAL out of Sunnydale Yarn Club color “My Boyfriend is a Demon Robot”. She just needs to block it. Finished Objects: (16:50) Jen forgot that she already talked about her cowl last episode. Devil's Tower: (17:57) Laura pulled out her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs. She's making it out of Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. Frog Pond: (19:45) Jen had some troubles with her swift. It broke and she needs a new one. On Deck: (23:15) Jen: Playful Stripes Cardigan, Hitofude Cardigan, she wants to change her Joshua Tree Cardigan, and the Southern Skies to go with her Celestarium. She wants to do some serious lace. Laura: Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen, the Death Star by Patricia Castillo, Swirl Hat, Loie, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco and Dreambird by Nadita Swings, and the the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, and the Sea Glass and Stone Cowl. We mention the Lacy Knitters Guild. Knit Culture: (30:20) We announce the final winner of the stashdown. Congratulations MrsZuvers! Since the stashdown is over, you win YARN! We talk about how we personally did on the stashdown and our goals for 2015. We both want to concentrate on uncharted waters of our lives--trying new things and focusing on new goals. And we want to encourage you all to do the same. We started a thread in the Ravelry group. Laura wants to work on larger projects, be more of a social knitter, and grow Dizzy Blonde. Jen wants to spin more and design more and be a better designer and work on her running and her music. We mention the site Knitmeter.com and Forbidden Woolery. Geek Culture: (42:25) Edward James Olmos will be joining the Agents of SHIELD cast, which is awesome. And we point to this poll to vote for your favorite Doctor Who episodes. We want to hear about your favorite Who episodes. Events: (44:43) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending in booth 924 and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! The LA County Yarn Crawl will be March 26th through 29th. Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace. We mention Lisa Souza.

Catching Up: (0:43) Laura finally saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and liked it. She also watched The Red Tent mini-series on Lifetime, which starred Morena Baccarin as Rachel. She's been dyeing yarn for Stitches West--she has several new colorways. When she did her Christmas shopping, she used Amazon Smile to get some extra money donated to Halos of Hope. She went to Disneyland and love the holiday-themed "Jingle Cruise". Her father-in-law died, which made the holiday season a little less happy. Jen went and visited her family for Christmas and saw all the babies. And she had a lot of fun shopping for presents. She's been working on music stuff. Her day job is still crazy. She plans to do some cleaning in her stash. As promised, some clips of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton: Sparkley! In the Knitting Bag: (8:45) Laura is working on her Night Blooming Shawlette for the Sunnydale Yarn Club KAL out of Sunnydale Yarn Club color "My Boyfriend is a Demon Robot". And she's working on a Berry Slipped Stitch Hat for Halos of Hope out of Berroco Vintage. Jen is working on Customfit tunic top out of Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum. And she’s been working on her Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash in Charcoal, Silver Grey, Turtle, Winter White, and Shire.  She started her Rockefeller for Ron out of Twist Yarns Heavenly in Fog and Navy. She is doing German short rows instead of wrap and turn. She started the Baby Yours Sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in an off-white. Finished Objects: (13:58) Laura finished the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves in an Iron Man theme by CraftyMutt out of Brown Sheep Wool. She crocheted the repulsors out of gray and white Knitpicks Brava. She also finished the Owl Mittens for her friend’s daughter in pink Knitpicks Brava sport weight. And she finished an Openwork Crochet Hat for her mom out of Knitpicks Brava Worsted in Paprika. Jen finished her project for her guild’s knitalong, a cardigan inspired by the VESSST by Bebe Thomas. It's made of Malabrigo Arroyo. She also finished The Age of Brass and Steam by Orange Flower Yarn out of Feederbrook Farms Entropy in the colorways Nebula and Paradox. And she finished a cowl out of some bulky alpaca from a local yarn store, Twist, Yarns of Intrigue in Blueberry and Grey. Devil's Tower: (21:22) Laura set aside her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs to work on last minute Christmas knitting. Jen worked for a tiny bit on her Watership Down KAL Shawl out of Unique Sheep Selene. Frog Pond: (23:13) Laura missed some increases in her Nightblooming Shawlette so she had to rip. Jen has been lucky, but she hasn't knit anything too taxing. We mention the Laminaria Shawl. On Deck: (26:20) Laura: Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen, the Death Star by Patricia Castillo,  Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco and Dreambird by Nadita Swings, and the the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, and the Sea Glass and Stone Cowl. Jen: Playful Stripes Cardigan, Hitofude Cardigan, she wants to change her Joshua Tree Cardigan, and the Southern Skies to go with her Celestarium. Knit Culture: (30:55) We talk Stashdown. We have a great interview with Tammy Burke, also known as wearingpurple. And we talk a bit about the Definitive Ranking of Willow's Sweaters on Buffy. We also mention Tom and Lorenzo's Mad Style recaps. Geek Culture: (1:03:24) We have two cool articles: We emailed a wrench to space with 3D printing and this neuron dress is amazing. Events: (1:05:32) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending in booth 924 and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! The LA County Yarn Crawl will be March 26th through 29th. Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace.

Catching Up: (0:26) Jen had three Thanksgivings and met her niece. She took a trip to the Huntington and it was pouring rain. But the Yarnover Truck was there! She also bought recipe dice. She also bought a new guitar at a Black Friday sale. And she's been working a ton of overtime. She also has been listening to a lot of the Thrilling Adventure Hour Podcast. Laura had a game day for Thanksgiving. She saw Mockingjay and she liked it. She also mainlined Outlander and can't wait for more. We also talk a little bit about the historical accuracy of the costuming. Mei Mei had a little adventure, but she is fine. And she's been dyeing yarn for various clubs and stores. She got caught up on accounting and filing. And she's heading out for some Disney time soon. In the Knitting Bag: (17:30) Jen is working on her sweater for her guild’s knitalong. It’s a cardigan inspired by the VESSST by Bebe Thomas (which was designed specifically for the KAL) and is using a Customfit pattern. She’s making it out of Malabrigo Arroyo in a purple with pink and natural accents. She's also working on her Customfit Tunic Top out of Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum. And she's been working on her Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash. Laura is also working on Knitted Scale Mail Gloves in an Iron Man theme by CraftyMutt for her granddaughter’s father out of Brown Sheep Worsted in the Red Fox colorway. She's crocheting a pair of Owl Mittens for her friend’s daughter in pink Knitpicks Brava sport weight for her friend's daughter.  She's working on her Night Blooming Shawlette for the Sunnydale Yarn Club KAL.  She's also working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She’s on the applied edging (still). Finished Objects: (25:25) Jen and Laura haven't finished anything. Devil's Tower: (28:05) Jen is saying her Rainbow socks are officially with the aliens. Laura is working on some hats for Christmas presents so she's not working much on her Yggdrasil and it may find it's way into the Devil's Tower. Frog Pond: (30:02) Jen frogged her VESSST sweater because she didn't like the stripe placement when she was first starting. Laura had some gauge issues on the owl mitts and she wasn't sure the correct size as well, so she's ripped out several times. We ask about the "rules of crochet". She also had some issues with scale placement on her scale mail mitts. On Deck: (34:55) Jen will make a layette based on the Baby Yours Sweater. She will make a Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos, the Hitofude Cardigan, and a Rockefeller for Ron. She also wants to change her Joshua Tree Cardigan. Laura has a long list: Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen, the Death Star by Patricia Castillo,  Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco and Dreambird by Nadita Swings, and the the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, and the Sea Glass and Stone Cowl. We also mention Leadlight. We mention Never Not Knitting and Hollywood Knitter. Knit Culture: (43:15) We talk about the November theme and announce the winner. Congratulations Knitgirlwalking! You win a copy of History on Two Needles by Annie Modesitt (who donated the copy)! We also review Mystic Shawls by Anna Dalvi, which was given to us for review by Cooperative Press. We LOVE this book. Go buy it! We mention Laminaria. Geek Culture: (55:16) We talk about cool geek gifts. Doctor Who Converse Star Trek onesie Harley Quinn Hoodie Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra Periodic Table Double Helix Necklace A Beautiful Science Book Space Lollipops Star Wars AT-AT Lawn Ornament Weeping Angel Tree Topper Star Trek dog collar Big Bang Theory Clue Lab Cocktail Set Events: (1:02:30) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! The LA County Yarn Crawl will be March 26th through 29th. Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace.

Catching Up: (0:32) Laura is happy to announce that her health is just fine. She tried to get into Gotham but she couldn't get into it. Jen was in the same boat with regards to the show. She's been dying a bunch. And she's looking forward to the holidays and spending time with family. Jen has been working a lot. She saw some movies: Big Hero 6, Snowpiercer, and Ouija. And she has a new pattern available for sale: Cradle Will Rock Shawlette. Also, we were on Yarn Thing (Marly Bird's Podcast) and it was great. You can listen to our episode! In the Knitting Bag: (9:14) Laura is working on her Knitted Scale Mail Gloves in an Iron Man theme by CraftyMutt for her granddaughter’s father out of Brown Sheep Worsted in the Red Fox colorway. She has one done.  She is going to crochet the repulsors in Knitpicks Brava Worsted in grey and white. She's also working on crocheted Owl Mittens for her friend’s daughter in pink Knitpicks Brava sport weight.  They're for her friend's daughter.  She's going to add an edging.  She's also working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs, out of Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She really likes the pattern but she has to work on it in small pieces because it's huge. Jen is working on a sweater for her guild's knitalong. It's a cardigan inspired by the VESSST by Bebe Thomas (which was designed specifically for the KAL) and is using a Customfit pattern. She's making it out of Malabrigo Arroyo in a purple with pink and natural accents. She's also working on her Customfit Tunic Top out of Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum. It's a lot of knitting at a really small gauge so it's slow going. Finished Objects: (19:17) Laura finished her husband's Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin from the book Lit Knits out of a custom-dyed yarn she made. She wants to take the same cable pattern and make a hat and some mitts for herself out of the leftover yarn. Jen finished a lot. She finished her Mustachioed blanket by Christina Behnke from 60 Quick Baby Blankets. She made it out of Cascade 128 Superwash. She also finished her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She finished the sweater and the hat and they knit up really quickly. And she just made up her own edging for the blanket. And she finished her Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos. We mention Celestarium. Devil's Tower: (24:10) Laura needs to block the Motoring Madness Mitts (and several others including the Down the Garden Path Shawl and her Sectumsemptra Socks) and she decided to keep working on Yggdrasil because the corners of the edging is interesting. Jen pulled out her Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig from Coastal Knits. She did a little work on the sleeves. She's making it out of Fibre Company Organik. Frog Pond: (27:25) Laura had some trouble with her Scale Mail Mitts, getting the placement of the scales so she was happy with it. Jen ripped out her initial attempt at her VESSST because she didn't like where she put the stripes. On Deck: (30:07) Laura will make the Night Blooming Shawlette for the Sunnydale Yarn Club KAL. She also has on the list Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen, the Death Star by Patricia Castillo,  Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco and Dreambird by Nadita Swings, and the the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. Jen will make a layette based on the Baby Yours Sweater. She will make a second Playful Stripes Cardigan, the Hitofude Cardigan, and a Rockefeller for Ron. Knit Culture: (38:44) We check in on the Stashdown. December's Theme is "A Gift for Myself" so post your FOs in the the thread. We talk about knitting bags: Namaste, Slipped Stitch Studios, Atenti Bags, Jordana Paige, and Erin Lane Bags. Geek Culture: (51:55) We landed on a comet, which is awesome! And we think these bike paths are gorgeous and amazing! Events: (58:05) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace.

Thank you to Knitwhisperer for their kind donation. Catching Up: (0:47) Jen saw Saint Vincent, The Book of Life, and Interstellar. She enjoyed them all. The acting is great in Saint Vincent; Book of Life is beautiful, and she definitely thinks Interstellar is definitely worth seeing, but she wasn't wild about the ending. She's been reading Game of Thrones and really liking it. They celebrated a big birthday for Ron with a really nice party and her parents came to visit. She's been spinning up her Knitpicks Wool of the Andes roving. She's trying to make a 2-ply fingering. And she went to WeFF. She had a lot of fun and won a ton a stuff in the door prize drawings and bought some really nice roving from Morro Fleece Works and RedFish DyeWorks and buttons. Laura was a vendor at WEFF and had a good day. She split her booth with Kamalei's Naturals. She bought some yarn from RedFish. She went to Disneyland with her brother and his kids. She's been watching Buffy Season 3 to prepare for the Sunnydale Yarn Club. She also finished the first half of Season 7 of Doctor Who. She's been dying a lot and trying to keep her mind off of some health concerns that are most likely nothing, but that are causing some stress. We mention Forbidden Woolery. In the Knitting Bag: (20:05) Jen has been still working on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She has not yet heard back from Knitpicks, so she will create her own edging. And she is working on the sweater instead. She's working on her plain socks out of FabFunkyFibres 15 Coloured Rainbow self-striping yarn. She started The Age of Brass and Steam by Orange Flower Yarn out of Feederbrook Farms Entropy in the colorways Nebula and Paradox--she is going to do a gradual transition between the two. She also started a plain Customfit pullover using Cascade Heritage in Deep Plum. She is doing a close-fit, 3/4 length sleeve in tunic length, with a scoop neck and seed stitch border. And finally she started the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash. She thinks the porcupines look more like hedgehogs. Laura is working on the Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband out of custom-dyed Dizzy Blonde DK. She is also working on Knitted Scale Mail Gloves in an Iron Man theme by CraftyMutt for her granddaughter's father. She is doing them out of Brown Sheep Worsted in the Red Fox colorway. She decided to crochet the repulsors and applique them on, instead of doing intarsia. And she continues to work on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She's on the applied edging and it's a lot of knitting. We mention Sock Architecture by Lara Neel. Finished Objects: (28:15) Jen finished her Chickadee Cardigan by Ysolda Teague from Little Red in the City out of Quince and Co. Chickadee in Rosa Rugosa, Slate, Egret, and Lichen. She just needs to put buttons on it, but she loves it so much she's been wearing it without buttons. The sleeves are little short for her taste, but just because she likes really long sleeves. Laura finished a hat for Halos of Hope out of Knitpicks Brava Worsted in orange, lavender, and some neutral greys and browns. PM or email Laura if you're local and have hats for Halos; she is willing to send them. Devil's Tower (31:43) Jen has been working on finishing (weaving in ends etc) on her Playful Stripes Cardigan and on her Mustachioed blanket. Laura may put her Yggdrasil in Devil's Tower to work on some gift knitting. (So she is decidedly not participating in the Knitmore Girls Grinchmas Contest). We mention Watty's Wall Stuff Frog Pond: (36:40) Luckily, we have both avoided the Frog Pond. On Deck: (36:51) Jen will make a layette based on the Baby Yours Sweater. She will make a second Playful Stripes Cardigan, the Hitofude Cardigan, and a Rockefeller for Ron. Laura will make the Night Blooming Shawlette for the Sunnydale Yarn Club KAL. She also has on the list Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen, the Death Star by Patricia Castillo,  Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco and Dreambird by Nadita Swings, and the the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. Knit Culture: (42:55) We talk a little bit of Stashdown. We loved October's entries. Congratulations to ShadowAP, you win a copy of Sock Architecture, courtesy of Cooperative Press. November's theme is food, so put your FOs in the thread. December's theme is "A Gift for Myself". Knit something that you really love. Treat yourself. Use that skein that is so pretty or work on that project that you love. We review Knitting 20th Century Art by Deborah Tomasello. We totally love this book. The patterns are really clever and inspired and there are nice overviews of modern art movements. We both appreciate the whimsy and the beauty of her patterns and we like the styling. Geek Culture: (54:39) We talk about the discovery of part of Amelia Earhart's plane. We also talk about the Rolling Stone Reader's poll about the Ten Best Stephen King books. We weigh in our favorites and would love to hear about your favorite horror books. And there is a Firefly Clue Board game. For serious. Events: (1:03:16) Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! Vogue Knitting LIVE! is at the Pasadena Convention Center on April 17-19. Laura may take some classes and Jen may go to the marketplace.

Catching Up: (0:22) Laura finished season 6 of Doctor Who and she loved Baby Stormaggedon. Her DVR crashed and she lost all of her fall shows, which is really sad. Her brother and his assorted kids are coming for a visit and to go to Disneyland. And she's been dying a ton to catch up after selling at a bunch of fiber festivals and for some of the Mean Girls Yarn Club. She is starting a Sunnydale Club KAL/CAL on Halloween (but it's not too late to join--details are here). And she is starting to per for Stitches West, because it's coming up faster than you would think. Jen saw Dracula Untold with Melissa and it was entertainingly bad (this recap from the Toast is better than the movie). She is planning a party for Ron's big milestone birthday and is therefore cooking all the things and shopping for all the things. She finished her cross-stitch project from Watty's Wall Stuff. She's been spinning a lot, she plied up her Knitpicks Wool of the Andes roving in Amethyst and is now spinning her Wool of the Andes Sapphire roving. The cowl pattern she did for the first Sunnydale club patrol, I Flunked the Written, is available for general sale. Flu season has her very busy with work. She is also still taking her Shakespeare class and working on one of Emilia's monologues from Othello. In the Knitting Bag: (13:20) Laura is still working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She's working on the first border section and it's beautiful but it's slow going. She's also working on a hat for Halos of Hope out of orange, lavender, and sienna Knitpicks Brava. And she cast on the Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin out of some custom-dyed Dizzy Blonde DK. Jen is working on her Chickadee Cardigan by Ysolda Teague from Little Red in the City out of Quince and Co. Chickadee in Rosa Rugosa, Slate, Egret, and Lichen. She just has to knit the body to length and then do the button bands/neckband. She wants to do cross stitch buttons like Ysolda did in the book. She's hoping to have enough yarn to do a Wee Chickadee for her niece. She's also working on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She's disappointed that she hasn't had any response from Knit Picks about the error, so she's about ready to make up her own edging and call it done. But for now she is working on the sweater. She's working on her plain socks out of FabFunkyFibres 15 Coloured Rainbow self-striping yarn. She's probably going to do the afterthought heel before she's done with the foot to make the sure the foot is the right length, especially because the shallowness of the heel doesn't always fit her well. And she worked just a little bit on her Watership Down KAL Shawl out of Unique Sheep Selene in the colorway Nature Walk. Finished Objects: (21:56) Laura finished her hat for Halos of Hope out of grey and brown Knitpicks Brava. Jen finished her Dump Truck Cardigan from 60 More Quick Baby Knits out of Knit Picks Stroll Sport in a bunch of colors. And she finished her Night Blooming Shawlette for Sunnydale Yarn Club Patrol 2. The shawl is inspired by Drusilla and is currently exclusive, but will be available for purchase in 6 months. Devil's Tower (24:25) Laura has a ton of stuff (booth samples) that need a reblocking or a first blocking. Jen also has some stuff that could use a good bit of reblocking/washing. She also wove in the ends of her Playful Stripes Cardigan so she can do the buttonbands and block. We talk about reblocking and storage of pieces. Frog Pond: (27:51) Laura had to tink back a bit on the edging of her Yggdrasil due to not paying enough attention. Jen had a red wine incident with her Heirloom Baby Layette sweater. Luckily it was only one drop and it did wash out, but she really, really, really should have known better. On Deck: (31:00) Laura wants to make her same huge list and also Owl Mittens for her friend's daughter. The rest of her list includes Dreambird by Nadita Swings, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska, and a pair of Iron Man style Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt for her step-granddaughter's father for Christmas. Jen wants to make he Bobble Bearded Beanie by Topsy Turvy, the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash, another Playful Stripes Cardigan, the Baby Yours Sweater), the Hitofude Cardigan, and a CustomFit top. We mention Melissa's feature in a recent Ravelry Community Eye Candy Post and also the Yarnover Truck. Knit Culture: (37:55) October's theme was Fall/Samhain/Halloween. Prize drawing next episode. November's theme for the Stashdown is Food! Post your FOs in the thread. And we review the fantastic Sock Architecture by Lara Neel (of Math4knitters), published by Cooperative Press. We both LOVE this book and think it is a necessity for anyone who wants to knit socks. It's brilliant. And the patterns have beautiful details. We mention Cookie A and Hunter Hammerson. We also mention a new knitting podcast, Schmevelyn Wees. Geek Culture: (49:11) We mention the podcast Pop Culture Case Study, which is hosted by Dave, a friend of Miss Kalendar (who hosts the Brass Needles Podcast). He discusses movies in the context of psychology and it's really interesting and geeky and fun. We also love the fangirl fixation segment. And we fangirl about Age of Ultron trailer, Agents of SHIELD, and the upcoming Agent Peggy Carter. Events: (59:15) We were both at WeFF on November 2nd, in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios was a vendor. Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished October projects in the thread! Keep stashing down!

