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"Never Gonna Be Bored" is by Adam and the Couch Potatoes. H. H. Monro (known as Saki) wrote "The Storyteller." The poet Horace wrote the Ars Poetica, which says (depending on your translation) that "poetry has two aims -- to instruct and to give delight." You can read a little bit about the history of children's literature at Random History. American Children's Literature and the Construction of Childhood is by Gail Schmunck Murray. Louisa May Alcott wrote a lot of stuff for children, including: * Little Women, followed by Good Wives (sometimes published as part of Little Women) * Little Men, followed by Jo's Boys * Eight Cousins * Rose in Bloom * An Old-Fashioned Girl, parts one and two "Lumberin' Bunny" is by Tom Smith. "It's Windy, Your Majesty" is by KidsCastUK. The American Library Association has an official Library Bill of Rights. They emphasize that parents should be involved in and will be held responsible for their children's reading. They also say that librarians should withhold from the parents as much information about the child's reading choices as possible: "Parents are responsible not only for the choices their minor children make concerning the selection of materials and the use of library facilities and resources, but also for communicating with their children about those choices. Librarians should not breach a child’s confidentiality by giving out information readily available to the parent from the child directly. Libraries should take great care to limit the extenuating circumstances in which they will release such information. (ALA, "Questions and Answers on Privacy and Confidentiality." -- scroll down to the question, "Are privacy rights of minors the same as those of adults?") In case anyone is wondering if I know what I'm talking about regarding the ALA, I got my PhD in Library and Information Science. James R. Kincaid wrote Child-Loving: The Erotic Child and Victorian Culture, as well as Erotic Innocence: The Culture of Child Molesting. Anne Geddes takes photographs of babies dressed up or staged as if they were food or flowers, among other things. The purpose of the photographs is to make us think of the Geddes children as consumables, which we can buy a picture of and consume with our eyes over and over without having to deal with the complexities of babies in real life. It works a lot like porn. "I Wrote a Song About Allergies" is by Kyle Dine. Emma Cooper does the Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast. I'm involved with two writers groups affiliated with the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. "Now, That's Magic" is by KidsCastUK. All the music (and the KidsCastUK bits) were provided by Mevio.com.

"Some Strange Feelin'" is by Davis Coen, and is available at Mevio.com. "Our Pet Rat" is an essay published anonymously in Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Arts in 1878. I found it in Google Books. The publisher, William Chambers, was the Lord Provost of Edinburgh who was included as a character in the film Greyfriars Bobby. (He paid for Bobby's dog license so the dog would not be put down by the authorities after the dog's master had died.) Read about bee space at the University of Illinois Extension website. McGee harassing Gibbs: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl2G3TKckGw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999] Notice that, at about 53 seconds in, Gibbs turns on McGee with his fur fluffed out like an angry cat. "Ain't It Strange" is by Bosco and Peck, and is available at Mevio.com. A friend of mine went with me to The International Gem and Jewelry Show in Rosemont, IL. She and her husband also went to the Anime Central Convention, which was held in the same building that weekend. I would have gone to both, too, if it weren't for the facts that (a) I still had to grade a lot of final papers for my classes, (b) I am a huge wuss and a whole day of fun would have been too much for me physically, and (c) I did not have enough money lying around loose to pay for both shows. As it was, I got to take some pictures of some awesome costumes. Most people were very gracious when I asked if I could photograph them (getting asked is a compliment, I'm told). I, on the other hand, was very pleased that whenever I asked someone to pose, three or four other people immediately started photographing my models too. I took that as a signal that I have a good eye for costumes -- even though I know zippo about