We are joined by Desi at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat. Catching Up: (0:31) Jen saw The Boxtrolls which she really enjoyed. She's also really enjoying American Horror Story: Freakshow so far, but she isn't hopeful that it will continue to be so good, based on the show's track record. She does love the Brothers Quay-style opening credits. Here is one of their films so you can see what she means. She's taking a Shakespeare class, and the reading is making her feel like she's back in school. She's working on some music for a fundraiser for Interval House. She's been spinning some more (she was really inspired by The Knitmore Girls' interview with Beth Smith, owner of The Spinning Loft, so she's been working on her Knitpicks roving in Amethyst Heather and needs to ply it. She's been working on a robot cross stitch kit from Watty's Wall Stuff. She went to Yarnosphere. She had fun, though she has some constructive criticism, but is confident it will continue to get better. Laura also went to Yarnosphere as a vendor and did really well (as did most of the vendors). Her mom came on Sunday and fell in love with punchcard weaving. She joined the El Segundo Slipt Stitchers. She attended a family wedding. She has a lot of birthdays coming up in her family this autumn, which will be fun (and it was also very recently Desi's birthday). She and Desi played the Firefly board game and really wants a game night. She has two new patterns out for Dizzy Blonde Studios Lambie Toes Yarn. One is her own design, the Sectumsemptra Socks. There is also the Berry Pie Shawlette, a crochet pattern by Ann Wicker of Freeform Fibers. Desi works in a game store and went to the WizKids Open. She visited some friends in Fresno right before coming down to CogKNITive. In the Knitting Bag: (14:37) Jen has finished the sleeves on her Chickadee Cardigan by Ysolda Teague from Little Red in the City out of Quince and Co. Chickadee in Rosa Rugosa, Slate, Egret, and Lichen. She is now working on the body. She is working on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She hit a snag with the blanket and has started the sweater. She is working on the sleeves (because it is a bottom up yoke sweater). She started a pair of plain socks out of FabFunkyFibres 15 Coloured Rainbow. She plans to do an afterthought heel and the toe in black. And she started the Dump Truck Cardigan out of Knit Picks Stroll Sport. She's done with the back. Laura has finished the center panel of her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs.  She is working on the first applied edging (not short rows). She's making it out of Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. It's really pretty and soft and she loves it. She's also working on a new stripey hat for Halos of Hope out of orange, lavender, and some neutral greys and browns. Desi has been working on the Selva Cowl out of teal microfibre. She's also working on Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl out of alpaca. She is struggling with Chart B. We mention CustomFit. Finished Objects: (23:30) Jen hasn't finished anything. Laura finished a scrappy hat in camel heather, cobblestone, and sienna. Desi has two finished objects! She finished a cowl from a magic ball which took forever to finish because she had to figure out how to weave in all of the ends. And she had a pair of fingerless gloves made of bulky yarn that went so quickly she was amazed. Devil's Tower: (25:35) Jen has a ton of stuff that is almost done but just needs ends woven in or blocking and she just needs to finish them. She also pulled out her Watership Down KAL Shawl out of Unique Sheep Selene in the colorway Nature Walk, because she missed knitting lace. Laura has to block her Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir. She ordered more blocking mats so that she'll have the room, but she needs the time. Desi has no Devil's Tower (it's all Frog Pond). Frog Pond: (28:02) Laura had to restart a hat because she can't count and talk at the same time. (Also Desi was helping with numbers). Jen is having major problems with errata in her Heirloom baby layette. She has contacted Knit picks, but they have not responded, except to say that it looks like there is an error, but has not gotten any more response. She's a bit disappointed in the pattern. Desi was working on the Scilla Lace Socks and made the foot too short. She ripped back and fixed it, but it still was too short and so it's now in timeout (or drowned in the frog pond). On Deck: (35:50) Jen wants to make lots baby stuff (the Bobble Bearded Beanie by Topsy Turvy, the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash, another Playful Stripes Cardigan, the Baby Yours Sweater) and the Hitofude Cardigan (because she saw Allison from The Hollywood Knitter podcast wearing hers). Laura was inspired by seeing schmevelyn's completed Follow Your Arrow, so she really wants to do it. She is also going to work on her Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband.  And she really wants to make the Quinty by Bernadette Ambergen. Knit Culture: (39:18) We draw the prize for the September Stashdown challenge. Congratulations knitsNhikes! You win a copy of The Sock Knitter's Handbook by Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott, donated to the podcast by Miss Dorothy. October's theme is fall festivals (Samhain/Halloween/whatever), you have a few more days to post in the the thread. November's theme will be food. We also talk about the highlights of CogKNITive Fiber Retreat. The classes are great; the vendors are great (they include Slipped Stitch Studios, Forbidden Woolery, Fickle Knitter, Red Fish Dyeworks, RKsMom, Jamie's Metal Works (he sells through Arachne's Threads), Cooperative Press, The Yarnover Truck, Bee Mice Elf, and, of course, Dizzy Blonde Studios); and Jen won some Aspenglow Yarn in the Mother Bear raffle and the doorprize raffle (that was actually Melissa's prize, but she doesn't spin, so Jen inherited it). Also Ray who does massages next to the Purlescence booth at Stitches West was there giving massages. Desi won a copy of Sock Architecture in the door prize and a bag from RK's mom in the Mother Bear raffle. We mention the SNL sketch "The Californians", Anzula Yarns, and Bahh Yarns. Geek Culture: (54:35) We talk about this io9 article about the Top 100 Star Trek episodes of all time. We'd love to hear what you think about it. Jen wants a 10 worst list. And Desi thinks the hottest kiss is Chakotay kissing the member of Species 8472. We also share this other io9 article about which examines whether Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and ET are all in the same universe. And we give a shoutout to New York Comic Con (and thank them for their very explicit anti-harassment policy) and to Stitches East. Events: (59:02) WeFF will be November 2nd, 2014 in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending.  It’s a lot of fun, with great demonstrations, raffles, and lots of cool vendors. Stitches West is February 19-22 and both Jen and Laura will be there. Laura is vending and Jen will be taking a ton of classes, but come say hi! Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished October projects in the thread! Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by the Mean Girls’ Yarn Club, Episode 6: And So It Begins! There are a few spots still available. The More The Scarier! Visit the website for all the gory details. http://meangirlsyarnclub.blogspot.com Catching Up: (0:38) Laura has been catching up with summer television. She's really enjoying Continuum, Suits, The Last Ship, and is going to start watching Turn. She's finished dying yarn for Yarnosphere and CogKNITive and is excited to have 3 new colorways for Lambie Toes and 1 new colorway for Dizzy Blonde sock. She's happy she just paid off her car as well. She had a bit of an accident with bacon grease, which is unfortunate. She also has a bit of hand pain right now. Jen opened her show and is thrilled with how it's going, especially since it's inspired by true stories from people who live in the community. She shares this video about a sewing circle and the power of crafting to create a community, which is one of the stories that inspired her show. She's taking a Shakespeare class, which is really exciting. She's been watching Gotham and she sees potential, even if the show isn't great yet. She's been doing some cross-stitch with a kit from Watty's Wall Stuff. And she's learning some new music for a Bob Dylan/Dylan Thomas tribute, which is also a fundraiser for Interval House. In the Knitting Bag: (15:23) Laura has been working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She's done with the center panel. She's doing another hat for Halos of Hope. She wants to do some lace but she's not sure what. Jen started her Chickadee Cardigan by Ysolda Teague again. She's much happier with the colorwork this time around. She's making it out of Quince and Co. Chickadee. She's done with the yoke and working on the first sleeve.  She's been working on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She's done with the lace section, so now she just has the garter stitch and then the knitted on border. And she's been working on her Ohana mitts (her own design). Finished Objects: (20:22) Laura finished her Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt for her step-granddaughter. They were knit out of Knitpicks Brava Worsted in dark pink with rainbow scales from The Ringlord.com. And she finished a hat for Halos of Hope out of Knitpicks Brava in Camel Heather and Vanna's Choice Lavender. Jen hasn't really finished anything. She needs to block things. Lots of things! We mention Craftsy, specifically their Intarsia Class by Sally Melville. Devil's Tower: (24:24) Laura has been UFO free, because she cleaned out all of her UFOs and frogged them. Jen pulled out her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts (made of of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant) and finished the knitting. She still has to weave in ends, block it, and do all the finishing work so she's not counting it as done. Frog Pond: (27:15) Laura hasn't been knitting much so she has nothing to report and she's more used to the Yggdrasil pattern, so she's able to fix her mistakes quickly. When Jen picked up her Leah's Lovely, she had put the stitches on waste yarn because she needed the needles for something else. Since the pattern has you hold the yoke stitches on waste yarn and pick them up for the neckband. So she picked it up, assuming she was done with the yoke and started the button bands. The she realized that she hadn't actually completed the yoke (it was maybe an inch short) and done the last decrease row. She didn't want to rip out the button bands so she did the last decrease row and tried it on and it fits, so she left it. But she probably should have marked where she was in the pattern. Jen also had a bit of trouble with her Chickadee, mostly because she can't count when she's sick. On Deck: (29:50) Laura wants to make to make Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of Knitpicks Chroma in Jam Jar and Gloss in black, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock in Applegate, Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband, and the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK.  She also wants to makeDeath Star by Patricia Castillo, the Crochet Fan Shawl by Valerie Martin, and Art Déco by Nadita Swings. Jen has the same baby stuff on her list (Dump Truck Cardigan, the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash, another Playful Stripes Cardigan, the Baby Yours Sweater, and more sweaters for herself. We mention the Knitmore Girls and their Fit, Flatter, and Feel Wonderful KAL, Susan B. Anderson's Project Sweater Chest, and Marly Bird's Curvy Knits Craftsy Class. Knit Culture: (35:58) We interview designer Brenda Castiel. We talk about her history as a knitter and a designer. We talk about her newest shawl, the Winona Shawl. She also has a great blog, Knits and Travel, where she documents her knitting and travel life. We give a recap of Knit Dizzney, which was awesome and we had a blast. Thank you to everyone who came; we loved seeing you all. And thank you to our awesome sponsors. Pam Haschke of Halos of Hope and Erika Hernandez of Cooperative Press provided the prizes. Mad Color Fiber Arts, Skeindalous Yarns, and Dizzy Blonde Studios provided the mini-skeins and coupon codes. One Geek To Craft Them All provided the stitch markers. Cheryl Joy Kong of Thirty One Gifts provided the pen and mini-catalog. And Alamitos Bay Yarn Company provided the skeins of sparkly yarn. So thank you to all of them! We mention our September Stashdown Challenge which is Pirates vs. Ninjas. And our October challenge, which is Fall Festivals (Halloween, Samhain, Harvest, whatever you celebrate). Geek Culture: (59:26) We mention the Stash2Go app, another app that works with Ravelry (like Yarma and Wooly). We also point out the Firefly fan film "The Verse." Events: (1:01:57) We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be there for fun. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. That same weekend (October 11) is the Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta in Downtown San Diego. We aren’t going, but it sounds great. WeFF will be November 2nd, 2014 in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending.  It’s a lot of fun, with great demonstrations, raffles, and lots of cool vendors. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished September projects in the thread! Keep stashing down!

Catching Up: (0:22) Jen went to the Huntington to see the exhibit of World War I posters and had tea with Melissa. She also has been rehearsing a lot because her show, El Largo Camino De Hoy, opens very soon. She saw The Tempest, which was amazing. It was co-directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and featured Tom Waits music. She loved it. And, in complete contrast, she saw The Expendables 3 and Into the Storm, which were terrible but enjoyable (and Melissa wants to make a Jason Stathem grandpa cardigan (not a Sylvester Stallone cardigan like Jen thought)). She's also reading Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist. Laura celebrated her dad's 88th birthday. She's also cleaning out her studio so it's more workable. She's prepping for the fall fiber festivals, Knit Dizzney, and a new yarn store. She's working on the Mean Girl's Yarn Club Season 6 theme (sign ups are now open). Her dogs have bruised both of her elbows. But MeiMei gets a pass because she has a slipped disk, so she needs to be loved. And she's learning to play the Firefly board game for CogKNITive. And Laura is really, really excited for Knit Dizzney. In the Knitting Bag: (16:57) Jen is working on the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in Slate, Cotton Candy, Raspberry, Lake Chelan Heather, and Summer Sky. She's done with the body, she needs to weave in the ends and do the button bands. She loves this pattern. She's working on some mitts out of the Stitch Dizzney yarn. And she's also working on her Nightblooming Shawl for the Sunnydale yarn club. And she worked a little bit on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She's really loving the Orenberg lace in the blanket and can't wait to make the whole set. Laura is working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She plans to steam block the acrylic. She loves it but she's trying to wrap her brain around some of the cabling and picking up of stitches. She loves the pattern so much she might make a sportweight version for her step-granddaughter. She’s also working on the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt for her step-granddaughter out of Knitpicks Brava Worsted in dark pink. This one will have rainbow scales. The scales are from The Ringlord.com. And she is working on a hat for Halos of Hope. It's a slipped stitch pattern of her own design and made of lavender and camel heather Knitpicks Brava. Finished Objects: (27:52) Jen finished her Beulah Cardigan. This was for Camp Loopy Month 3 and it was made out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose. She finished just in time (the knitting was done very quickly, but it took forever to block). Melissa provided the adorable buttons. She really loves it and is trying to decide if she should do the embroidery on the sweater or leave it without. She has several Unicorn Tails in potential embroidery colors, but she can't decide if it's better without it. But it fits well and it's super cute. Laura finished the Knitted Scale Mail gloves for her step-daughter (the gray ones with a black to white gradient of scales). She sent them off as a belated birthday present. Her step-daughter will use them to play a pirate at the Renaissance Fair. Devil's Tower: (31:39) Jen pulled out her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. She's making it out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant. She had put it away to work on Camp Loopy stuff, but it's so close to done that she really just wants to finish it because she wants to wear it to Stitches (which is super far away). Laura is still intending to cull her UFOs. She's cleared away the stuff from the front of cabinet so she can get started. Frog Pond: (33:54) Jen has been doing a lot of frogging. Some of it is because she's working on designing and she doesn't like how it looks (like her shawl). But she was knitting on her mitts in the movie and ended up short a stitch. She had to frog to find the dropped stitch because she just could. not. find it. And when she started the second mitt, she didn't reverse the rib pattern so that the ribbing would flow into the patterning properly. Laura has managed to stay out of the frog pond now that the Yggdrasil is more intuitive and she's on the second pair of mitts so she's used to them. On Deck: (38:10) Jen wants to make a Dump Truck Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits for her nephew out of Knitpicks Stroll Sport. She's going to make another Playful Stripes Cardigan for the new baby of indeterminate gender out of Cascade 220 SW Sport, in a more gender-neutral fashion. She’s making the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash. She also wants to make the Baby Yours Sweater and she’ll use the motif to also make a blanket and hat so there will be full a layette out of Cascade 220 SW Sport in Aran (cream-colored). She also wants to make a Bobble Bearded Beanie by Topsy Turvy, and a Chickadee cardigan for herself. Laura wants to make some lace.  She has several knit and crochet patterns in mind.  She also wants to make to make Dreambird by Nadita Swings, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock, Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband, and the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK in either Anna or Paris. She's hesitating on the sweaters because she feels she hasn't done much sweater knitting and wants to give it her full attention. Knit Culture: (42:13) We answer a question from our Knotty Talk thread. Tinyfeets asks Do you have any advice on how to get better at reading pattern charts? I know most people love them but I find them a bit confusing and overwhelming, and I don’t want to miss out on some great patterns because it uses a chart. We recommend starting with relatively easy lace that has both written and charted instructions. Shetland lace is particularly intuitive and has short lace repeats (for example Feather and Fan pattern). Laura is fond of the Weekend Shawl by Anne Kuo Lukito for this. Jen recommends using highlighters on your chart like in this Knitting Daily article. And we both recommend using pattern keepers with magnets to keep track of your charts. And highlight the key of your chart in the same color as the boxes on the chart. Also, even though there aren't any actual standards for symbols in charts, just check your key if you have questions. A lot of it comes down to practice. But use lifelines and stitch markers to help you keep track. But this only works for patterns where the lace pattern doesn't shift, so be careful. We award the stashdown prize for August. Congratulations fun4Tracey, you win a digital copy of Head to Toe: Kids Knit Accessories by Katya Frankel, courtesy of Cooperative Press. September's theme is Pirates vs. Ninjas, so post in the thread. October's theme will be Samhain/Halloween/Fall Festivals. Geek Culture: (52:24) We talk about Buzzfeed's ranking of Firefly episodes. We both agree with Out of Gas as the best episode. Jen's a sucker for an origin story and it's well-written. We disagree with their worst episode. We also mention Gallery 1988 and their Joss Whedon art exhibit. And, if you're interested, the Firefly online game is looking for beta testers, if you're interested. Events: (56:36) KnitDizzney! Yay! The San Diego Yarn Crawl is September 18th-21st. We are not attending, but you should if you can. We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be there for fun. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. That same weekend (October 11-12) is the Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta in Downtown San Diego. We aren't going, but it sounds great. WeFF will be November 2nd, 2014 in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending.  It's a lot of fun, with great demonstrations, raffles, and lots of cool vendors. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished September projects in the thread! Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by the Mean Girls’ Yarn Club, Episode 6: And So It Begins! Year-long yarn club. Memberships for the next episode will open up September 3, 3014! Please visit http://meangirlsyarnclub.blogspot.com for all the gory details. It’s more than yarn, it’s an adventure! Catching Up: (0:53) Laura has been dyeing a lot for her yarn clubs. She also finally finished Game of Thrones season 3. She's been working on Knit Dizzney stuff--the yarn and T-shirts are ready. And she's been working on Mean Girls Yarn Club Episode 6--Sign ups open September 3. The theme is action and adventure villains. She's also dyeing a lot of yarn for the Southern California fiber festival season. And she's going to World of Color later this week with Miss Dorothy. Jen has been healing and wants to thank everyone for the well-wishes about her teeth and surgery. She's been doing a lot of rehearsing and some of the little kids have been alternately fascinated and bored by her knitting. She's been watching lots of baseball, including the Little League World Series (she loves Mo'ne Davis) and she also went to Stitch and Pitch at Dodger Stadium put on by the Yarnover Truck. She wore her new Ginny cardigan, because it's Dodger Blue. She finished Season 2 of Orange is the New Black and really liked all the crochet mentions. And she's been spinning more. In the Knitting Bag: (11:54) Laura was working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Mocha. She's also working on the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt for her stepdaughter out of Knitpicks Brava in greys. She finished one mitt and is working on the second one. The scales are from The Ringlord.com. And she started a slipped stitch hat for Halos of Hope.  It's going to be social knitting.  We talk about bringing small projects for amusement park lines.  Jen likes easy socks or hats. Jen is working on her Beulah Cardigan for Camp Loopy Month 3 out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose.  She just needs to seam it and do the buttonbands and neckbands.  She's been working on mitts for Stitch Dizzney and a shawl for the Sunnydale Yarn Club.  She's working on the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in Slate, Cotton Candy, Raspberry, Lake Chelan Heather, and Summer Sky. She's on the yoke and she completely loves it. And she worked a bit on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. We talk about mini-skeins and how trendy they are right now: Madelinetosh Unicorn Tails, Knitted Wit Gumballs, and Lion Brand Bonbons. Finished Objects: (19:04) Neither of the Knotty Girls have finished anything. Half a pair of gloves where one isn't even seamed does not count. Devil's Tower: (19:30) Laura still hasn't gotten around to culling her Devil's Tower. Jen also has very quiet UFOs. Frog Pond: (19:57) Laura had some trouble with her Yggdrasil again. She dropped a cable stitch when she was tinking back, so she ripped the entire thing out again and restarted again. But she's getting more intuitive with the pattern now so it's going faster. Jen had to rip out several inches of one of her sleeves on her Beulah Cardigan because she forgot to do an increase on her sleeve and didn't have the correct number of stitches. On Deck: (22:30) Laura will be making more Knitted Scale Mail Gloves out of pink Knitpicks Brava for her step-granddaughter.  She also wants to make Dreambird by Nadita Swings, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock, Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband, Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK in either Anna or Paris, and another crocheted shawl--maybe the Belle Époque Shawl by Kira Dulaney, and the Easy as Pie, a shawl by Marisa Hernandez. Jen wants to make Dump Truck Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits for her nephew out of Knitpicks Stroll Sport, another Playful Stripes Cardigan for the new baby of indeterminate gender out of Cascade 220 SW Sport.  She also wants to make the Baby Yours Sweater and she’ll use the motif to also make a blanket and hat so there will be full a layette out of Cascade 220 SW Sport in Aran (cream-colored). She’s making the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash.  She also wants to make a Bobble Bearded Beanie by Topsy Turvy, and a Chickadee cardigan for herself. Knit Culture: (26:43) We review Head to Toe: Kids Knit Accessories by Katya Frankel. Cooperative Press sent this book for us to review. It retails for $16.95 for pdf only, $26.95 for print and pdf. We both really think the patterns are adorable and kid-appropriate while still being classic. We think several of these patterns would be great to give to a kid who is interested in knitting so they can makes stuff for themselves. The book is well-photographed and uses a lot of different techniques and they're very interesting. Jen highly recommends it if you have kids you want to knit for or with. We talk about the Stashdown. August's Theme is Dog Days of Summer so post in the thread. And September's theme is Pirates vs. Ninjas so post September's finished objects in the thread. Geek Culture: (32:50) We talk a bit about the newest season of Doctor Who. We also talk about the new fall television lineup. We're excited for season 2 of Agents of SHIELD. Laura is excited for the new season of Castle. Jen is looking forward to Gotham and Gracepoint (mostly because of David Tennant).  We want to know what you're looking forward to in the fall lineup. Events: (48:17) KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014. You can come play in the park all day. If you want to play in the park, meet at the compass at 9, if you can. We will also have a meetup at the picnic spiral (which is outside the gate so you don’t have to go into Disneyland/pay for a ticket) at 1pm. We will have goodie bags for the first 40 people and some prizes. To find Laura in the park, follow our Twitter for updates. We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be there for fun. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. Sign ups are open. WeFF will be November 2nd, 2014 in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished August projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Knit Dizzney 2014, hosted by us, the KnottyGirls Knitcast and Dizzy Blonde Studios. Knit Dizzney is set for September 7, 2014 at the Disneyland Resort. Yarn is still available! (T shirts and bags are sold out)! Get all the details at the Dizzy Blonde Studios blog. Find your Steampunk Name Here! Catching Up: (2:18) Jen watched Sharknado 2: The Second One and Petals on the Wind in her terrible movie tradition with Melissa. She watched Alaskan Pig Races at the County Fair. And she saw Guardians of the Galaxy and she loved it. It strikes the right tone and she really wants a dancing baby Groot! And she has started rehearsal for her new show and she's really enjoying it. Laura has been Season 5 of Doctor Who and she likes the new look of the Tardis. She also likes the knitwear being featured. She's working on Knit Dizzney swag. She's working on the final edits of her Semprasectum Stockings and starting to write up the slipped stitch hat pattern. She's been having some knitting ennui, but despite that, she managed to teach some knitting to some neighbor boys. She used some rhymes and tips from Gigi of the Knitmore Girls. And she's getting really excited for Knit Dizzney. In the Knitting Bag: (18:15) Jen started her Beulah Cardigan for Camp Loopy Month 3 out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose. She's working on the second front. She's also working on the Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow.  She's about halfway through the blanket. She's also working on a new shawl pattern for the Sunnydale Yarn Club called Nightblooming and a new mitts pattern called Ohana. Laura is working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate or maybe Mocha. It's slow going right now because of the heat and the intricacy of the pattern. And she is working on the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt for her stepdaughter. Finished Objects: (26:58) Jen finished her Ginny’s Cardigan by Mari Chiba from Unofficial Harry Potter Knits out of Wollmeise Pure in Chim Chim Chimney for Camp Loopy Month 2. She loves this sweater, especially the cute whimsical backing buttons. She's really happy with it. Laura finished the slipped stitch hat for her brother out of Knitpicks Brava in Celestial Blue and Camel Heather. Devil's Tower: (29:44) Jen has put away her Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos until she finishes her Camp Loopy and pattern knitting. Laura still needs to cull the herd of her UFOs. Frog Pond: (30:43) Jen had some frustrations with her Heirloom Baby Layette. There was errata in the chart and the correct charts were not easily available. And she had her yarn ball drop out of her bag and dragged it for several feet and some of it got filthy, so she had to cut out the dirty bits. Laura had some issues with her Yggdrasil. A "no stitch" square didn't show up dark enough in her working photocopy, so she had an extra stitch and had to tink back. We mention the Yarn on Tap podcast. On Deck: (41:07) Jen wants to make Dump Truck Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits for her nephew out of Knitpicks Stroll Sport, another Playful Stripes Cardigan for the new baby of indeterminate gender out of Cascade 220 SW Sport.  She also wants to make the Baby Yours Sweater and she’ll use the motif to also make a blanket and hat so there will be full a layette out of Cascade 220 SW Sport in Aran (cream-colored). She’s making the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash.  She also wants to make a Bobble Bearded Beanie by Topsy Turvy, so she needs to work out her crochet skills. And she wants to make a crown for her nephew, because he is obsessed with them due to an episode of Daniel Tiger. Laura plans to make a hat for Halos of Hope, another pair of the Scale Mail Gloves by Crafty Mutt out of Knitpicks Brava Worsted in Gray with rainbow scales. These will be for her stepgranddaughter. She also wants to make the Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband. She will use yarn she dyed to match their dog Sabre.  She wants to make a Dreambird by Nadita Swings, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock, and Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK in either Anna or Paris. Knit Culture: (45:58) We play the trailer for a new podcast, The Baarmygirls. We talk about the Stashdown. We loved all the July entries. We award July's prize. Congratulations knittinghawk! You win a copy of Knits that Breathe: 12 Breezy Projects To Keep You Cool provided by the author Julie Turjoman. We had a special love for inagaddadonita's Pink Floyd hitchhiker and joseybug's blue Led Zeppelin handspun, and we love seeing everyone's projects. August's theme is Dog Days, so post your finished projects inspired by your pets or other animals, for your pet to wear, spin up your cat’s hair, or whatever in the August Thread. September's Theme will be Pirates vs. Ninjas, in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day. We mention Kninja Kitties. We also mention that Halos of Hope is short on hats right now, so if you have the time and inclination, please make and donate a hat. Check their site for the guidelines and where to send it. We mention some of Alana's hats from Geek Culture: (54:53) Jen loves the Lego Famale Scientist set. Laura is shameless and mentions the Glow in the Dark Weeping Angel T-Shirt (LISTENERS, DO NOT BUY HER BIRTHDAY GIFTS!) We talk about Star Trek. Specifically, we discuss ThatSciFi Guy's video where he discusses his choices for best and worst for various ship positions throughout the five series (for example best chief engineer, best captain, worst security chief, etc). We want to know what you think about it. Post in the episode thread with your thoughts. And we mention that Joss Whedon has a new biography and the forward is by Nathan Fillion, which makes Laura want it even more. Events: (1:09:14) KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014. You can come play in the park all day. We will also have a meetup at the picnic spiral (which is outside the gate so you don’t have to go into Disneyland/pay for a ticket) at 1pm. We will have goodie bags and some prizes. To find Laura in the park, follow our Twitter for updates. We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be there for fun. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. Sign ups are open. WeFF will be November 2nd, 2014 in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished August projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Knit Dizzney 2014, hosted by us, the KnottyGirls Knitcast and Dizzy Blonde Studios. Knit Dizzney is set for September 7, 2014 at the Disneyland Resort. Yarn is still available! (T shirts and bags are sold out)! Get all the details at the Dizzy Blonde Studios blog. Catching Up: (0:42) Laura went to a wedding anniversary and saw a bunch of kids playing Doctor Who, which was cute. She's been watching Game of Thrones and Doctor Who. She updated her stash in Ravelry (finally). She's been getting ready for the Southern California fiber festival season, so lots of dyeing (this also applies to the Knit Dizzney yarn). She's also been setting up the Knit Dizzney pre-orders. We talk about Lilo and Stitch. Jen went to Six Flags to ride the Colossus roller coaster one more time before it closes. She saw Chef, which she really enjoyed. She's back to doing a bit of running. She also baked some delicious cookies for a bake sale to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She's been spinning up and plying the Knitpicks Full Circle Roving in the Fawn Colorway.  Then she's going to start on some Knitpicks Wool of Andes in Sapphire Heather (a blue ) and Amethyst Heather (purple).  She entered some stuff in the Orange County Fair and was the division winner for Handknit Clothing with her Safe at Home Cardigan and for Knit and Crochet Accessories with her Cactus Flower shawl. She's super surprised and happy. And she was cast in a play at South Coast Repertory. It's bilingual and she's really excited. In the Knitting Bag: (14:14) Laura is working on a slipped stitch hat for her other brother, out of Knitpicks Brava in Celestial Blue and Camel Heather. This is her own design. Jen is working on the blanket part of the Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She's also working on Ginny’s Cardigan by Mari Chiba from Unofficial Harry Potter Knits out of Wollmeise Pure in Chim Chim Chimney for Camp Loopy Month 2. The knitting is done, she just needs to weave in ends, graft the underarms and block it. She is also working on the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos for the new baby out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport out of teals and pinks and greys. She'll probably put that in the PAL KAL hosted by ACTually KNITting Podcast. And she worked a bit on her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Finished Objects: (18:02) Laura finished her Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir in Lambie Toes in Special Hell. Except it needs blocking. Devil's Tower: (19:23) Laura plans to cull her Devil's Tower and get rid of projects that are no longer of interest to her. Frog Pond: (21:12) Laura frogged two projects in 30 minutes. She had trouble with her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate. She frogged the whole thing because she accidentally started working back and forth for a bit and hence had a big hole. And she had to frog her Knitted Scale Mail Gloves because she failed to read the pattern. She started working them in the round, but they are supposed to be knit flat. She figured out how to knit the scales in the round, but were turning out too small. And she re-started them, knitting in stockinette instead of garter stitch. On Deck: (27:52) Laura will be making a second pair of the knitted scale mail gloves for her stepgranddaughter, with a rainbow pattern. She also wants to make a Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of either Dizzy Blonde yarn as a booth sample, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock. And she wants to make an Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK.  And she wants to make the Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin for her husband out of some yarn she dyed to match his dog, Sabre. Jen wants to make the Dump Truck Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits for her nephew out of Knitpicks Stroll Sport, another Playful Stripes Cardigan for the new baby of indeterminate gender out of Cascade 220 SW Sport, the Baby Yours Sweater and she'll use the motif to also make a blanket and hat so there will be full a layette out of Cascade 220 SW Sport in Aran (a cream). She's making the Porcupine Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits out of Cascade 220 Superwash. She wants to make some other sweaters to get rid of some worsted weight acrylic she has: the Lace Edged Cardigan and the Colorblock Cardigan. And she will make the Beulah Cardigan for Camp Loopy Month 3 out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose. And she will be making the Bobble Bearded Beanie by Topsy Turvy, but it's crochet, so she's worried. Knit Culture: (36:09) We check in on our stashdown goals. Laura has knit and crocheted 2500 meters of 91000 meters totally. She revises her goal from 25% (which would be 23000 meters) to 10% (9500 meters), which is more achievable. Jen has more yarn yardwise in stash, but she has a lot of laceweight, which gets her a lot more yardage per skein. She had a goal of 20000 yards, she is at about 7000 yards knit. She is not going to change her goal, because she believes its achievable. We want to hear how you're doing with your goals. Let us know in the Stashdown Thread. We remind you of July's theme of music. August's theme is Dog Days, so make stuff inspired by your pets or other animals, for your pet to wear, spin up your cat's hair--it's up to you. We mention the Cattbutt coaster. We review Knits that Breathe: 12 Breezy Projects To Keep You Cool by Julie Turjoman. It retails for $18.95 for digital copy and $24.95 for a paper copy. We both really like it--it's put together in a lovely manner and the patterns are classic and pretty and would be work-appropriate and also age appropriate for women who are not older than their 20s and early 30s. There are a variety of sweater shapes, so there are options for many body types and there are a lot of flattering shapes. Geek Culture: (59:29) We talk about the new Thor, who is woman! We approve. We also point out this very funny Texts from Superheroes on the subject. Events: (1:06:52) KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014.  We will have a meetup at the picnic spiral (which is outside the gate so you don't have to go into Disneyland/pay for a ticket) at 1pm. We will have some prizes. We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be there for fun. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. WeFF will be November 2nd, 2014 in Torrance. Dizzy Blonde Studios will be vending. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished July projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Knit Dizzney 2014, hosted by us, the KnottyGirls Knitcast and Dizzy Blonde Studios. Knit Dizzney is set for September 7, 2014 at the Disneyland Resort. Keep listening for more details, including Knit Dizzney exclusives! Catching Up: (00:47) Jen got her wisdom teeth out and there are some complications, but she's healing. She watched a lot of television while recovering: The Legend of Korra, West Wing, Buffy, and Adventure Time. She has been spinning on her new Schacht Matchless. She is working on some Knitpicks Full Circle Roving in the Fawn Colorway. She wants to update her stash and WIPs on Ravelry. Laura has been dyeing a lot: some mini skeins for the Slipped Stitch Studios cross-over club, Sunnydale Yarn Club, Mean Girls Yarn Club, the colorway for Camp CogKNITive, and the Knit Dizzney colorway. She and her family are still mourning Tony's uncle. She and her dogs survived 4th of July; a Thundershirt was a big help. She went shopping for fabric for the Knit Dizzney project bags. And she has been watching Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, and Buffy Season 2. And she finally saw Maleficent. We're both looking forward to the new Annie. In the Knitting Bag: (18:48) Jen has been working on her Ginny’s Cardigan by Mari Chiba from Unofficial Harry Potter Knits out of Wollmeise Pure in Chim Chim Chimney for Camp Loopy Month 2. The pattern is written for DK weight, but she is doing it in fingering. She knit two sizes larger than required and added four stitches to each front. It's a bottom up yoke sweater and she finished to body up to the armholes and is working on the sleeves. She's also working on her Heirloom Layette Set by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence for the new baby niece out of Cascade Heritage in Snow. She started with the blanket. And she is working on a Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos for the new baby out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport out of teals and pinks and greys. Laura is working on the Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir in Lambie Toes in Special Hell.  She is working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate. Finished Objects: (27:08) Neither of us has finished anything. But that's okay, Jen finished a sweater last episode, so there. Jen and Laura both definitely need to block their Leftie shawls, and Jen needs to block her Hitchhiker. Jen has discovered the wonders of using the spin cycle to get water out her sweaters and let them dry quicker. We talk about using salad spinners, tabletop spinners, and spin cycles to dry yarn and knitwear when blocking. We talk a little bit about blocking resources, including the Craftsy class and TKGA classes. Devil's Tower: (33:04) Laura pulled out the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt. She is making the pair for her step-daughter first, because the scale pattern is easier than the pair her step-granddaughter wants. The mitts are in worsted weight yarn, so they'll go really quick. Frog Pond: (34:27) Jen can knit lace when she's on painkillers. She can't treadle when she's on painkillers. Or spin. Honestly, just don't try to practice new stuff when you're on drugs. Apparently practice matters with these things. On Deck: (37:45) Jen wants to make the Beulah Cardigan for Camp Loopy Month 3 out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose, the Dump Truck Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits for her nephew, the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan for the new baby of indeterminate sex, and Rock Island by Jared Flood. Laura wants to pick up her husband's mitts again (she found her pattern notes). She wants to make a Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of either Dizzy Blonde yarn as a booth sample, Ink by Hanna Maciejewska out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash Sock. And she wants to make an Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK. Knit Culture: (42:32) June's Theme was Matriculation and we had a lot of great entries for it. The prize is two patterns–the beautiful InfiniTAM donated by the amazing Deborah Tomasello and the Tan House Brook Shawl donated by BostonJen of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast (which you should all listen to, because it’s awesome. The winner is hudgensf! July's Theme is Music, so post your entries in the thread. We answer a two-part question from Innagoddadonita. A while back, I remember Laura saying that she was pulling the needles out of a project & trashing it because the yarn was falling apart (likely because it was acid burned). How can you tell if yarn is acid burned? We both agree that it is more likely that yarn is being eaten by moths or beetles rather than acid burned. Determining if it's acid burned is more of a process of elimination. Acid burning will be localized to one single skein, and it usually not on a huge commercial yarn (acid-burning usually occurs with indie dyers). Unfortunately, critters are more likely. And we talk about damage control for critters. Freeze it, put it in the sun, and then freeze it again. She also asks about stash storage. She stores hers in plastic storage tubs that are not air-tight, and wrapped in the tissue that the skeins were wrapped in by the shop/dyer. She had some trouble with some 100% cashmere she got on sale at 50% off at a festival. The yarn is falling apart. The dyer suggests that it wasn’t stored properly and that it is dry rotted from the plastic tubs, or that “off-gassing” from the plastic could have damaged it, and recommends storing in acid-free, archival boxes. We both feel that this is a dubious claim at best (unless possibly the dyer used natural vegetable or plant dyes), but invite the expertise of any listeners with insight. We address how we store our own personal yarn. We recommend going through your stash at least once a year to look for damage (and also to destash yarn you don't love anymore). We want to hear about how you all store yours. Geek Culture: (58:30) We talk about a cool article about how to keep pets happy during the 4th of July. We also share a cool article about how the final dance party on Orphan Black was filmed. And there is a mini version. And there is a great Handmade Home article on how to make Weeping Angel Barbies. And last but not least, we'd love to have a discussion about the topic of this article on the ethics of the Buffy universe and how they treat vampires. And then, inspired by this article about high-tech yarn, we talk about unusual yarns. We mention the Yarn Sisters pearl yarn, the Habu metal core yarns, and this Knit Be Nimble article about biosynthetic yarns. Events: (1:08:33) We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. There is an exclusive colorway you can pre-order in Dr. Gemma’s group. KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014.  Save the date.  There will be exclusive colorways and T-shirts for purchase and we will have a meetup at the picnic spiral. We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde will be vending. Sign ups are open. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished July projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.com. Catching Up: (1:18) Laura and her husband celebrated her 13th wedding anniversary and are having a dinner and movie date. She is finally seeing Maleficent, which Jen has seen and had mixed reviews about it. The anniversary is slightly overshadowed by the passing of her husband's uncle. Laura also caught up on Orphan Black and is almost done with Season 1 of Game of Thrones. She's working on making the next shipment of the Mean Girls Yarn Club, procrastinating on blog posts for both Mean Girls Yarn Club and Sunnydale Yarn Club. She's also procrastinating on entering stash into Ravelry. And she is working on dying the exclusive Knit Dizzney colorway and CogKNITive colorway. Jen got a little kicked around by the world these past couple of weeks, and she's trying to focus on the positive. She saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 which was cute. She's been watching the new season of Falling Skies and a new show, The Last Ship. She has the same complaints about Falling Skies, but she still enjoys it. She appreciates the diversity of the cast of The Last Ship, even though it's kind of a silly show. She saw some plays up at the Hollywood Fringe and she saw The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged. And she is excited to announce there is another niece or nephew on the way because Brother 1 and his wife are expecting Baby #2. In the Knitting Bag: (17:27) Laura is working (crocheting) on her Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir in Lambie Toes in Special Hell.  She is working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate. Jen is working on the yoke for her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant.  She's also working on her Water for the Elephants socks by Rose Hiver in some Knitpicks Stroll in a bare (natural) and Summer Blooms (pink). And she's swatching for her Ginny's Cardigan by Mari Chiba from Unofficial Harry Potter Knits out of Wollmeise Pure in Chim Chim Chimney for Camp Loopy Month 2. She is reworking the pattern for fingering weight. Finished Objects: (23:35) Jen finished her Lauriel Cardigan (by Ysolda Teague from Little Red in the City) out of Wollmeise DK in Pesto for Camp Loopy Month 1. She's super pleased with how it turned out. Devil's Tower: (26:41) Laura put the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt into Devil's Tower until she has the brain space to suss out the scale pattern.  She put the mitts for her husband (which incorporate design elements from Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin from Lit Knits) away; she has knitting ennui. Jen pulled out some ancient socks, the Sock Strap by General Hogbuffer out of Knitpicks Stroll in Bare, Spring, and Dogwood Heather. She stopped working on them because she broke one of her needles. They have unusual construction.  We talk about anatomical sock toes. Frog Pond: (31:58) Laura frogged her Yggdrasil Afghan because she was unhappy with how the center looked. She had only knit 6 rows. She restarted on larger needles. On Deck: (36:05) Laura wants to make a Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of either Dizzy Blonde yarn.  She will make a(nother) slipped stitch hat for her other brother, out of Knitpicks Brava using this one to work out any issues with the pattern so she can publish.  And she wants to make the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK. Jen has a huge list: the Citron Grande out of Desert Vista Dyeworks Voir in Cherry Icee, she wants to restart her Chickadee, the Dump Truck Cardigan for her nephew, the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos for the new baby out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport out of teals and pinks and greys, and a layette for the new baby niece out of Cascade Heritage. She also wants to make booties and more baby things sweaters. She is happy to have a girl to knit for so she can make all manner of baby patterns. She also wants to make the Beulah Cardigan for Camp Loopy Month 3 out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose. Knit Culture: (40:31) We recap the great time we had at our World Wide Knit in Public event. We had a great turn out, did some great shopping at Colors 91711 (Jen fell down on some recycled cashmere yarn), and had a great time. Thank you to Joni for the prize donations and the project bags you gave us. We also got donuts from the Museum of Donuts. We review Botanical Knits 2 by Alana Dakos, which retails for 18.00 for a PDF, 22.00 for the print book, and 40.00 for both Botanical Knits 1 and Botanical Knits 2. We both LOVE this book and highly, highly recommend it. We remind you that the stashdown is still going on. Post your finished projects in the June thread and you can win two patterns–the beautiful InfiniTAM donated by the amazing Deborah Tomasello and the Tan House Brook Shawl donated by BostonJen of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast (which you should all listen to, because it’s awesome. July's theme will be music, so post your FOs that are inspired by music in the thread. We let you all know that the ACTually KNITting Podcast is running a knitalong called the PAL KAL, which is themed to support podcasters. Use yarn or fiber or a pattern from a podcaster; see their thread for all the details. Geek Culture: (58:37) We point out this Verizon Ad about girls in science. We point out this awesome article about Jesse Seay's tutorial for knitting a working circuit. It's awesome. We talk about knitting software and apps. Some charting software we have used are EnvisioKnit (purchasable), Knit Visualizer (purchasable), Stitch Maps (free,web-based), Sconcho (free download), and Stitchworks Software (a purchasable software for crochet). Some apps we like are Stitchminder (a stitch counter app), Evernote (cloud storage, not specifically for knitting but great for storing Ravelry download patterns), Knit Companion, Yarma (interfaces with Ravelry for photo uploads), Wooly (interfaces with Ravlery to update projects), and Button Wizard (calculates where to put buttonholes on buttonbands). We mention the The Diet Diary for some knitting calculators. Events: (1:09:40) We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. There is an exclusive colorway you can pre-order in Dr. Gemma's group. KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014.  Save the date.  There will be exclusive colorways and T-shirts for purchase and we will have a meetup at the picnic spiral. We will be at Yarnosphere on October 4th and 5th at the Expo Arts Center in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be there for fun. We've interviewed the organizers of Yarnosphere in Episode 10. And Jen and Laura will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat on October 11 in the La Quinta Inn in Tehachapi. Dizzy Blonde will be vending. Sign ups are open. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished June projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by the New and Improved Dizzy Blonde Studios. New and Improved because we now have our own website. Visit our new home at DizzyBlondeStudios.com Catching Up: (0:55) Jen went up to visit family and go to the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event. She met Brother 2's fiancée and found out the baby they are expecting is a girl. She also saw her nephew and the rest of the family. Her parents and Ron went to winery and they did a tasting and loved the port. She saw Jasmin and Gigi of the Knitmore Girls Podcast, Dr. Gemma of CogKnitive Podcast, Tracy from 2 Knit Lit Chicks, and lots of people she'd previously met at Stitches that it was nice to see again. Jen and her mom both won stuff in the raffle (Jen won a kit to make Romi's Fiori Di Sole shawl and her mom won a nice bag). If you're driving up or down 99, Jen recommends Bravo Cheese Factory as a rest stop. She's also started running again, using the Zombies Run App, playing a little more guitar, and loving Fargo and the Cosmos reboot (but not quite as much as the Carl Sagan version. Laura is trying to get over bronchitis again. She's also dyeing for Mean Girls Yarn Club and her custom colors for Alamitos Bay Yarn Company and Colors 91711 and the Sunnydale Yarn Club. She is starting to plan for Knit Dizzney. She's been watching a lot of Elementary, Orphan Black, Buffy (planning for the yarn club), and she's all caught up on Downton Abbey. She's also planning some low key Father's Day stuff. If you'd like to be a Knit Dizzney sponsor contact us. In the Knitting Bag: (15:12) Jen is working on her Lauriel Cardigan (by Ysolda Teague from Little Red in the City) out of Wollmeise DK in Pesto for Camp Loopy. She is working on the sleeves (before the body is done, taking a page from Jasmin). She loves the construction with the top down set-in sleeve. She is slowly working on her  Sunshine Sock by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps.  She has done the first yoke decrease for her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant.  And she started a new project, the Water for the Elephants socks by Rose Hiver in some Knitpicks Stroll in a bare (natural) and Summer Blooms (pink). Laura is working (crocheting) on her Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir in Lambie Toes in Special Hell.  She is working on her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate. The small diameter circular cast on is difficult and did it a whole bunch on times.  And she started mitts for her husband out of brown alpaca. She's adding the design element from the Motoring Madness mittens by Audrey Nicklin from Lit Knits to her own mittens pattern. We mention the Belly Button Cast on. Finished Objects: (23:20) Jen hasn't finished anything. Laura finished her Leftie by Martina Behm out of a Miss Babs Yummy kit in slate and reds. We mentioned Slipped Stitch Studios and . Devil's Tower: (24:42) We are both short on UFO activity. Frog Pond: (24:51) Jen didn't have any frogging this week, but she hindered her own progress on her Sunshine Socks by first losing her book with the pattern in it. Ron found it for her, but then she forgot to bring the first sock when she was traveling, so she couldn't work on it anyway, because she compares to the first sock. On Deck: (27:49) Jen has a whole list: the Ginny’s Cardigan by Mari Chiba from the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits out of Wollmeise Pure in Chim Chim Chimney (for Camp Loopy), the Citron Grande out of Desert Vista Dyeworks Voir in Cherry Icee, she wants to restart her Chickadee, the Dump Truck Cardigan for her nephew, the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos for the new baby out of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport out of teals and pinks and greys, and a layette for the new baby niece out of Cascade Heritage. She also wants to make booties and more sweaters. She is happy to have a girl to knit for so she can make all manner of baby patterns. Laura is going to make the Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt, the Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of either Dizzy Blonde yarn, and the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK. Knit Culture: (36:01) We review Dishcloth Diva Knits On! by Deb Buckingham (courtesy of Cooperative Press). It retails for $9.95 PDF, $15.95 for Print and PDF. It's a lovely book, we love the tutorial, but we think it's a little more for a beginner and great for teaching, but an advanced knitter may not get as much out of it. We think it's an excellent gift for a beginner or for using as group projects. We remind you that the stashdown is still going on. Post your finished projects in the June thread and you can win two patterns--the beautiful InfiniTAM donated by the amazing Deborah Tomasello and the Tan House Brook Shawl donated by BostonJen of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast (which you should all listen to, because it's awesome. We also talk about our favorite knitting resources. For crochet, Laura recommends Stitch Diva Studios (text and pictures), The Crochet Crowd (video), and HappyBerry Crochet (video). For knitting, she likes Knit Purl Hunter (video), Knit Witch (video), and KnittingHelp.com. Jen doesn't learn well with videos, she prefers picture and text. She likes the Techknitting Blog, Ysolda's Technique Thursday blog posts, Techniques with Theresa from Knitty.com, and the Tin Can Knits blog. She also recommends some books: Finishing School: A Master Class for Knitters by Deborah Newton (finishing techniques), Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague and Knit to Flatter by Amy Herzog (both deal with sweater fit), and Knitting for Dummies (beginners). Jen also mentions The Principles of Knitting, if you want to be super pedagogical. Geek Culture: (46:50) We talk Downton Abbey! Jen highly recommends you look at Tom and Lorenzo's posts about their visit to a Downton Abbey costume exhibit (with closeups of actual costumes from the show). Post 1, Part 2, and Part 3 are here. We talk costuming in general. We also do some spoilery talk. If you want to avoid them skip ahead to the Events timecode (1:06:35) Events: (1:06:35) We are doing an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day.  We are partnering with Colors 91711 (address 248 Harvard Avenue, Claremont CA 91711). On Sunday June 22, we will be at the park across Harvard Ave having a knitting picnic from 11am to 2pm. Bring a chair, some shade, some snacks to share, water, sunscreen, your knitting. Colors opens at 12 noon for your shopping pleasure. We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014.  Save the date.  There will be exclusive colorways and T-shirts for purchase and we will have a meetup at the picnic spiral. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished May projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by the New and Improved Dizzy Blonde Studios. New and Improved because we now have our own website. Visit our new home at DizzyBlondeStudios.com If you want to find your raveler number enter the Konami Code on your profile page. If you need help, see this thread. Catching Up: (1:15) Laura had family visiting, Her sister-in-law was visiting. And her brother and his family are doing the amusement park tour of California, including Disneyland (and she will be able to play in the park with them). It's Tony's birthday soon, so that's happy. And she's been doing a lot of dying, especially the custom colors for both of the shops that carry custom colors of Dizzy Blonde Studios yarn. And she's been catching up on Doctor Who. She loved "Blink." (Don't we all?) Jen made strawberry basil lemonade. She has a blog post up with her strawberry basil lemonade recipe. She also saw both The Grand Budapest Hotel and Godzilla and thinks they are both worth seeing. She and Ron are working out some new songs, "Amie" by Pure Prairie League and a mashup of two songs "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men and "Home" by Ed Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. And she's been paying some old video games by Tim Schafer, including Day of the Tentacle. We mention yarn shops Colors and Alamitos Bay Yarn Company, the Cradle Will Rock Shawlette, and Canon Hand Dyes. In the Knitting Bag: (12:44) Laura is on the last color of her Leftie by Martina Behm out of a Miss Babs Yummy kit in slate and reds. She has finally actually started her Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir in Lambie Toes in Special Hell. And she started her Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate. Jen is working on her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant.  She is almost done with the sleeves.  She is also working on her  second Sunshine Sock by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps and her Lauriel Cardigan (by Ysolda Teague from Little Red in the City) out of Wollmeise DK in Pesto for Camp Loopy. She has trouble casting on, as usual. We mention the Citron Grande and Endless Rainbow. Finished Objects: (20:21) Laura finished her Men's Vintage Socks in Dizzy Blonde Studios Lambie Toes in No Touching Guns (grey). She may want to take different pictures than the ones she initially took. She is still deciding on a name, but she probably going to name it for Sectumsempra, a spell that Snape used in Harry Potter. Jen finished her Hitchhiker by Martina Behm out of a Zauberball in the colorway 2079 Durche die Blume (pink and green and white).  She only got 40 teeth and she had about 6 inches of yarn left after binding off. Devil's Tower: (23:00) The UFOs are quiet. Frog Pond: (23:10) Laura had some trouble with the Down the Garden Path Shawl. She didn't read the pattern, because she thinks she can read the designer's mind. Jen has frogged her entire Chickadee (which is by Ysolda Teague and she was working it in Quince and Co. Chickadee). It's a top down yoke sweater with stranded colorwork worked flat, and she's not happy with how it looks. So she's going to start over, because she wants to be happy with it. On Deck: (26:11) Laura wants to make a Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of either Dizzy Blonde Sock or Lambie Toes (or maybe both) for a booth sample.  She wants to make Knitted Scale Mail Gloves by CraftyMutt, the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde DK in an undecided color, and the Motoring Madness Mittens by Audrey Nicklin from Lit Knits out of brown alpaca. Jen will be re-starting her Chickadee. She'll be making a Ginny's Cardigan by Mari Chiba from the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits out of Wollmeise Pure in Chim Chim Chimney. And she wants to make Water for the Elephants socks by Rose Hiver in some Knitpicks Stroll in a bare (natural) and Summer Blooms (pink) and the Citron Grand out of Desert Vista Dyeworks Voir in Cherry Icee. Knit Culture: (30:28) We play the promo for the Once Upon a Time Podcast. We do the drawing for the May Stashdown Challenge. Congratulations to knitallthestuff! You win a digital copy of Subversive Socks edited by Tabetha Hendrick, courtesy of Cooperative Press. June’s theme will be Matriculation, so post your finished objects in the June thread. July's theme will be music; projects that remind you of your favorite song or musician or album cover or what-have-you. Steve Malcolm of It Takes Balls to Knit has launched an indiegogo campaign. And we interview Benjamin Levisay of XRX Books, the Stitches Shows, and the Fiber Hooligan Podcast. We talk about his background, his podcast (including the origin of its name), his work with Halos of Hope, his new software venture, Hopscotch, and some general geek stuff. Geek Culture: (1:14:23) We talk some more about some upcoming blockbusters including How to Train Your Dragon 2, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jupiter Ascending, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Expendables 3, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and Sex Tape. We mention Interstellar (which is the Matthew Mcconaughey astronaut film that Jen couldn't think of the title of. Events: (1:19:44) Jen will be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th. We are doing an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day.  We are partnering with Colors 91711 (address 248 Harvard Avenue, Claremont CA 91711). On Sunday June 22, we will be at the park across Harvard Ave having a knitting picnic from 11am to 2pm. Bring a chair, some shade, some snacks to share, water, sunscreen, your knitting. Colors opens at 12 noon for your shopping pleasure. We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014.  Save the date.  There will be exclusive colorways and T-shirts for purchase and we will have a meetup at the picnic spiral.

Catching Up: (0:53) Jen has been very busy at her day job. But she has new pattern outThe Cradle Will Rock Shawlette out for the Mean Girls Yarn Club. And she is finishing up her acting class and her show closed, so she feels like she may get her life back. Laura spent mother's day at her brother's cabin and it was lovely. She also has a new doggie (Mei Mei). Her husband was promoted and his schedule has changed, so they are adjusting to that. And she is ramping up for Patrol 2 of Sunnydale Yarn Club plus dying for some wholesale orders. And there is a new pattern out that uses Dizzy Blonde yarn: the O'Hara Scarf by Heatherly Walker. In the Knitting Bag: (8:23) Jen has been working on her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant.  She is on the sleeves! She started a Hitchhiker by Martina Behm out of a Zauberball in the colorway 2079 Durche die Blume (it's pink and green and white). And she is working on her second Sunshine Sock by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps. Laura has been working on her Leftie by Martina Behm out of a Miss Babs Yummy kit in slate and reds. She is on her fourth color. She is working on the afterthought heels on her men's vintage socks in Lambie Toes in No Touching Guns and she is working on the Down the Garden Path Shawl by Michele DuNaeir in Lambie Toes in Special Hell. We mention Knitmore Girls podcast and their #operationsockdrawer and #matchymatchykal. Finished Objects: (17:32) Jen hasn't finished anything because she's had no knitting time. Neither has Laura, because she is knitting big projects, because she's taking a break from Nerd Wars. We mention the Community Eye Candy post on the Ravelry blog featuring Nerd Wars projects. Frog Pond: (20:57) Jen has had easy knitting so there has been no need to frog. And Laura has been equally lucky, but we are anticipating good stories once she starts her Down the Garden Path. On Deck: (23:25) Jen has the same old stuff in her queue (Lauriel Cardigan (by Ysolda Teague 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)), plus she will be starting a Citron Grande out of Desert Vista Dyeworks Voir in Cherry Icee, for Camp Loopy. She will be doing the challenges even though she is not buying yarn. Laura wants to make the Yggdrasil Afghan by Lisa Jacobs out of reclaimed Berroco Vintage Chunky in Chocolate. And she wants to make the Dreambird by Nadita Swings out of either Dizzy Blonde Sock or Lambie Toes for a booth sample. We mention the Sylvi coat Knit Culture: (28:20) We talk a little bit about the stashdown and how the peer pressure is helping Jen not buy yarn for emotional reasons. We mention the Juliet Cardigan and the new Heirloom Layette Set. May’s theme is May Flowers/Mayflower and June’s theme will be Matriculation! Post your FOs in the the thread. You can win a copy Subversive Socks edited by Tabetha Hendrick, courtesy of Cooperative Press. June's theme will be Matriculation. It's all about learning--new skills, new patterns, new yarns, perfecting techniques. We review Lit Knits by Audry Nicklin. It retails for $18.95 for a ebook/Ravelry download and $24.95 for a paper copy. We both love this book and highly recommend that you buy it. The photography and styling is beautiful; the patterns are very creative; and we both want to knit most of the patterns. We mention Celestarium and Audrey's knitting story in Episode 77 of Never Not Knitting Podcast. Geek Culture: (41:13) We talk about some upcoming summer blockbusters and we want to know what you're looking forward to seeing. We talk about Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Postman Pat, Maleficent, Edge of Tomorrow, Grace of Monaco, Jersey Boys. Also we mention Bryan Craston sneezes, Bambi Meets Godzilla, and Stuff You Missed in History Class. Events: (59:17) Jen will be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th. We are doing an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day.  We are partnering with Colors 91711 (address 248 Harvard Avenue, Claremont CA 91711). On Sunday June 22, we will be at the park across Harvard Ave having a knitting picnic from 11am to 2pm. Bring a chair, some shade, some snacks to share, water, sunscreen, your knitting. Colors opens at 12 noon for your shopping pleasure. We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 7, 2014.  Save the date.  There will be exclusive colorways and T-shirts for purchase and we will have a meetup at the picnic spiral. Thank you for joining us for our 1st podivsersay! The stashdown’s going very well; keep up the good work! May’s theme is May Flowers/Mayflower and June’s theme will be Matriculation! Post your FOs in the the thread for a chance to win a copy of Subversive Socks edited by Tabetha Hendrick, courtesy of Cooperative Press.

Today’s episode is sponsored by the New and Improved Dizzy Blonde Studios. New and Improved because we now have our own website. Visit our new home at www.dizzyblondestudios.com. Catching Up: (0:52) Laura just got back from a week in Puerto Rico. It's a wonderful place, but she couldn't find a good yarn store. She needs to learn to speak Spanish. She also just finished her last Nerd Wars tournament for a while. She also decided to start designing again. Jen opened her show and it's going well. She and Melissa took a trip to the Huntington and saw a great exhibit about Archimedes and restoring some of his writing from a palimpsest. She learned that Melissa can't divide. And she's been spinning. We mention the McIntosh Cardigan. In the Knitting Bag: (15:01) Laura has been working on her Leftie by Martina Behm out of a Miss Babs kit in slate and reds. She also worked on her men's sock design out of Lambie Toes in No Touching Guns. And she worked on her Down the Garden Path shawl by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes in Special Hell. Jen has been working on her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant and her Sunshine Socks by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps. Finished Objects: (20:45) Laura finished her Lucky 4-Leaf Afghan Square by Margaret McInnis by Becka in Berroco Comfort DK in Celery, the Broncos hat for her brother out of Knitpicks Brava in blue, orange, and cream, the Kraken Applique by Katie Christie in random lavender acrylic, and the Wave Pool Cloth by Carol Bristol out of Dizzy Blonde Dirty Blonde Superwash DK in Jessica. Jen hasn't finished anything. She has to weave in ends on her Leftie. We mention joining joining blanket squares with crochet. Frog Pond: (24:50) Or Coquí pond. Laura had issues with her sock and had to frog a lot of the foot because she decided to put ribbing all around the foot, even on the bottom. Jen is knitting with alternating skeins on her Leah's Lovely Cardigan which is always a little painful. She is also somewhat demotivated with her knitting. We mention Slipped Stitch Studios. On Deck: (29:21) Laura wants to make an Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde Sock in Timey Wimey (TARDIS Blue), some mitts for her husband out some alpaca sock yarn, and a Dreambird by Nadita Swings. She's trying to decide if she wants to make it in her Dizzy Blonde Sock or her Lambie Toes. Jen still 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. Knit Culture: (32:38) We answer a question from our Knotty Talk Thread. sfchick asks "how to avoid knitting burnout - im feeling it now!" So we discuss ways to keep yourself motivated and how we deal with when we find ourselves demotivated. We recommend taking a break, bribing yourself, playing math games, changing up projects, looking at Ravelry for inspiration, and not doing deadline projects if you hate them. Laura mentions an idea from the podcast Just One More Row where you make your own kits with the pattern and yarn you want to work with in paper bags and grab one at random when you want a new project. It's a surprise kit! And Jen talks about a systemic way to eliminate WIPs, if you're burnt out because you're overwhelmed by too many WIPs. And we want to know what you think in the thread for the episode on Ravelry. We also talk about the Stashdown.  The winner for April is fracksmom! You win a skein of The Woolen Rabbit Airy in the colorway Daddy Steelbucks (love that name) with coordinating seed beads, donated by amazingly generous listener JillSerenity. May’s theme will be May Flowers so post your FOs in the thread.  You can win a copy of Subversive Socks edited by Tabetha Hendrick, courtesy of Cooperative Press. The theme for June is "matriculation." Post FOs from projects that have taught you something. What did you learn? The end of June will the be the Stashdown halfway point to evaluate our goals and how we've been doing. We mention the fact that we have a Facebook page. Geek Culture: (49:49) We talk about Star Wars Episode 7 casting. We have a discussion about women and how they're represented (or not) in Sci Fi and Fantasy and geek culture in general, inspired by this article. We would love to know what you feel about women in your favorite geek stuff. Jen mentions the film Starcrash. Events: (1:11:56) We are doing an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day.  We are partnering with Colors 91711 (address 248 Harvard Avenue, Claremont CA 91711). On Sunday June 22, we will be at the park across Harvard Ave having a knitting picnic from 11am to 2pm. Bring a chair, some shade, some snacks to share, water, sunscreen, your knitting. Colors opens at 12 noon for your shopping pleasure. We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. And Jen will be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th. Thanks for listening to our 26th episode. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don’t forget to post your finished May projects in the thread!  Keep stashing down!

Today’s episode is sponsored by the New and Improved Dizzy Blonde Studios. New and Improved because we now have our own website. Visit our new home at . Catching Up:(0:42) Jen is preparing for her show opening, working on writing up some patterns, watching Buffy season 2 to prepare for Patrol 2 of the Sunnydale Yarn Club. She's also loving the new season of Mad Men, Fargo, Orphan Black. She also watched The 500 MPH Storm, which is TERRIBLE. Laura did Easter with her extended family and had a lot of fun. She's working on Mean Girls Yarn club installment 4, watching Buffy for Sunnydale Yarn Club inspiration. She made gumbo, is getting over bronchitis, and is getting ready for a nice vacation. We mention the Color Coded Easter Egg Hunt as a tip. In The Knitting Bag: (13:18) Jen is working on her Leah’s Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant. Melissa is going to make one too, so they may enter it in the matchy matchy KAL hosted by The Knitmore Girls.  She also wants to make matching socks for herself and Ron.  And she is working on her Chickadee from Ysolda’s book Little Red in the City in Quince and Company Chickadee in Slate, Egret, Lichen, and Rosa Rugosa. Laura is working on her brother's Broncos hat out of Knitpicks Brava. She is also working on a Kraken Applique by Katie Christie out of unknown acrylic. (She was going to make the Fruity Oaty Bar Chart, but it won't be the right size.) She is still working on her Leftie by Martina Behm out of a Miss Babs kit in slate and reds. This will likely be vacation knitting, along with her vintage men's socks in Dizzy Blonde Lambie Toes in the colorway No Touching Guns. Finished Objects: (19:20) Jen finished her Leftie! She is weaving in the ends. She made it out of Knitpicks Palette in Cream, Rouge, Spearmint, and Aster. She made it to 29 leaves, knitting on size 3 needles. She also finished a baby sweater of her own design out of Malabrigo sock in the colorway Solis. Laura finished the Wave Pool Cloth by Carol Bristol out of Dizzy Blonde Dirty Blonde Superwash DK in Jessica. She also finished the left hand version of the Hand to Hold Dishcloth by Rachel van Schie out of Berroco Vintage DK in blue. She also finished the 4th installment of MGYC. Devil's Tower: (25:11) Jen is pulling out the Sunshine Socks by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butter Peeps. She wants the socks. We mention Ben Nye makeup. Frog Pond: (27:53) Jen had gauge issues with her baby sweater. She did not swatch, because she is knitting it with the same yarn and the same size (and same brand even!) needles as her Leah's Lovely Cardigan, but she is getting a completely different gauge. She also made the yoke too long and decreased too much so the neck opening was too small and would have been a baby-strangling sweater. On Deck: (31:13) Jen wants to make another scarf for Interval House out of Cascade Cherub.   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. Laura wants to make a Lucky 4-Leaf Afghan Square by Margaret McInnis by Becka in Berroco Comfort DK in Celery. She also wants to make the Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes in Special Hell.  And she wants to do some mitts for her husband.  She also wants to make a Dreambird by Nadita Swings for a booth sample. We mention the Cigar Gloves. Knit Culture: (36:38) We do our drawing for the March Stashdown. Congratulations to JixxieM! You win a copy of Sock Yarn Shawls. May's theme will be May Flowers so post your FOs in the thread. We also review Subversive Socks edited by Tabetha Hendrick. We really love this book and really do recommend it, with the caveat that it probably isn't for everyone. But if this kind of thing is to your taste, the patterns are great and book is incredibly well written and beautifully put together. It tickled both of our fancies! We also love the section on knitting successful socks! Geek Culture: (45:35) We talk costuming. Historical, theatrical, and cosplay. We've decided to open a thread for you to post your costuming stuff. We mention Brass Needles. Events: (1:04:55) We are doing an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day.  We are partnering with Colors 91711 (address 248 Harvard Avenue, Claremont CA 91711). On Sunday June 22, we will be at the park across Harvard Ave having a knitting picnic from 11am to 2pm. Bring a chair, some shade, some snacks to share, water, sunscreen, your knitting. Colors opens at 12 noon for your shopping pleasure. We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. And Jen will be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th.

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 2x2 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!

Don't forget the March stashdown theme is "Madness." Post your finished objects in the thread for a chance to win a copy of Sock Yarn Shawls by Jen Lucas (Thank you to Dorothy for donating it to the podcast!) Also thank you Brenda T. for your donation to the podcast. The April Stashdown theme will be April Showers. Catching Up: (2:33) Jen is doing a show at the Found Theatre. It's parody show that spoofs telethons and medical marijuana. She also saw The Umbrellas of Cherbourg which she loved for the story, the fashion, and the knitwear. She's also taking an acting class at South Coast Repertory. She and Ron have finished watching Star Trek: Voyager and now they have started classic Star Trek. She also watched Pacific Rim and she really enjoyed it. It's not high art, but it's really good silly fun. Laura has been working on her new website and it almost ready! She is working with Furry Logic. She finally saw Catching Fire and The Dark World. She finished Broadchurch. Her granddaughter had her first birthday and Laura made cupcakes. She and Tony are considering adopting another dog. And now that she is no longer doing Nerd Wars, she is hoping to work more on designs. In the Knitting Bag: (23:41) Jen has been doing a lot of knitting. She has been working on her Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Fibre Company Organik in Highlands. It's from the book Coastal Knits. She just started a Leah’s Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo Sock in Eggplant. She is working on a 2x2 rib scarf for Interval House out of Patons Wool Classic in the colorway Kimono. She's swatching for Chickadee by Ysolda's book Little Red in the City in Quince and Company Chickadee in Slate, Egret, Lichen, and Rosa Rugosa. She is also working on her Watership Down KAL in Unique Sheep Selene in the colorway Nature Walk. Laura has been making a lot of blanket squares for a Firefly afghan out of various scrap yarns. She's also working on a Nigh Side Hat by Preita Salyer for her brother in Broncos colors of Knitpicks Brava (blue, orange, and white). And she is working on a Leftie by Martina Behm, out of a Miss Babs kit in slate and reds. Finished Objects: (30:50) Laura has finished three blanket squares: the Teddy Bear Wash Cloth by Elaine Fitzpatrick in Berroco Comfort DK in brown, the Steggie Wash Baby Bib by Elaine Fitzpatrick (modified to be a square) out of Berroco Comfort DK in brown, and a feather and fan square out of Dizzy Blonde Dirty Blonde miniskeins in Meg and Pussyfootin'. Devil's Tower: (32:48) Jen is kind of annoyed with vanilla socks right now, so she's not working on them. And she's not weaving in the ends of her Mustachioed blanket. Laura may have Jen test knit some non-vanilla socks. Laura's Leftie may go in...it's hovering around. We mention the Knitmore Girls. Frog Pond: (35:06) We both are lucky and have no sad knitting stories. On Deck: (35:28) Jen wants to make a Leftie of her own and will pull stash out to make it. She also wants to make a Hitchhiker and Brickless. She might use some of the Sunnydale Yarn Club yarn for one and some Abstract Fiber for the other. She also wants to make 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 wants to make a Lauriel Cardigan by Ysolda out of Wollmeise DK in Pesto. Laura wants to make a Leaf on the Wind "Wash" Cloth by Becka in Berroco Comfort DK in Celery. She also wants to do a Hand to Hold Dishcloth by Rachel van Schie in Dizzy Blond Studios Dirty Blonde DK in Jessica. And she wants to make a pair of mitts of her own design (it will be released as a free pattern eventually) out of a mystery alpaca yarn, for her husband. Jen talks about Edie Eckman’s Where Do They Get Those Numbers? class. Knit Culture: (44:43) We review Hank and Gracie Save the Day from Cooperative Press by Stacy Klaus, illustrated by Molly Wade. It retails for $9.95 for PDF only and $15.95 for print and PDF. We think it's great for kids, so if you have little ones in your life, we recommend it. We do the prizes for Team Knitmore for the Podcaster Throwdown. Winners for the Most Actual Hats: 1st Place: Karen E (she wins a custom dyed skein of Dizzy Blonde yarn) 2nd Place: Cozycouch (she wins a gift certificate to Cards by Erika donated by EricaR) 3rd Place: Seajaneknit (she wins a bag sewn by Jonilvsneddy) Winners for Virtual Hat Donations: Deborah C. and Stacy M. tied for the most virtual hats. They each win a kit with a skein of Imperial Yarn and pattern for Fingerless mitts. Thank you to Imperial Yarn for the generous donation. Random Drawings: punkconformity, steamlolita, Cozycouch, preylek, fraksmom, Kwerkykwilter, Kathleen M, Lifewithmonkey each win a needle case donated by Knit Totes. pbaxter wins a tote bag donated by Knit Totes. Thank you to Knit Totes. Seajaneknit wins a sampler set of needles donated by Knitters Pride. Mimisneedlebasket wins a Knitters Pride Karbonz Size 1 40" Circular Needle. KimHammons wins a Knitters Pride Karbonz Size 3 24" Circular Needle. eatwildsalmon wins a set of Knitters Pride Karbonz DPNS in Size 2. Thank you to Knitter's Pride. Preylek wins a bag sewn by JoniLvsNeddy. Thank you Joni! dpeach, Lifewithmonkey, and allison1031 each win one of Brenda Castiel's patterns of their choice. Thank you Brenda for the donation. Karen E. wins Dizzy Blonde Gift Certificate, donated by Erica R. Carolyn wins three skeins of Green Mountain Spinnery yarn. Thank you Green Mountain Spinnery for the donation! Diane P. wins a kit donated by Bijou Basin Ranch with yarn and one of Marly Bird's hat patterns. Thank you to Bijou Basin Ranch. And Kathy R. wins three skeins of Manos Serena donated by Fairmount Fibers. Thank you to Fairmount Fibers! And thank you to EVERYONE who donated hats (both real and virtual). Geek Culture: (59:28) We talk about geeky etsy stores! Jen loves the microbe cross stitch from Watty's Wall Stuff. Laura loves Self Expression shop, which sells geeky keychains. We also love Black Market Buttons and Catlore Designs for fandom buttons. And we love TheSistersBrimm shop for cosplay/vintage/steampunk hats. We also mention Giant Microbes and Nova Albion. We also talk about GeekGirls.com for some really good computer tutorials. Events: (1:06:00) The Los Angeles Yarn Crawl is April 3rd-6th. Laura is having a meet and greet on Friday, April 4th (this is a correction from last show) from 6:30 to 0:30 at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. She is having a second meet and greet (also at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company) on Saturday, April 5th from 12pm to 3pm. The Yarnover Truck will be at Alamitos Bay at the same time on Saturday. Laura will have a custom colorway at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. Jen is not crawling (she is out of town at Craftcation). We will be doing something for WWKIP, so watch this space for details. The date of our event will most likely be on one of the weekends (not on a weekday). Jen will most likely be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group.

Catching Up: (1:07) Laura has been basking in the afterglow and trying to recover from Stitches West. She's also been dying custom colorways for two stores for the Los Angeles Yarn Crawl. She's been watching Broadchurch. And she's been working with her nephew to design a new Dizzy Blonde website. And she's really wanting a Disneyland trip. Jen wants to go to Disneyland too, but her back needs to recover from Stitches. She's been doing some music with Ron (who's been nicely recovering from his surgery). She's been reading Sandman Overture. And she's been watching a lot of West Wing and Star Trek. In the Knitting Bag: (8:04) Laura has been working on her Leftie by Martina Behm, out of a Miss Babs kit in slate and red. She's also been working on a Teddy Bear Wash Cloth by Elaine Fitzpatrick in Berroco Comfort DK in some shade of brown. Jen has been working on her Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Fibre Company Organik in Highlands.  She's also working on a vanilla sock out of Opal Sock Yarn (Petticoat series in greens and purples and yellows).   She's worked a bit on her Watership Down KAL shawl.  And she finished the Mustachioed blanket by Christina Behnke out of Cascade 128 Superwash in Aporto and Black. She might want to line it, because she hates the backside of intarsia. We mention the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos, 60 Quick Baby Knits, 60 More Quick Baby Knits, and 60 Quick Baby Blankets. Finished Objects: (16:46) Laura finished the Scallop Hat by JT creations out of Knitpicks Brava Sport in Sienna Brown. Jen finished her shawl for the Ravellenics out of Mean Girls Yarn Club. Frog Pond: (18:16) Jen had some trouble designing her shawl because she kept realizing she was going to run out of yarn and having to change the way she was going to knit it. She realized that designing a pattern for Ravellenics is probably not the smartest thing. Devil's Tower: (20:07) Laura has put Assquack into Devil's Tower.  It needs to be assembled, but she is sick of hats. On Deck: (20:37) Laura will be making a Nigh Side Hat by Preita Salyer for her brother in Broncos colors of Knitpicks Brava. She will also do some blanket squares for some of her Browncoat Nerd Wars friends who are expecting. Some will be in the Dizzy Blonde DK. Jen wants to make the Water for the Elephants socks by Rose Hiver in some Knitpicks Stroll in a pink and a natural. She also wants to make Chickadee by Ysolda out of Quince and Company Chickadee. She wants to make more baby things for the new niece or nephew, but she will have to buy more yarn because she does not have a lot of baby-appropriate (aka SUPERWASH) yarn. Knit Culture: (23:45) We do a little more of a Stitches West recap.  Jen loved all of her classes, even though recommends Edie Eckman’s Where Do They Get Those Numbers? class for mathphobic knitters. She makes it really easy. Laura loved her Brooke Nico class about German and Japanese lace. We mention Brooke Nico's new book, Lovely Knitted Lace: A Geometric Approach to Gorgeous Wearables. We mention the Yarnover Truck. We are proud to be knitting aunties to the youngest of the Knitmore Girls. We loved meeting Miss Kalendar's baby, Steve from It Takes Balls to Knit, Pam from Halos of Hope, Tammy and Ben from Fiber Hooligans, Rick Mondragon, and all the listeners we got to meet. And one final special huge thank you to the girls from Namaste for their support of the Podcaster Throwdown. And Laura wants to thank Erika, Donna, and Liz for the help in the booth. Jen wants to thank Melissa for being a great travel companion. We talk about the Podcaster Throwdown. We WON! Despite having a lot fewer listeners than some podcasts (which just makes our listeners even more awesome!). But everyone put up a great fight. Thank yous to all of you who sent hats, donated money or prizes, to Pam, Ben, Purlescence Yarns, all the podcasters, Steve Haschke (who coordinated all the hats), and the El Segundo Slipt Stitchers. Finally Tally: Team Knit Knit Cafe: 126 + 26 = 152 Team CraftLit: 280 + 20 = 300 Team Knitmore Girls: 802 + 125 = 927 Team Knotty Girls: 876 + 89 = 965 Team Sock-A-Holic: 442 + 165 = 607 Team Ready, Set, Knit: 300 + 8 = 308 Total Podcast Throwdown contribution: 2,826 + 433 = 3,259 General hats, on Stitches West show floor: 289. Previous 10 virtual hats were identified as belonging to Team Sock-A-Holic and now appear in their totals. GRAND TOTAL for Stitches West, 2014: 3,115 actual hats + 433 virtual hats = 3,548 For the Ravellenic Games, Laura didn't even cast on. She was too busy with Stitches West prep. Jen finished, but just barely, because she frogged the shawl too much. We talk about the Stashdown. March's theme is March Madness. Post a finished object on the theme in the thread to win a prize! We announce winners for February.  Jill Serenity wins the love challenge with her two cowls. She wins a copy of Cascadia by Amanda Milne and Fiona McLean, courtesy of Cooperative Press. Buzzedangel won the Red flash challenge with her red Hexipuff. She wins a set of conversation hearts stitch markers from k8erpillar. Geek Culture: (42:29) We point out some amazing math-geek knitting articles by Evelyn Lamb. Go read "The Stunning Symbiosis Between Math and Knitting" and "Roots of Unity: Knotted Needles Make Knitted Knots. We're also a big fan of the infographics that Casey put together in celebration of Ravelry reaching 4 million members. Events: (43:55) The Los Angeles Yarn Crawl is April 3rd-6th. Jen is not crawling (she is out of town at Craftcation). Laura is having a meet and greet on Thursday April 3rd from 6:30 to 8:30 at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. She is having a second meet and greet (also at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company) on Saturday April 5th from 12pm to 3pm. We will be doing something for WWKIP, so watch this space for details. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group.

We get a little bit of innuendo and silly in this one.  No bad language, but a little less clean than you are used to, so you may want to listen first if you have small ones. We sort of fly by the seat of our pants in this episode! We are joined by Special Guests Melissa and Erica. We are at Stitches West and are exhausted and overwhelmed and a little sleepy and maybe a little tipsy (but we're legal so it's okay). In the Knitting Bag (1:43) Laura has no knitting! Melissa is knitting on Leah's Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo Sock in a blue and the McIntosh Cardigan by Gudrun Johnson from Knit With Me out of Madelinetosh in Tosh Merino Light in Tern and Edison and Button Jar Blue. Erica is working on the Brier Island Sweater out of Miss Babs Heartland Worsted. She cast on for cowl in Skeindalous Buddy Sock, but had no time to knit. Jen finished her Sweetheart of the Rodeo Cardigan and her Barley hat and gave it to the Knitmore Girls for the Throwdown. She is also working on her Ravellenics project, a shawl out of Mean Girls Yarn Club. Melissa finished some shawls that had been long-term WIPs for the Ravellenics. Frog Pond (10:05) Laura frogged some of her homework to make hat tags--but there aren't sad knitting stories when you're not knitting. Melissa learned from Brooke Nico how to fix mistakes in lace in her Stitches class. Erica calls her mistakes "design decisions" and so does Melissa because "perfection is only for God." Devil's Tower (11:44) Laura is sick of hats, so she's not going to finish the hats she's working on for the Throwdown for later and donate them to Halos of Hope later. We're all a bit hatted out. Stitches Talk (13:48) Laura has been working at her booth and it's been amazing. We had our meetup, which was great. But she is so busy. She wants a little time to shop. Erica is glad she only bought one sweater quantity worth of purple yarn. But she's bought a lot of blue sweater yarn. She got some yarn from Verdant Gryphon, Sweet Fiber, and giant skeins of fingering weight from Miss Babs (yarn Babies). Melissa and Jen also bought yarn babies from Miss Babs. Melissa bought a lot of vintage buttons. And she continues to buy pink yarn, green yarn, and neon yarn. She might have bought and entire rainbown. Melissa took some classes. She took the Fixing Mistakes in Lace Knitting with Brooke Nico and Intentional Patterning with Hand-dyed Yarns with Laura Bryant. She loved them both and recommends them. We talk about the Pajama Party with Marly Bird. Jen got some laceweight from Terilyn Needle Art for a sweater (and so did Melissa) and some laceweight cashmere from Stitch Sisterz. She also got a Miss Babs yarn baby and some Miss Babs sock yarn, some Quince and Company Chickadee to make the Chickadee by Ysolda. Melissa and Erica both got measurements take by Amy Herzog and we talk about Amy's Custom Fit Software and the myth of Standard Size. Jen got a consultation with Amy as well and thought it was great. We talk about the Fit to Flatter group on Ravelry. Jen took Christine Bylsma's Design in a Day class, which was awesome. She also took Edie Eckman's Where Do They Get Those Numbers?, which she recommends for math phobic knitters. And she took Design Inspiration with Lily Chin, which was great. Laura took a class about German and Japanese lace with Brooke Nico and she loved it! Jen and Melissa both saw Myra Wood's keynote where she talked about her Knit in New Directions book. Jen's sweater (made with Laura's yarn) was in the Friday fashion show. We met Steve from It Takes Balls to Knit. Laura, Jen, and Melissa went to the pajama party, had fun, and Jen and Laura won yarn from Malabrigo and Fiesta Yarns. We also mention Skacel and Ben from the Fiber Hooligans and XRX. Jen and Melissa went to the student fashion show. We also had our meetup and got to meet a lot of our listeners. And then Jen and Laura went to the podcaster meet up. Shout outs to the Yarniacs, Just Another Bay Area Knitter, Knitmore Girls, Two Knit Lit Chicks, Hollywood Knitter, Dr. Gemma and anyone else we might have forgotten. We talk about Namaste and how amazing they are. To support the Podcaster Throwdown, they gave the leader of each podcast team a free Harlow bag and t-shirts. We can't say enough good things about these ladies and their products. They are wonderful. Melissa and Jen recommend audio books for their long road trips. We talk about fangirling Myra Wood, Amy Herzog, Brooke Nico, Pam Haschke, Ben Levinsay, Steve from It Takes Balls to Knit, the Yarn on Tap girls. (And Jen loves their sock kits). Melissa talks about a neon yarn baby she bought from Newton's Yarn Country. Melissa is very proud that Stitches is the first time she's bought yarn all year, since last year she bought so much yarn she became a Loopy Legend. We also mention Shalimar Yarns and Plucky Knitter. In closing, Miss Kalendar has the cutest baby ever!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.etsy.com. Look for us at Stitches West in Booths 906 and 908! Podcaster Throwdown (1:17) Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Hat Tallies are updated in the Running Tally thread in the Podcaster Throwdown Group. There is virtual way to participate. You can now donate for your favorite team. Click here and choose your team. $5 is equal to one hat for your team! Each $5 lets Halos of Hope to ship 16 hats to cancer centers and hospitals around the country. The board is all volunteer, so all the money goes to shipping. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. There will be prizes for participating in the Throwdown group on Ravelry, courtesy of XRX. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. Designer Brenda Castiel has all of her hat patterns and hat/mitt set patterns at a discount until February 28th, just use coupon code HALOS. Also, thank you to Brenda for her generous donation to the podcast. The February incentive pattern is Tenderfoot. Post in the February Thread in the KnottyGirls Group. There are some some awesome prizes for participating for Team KnottyGirls.  Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings. XRX has some overall prizes, see Episode 19 for those. There are some other prizes from Marly Bird, Webs, Heather Ordover, Annie Modesitt, and Dizzy Blonde Studios. Send your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Shoutout to El Segundo Slipt Stitchers. We also mention Fiber Hooligan Podcast. Catching Up: (9:58) Laura has been working on her yarn clubs (Mean Girls Yarn Club and Sunnydale Yarn Club as well as prepping for Stitches West. She's been watching Almost Human and making stitch markers. Jen has been working at work. Ron is getting surgery soon, which she hopes will help with some of his health issues. She's been prepping for Stitches West. She's also been working on some music. In the Knitting Bag: (15:35) Laura has been working on an Assquack in Berroco Comfort in Licorice and Knitpicks Brava in Pumpkin.  She is also working on converting Steggie Bib by Elaine Fitzpatrick into a blanket square for WendyLadyWares' bereavement blanket.  And she is working on Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes in Special Hell. Jen is working on her Sweetheart of the Rodeo sweater (her own design) out of Wollmeise DK in So Long Kitty (pink), Shalimar Breathless DK in Snopea (green), and Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps (yellow).  She is also working on a shawl out of Mean Girls Yarn Club for the Ravellenics, a plain hat in Knitpicks Brava in Wine, and a preemie hat out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine. We mention the Roosimine Socks by Caoua Coffee. Finished Objects: (26:33) Laura finished a Scallop Hat by JT Creations out of Knitpicks Brava Sport in Sienna Brown. She resized the pattern for using sport weight yarn. Jen finished a Barley hat by tincanknits out of Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in Milk Chocolate.  And she finished her secret cowl, which will be revealed soon, but it's out of Sunnydale Yarn Club yarn. On Deck: (29:40) Laura will be making some pompoms for her Jayne Hats for the passport game at Stitches West. She will figure out and start a hat to knit at Stitches, and she wants to make a Broncos hat for her brother for his birthday. Jen will be making more hats, her Watership Down KAL shawl, and her Stitches homework. We mention the Gerri Hat by Marly Bird. Knit Culture: (33:51) We interview Lauren Riker, winner of the Fiber Factor. For those of you brave enough, she does have a pattern for a Santa Costume. And she is running a a knit-a-long for her Owl in One pattern. We check in on our stashdown goals. We're both doing okay, although Jen has slipped in her no buying yarn goals on some Wollmeise sock yarn and Fab Funky Fibres. And she got some Wollmeise lace (which was allowed). Laura fell down on some yarn for the passport game, but we wonder if it's stash or work. We talk about how hard it is to resist sales. Laura hasn't knit a lot, but she has been destashing. Jen has knit up a lot of her stash. Post your February’s Theme is Love. Post your finished “Love-themed” object in the thread and you might win a copy of Cascadia by Amanda Milne and Fiona McLean, courtesy of Cooperative Press. We announce a flash prize. From when the episode goes live until February 28, post your knitting with something red (or red knitting or red stitch markers--it's open) in the thread and you can win a set of conversation hearts stitch markers from k8erpillar. We mention the Mr. Show sketch with the pre-taped call-in show. (This may not be safe for your kids--watch it first and decide). Geek Culture: (1:02:57) We talk about the new Captain America: Winter Soldier trailer, the casting of Paul Bettany as Vision in Avengers 2, and the upcoming season of Orphan Black. Events: (1:14:05) We will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. You can use the coupon code W20 to get $2 off a marketplace ticket. Dizzy Blonde Studios and Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth (booth 906 and 908). The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! Shout out to the Purlescence Girls (who have the booth across from us) and we are right next to Halos of Hope (Booth 904) and across from Purlescence. We are both doing the stitch marker swap. We will be doing a meet and greet Saturday 12:00-1:00 at the Dizzy Blonde Booth. At the Dizzy Blonde Booth there will be products from: *Dizzy Blonde Studio *Skeindalous Yarns *Hiya Hiya *5elementknitr *RKs Mom *Jamie’s Metalworks *Jelby *Cards By Erika Follow KnottyLa on Twitter and/or Dizzy Blonde Studios on Facebook for Flash sales. Jen will be at the Student Fashion Show and Banquet on Saturday night as well. The Los Angeles Yarn Crawl is April 3rd-6th. Jen is not crawling (she is out of town). Laura is having a meet and greet on Friday April 3rd from 6:30 to 8:30 at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company.

Podcaster Throwdown (0:38) Hat Tallies are updated in the Running Tally thread in the Podcaster Throwdown Group. There is virtual way to participate. You can now donate for your favorite team. Click here and choose your team. $5 is equal to one hat for your team! Each $5 lets Halos of Hope to ship 16 hats to cancer centers and hospitals around the country. The board is all volunteer, so all the money goes to shipping. Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. There will be prizes for participating in the Throwdown group on Ravelry, courtesy of XRX. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. Designer Brenda Castiel has all of her hat patterns and hat/mitt set patterns at a discount until February 28th, just use coupon code HALOS. Also, thank you to Brenda for her generous donation to the podcast. The February incentive pattern is Tenderfoot. Post in the February Thread in the KnottyGirls Group. There are some some awesome prizes for participating for Team KnottyGirls.  Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings. XRX has some overall prizes: An Almost the Works Package for any Stitches events in 2014 or 2015 for the person who makes the most hats (no matter what their team is). An Almost the Works Package for the person who makes the most hats on the winning team. A Second Patrol membership to the Dizzy Color Sunnydale Yarn Color. This is for the person who sends in the most hats (team captains are exempt). Team Captains for the winning team will receive fashion show tickets to any Stitches fashion show in 2014 to 2015. Each team captain will receive a two year subscription to Knitters Magazine to distribute to the person that they decide is their team's MVP. Send your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Shoutout to El Segundo Slipt Stitchers. We also mention Fiber Hooligan Podcast. Catching Up: (9:26) Jen has been working. Her parents came to visit and they had a nice time. She saw a rough cut of a documentary about The Found Theatre and its founder Cynthia Galles, who died from breast cancer. She saw Inside Llewyn Davis, which had some fantastic sweaters in it. Laura finished Season 3 of Downton Abbey and she is upset about it. (Spoilery discussion ensues). She is working on Nerd Wars stuff for her final tournament (for a while). One of her projects will be part of a bereavement blanket for someone who passed away suddenly. And she has been trying to learn to crochet right-handed. In the Knitting Bag: (20:00) Jen is working on her Sweetheart of the Rodeo sweater (her own design) out of Wollmeise DK in So Long Kitty (pink), Shalimar Breathless DK in Snopea (green), and Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps (yellow). She is also working on a Twistygoo hat by Lisa M. Beamer in yellow Plymouth Encore Yarn and Knitpicks Brava in Blush.  She is working on Barley hat by tincanknits out of Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in Milk Chocolate. And a secret cowl. Laura is working on a Scallop Hat by JT Creations. She is also working on an Assquack in Berroco Comfort in Licorice. We also mention the Olivia's Butterfly Hat. Finished Objects: (26:04) Jen finished a Twistygoo in Knitpicks Brava in Wine. And she finished a preemie hat out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine. Laura finished a striped hat out of remnants of worsted acrylic. She also finished a preemie hat all in seed stitch out of Berroco Vintage. We mention the Knitmore Girls Podcast and their preemie hat collection for their local hospital. Devil's Tower: (30:44) Laura is taking a break from her Follow Your Arrow MKAL. She didn't choose the right yarn, doesn't have the bandwidth for it, and she will revisit it. Frog Pond: (32:19) Laura had to frog her entire 22 Leaves Shawlette by Lankakomero.  Her yarn was acid burned and kept breaking. On Deck: (35:56) Jen will be knitting lots of hats and a shawl of her own design for the Ravellenics. Laura will be doing Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes for the Ravellenics. And more hats. And a secret project. Knit Culture: (39:49) We talk about the final challenge of the Fibre Factor. Lauren is leading a knitalong of her Owl in One pattern. We review Cascadia by Amanda Milne and Fiona McLean sent to us by Cooperative Press. We highly recommend this book. It is lovely. We talk about the Stashdown. February's Theme is Love. Post your finished "Love-themed" object in the thread and you might win a copy of Cascadia courtesy of Cooperative Press. Laura amends her stashdown goal. We announce the winners for January. lasolou13 wins the Stripe it Up Challenge. She will win a collection of our favorite stripey patterns. tygherknits wins a copy of Doomsday Knits for her entry in the Flash Challenge. We talk about the Ravellenic Games and Team Sasquatch. It's not too late to join. Geek Culture: (1:06:22) We talk about the Twelfth Doctor's new look. We both approve. Flags Made with Traditional Foods. There is a new Firefly comic out. Laura is really excited about the new trailer for Maleficent movie. Jen is somewhat underwhelmed, but open-minded. We mention Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman. Events: (1:15:11) We will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. You can use the coupon code W20 to get $2 off a marketplace ticket. Dizzy Blonde Studios and Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth (booth 906 and 908). The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! Shout out to the Purlescence Girls (who have the booth across from us) and we are right next to Halos of Hope (Booth 904) and across from Purlescence. We will be doing a meet and greet Saturday 12:00-1:00 at the Dizzy Blonde Booth. At the Dizzy Blonde Booth there will be products from: *Dizzy Blonde Studio *Skeindalous Yarns *Hiya Hiya *5elementknitr *RKs Mom *Jamie's Metalworks *Jelby *Cards By Erika Follow KnottyLa on Twitter and/or Dizzy Blonde Studios on Facebook for Flash sales. There is a podcaster meetup on Saturday from 4:30 to 6:00 in the Hyatt bar or a nearby meeting room. Come join us! Games to play at Stitches West: *Stitches West Passport Game *Stitch Marker Swap (Laura and Jen are both participating) *Yarny Poker Run Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry group! And don’t forget to knit hats and donate.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.etsy.com. Look for us at Stitches West in Booths 906 and 908! Podcaster Throwdown (1:18) We have at least 1038 hats contributed for the Throwdown total! We are in third place with 180 hats. It’s crunch time! There is virtual way to participate. You can now donate for your favorite team. Click here and choose your team. $5 is equal to one hat for your team! Each $5 lets Halos of Hope to ship 16 hats to cancer centers and hospitals around the country. The board is all volunteer, so all the money goes to shipping. Halos of Hope plans to send the hats collected at Stitches West to cancer centers and hospitals in the Bay Area. Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. There will be prizes for participating in the Throwdown group on Ravelry, courtesy of XRX. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The January incentive pattern is Assquack. Post your finished hats in this thread to get your incentive. There are prizes for donating to Team Knottygirls. Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings.  New prizes include a custom-dyed skein of Dizzy Blonde yarns. Send your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Catching Up: (5:58) Laura and her husband took the weekend off to recuperate after having family visit. She's working to catalog her stash. She is also preparing for her last round of Nerd Wars for a while. And she's getting ready for Stitches West. Jen has been working seriously long hours because of Flu season (stay healthy). The only good thing is that the extra lab time has given her more podcast listening time. She saw several movies, including The Hobbit, American Hustle, and Nebraska. She's been seeing her friend's band play. She and Ron also had a Disney Day to see the Winter World of Color and the last performance of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. In the Knitting Bag: (17:08) Laura made a stripey hat out of acrylic remnants for Stripe it Up January. She's also making a premie hat for the Knitmore Girls Head to Toe collection. She's also working up the Olivia’s Butterfly Hat, reworking the pattern to be done in sport weight yarn for the Stitches West Passport Game. And she worked on her 22 Leaves Shawlette by Lankakomero, out of Mean Girls Yarn Club in Heart in a Box. She is still struggling with bead placement. Jen is working on her Sweetheart of the Rodeo sweater (her own design) out of Wollmeise DK in So Long Kitty (pink), Shalimar Breathless DK in Snopea (green), and Dream in Color Smooshy in Butterpeeps (yellow). She is also working on Twistygoo by Lisa M. Beamer in Knitpicks Brava in Wine. And she is working on a secret cowl. Finished Objects: (23:37) Laura finished two stripey hats. One was out of mystery acrylic and one was out of Dizzy Blonde DK mini skeins. Jen finished a Twistygoo out of Delicious Yarns Frosting Worsted in Blueberry and Pistachio, leftover from the gramps sweater she made for her nephew. She striped them for Stripe it Up January. She finished the California Poppy Shawl by Lydia Tsymbal out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine for Melissa and a Gerri Hat in Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in the colorway speckled blue. And she finished her vanilla socks in very old Opal Sock Yarn (the Rainforest series, colorway Flamingo, which is pink). Frog Pond: (26:50) Jen had lots of gauge issues this week. She frogged her Kently Socks by Heather Ordover from Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock because they were too big. She also had to completely frog her entire sweater, because her Wollmeise DK and her Shalimar Breathless DK do not give the same gauge on the same needles. She would have known that if she had swatched with both yarns. On Deck: (31:38) Laura is planning to do many stripey knit hats and crocheted hats and something for the Ravellenics. Jen will be making another stripey Twistygoo out of yellow Plymouth Encore Yarn and something else. She will also make other hats, she will make two pairs of Kently socks for the Knitmore Girls #matchymatchyKAL (a pair for her and a pair for Ron). She will also have her Ravellenics project. Knit Culture: (35:19) One of Jen's favorite Yarns We answer questions from our Knotty Talk Thread about stash and yarn. We talk about stash and how we store it. We also talk about our favorite yarns (Laura: Brooks Farm Primero (her oldest stash), Jen: Vice Yarn Paradigm in Drunken Cherries, also 1000 yards of white cashmere laceweight), needles (Laura: Hiya Hiya, Jen: partial to Knitpicks needles (affordable and sharp tips), Karbonz, and Chiaogoo, and Addi Lace), and knitting bags (Laura: Namaste Zuma Bag and Jordana Paige Bella Bag, Jen: Namaste Harlowe also Slipped Stitch Studios bags, but she also uses grocery totes and clear bags from Loopy Ewe). Don't forget to Flash Your Stash to win a digital copy of of Doomsday Knits courtesy of Cooperative Press. And post your stripey FOs for a chance at another TBD prize. We talk about the Ravellenic Games and Team Sasquatch.  Knit for Ravellnics, Team Sasquatch, or both. Laura will be working on Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier and Jen will be doing a one-skein shawl of her own design. Geek Culture: (1:01:10) Neat Doctor Who baked goods picture gallery from a BBC America party. We want to know if you have thoughts on casting Michael Douglas in Ant-Man (which also has Paul Rudd). And we both love the Muppets Most Wanted trailer and are super excited! Events: (1:07:06) We will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. Dizzy Blonde Studios & Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth (booth 906 and 908). The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! Shout out to the Purlescence Girls (who have the booth across from us) and we are right next to Halos of Hope (Booth 904). We will be doing a meet and greet Saturday 12:00-1:00 at the Dizzy Blonde Booth. We will be at the Friday Fashion Show and Banquet. Jen has a sweater in it (made with Laura's lovely yarn). We will be doing a World Wide Knit in Public event sometime between June 7 – June 15, 2014, location to be determined. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry group! And don’t forget to knit hats and donate.

Podcaster Throwdown: (0:34) Tub o' hats! It's crunch time! There is virtual way to participate. You can now donate for your favorite team. Click here and choose your team. $5 is equal to one hat for your team! Each $5 lets Halos of Hope to ship 16 hats to cancer centers and hospitals around the country. The board is all volunteer, so all the money goes to shipping. Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. There will be prizes for participating in the Throwdown group on Ravelry, courtesy of XRX. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The January incentive pattern is Assquack. Post your finished hats in this thread to get your incentive. There are prizes for donating to Team Knottygirls. Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings.  New prizes include a custom-dyed skein of Dizzy Blonde yarns. Send your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Designer Brenda Castiel has all of her hat patterns and hat/mitt set patterns at a discount, just use coupon code HALOS. Also, thank you to Brenda for her generous donation to the podcast. Catching Up: (5:49) Jen stayed up way too late on New Years Eve, but she had a lot of fun. She's also been busy with work, especially since it's flu season (stay healthy everyone!). She's been playing Fallout 3 again, because she misses video games. And she's been drop spindling her pink corriedale, and cataloging her stash (except for the remnants and a few new things). Laura has been relaxing now that her family is gone. She has an adorable granddaughter (Jen can vouch for this). She's also been cataloging her stash.  And she's been watching Downton Abbey. And she will play one more tournament of Nerd Wars to groom a new captain. In the Knitting Bag: (15:14) Jen has been working on vanilla socks in very old Opal Sock Yarn (the Rainforest series, colorway Flamingo, which is pink). She is over halfway done with the California Poppy Shawl by Lydia Tsymbal out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine for Melissa. And she's been swatching out of Wollmeise DK, for her Sweetheart of the Rodeo Sweater. Laura has been working on her man sock out of Lambie Toes in No Touching Guns, an Olivia’s Butterfly Hat in Knitpicks Brava in grey. She is also working on a Doctor Who-inspired hat in Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash DK in Smurfinator and Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes in the Indefinable Allure Colorway, for a booth sample for Stitches West. Finished Objects: (19:17) Jen finished the Man Hat by Haven Leavitt out of blue Plymouth Encore Yarn and a Gerri Hat in Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in pink, both for Halos of Hope.  And she can finally reveal her Christmas project: a St. Brigid sweater by Alice Starmore from Aran Knitting out of black Cascade 220. Dragon Tail Hat Laura finished another Big Damn Hero Hat by Dryope out of Knitpicks Brava in Canary, Orange, and Paprika. She also finished her Dragon Tail Hat by Jen Spears for Nerd Wars in Knitpicks Brava in Asphalt Heather and Dove Heather, an Odessa Hat by Grumperina out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash DK in Jessica for her sister-in-law, with beads. And she finished the Spring Lacy Hat by My Hobby is Crochet out of Berroco Comfort in Copen Blue and Yellow. Devil's Tower: (25:34) Jen has Vanilla socks.  And Laura is pulling out her 22 Leaves Shawlette by Lankakomero. She’s making it out ofMean Girls Yarn Club in Heart in a Box. Frog Pond: (26:39) Jen did run out of yarn on her St. Brigid, as she suspected. She used a ball with a non-matching dyelot for the collar treatment. She was lucky she was using Cascade and black so the dyelots weren't too far apart and it's almost impossible to tell. Laura frogged her Sous Chef hat by Marly Bird because she didn't like how the colors looked together. We mention Sassy Gay Friend. On Deck: (32:41) Jen will be making her sweater that she's been swatching for, hats (including a stripey one out of the Delicious Yarns Frosting Worsted in Blueberry and Pistachio leftover from her gramps cardigan) and yellow hat using some leftover Encore Worsted. She will also look for more remnants to make some stripey. Laura will be actually starting her Who-inspired hat, a stripey hat for January, and she wants to do Ysolda Teague's Follow Your Arrow Mystery KAL out of Knitpicks Chroma Fingering and Gloss. Knit Culture: (37:54) Stashdown 2014! We challenge ourselves and our listeners to reduce stash as a year-long project. Knit from your stash all year long. Catalog your stash and find out what you have (however you want to). Then set goals for yourself. Each month will have a theme and a thread to post FOs along the theme and there will be prizes. Set some goals for yourself (these are personal, so whatever you want). Jen’s goals are to buy no yarn except for at Stitches West or if Wollmeise Lace becomes available and to knit/crochet/spin at least 20000 yards of yarn (this may be reassessed). Laura will only buy yarn at Stitches (as much as she wants) and only one skein of yarn at smaller festivals. She wants to knit at least 1/3 of her stash (or maybe this needs to be evaluated). She will check her stash before she buys yarn for projects. We recommend Knitmeter.com to help track your yardage. January's Theme is Stripe it Up! We take a page from Halos of Hope--use up your leftover Christmas project yarn (or other remnants) to make projects. Post your FOs on January's theme here. January's flash prize is to Flash Your Stash! Do it here for a chance to win January's flash prize (a digital copy of Doomsday Knits courtesy of Cooperative Press.) Fall down in your goals? No problem! Just go to the Confessional Thread for no judgement support to get back on that horse. Ravellenic Games! For the 2014 Ravellenic Games (this links to the Ravelry group) we've thrown our hat in with Team Sasquatch (a giant pan-podcast team). So join us! Geek Culture: (47:54) We review Doomsday Knits by Alexandra Tinsley and published by Cooperative Press. (This is where knit and geek culture collide). Digital retails for 16.95 USD and 29.95 USD for a print+pdf version (the print version will be available later). We love this book! The patterns are clever and lovely and it has a sense of humor. We love the styling for the most part. Some of the sweaters would be very unflattering for larger people, but that's okay. The accessories are fantastic. Four Thumbs up (and a toe!) Events: (58:53) We will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. Dizzy Blonde Studios & Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth (booth 906 and 908). The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! Shout out to the Purlescence Girls (who have the booth across from us) and we are right next to Halos of Hope (Booth 904). We will be doing a meet and greet, time to be announced. We are taking classes. Jen is taking Design Inspiration with Lily Chin, Design in a Day with Christine Bylsma, and Where do They Get Those Numbers with Edie Eikman. Laura is taking Around the World: Japanese & German Lace with Brooke Nico. We have to cancel Knit 2 Together with Yarn on Tap due to scheduling conflicts. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry group! And don’t forget to knit hats and donate.

Podcaster Throwdown: (00:29) Good job to everyone! We’ve submitted over 400 hats! Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. There will be prizes for participating in the Throwdown group on Ravelry, courtesy of XRX. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The December incentive pattern is Zoe. Post your finished hats in this thread to get your incentive. There are prizes for donating to Team Knottygirls. Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings.  New prizes include a custom-dyed skein of Dizzy Blonde yarns. Send your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 There is another way to participate. You can now donate for your favorite team. Click here and choose your team. $5 is equal to one hat for your team! Each $5 lets Halos of Hope to ship 16 hats to cancer centers and hospitals around the country. We are starting to gather grand prizes for the winning team. Catching Up: (5:03) Hatnado was amazingly fun. There was cake and wine and mockery of the fantastic opus Sharknado. Thank you so much to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company for letting us use their space and to everyone who came out and donated hats. Laura has been having a lot of family time, including visits from her sister-in-law (who is MIllieHanS on Ravelry. She is tired from getting the house ready. She is doing a lot of Stitches West prep. She may take Tournament 10 off from Nerd Wars. She is possibly seeking a new captain or co-captain for Team Browncoat. We mention Ysolda's Mystery knitalong. Jen has been baking fancy pies for various holiday events. She's been trying to get into the Christmas spirit, because she's been working a lot. Jen got her tree up though. Santa will bringing Laura's Christmas tree (which is what her step-granddaughter are used to). Jen has the whole week off and is looking forward to it, because knitting time! And the Doctor Who Christmas special. Jen has also entered the 30 Day Sweater Design Competition, so thank you to everyone who voted for her. In the Knitting Bag: (14:09) Spring Lacy Hat Grumperina Hat Laura is working on a third Big Damn Hero Hat by Dryope out of Knitpicks Brava in Rust, Yellow, and Orange.  She's also working on an r Odessa Hat (without beads) by Grumperina out of Dizzy Blonde Studios Superwash DK in the color Jessica (turquoise) for her sister-in-law. She's also working on a Spring Lacy Hat by My Hobby is Crochet out of Berroco Comfort in Copen Blue and Lemon for a woman at work who is getting chemo. Jennifer is knitting the California Poppy Shawl by Lydia Tsymbal out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine for Melissa. She's also knitting a Man Hat by Haven Leavitt out of blue Plymouth Encore Yarn for Halos of Hope. And she is working on her Kently Socks by Heather Ordover out of Koigu. Finished Objects: (20:02) Flick Wig (So Gidget) Laura finished a Flick Wig by Wild Daffodil in Berroco Vintage Chunky Yarn in chocolate for a friend's mom.  (We point you to Episode 1 for the story of this yarn, which was Laura's first Frog Pond story for the show and involves a Sylvi Coat and the Yggdrasil Afghan.) She made an Olivia’s Butterfly Hat out of Berroco Comfort in Copen Blue. Gramps Cardigan Easy Baby Sweater Jen finished her Easy Baby Sweater by Susan Mills out of Classic Elite Liberty Wool in Caribbean Tide for her nephew. She also finished gramps by tincanknits out of Delcious Yarns Frosting Worsted in Blueberry and Pistachio, again for her nephew.  She finished a vanilla hat in Blue and White Encore for the Throwdown. And she finished her secret Christmas project. Devil's Tower: (25:32) Laura has put her Sous Chef hat by Marly Bird out of Knitpicks Brava in Rouge and Coral. It's just too labor intensive right now. Her sock design in Lambie Toes is also on hold. We talk about Wollmeise and self-striping sock yarn. Jen is sad because her devils tower is too big. All of her Halos hats need ends woven in, she has shawls and cardigans and everything. Frog Pond: (29:33) Laura had to tink back three rows on the Grumperina hat, because she was talking too much while knitting. Jen had to frog her entire California Poppy Shawl because she made a big mistake and she was only 24 rows in. She decided it wasn't worth it to drop down and fix it, because that would have taken just as long as frogging and re-knitting. She also accidentally stabbed herself in the chin with a darning needle. Be careful with those things. On Deck: (34:11) Laura wants to make a Dragon Tail Hat by Jen Spears for Nerd Wars, Doctor Who-inspired hat out of Dizzy Blonde Superwash DK in Smurfinator, and Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes for her Stitches West booth. Jen will be working on more hats (maybe even a crochet hat), her cardigan design (she's excited to use her Wollmeise), and she really wants to do some colorwork so she might make Water for the Elephants by Rose Hiver or mitts inspired by Jacaranda blossoms (her own designs). Knit Culture (39:41) We review Dishcloth Diva by Deb Buckingham, which the awesome people at Cooperative Press sent us. We recommend it. Knitted dishcloths rock for cleaning dishes and faces and the small patterns are great for beginning knitters (little girls can make wool doll blankets) or knitters that need stuff on the go. It's very informative. Jen wants to make them into quilt squares and pillows. The motifs are really lovely and versitile. Four thumbs up (and a toe!) We announce the 2014 Stashdown. We like themes for the year more than resolutions (we are cribbing shameless from the Knitmore Girls). We both have obscene stashes, so for 2014 we have set some goals to reduce stash. Jen's 2014 theme is to simplify her life and create things to make her life overwhelming, which involves letting go of a lot of stuff. She wants to get rid of her stash by knitting. We challenge ourselves and our listeners to reduce stash as a year-long project. Knit from your stash all year long. Catalog your stash and find out what you have (however you want to). Then set goals for yourself. Each month will have a theme and a thread to post FOs along the theme and there will be prizes. Set some goals for yourself (these are personal, so whatever you want). Jen's goals are to buy no yarn except for at Stitches West or if Wollmeise Lace becomes available and to knit at least 20000 yards of yarn (this may be reassessed). Laura will only buy yarn at Stitches (as much as she wants) and only one skein of yarn at smaller festivals. She wants to knit at least 1/3 of her stash. She will check her stash before she buys yarn for projects. There will be a confessional thread for when you fall down. No judgement, just acknowledgment to help you get back onto your goal. Go to the general Stashdown Thread on Ravelry to post your goals and chit chat about your stashdown ideals. We'll open the January and confessional thread soon. We also recommend using a meter from Knitmeter.com to track how much you've knit, crochet, or spin over the year. Geek Culture: (57:39) We talk about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is at its midseason hiatus. We both want to love the series, but right now we only like it. We are hopeful for the future, knowing how Joss's first seasons go. We point out the Star Trek Renegades trailer. We also point out io9's article about 10 TV Shows that Desperately Need Their Own Drinking Game. Events: (1:08:55) We will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. Dizzy Blonde Studios & Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth (booth 906); we will update you with the booth number when we get it. Halos of Hope will have a booth (booth 908) and we may have a Meet and Greet. We will will be at the Friday Night Pajama Party, hosted by Marly Bird. It's a lot of fun, we hope to see you there. The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! Shout out to the Purlescence Girls! We will get together with the Yarn on Tap Girls for an event we call Knit2Together. This will be sometime in January at a point halfway between us and we will knit hats for Halos of Hope. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry group! And don’t forget to knit hats and donate. P.S. What Does the Fox Say?

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For holiday gifts for the knitter in your life, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.etsy.com. Shop updates will occur throughout the month of December. Podcaster Throwdown: (1:04) Good job to everyone! We've submitted over 300 hats! Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The December incentive pattern is Zoe. Post your finished hats in this thread to get your incentive. There are prizes for donating to Team Knottygirls. Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings.  New prizes include a custom-dyed skein of Dizzy Blonde yarns. Send your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 There is another way to participate. You can now donate for your favorite team. Click here and choose your team. $5 is equal to one hat for your team! Each $5 lets Halos of Hope to ship 16 hats to cancer centers and hospitals around the country. We are starting to gather grand prizes for the winning team. Catching Up: (4:19) Jen has been sick but she's getting better. She's also been getting ready for the holidays. She was unable to bake for parties (because that's not great when your sick). She's also been working on pattern writing. She recommends Craftsy. Laura is recovering from the three (yes, three) Thanksgiving dinners. She's working to plan Christmas holidays, juggling the schedules of all the families. She's working on her Nerd Wars; there is a Smaug theme this round to celebrate The Hobbit. She's decorating for Christmas. She's also working on getting her house and studio together after the remodel. In the Knitting Bag: (14:32) Jen has started a second Gerri Hat for the Throwdown out of the Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in pink. She has been working on her secret Christmas project. It's blocking. Finally! She also is working on another vanilla hat in white Plymouth Encore Yarn. She ran out of yarn, so she'll probably make the top blue. And she is working on gramps by tincanknits out of Delcious Yarns Frosting Worsted in Blueberry and Pistachio. We talk about Miss Babs Yarn and Cookie A Sock Club Laura is working on her original sock pattern out of Lambie Toes in "No Touching Guns". She's also working on a third Big Damn Hero Hat by Dryope out of Knitpicks Brava. She's also doing a Sous Chef out of Knitpicks Brava. Finished Objects: (20:42) Jen finished two vanilla hats out of white Plymouth Encore and a Gerri hat out of the pink Peter Pan yarn for the throwdown. Laura finished her Sassy-tis (Clapotis by Kate Gilbert) out of custom-dyed Dizzy Blonde Studios yarn.  She also finished her Gavin’s DinoRAWR Spiked Beanie Hat by Niki Wyre out of Knitpicks Brava and her Companion beaded choker in Hempathy. Devils Tower: (23:49) Jen finally finished the sleeve on her Easy Baby Sweater out of Classic Elite Liberty Wool in Caribbean Tide. Laura is ready to pick up her 22 Leaves Shawlette by Lankakomero. She's making it out ofMean Girls Yarn Club in Heart in a Box. Frog Pond: (26:04) Laura finished her Companion and got credit for it in Nerd Wars and then promptly frogged it. She was unhappy with the center section and it was too small. She does not enjoy knitting with Hemp Yarn. On Deck: (29:45) Jen is going to knit the California Poppy Shawl out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine for Melissa.  And she is working on her Sweetheart of the Rodeo design and figuring out how she wants to chart her designs. Laura will be making a Crocodile Stitch Slouchy Beret by Bonita Designs. She may be making a River Tam hat (pattern by Jessamyn Leib) in Dizzy Blonde Jessica (which is turquoise), but she is struggling with the tubular cast on. Jen recommends Eunny Jang's tutorial. She's going to make a Doctor Who inspired hat out of Smurfinator. And she will be making Down the Garden Path by Michele DuNaier out of Lambie Toes. She will use it as a crochet sample in her Stitches booth. Knit Culture: (38:20) We have an interview with the amazing Pam Haschke of Halos of Hope. She shares her story about how she started Halos of Hope. Here is the The Happy Hat story (and here is Drew's blog about it as well). We also talk a bit about Southern California and about her crafting. Pam mentions Fiesta Yarns Starburst La Boheme. Laura tells a story about Trixie and yarn. A Halloween bag for Socktober! We announce the winners of the Socktober KAL/CAL. The People's Choice winner is Photoknitgal's Hitchhiker. Congratulations! You win a Halloween-themed project bag sewn and donated by our amazing JoniLvsNeddy. Runner up is apple380's Doctor Who socks. Congratulations! You win a HiyaHiya scutti bag. Random draw winner number 1 is moclell's Line Break. Congratulations! You win some Hiya Hiya sock needles. And our second random draw winner is apple380's Hitchhiker. Congratulations! You win some Kollage square sock needles. Jen points out two cool knitterly things: KnitsforLife made a knit apple pie crust and Bohemia Fibers is doing American Horror Story Coven Limited edition yarns. Geek Culture: (1:11:41) We talk about some perfect gifts for the geek in your life. Our recommendations: Twilight Zone Definitive Collection Firefly: The Game Big Damn Heroes Promo Edition A plethora of Doctor Who goodies Kaylee's Parasol Star Trek Transporter Bath Mat and Shower Curtain. Lego Serenity Kit Hobbit Feet Slippers We also recommend giving your partner the gift of uninterrupted geek time. Events: (1:19:04) Hatnado!!! Come watch (and mock) the masterpiece of a film known as Sharknado! and knit hats for Halos of Hope with us. It will be in the Annex of the Alamitos Bay Yarn Company on Saturday, December 14th from 1:30 to 4:30pm. Bring munchies and wine to share if you want to. We will bring cake! Seating is limited to 18, RSVP here. We will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. Dizzy Blonde Studios & Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth; we will update you with the booth number when we get it. Halos of Hope will have a booth and we may have a Meet and Greet. We will will be at the Thursday Night Market Preview. The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! We will get together with the Yarn on Tap Girls for an event we call Knit2Together. This will be sometime in January at a point halfway between us and we will knit hats for Halos of Hope. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry group! And don't forget to knit hats and donate.

Podcaster Throwdown: (0:58) Hats not yet counted. And this is just one tub of three! Hat Tallies are updated: 1. Team Knitmore - 110 2. Team Sock-a-holic - 48 3. Team Knotty – 42 4. Ready-Set-Knit - 12 5. Craftlit – 6 6. Team Knit Knit Cafe - Not yet Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in Ravelry. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The November incentive hat is A Chill in Wonderland by Izzy Schutz. Post completed hats in the the thread to get your hat. Sharon from Knitaholics Anonymous offered a hat pattern (Bow Cloche in Memory of Linda).  Go to here for details. There are prizes for donating to Team Knottygirls. Check out Episodes 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as the Prize Page for prize listings.  New prizes include a custom-dyed skein of Dizzy Blonde yarns. Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 We are starting to gather grand prizes for the winning team. Catching Up: (8:43) Laura had a trunk show at Colors 91711.  She is almost done with the remodel and assembly of her studio. She’s been working on lots of Nerd Wars stuff and dying up yarn for the next installment of the Mean Girls Yarn Club. Jen has been cooking a lot. She’s using a seasonal cookbook that she loves. She is also reading Carole King’s autobiography. She's been spinning. And she saw a workshop of a play her friend wrote. It was part of the Blank Theatre's Living Room Series. Jen also gushes a bit about the “Day of the Doctor” and Hunger Games: Catching Fire. In the Knitting Bag: (18:14) Laura is working on Gavin's DinoRAWR Spiked Beanie Hat by Niki Wyre out of Knitpicks Brava.  She is also working on the third incarnation of her Companion beaded choker in Hempathy for the Nerd Wars “Wave Your Geek Flag” challenge.  And she continues to work on a Big Damn Hero Hat by Dryope out of Knitpicks Brava. Jen is working on her Christmas project, on her Sunshine Socks by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butter Peeps, a Gerri Hat for the Throwdown out of the Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in pink, some very old vanilla socks out of some very old Opal Sock Yarn, and a plain vanilla hat out of Plymouth Encore Yarn in white.  She also started Kently Socks by Heather Ordover from Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock out of Koigu for Ron. Finished Objects: (25:15) Odessa Hat Broncos Scarf Laura finished her Odessa Hat (without beads) by Grumperina out of Mean Girls Yarn Club mini skeins in Curses (acid green and purple).  She also finished her Broncos Gridiron Scarf (Lattice Wingspan) out of Mean Girls Yarn Club Hoar’s Yer Buddy.  We mention Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. A close up of Jen's shawl in the morning light Jen finished a shawl of her own design out of the KnitDizzney yarn and now she has to write up the pattern. We mention Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia Devil’s Tower: (31:40) Laura still has her Sassy-tis (Clapotis by Kate Gilbert) in Devil’s Tower for Nerd Wars, waiting for Round 3.  And she is just having trouble feeling motivated to work on her sock design out of Lambie Toes. Laura also talks about a way to motivate herself to finish her WIPS. We mention Slipped Stitch Studios and the Doctor Who Sock Kit from Lorna's Laces. On Deck: (36:05) Laura will be crocheting Hildegard by Bernadette Ambergen in Lambie Toes for her booth at Stitches. We mention Belle Époque, Skeindalous Yarns, Into The Whirled, and Indigodragonfly. Jen will be making hats and a baby sweater. Knit Culture: (40:30) We review Fiber Factor Challenge 6. We remind you to vote for your favorite designs by clicking “Love” in the Socktober FO thread. Voting closes November 29th. Prize winners will be announced in Episode 15! We draw the winner for our 500 member Milestone Prize and it's Astridpurls! Congratulations! Ravelry Message Laura for your prize (a pair of Toluca Knit Jewelry Needle Gauge Earrings. Geek Culture: (57:15) We review the young adult novel Grounded: The Seven by Heather Ordover. We highly recommend the book for yourself and your teenagers you love and are waiting impatiently for the sequel! She also has a book of socks inspired by the characters of Grounded called Novel Socks. Jen has it and she loves the patterns. We point out some templates for making Star Wars themed snowflakes for your geeky holidays. We also point out two lists of ranking all the episodes of two of our favorite shows: Doctor Who and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. We mention the unaired pilot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the unaired pilot for the Big Bang Theory. Events: (1:13:10) We will get together with the Yarn on Tap Girls for an event we call Knit2Together. This will be sometime in January at a point halfway between us and we will knit hats for Halos of Hope. Hatnado!!! Come watch (and mock) the masterpiece of a film known as Sharknado! and knit hats for Halos of Hope with us. It will be in the Annex of the Alamitos Bay Yarn Company on Saturday, December 14th from 1:30 to 4:30pm. Bring munchies and wine to share if you want to. We will bring cake! Seating is limited to 18, so watch this space for signups. And finally we will be at Stitches West, which is February 20-23 in Santa Clara, CA at the Convention Center. Dizzy Blonde Studios & Skeindalous Yarns are sharing a booth; we will update you with the booth number when we get it. Halos of Hope will have a booth and we may have a Meet and Greet. We will also be attending Friday’s Fashion Show and Dinner. The Dizzy Blonde booth is a collection point for Halos of Hope hats for Team KnottyGirls (the final collection point!). With prizes! Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry group, don't forget to vote for your favorite Socktober Project, and remember to keep knitting hats.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.etsy.com Throwdown Update: (1:13) Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in ravelry. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben’s interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The November incentive hat is A Chill in Wonderland by Izzy Schutz. Post completed hats in the the thread to get your hat. There are prizes for donating to Team Knottygirls. Check out Episodes 10, 11, and 12 for prize listings. Don’t forget to ship your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 We are starting to gather grand prizes for the winning team. Catching Up: (5:25) Jen took a whirlwind trip up to her parents' house for her nephew's first birthday. She's also been planning the Thanksgiving menu for her house and working on the Halos Hats because the El Segundo Slipt Stitchers are awesome and so is the Long Beach Stitch and Beach. Laura and Jen talk about WeFF. They both enjoyed it. They talk about yellow-unfriendly lighting. We also mention Forbidden Woolery, Blarney Yarns, and Krupnikas. Laura has carpet in her house! And had to get some car repairs after hitting a planter. Tony fell and hurt his wrist, so she has had some bad luck this weekend. She's prepping for the holidays, which is difficult as she is from a blended family so scheduling gets tough. In the Knitting Bag: (13:13) Jen has been working on her secret Christmas project, a Christmas sweater for her nephew (her own design) out of Stitch Cafe Delicious Yarns, the Knit Dizzney shawl pattern (also her own design) out of the Dizzy Blonde Sock Yarn, and a Gerri Hat for the Throwdown out of the Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in pink. Laura has been Stashing Down for Nerd Wars. She's been working on an Odessa Hat (without beads) by Grumperina out of Mean Girls Yarn Club mini skeins in Curses (which is acid green and purple). She's also working on an "Outlaw Hat" by Dryope out of Knitpicks Brava. Finished Objects: (17:05) Back of the sweater Jen finished her Minion Hat for Halloween at work out of Plymouth Encore Yarn. She also finished her 30 Day Sweater sweater out of Dizzy Blonde Superwash DK in Anna. She also finished Ron's socks out of Koigu, but not in time for Socktober. Ron's socks Laura finished one "Outlaw Hat" out of scraps of Lamb's Pride in very bright colors. She finished her Tree of Life Fingerless Mitts by Jenny Williams out of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in the Thistle colorway. Devil's Tower: (23:25) Jen is picking up both her Sunshine Socks by Cookie A in Dream in Color Smooshy in Butter Peeps and her Watership Down shawl in Unique Sheep Selene in the colorway Nature Walk. Laura still has her Sassy-tis (Clapotis) in Devil's Tower for Nerd Wars, but it coming out soon.  Also her Broncos Gridiron Scarf (Lattice Wingspan) out of Mean Girls Yarn Club Hoar’s Yer Buddy is waiting for her to fix the bind off edge because she doesn't like it. Frog Pond: (27:22) Jen had a happy accident with the shawl collar on her 30 day sweater. It was too small and didn't fold over like she wanted, but she decided she likes how it looks, so it's a happy accident. Laura had to rip out her entire Socktober sock (which was her own design being worked up for Lambie Toes) because she didn't like the ribbing. On Deck: (31:19) Jen will be working on more Throwdown hats and her own sweater design out of Wollmeise DK and Shalimar Breathless DK. Also a California Poppy Shawl out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine for Melissa. Laura will be working Throwdown hats, hats for her family, continuing the sock design, and the third incarnation of her Companion beaded choker in Hempathy. We mention the Mountain Ash Shawl. Knit Culture: (34:25) We review Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Stephannie Tallent, sent to us from Cooperative Press. We both love it and highly recommend it. All of the patterns are gorgeous, the styling is gorgeous, and we want to knit everything. And we love the schematics. We also point out this YouTube video of the Magic Knot as a way of joining ends. The Socktober KAL is over. Two prizes will be random drawings, and there are two peoples choice awards. Go "love" your favorite projects in the Socktober FO thread. Voting closes Black Friday! Prize winners will be announced in Episode 15! Geek Culture: (50:59) We both answer a question from our Knotty Talk Thread. tygherknits asks Impatiently waiting for the next episode! I just want to hear more! And I think Laura should talk about noms some more. So we geek out about cooking! Jen mentions some of her favorite baking recipes (lemon blueberry cookies and mini cheesecakes in a jar), a pie recipe she really wants to try, and asks for pie crust tips. She talks about peach-blueberry thyme cupcakes too, because she loves savory mixed with sweet flavors. Laura talks about her booze-infused cupcakes, her "noms" (the lollypops she makes), and making geeky chocolate candies. Jen also talks about wanting to be a better cake/cookie decorator, we talk about Portal cookie cutters, and we mention Craftsy (which has cake decorating classes as well as fiber-related classes). We have started a cooking thread, so come share your own cooking joys or woes and awesome recipes. Events: (1:04:03) We are still working on a Throwdown knitting event, watch this space. There will be cake, Sharknado, and food. Hatnado! There will be a Dizzy Blonde trunk show at Colors 91711 in Claremont on November 23 from 2-6pm. There will be Lambie Toes for sale as well as kits. The Los Angeles Yarn Crawl will be from April 3-6, 2014. Our next milestone prize will be at 500 members, so join the Ravelry group!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.etsy.com Throwdown Update: (1:10) Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Thank you to El Segundo Slipt Stitchers for the hats donated! Check out the Podcaster Throwdown group in ravelry. Check out the Halos of Hope website and Ben's interview with Pam Haschke on Fiber Hooligans. The November incentive hat is A Chill in Wonderland by Izzy Schutz. Post completed hats in the the thread to get your hat. New prizes added are: 1. Brenda Castiel is donating some patterns 2. Linelle Kennedy of KnitTotes has donated some circular needle cases and a tote bag 3. Heather of Mad Color has donated a skein of yarn. Catching Up: (9:05) Laura loved the CogKnitive Fibre Retreat and is taking care of the admin for the post-marketplace and dying a lot to prepare for WeFF. Her voice is back. The remodel is making her crazy, but it's almost done and to channel that, she is planning a trip. Jen has been spinning! She's working on Knitpicks fiber. She really enjoys it. She saw the film Gravity, which had a lot of space geekery and the film Enough Said, which had knitting in it! In The Knitting Bag: (18:30) Laura has been working on a new sock pattern to be knit in Lambie Toes in the color No Touching Guns. She's test knitting the A Chill in Wonderland hat in Knitpicks Brava Worsted. And she is working on the third version of her Companion beaded choker in Hempathy. Jen is still working on her 30 Day Sweater in the Dizzy Blonde Superwash DK in the colorway Anna. She's also working on Ron's sock, which are the Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern with Fancy Knit Stripe from Knitting Vintage Socks out of Koigu. She's working on another Gerri Hat for the Throwdown out of the Peter Pan Wendy Yarn in pink. She is also making a Minion Hat for Halloween out of Plymouth Encore. We confirm that 30 is no longer even close to middle aged and that middle aged is a silly concept. Finished Objects: (26:07) Laura has finished her Udones out of Knitpicks Palette in clover. She also finshed her Broncos Gridiron Scarf (Lattice Wingspan) out of Mean Girls Yarn Club Hoar's Yer Buddy. She needs to block it, but she has no room. Jen never finishes anything. She has tons of projects on hold for the 30 day sweater, including her Rocky Coast Cardigan, her Sunshine Socks, her secret Christmas project, and her shawl design for Knit Dizzney. Devil's Tower: (32:19) Laura is putting her Sassy-tis (Clapotis) in the Devil's Tower until November, so it can be a flexible schedule for Nerd Wars. Same with her Tree of Life Fingerless Mitts. Jen has everything in Devil's Tower. Frog Pond: (34:58) Jen thought she lost her knitting, but she really just misplaced it. On Deck: (35:59) Laura will do some more hats, both for the throwdown and her family, possibly the Sous Chef hat. Jen will be working on throwdown hats, a shawl for Melissa, a sweater for her nephew, the Knit Dizzney shawl, and her own sweater design. Knit Culture: (38:10) We review Fiber Factor Challenge 5. Geek Culture: (55:51) We talk about awesome geeky knitting and crochet including: 1. Baby's First DNA Model by Kimberley Chapman 2. An article about Mathematical Knitting from American Scientist. 3. This very detailed knit skeleton by Ben Cuevas 4. Emily Stoneking's dissection models 5. Golden Spiral by Woolly Thoughts which uses the Fibonacci Sequence 6. Hyperbolic Hexagon Socks by H. Lurie 7. Illusion Tessellation by Deborah Tomasello (and she has socks as wells). We also mention the What Would Madame Defarge Knit? books and the Jane Austen Knits. Events: (1:03:25) We are having a Knitalong in October! The Socktober Knitalong! Knit something (anything (hats)) out of sock yarn (fingering weight or any yarn that would make good socks) or knit socks out of any weight yarn between October 1st and October 31st. Post finished projects there for a chance to win a prize. Please do a separate entry for each project. Hiya Hiya has provided some prizes and Joni has given a project bag as a prize. We will be at the Southern California Handweaver’s Guild Annual Weaving and Fiber Festival (WEFF) at the Torrance Convention Center on Sunday November, 3rd. Parking is free, entry is seven dollars. Laura will be vending. You can drop off Halos Hats at her booth. We may be doing some knitalong action with Yarn on Tap there for the Throwdown; we will keep you posted. Come say hi. We are working on some knitalong events for the Throwdown. We will keep you updated. It will involve Sharknado and cake. There will be a Dizzy Blonde trunk show at Colors 91711 in Claremont on November 23 from 2-6pm. There will be Lambie Toes for sale. New milestone drawing at 500 members, so join our Ravelry group!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design, please visit DizzyBlondeStudios.etsy.com Throwdown Update (1:28) Check out Episode 8.5 for Throwdown information. Knit Knit Cafe has joined the fray! If you donate a hat for Team Knotty in October, you’ll receive the Full Tilt Hat pattern. Post in the thread to get your pattern. Also, join the Podcaster Throwdown Ravelry Group. CozyCouch is awesome and has knitted 11 hats! In addition to the lovely prizes from last week, JoniLvsNeddy has donated some really cute project bags for prizes. Don’t forget to ship your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Catching Up (4:52) Jen sang at two charity gigs and she enjoyed it. She's started a new book about the Rocky Flats nuclear plant called Full Body Burden. She and Ron have been watching cheesy horror films, because it's October, including Carnival of Souls. She took a drop spindling class at CogKnitive, and she loved it. Laura has returned from New Mexico, visiting her stepdaughter. She saw her stepdaughter in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She also started watching Doctor Who and Downton Abbey. The registration for the Sunnydale Yarn club are closed and the names have been drawn. Her dad is doing much better; thanks to all of you for your concern. And her remodel is almost done! Melissa had to explain to her coworkers what a fiber retreat was. Also, they think yarn crawls involve a lot more booze than they do. Jen references this experiment. In the Knitting Bag (12:22) Jen has been working on her Bed Socks in Lemon Pattern with Fancy Knit Stripe from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush for Ron and the Socktober KAL/CAL out of Koigu in a very multi-colored colorway. Jen mentions Foxy Knits. She's also working on her 30 Day Sweater out of Dizzy Blonde Superwash DK in the color Anna. She spent a lot of time working on cable charting. She also worked on her Rocky Coast Cardigan out of Fibre Company Organik in Highlands. Laura has been working on her second pair of Tree of Life Fingerless Gloves by Jenny Williams out of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in the Thistle Colorway. She’s also still working on her Udones (Roman socks0 in Knitpicks Palette in the color Clover. We talk a bit about Naalbinding and the History Channel show Vikings. Laura has also been working on her Sassitis (Clapotis) and her Gridiron Scarf (Lattice Wingspan), which are both very close to done. Melissa knit a huge Mountain Ash Shawl and it killed her will to knit shawls, so she is working on Leah's Lovely Cardigan (her first sweater) from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts out of Malabrigo Sock in Archangel. She is also working on a lot of hats for Hatoween (with some help from Jen). Finished Objects Big Damn Heroes Two Butterfly Hats Laura finished one pair of Tree of Life Mittens in the Forest Heather color of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, two Olivia's Butterfly Hats for Halos of Hope out of Knitpicks Brava, and she finished her Mother Bears (faces and all). But really, Barbara from 2 Knit Lit Chicks did the faces. Melissa has finished several Hatoween hats. On Deck: Laura is going to be test knitting a hat pattern for Steamlolita. She will be reworking a sock pattern to be rewritten for Lambie Toes Yarn for Socktober. We mention Four Weddings. Jen will be jumping into crochet, making a Basic Stitches Crochet Hat for the Throwdown. Also other throwdown hats. She will be making a little sweater for her nephew's first birthday out of Delicious Yarn from Stitch Cafe. Melissa will be making Throwdown hats with her leftover Hatoween yarn. She will also be making a very colorful striped cardigan. Knit Culture (30:10) We answer a question from MillieHanS. Any tricks, tips for knitting with two yarns - not necessarily together. Say one is a wool that can be blocked as for a lace edge but the ‘body’ of a rectangular shawl isn’t as stretchy. I can’t figure out a good way to determine repeats so they are the same width even tho I swatch. Swatch. A lot. Wash and block the swatches. Swatch them together. Or find two yarns that are more similar if you can, because that might be more easy. Also consider if you're picking up stitches, changing yarns, knitting on a border--they will all change how it behaves. A lifeline might be your best friend. Also don't be afraid to re-do things. Jen and Melissa bought some great yarn at CogKnitive retreat including Forbidden Woolery, Knitted Wit yarn, bags from RKs Mom and Slipped Stitch Studios. Melissa bought a lot of Dizzy Blonde Yarn. And a lot of her yarn was pink. Jen and Melissa both bought some Indigo Dragonfly yarn and they love her color names. There were some great metal shawl pins. Jen got some great Bee Mice Elf fiber for spinning and wants to get some Red Fish Dye Works fiber when she's a better spinner. Jamie of the Awesome Metalwork Pins in the Cogknitive Marketplace. We also mention Dye for Yarns and Ladybug Fiber. Geek Culture (46:26) We geek out over Doctor Who and Torchwood. Upcoming Events: (52:49) We are having a Knitalong in October! The Socktober Knitalong! Knit something (anything (hats)) out of sock yarn (fingering weight or any yarn that would make good socks) or knit socks out of any weight yarn between October 1st and October 31st. Post finished projects there for a chance to win a prize. Please do a separate entry for each project. Hiya Hiya has provided some prizes and Joni has given a project bag as a prize. We will be at the Southern California Handweaver’s Guild Annual Weaving and Fiber Festival (WEFF) at the Torrance Convention Center on Sunday November, 3rd. Parking is free, entry is seven dollars. Laura will be vending. You can drop off Halos Hats at her booth. We may be doing some knitalong action with Yarn on Tap there for the Throwdown; we will keep you posted. Come say hi. We are working on some knitalong events for the Throwdown. We will keep you updated. New milestone drawing at 500 members, so join our Ravelry group!

Today's episode is sponsored by Dizzy Color. Dizzy Blonde Studios and Mad Color Fiber Arts have come together to bring you Dizzy Color's Sunnydale, a wickedly clever yarn club inspired by Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For more information, visit http://www.dizzycolor.wordpress.com. Podcaster Throwdown Update: (0:55) Check out Episode 8.5 if you're confused about what the Throwdown is. Two new podcasts have joined: Ready, Set, Knit and Yarn on Tap. Thank you to Hollywood Knitter and the El Segundo Slipt Stitchers for backing Team Knotty. If you donate a hat for Team Knotty in October, you'll receive the Full Tilt Hat pattern. Post in the thread to get your pattern. Also, join the Podcaster Throwdown Ravelry Group. We have prizes. Thank you to Bijou Basin Ranch, Imperial Yarn, Knitter's Pride, Fairmount Fibers, and Green Mountain Spinnery for providing amazing prizes of yarn, patterns, and/or needles (and also to Stefanie of Wool Wide Web for coordinating that effort). Also thank you to Dizzy Blonde Studios and Cards By Erica for providing gift certificates as prizes. Please contact us if you want to donate more prizes, because everything helps. Don't forget to ship your hats to Purlescence Yarns, tagged for Team Knotty. Shipping information is here. Purlescence Address: Purlescence Yarns your name & the name of your team 564 South Murphy Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Catching Up: (5:47) Laura has been getting ready for a trip to New Mexico (packing knitting is hard!). She's also been dying a lot for the Mean Girls Yarn Club first installment and some vending events. She's also preparing for her new yarn club. We're both working on getting some Throwdown events together. Jen has been playing lots of guitar for her gig. She's also become obsessed with Downton Abbey. She's also preparing to teach in a few weeks. She owes a lot to the Knitmore Girls tutorial on grosgrain ribbon, but she has other tips to add to the technique. We also mention Avatar: The Last Airbender and Sherlock In the Knitting Bag: (10:34) Laura has started a lot of things. She's knitting a hat for her sister out of Nashua Wooly Stripes in WS04 pastels. She's continuing to work on her Tree of Life Fingerless Gloves by Jenny Williams out of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. She's also still working on her Udones in Knitpicks Palette. Afterthought heels are easy! Jen has been working on her Rocky Coast Cardigan out of Fibre Company Organik, but she ran out of knitting (so always carry an extra ball of yarn). She's working on a shawl of her own design for the Knit Dizzney yarn. She's working on another Gerri Hat in the Naturally Caron Spa and another hat for students of one of her knitsibs' sons out of Plymouth Encore Worsted. She's also been knitting on her super secret Christmas project. Finished Objects: (18:28) Claudia Cap. Booyah! Laura's only finished one thing, her Claudia Hat in Berroco Vintage. Jen has a bunch of hats that need ends buried. She doesn't think they're done, but they're done by Laura's standards. Devil's Tower: (20:51) Laura is putting her Clapotis and her Lattice Wingspan into Devil's Tower so they can be WIPs for Nerd Wars. Her Mother Bears are awaiting hair and faces. Cheating WIP? Jen is officially declaring her Sunshine Socks and her Watership Down shawl in Devil's Tower. We talk about various methods of beading, including using Tigertail (like the Stitched Together Podcast), using Superfloss, pre-stringing, and tiny crochet hooks. Frog Pond: (24:58) Laura had to reknit one Tree of Life mitt because it was too big. Jen may not have bought enough yarn for her secret Christmas project. How hard is it to match dye lots on black Cascade 220? We'll find out in the coming weeks. On Deck: (28:12) Laura is knitting a second pair of Tree of Life mitts, a Minion in Overalls hat, Assquack Hats, Olivia's Buttefly hats out of Knitpicks Brava, a vanilla hat for her brother. She will be working on converting a never-published sock design to be done in Lambie Toes yarn for Socktober. Jen will be making more hats, some socks for Ron out of Koigu for Socktober, maybe a crochet hat, and she will be doing the 30 Day Sweater challenge out of Dizzy Blonde Superwash DK in Anna. We mention Foxy Knits and the Fiber Hooligans Podcast. Knit Culture: (33:41) We issue a correction to our review of Wrapped in Color: Stranded Knitting in the 21st Century by Deborah Tomasello. We apologize for missing that the baby wrap is lined on the back. We interview Caroline and Amy of Yarnosphere. We review Needles and Artifice by The Ladies of Mischief. The book is gorgeous, we love the patterns, and we highly recommend it. Some patterns are more costumey, but there are a lot that would work for everyday fashion. Geek Culture: (1:00:42) There is a new Serenity graphic novel, which takes up where the movie left off! We also recommend listening to Bohemian Gravity. Upcoming Events: (1:01:46) Dizzy Blonde Yarns will also be for sale at the Yarnosphere Fiber Festival, in the Toluca Knit Jewelry and Fine Yarns Booth. This is a new festival, taking place October 12 and 13th. We will not be there, because we are at Cogknitive, but go support so we can keep a cool yarn festival here. We will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat in Tehachapi from the evening of October 11th to the morning of October 13. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be hanging out and taking classes. The retreat is full, but contact Dr. Gemma to be on the waiting list. We will be collecting hats for Halos of Hope! We will be at the Southern California Handweaver’s Guild Annual Weaving and Fiber Festival (WEFF) at the Torrance Convention Center. Parking is free, entry is seven dollars. Laura will be vending. You can drop off Halos Hats at her booth. We will be having a Knitalong in October! The Socktober Knitalong! Knit something (anything (hats)) out of sock yarn (fingering weight or any yarn that would make good socks) or knit socks out of any weight yarn between October 1st and October 31st. Post finished projects there for a chance to win a prize. Please do a separate entry for each project. Hiya Hiya has provided some prizes. Our next milestone drawing is at 500 members in the Ravelry Group, so join!

This episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. “Beautifully hand-dyed yarns in a variety of superwash bases and inspired knit design.” Listen to the episode for a special coupon code. Catching Up: (1:03) Jen is playing a lot of guitar to prepare for two benefit gigs: one for Generations on the Move and one for the Village of Hope. She's also prepping to teach. Laura's father has been ill with SIADH, but he is recovering. She is also working on the Sunnydale Yarn Club. Pre-registration is open now! Knit Dizzney was so much fun! Thank you to the following people who provided swag and coupons for the goody bags: Benjamin Levisay from XRX, 5elementknitr, Wolfe Farms, Yarn Garden, Yarnosphere, and Karen from id.me Promotions. And thank you to all who came. In the Knitting Bag: (10:07) Jen is working on an Aesop's Cables hat for the Podcaster Throwdown out of Red Heart Soft. She's also working on her Watership Dow out of Unique Sheep Selene in the color Nature Walk. She's also started her Rocky Coast Cardigan out of Fibre Company Organik in the colorway Highlands. She started the California Poppy Shawl out of Baah La Jolla in My Sweet Valentine. This is for Melissa, who wants the shawl, but doesn't want to knit it. Finally, she has one Sunshine Sock done and the second one cast on. She loves working with the Dream in Color Smooshy in Butter Peeps and Laura wants to eat it, because it looks like Peeps. Laura is working on the Claudia Hat out of Berroco Vintage in Vintage for the Podcaster Throwdown. She is working on two pairs the Tree of Life Mitts for a friend and his wife. The first pair is in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Forest Heather. She is also knitting some socks (Roman udones like this) for Roman re-enactment out of Knitpicks Palette in Clover Green. She's almost done with her Sassy-tis (Clapotis). Finished Objects: (16:11) Gratuitous Artsy Shot Jen finished her Effervescence Cardigan for Camp Loopy, just under the wire. And she's done 3 hats for the Throwdown, two Gerri hats (one in Wendy Peter Pan yarn and one in Naturally Caron Spa) and one Hermione Hearts Ron in leftover Pashmina. One Throwdown Hat! BOOM! Laura has finished her Malcub Reynolds Mother Bear and one Throwdown hat, the Reversible Beehive Hat in Berroco Comfort. Devil's Tower (20:05) The Broncos Scarf (Lattice Wingspan) is coming back out, because she ran out of yarn, but now she got more. Frog Pond: (20:49) Jen made her Aesop's Cables too short so she has to redo the top part. Laura maybe used the wrong needle size when casting on her Claudia hat and is debating ripping it out. It's wading in the frog. On Deck: (23:34) Jen is going to do a sweater design inspired by the cover of the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album; Laura will make a second pair of Tree of Life Mitts in gray. Both will work on more hats for the throwdown. Knit Culture: (25:32) We give an update on the Podcaster Throwdown. Listen to Episode 8.5 for information. You can join our Ravelry group. The teams currently in are Craftlit and Knitmore Girls. There is a rumor about Webs. Laura calls out the Yarniacs and Knit 1 Geek 2 to join. We are giving away the Eton Hat if you submit a hat for Team KnottyGirls in September. We are sourcing prizes... We review Fiber Factor Challenge 4. We review Wrapped in Color: Stranded Knitting in the 21st Century by Deborah Tomasello. We definitely recommend checking it out. And we have in interview with Johnny Vasquez of the 30 Day Sweater Challenge. There are awesome prizes and if you want sign up, you can go here Geek Culture: (1:00:05) We discuss upcoming geeky television shows for fall, including a re-air of Torchwood: Miracle Day and Orphan Black on BBC-America. Events: (1:08:57) Dizzy Blonde Yarns will also be for sale at the Yarnosphere Fiber Festival, in the Toluca Knit Jewelry and Fine Yarns Booth. This is a new festival, taking place October 12 and 13th. We will not be there, because we are at Cogknitive, but go support so we can keep a cool yarn festival here. We will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat in Tehachapi from the evening of October 11th to the morning of October 13. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be hanging out and taking classes. The retreat is full, but contact Dr. Gemma to be on the waiting list. We will be collecting hats for Halos of Hope! We will be at the Southern California Handweaver's Guild Annual Weaving and Fiber Festival (WEFF) at the Torrance Convention Center. Parking is free, entry is seven dollars. Laura will be vending. You can drop off Halos Hats at her booth. We will be having a Knitalong in October! The Socktober Knitalong! Knit something (anything (hats)) out of sock yarn (fingering weight or any yarn that would make good socks) between October 1st and October 31st. Post finished projects there for a chance to win a prize. Please do a separate entry for each project. Our next milestone drawing is at 500 members in the Ravelry Group, so join!

New podcast will be up next week. In the meantime, here's a bunch of links about the Podcaster Throwdown. Go Team Knotty Girls! Go Cake! Bribery If you knit a hat for us in September, we will send you a free pattern for the Eton Cap! By entering the promo code "HALOS" you can get a free copy of Marly Bird's Gerri Hat (knit) and Sous Chef Hat (crochet) patterns. Relevant Links Halos of Hope Website Halos of Hope Ravelry Group Hat Tags Podcaster Throwdown Group Cap Guidelines and Recommendations for patterns and yarn Shipping your Hat and Getting it Counted

Thank you to Barb and Tracy of the 2 Knit Lit Chicks Podcast for playing our promo! Catching Up: (1:06) Laura is still remodeling. She is also preparing for KnitDizzney (we are EXCITED!). The Sunnydale Yarn Club has been pushed back a month. More information to come. Jen got to attend a lecture by Sally Melville. We ask about your knitting choices--do you choose what to knit based on what you'd wear, or because the pattern looks awesome? She also went to some Speedway races, and brought her knitting. Where is the weirdest place you've brought your knitting? Finally, she has been cleaning her craft room and Ron made her the best label for one of her tubs. Communication Breakdown. But this is so adorable. We are THROWING DOWN to the other podcasters! We bet that we can get more hats collected for Halos of Hope by Stitches West than your listeners. Email us at knottygirlsknitcast@gmail.com if you want to participate. The Rules: 1. There are no rules. 2. Okay there are a few rules. 3. Follow the Halos of Hope Guidelines 4. Start Sept 1st. 5. We finish at Stitches West. 6. Get your listeners on board however you want. We are still working out logistics to getting the hats counted, but get started knitting. We will work those details out as soon as possible. You can submit hats for more than one team (But each individual hat will only count for one team). There will be a prize drawing involved for the podcast team that collects the most hats. And KnottyGirls Listeners, we will have goodies for those of you who submit hats for our team! We will be talking more on the Fiber Hooligans Podcast on Monday, September 2nd so tune in to listen! In The Knitting Bag: (14:38) Laura has been knitting on a Simon Tam-inspired Mother Bear (Simon Tamda) out of Berroco Comfort and Knitpicks Brava. Simon Tamda She is also working on her Gridiron Lattice Wingspan in the Mean Girls Yarn Club Colorway Hoar's Yer Buddy. Her Sassy-tis (Clapotis) is out of Devil's Tower and being worked on again. Jen is working on her Effervescence Cardigan, which is blocking and just needs finishing up (Sleeves sewn in and grosgrain ribbon and buttons added). She's making it out of Madelinetosh Pashmina. It's the Neverending Cardigan She's also working on her Sunshine Socks. She started the first square from the Great American Afghan out of Cascade 220. The square was designed by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. Shunshine on my shoulders feet makesh me happy. The first square of many. Finished Objects: (18:51) Laura's Shepherd Bear Mother Bear is done, in record time. Except for the stuffing and his hair. Jen thinks Laura might be fudging the definition of done. ;) Shepherd Bear. Laura also finished a Kninja Kitty. And she finished the Entrechat for her granddaughter. Shoutout to Knitrality for recommending the pattern. Granddaughter bait! Big eyes=cute On Deck: (22:24) Laura is also a pattern slattern. She will be doing a Malcolm Reynolds Mother Bear (Malcubb Reynolds). And then she will do the rest of the crew in Mother Bears (River, Zoe, and Jayne Cubb). She will also be making the Tree of Life Fingerless Gloves by Jenny Williams out of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. She is making two pairs for a close friend and his wife, one in the Thistle Colorway and one in the Forest Heather Colorway. She has the yarn all dyed and ready for the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. She still plans to make a Minion army to guard her stash. Jen plans to cast on the Rocky Coast Cardigan out of the Fibre Company Organik in Highlands. She will be finally casting on her Watership Down Mystery KAL Shawl. She will be knitting the California Poppy Shawl out of Bahh La Jolla yarn for Melissa. She is also starting two secret projects. Knit Culture: (27:54) We do our 250 member milestone drawing. The winner is Jadee! Next milestone is at 500 members! We discuss Fiber Factor Challenge 3. This challenge involved Kenzie yarn, and we both want the yarn. Let us know your thoughts in the Fiber Factor thread in our Ravelry Group. We answer a question from our Knotty Talk Thread. QallieQ asks I want to do lace- I want to do a gradient shawl- I have never done either… where do I start?. We talk about the Ravelry Advanced Pattern Search to find easier lace patterns (however, we recommend not underestimating yourself!). Jen recommends The Old Man of Storr by Carie Harling to get used to chart reading. Laura also recommends the Peacock Feathers Shawl. We point listeners to the Unique Sheep Gradience Tutorials for how to use gradience yarns the way they dye them. We also mention long color repeat yarns like Freia Yarns and Desert Vista Dyeworks for another way to use gradient yarns. Please share advice and good lace patterns on our board. Geek Culture (52:51) There is a Firefly-themed MMORPG coming. Sign up to be on the mailing list here. And there is a trailer. We mention the Mary Sue and the Signal Podcast. Jen brings up an awesome fan-generated theory by Jon Negroni that states that all Pixar movies take place in the same universe. We encourage you to take a look and let us know what you think. We talk a little bit about Ben Affleck being cast as Batman and encourage you to let us know your thoughts. Events (1:04:12) KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 8th, 2013 at Disneyland. We will be there from open to close. We will have a meetup at 2pm in the picnic area outside the Disneyland entrance; come say hi and get swag! Pre-orders are closed but yarn is still available in the Dizzy Blonde Etsy store. There will be pickup for T-shirts at the Yarn Garden in Whittier on August 31st from 2-5pm. Email Laura if you can't pick up your yarn to make other arrangements. If you have concerns about mobility/disabled parking please look at relevant information on the Disney site or call (714) 781-INFO. We will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat in Tehachapi from the evening of October 11th to the morning of October 13. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be hanging out and taking classes. The retreat is full, but contact Dr. Gemma to be on the waiting list. Dizzy Blonde Yarns will also be for sale at the Yarnosphere Fiber Festival, in the Toluca Knit Jewelry and Fine Yarns Booth. This is a new festival, taking place October 12 and 13th. We will not be there, because we are at Cogknitive, but go support.

Thank you to Jasmin and Gigi of the Knitmore Girls Podcast for playing our promo! Catching Up (1:00) Jen went to the Huntington Botanical Gardens where she saw an amazing embroidery exhibit. She is also reading a book about Laurel Canyon called Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood. She is also preparing to play a gig at a fundraiser for Generations on the Move. Laura is getting new carpet in her house so she can set up a studio (woo!). She is busy with signups for Mean Girls Yarn Club. She also shares the exciting news that Dizzy Blonde Studios and Mad Color will be collaborating on a Buffy the Vampire and Angel themed yarn club. More information to come soon! In the Knitting Bag (6:55) The lace/seed stitch/cable part of the Effervescence Cardigan Jen has been knitting on her Camp Loopy month 3 project, which is the Effervescence Cardigan by Olga Buraya-Kefelian, published in the Circles + Dots e-book by Quince and Company. She is using Madelinetosh Pashmina in the colorway Rainwater. She added short row bust darts, which is making the body take a long time. She is also using a tubular cast on and tubular bind off. She also swatched for Sthe Unique Sheep Watership Down Mystery Shawl Knitalong (but has not started the first clue) and is working on the gusset of her first Sunshine Sock by Cookie A, out of Dream in Color Smooshy in Butter Peeps. Shunshine Shocks Laura is working on a Shepherd Book-inspired Mother Bear (Shepherd Bear) out of Berroco Comfort. She is changing some of the construction. Next up will be Malcubb Reynolds Mother Bear. (She is down to the wire with her Nerd Wars projects). We mention the Tempest Cardigan by Ann Weaver and the Knitpicks Brava yarn. Finished Objects (13:40) Finally done. It only took five months Jen finally finished her Madroña Shawl by Romi Hill out of Prism Delicato in Hibiscus. We talk about blocking lace without mercy. Up until the punching, it was a real nice party. Laura finished her Koalee Frye Mother Bear. She did the layer cake dress, and she is debating whether she needs to add hair. Devil’s Tower (16:59) Jen actually pulled out her Easy Baby Sweater out of Liberty Wool and picked up the second sleeve. Laura’s Kninja Kitty is in Devil’s Tower waiting to be stuffed. We mention OttLite for close work. Frog Pond (20:12) Jen had to do repair work on a dropped stitch on her Sunshine Socks. She also had to frog part of her Effervescence Cardigan because she neglected to do armhole shaping. On Deck (23:15) Laura is going to cast on Entrechat by Lisa Chemery for her granddaughter. She also is going to start building an army of Minions (pattern by Lisa Potts). She is also planning on starting an Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. Jen is going to start the Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Fibre Company Organik in the colorway Highlands (absolutely not Tidal). She really, really wants to knit a Princess Shawl by Sharon Miller. She’ll also be knitting the California Poppy Shawl in Baah La Jolla yarn, in the colorway California Poppy. Knit Culture (29:11) We discuss the second challenge of the Fiber Factor. We mention the tutorial for handling fair isle floats by contestant Jodie Gordon Lucas and the Magic Knot Tutorial by Jane Richmond. Also we talk about the podcast Just One More Row. We invite your thoughts on the Fiber Factor; come talk on our Ravelry Group! Interview (42:49) We have an amazing interview with the incredibly talented Annie Modesitt. We discuss her latest book: History on Two Needles and also knitting terminology. She blows our mind. Geek Culture (1:13:36) They have announced the casting of the Twelfth Doctor. Let us know what you think about the new Doctor. Also, Ron Glass will be in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a doctor. We want to hear your thoughts on this and all other news about the show. We also briefly mention Broadchurch. Is anyone else watching? Events (1:16:04) KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 8th, 2013 at Disneyland. We will be there from open to close. We will have a meetup at 2pm in the picnic area outside the Disneyland entrance; come say hi and get swag! We have pre-orders for both the custom yarn and T Shirts up! T-shirt orders are due by August 16th. We will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat in Tehachapi from the evening of October 11th to the morning of October 13. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be hanging out and taking classes. The retreat is full, but contact Dr. Gemma to be on the waiting list.

hank you to Eve and Michele of the Skein After Skein podcast for the shout out. We say “Challenge Accepted!” (Details to come.) Catching Up (1:22) Laura got a new internet provider, but all may not yet be rosy. She also was interviewed by Benjamin Levisay of the Fiber Hooligans Podcast. You can listen to her interview here or on iTunes. She continues to work on a yarn club with Heather of Mad Color. She is also working on preparing for the new year of Mean Girls Yarn Club (sign ups open in early August). Jen has been really busy with work. She only has energy to go out and see movies. She saw Despicable Me 2, This is the End, World War Z, and Sharknado. She enjoyed them all but was disappointed in World War Z as an adaptation of the book. Sharknado was everything she could have hoped for. Laura and Melissa at Stitch and Pitch. You can catch a glimpse of Laura’s Lattice Wingspan! We went to Stitch and Pitch at Dodger Stadium and it was really fun. We bought our tickets with the Yarnover Truck, who had extra gift bags and bingo cards. And Dodgers won! In the Knitting Bag (15:26) Laura is working on a Kaylee-inspired Mother Bear (Koalee Frye) out of Knitpicks Brava yarn. A cabled beret. So cute! She also is working on the Cabled Beret by Darlene Dale as a gift for a client at work. She continues to work on her Mean Girls Yarn Club WAL project, a Lattice Wingspan out of the MGYC colorway Hoar’s Yer Buddy. Thisclose to done. Jen is still working on her Madroña Shawl by Romi Hill out of Prism Delicato in Hibiscus. She’s on the last wing, and she is almost done. She also cast on for the Sunshine Socks by Cookie A, out of the book Sock Innovation. She’s using Dream in Color Smooshy in the colorway Butter Peeps. Finished Objects(19:15) Hoban Washbear and Inara Bearra Laura finished her Inara Bearra Mother Bear. All she has to do with her Cabled Beret is block it. Jen knit up a storm! (Get it?) The view from the front. Jen finished her Tempest Cardigan by Ann Weaver for Camp Loopy. She knit it out of Dream in Color Smooshy in the colors Charged Cherry and Rosalita. She modified it to knit the body in one piece and used short rows to shape the armholes, sleeve caps, and shoulders. She also sewed grosgrain ribbon on the button band and used backing buttons, using these tutorials by the Knitmore Girls: Grosgrain Ribbon Buttonband Tutorial and Couture Button Tutorial. She also finished her MGYC WAL project, the Dinner in the Eiffel Tower Shawl by Jessie Doddington in the Dictate Hoar colorway of MGYC yarn. She also did some modifications on that to use more yarn. It still needs blocking. On Deck (23:03) Laura is waiting for Nerd Wars Challenges for August. She is going to cast on some Kninja Kitties (the Knitted Kitty by Lillian). She will also be knitting a coffee mug cozy based on Alison Hogg’s Grenade pattern. Jen will be knitting the Effervescence Cardigan by Olga Buraya-Kefelian, published in the Circles + Dots e-book by Quince and Company. She is using Madelinetosh Pashmina in the colorway Rainwater. This is for Camp Loopy month 3 project, which requires the project to be 800 yards minimum. She’ll be using the tubular cast on and tubular bind off. She is also going to start the Unique Sheep Watership Down Mystery Shawl Knitalong. She will also count this project as part of the Knitmore Girls Summer of Lace and Beads Knitalong. Laura mentions that both the 2 Knit Lit Chicks Podcast and the CogKNITive Podcast are hosting Mother Bear Knitalongs. Knit Culture (28:08) We discuss Challenge One of the The Fiber Factor as requested by Andimc13 in our Knotty Talk Thread. We both like it and will continue to watch and discuss. We appreciate the focus on knitting and not drama. Laura points out a tutorial to make multiple pompoms at once on Flax and Twine. We both are very excited for the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits coming out from Interweave Press. We love it when knit and geek culture collide. Laura is Slytherin and Jen is definitely Ravenclaw. Geek Culture (46:56) Pictures from the Rubiks Cube Yarn Bombing at Comic Con are up. (This is the project that some of our guests at the WWKIP event we hosted were working on.) We discuss some of the announcements that excite us from Comic Con, including news about the upcoming Avengers movie (Yay Ultron!), Cobie Smulders being in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the new Harley Quinn comic series, and Batman vs. Superman. We also mention Superman: Red Son and the Man of Steel Alternate ending joke YouTube video. (That last link is not safe for work and has swearing). Events (54:48) A preview of the custom Knit Dizzney Colorway KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 8th, 2013 at Disneyland. We will be there from open to close. We will have a meetup at 2pm in the picnic area outside the Disneyland entrance; come say hi and get swag! We will have t-shirts for preorder and a custom yarn color! Keep an eye out for those; information will be out soon. We will both be at the CogKNITive Fiber Retreat in Tehachapi from the evening of October 11th to the morning of October 13. Dizzy Blonde will be a vendor and Jen will just be hanging out and taking classes. The retreat is full, but contact Dr. Gemma to be on the waiting list. Dizzy Blonde Yarns will be at Stitches Midwest August 8-11 at the Skeindalous Yarn’s Booth (Booth 925). This is just the yarn, not us.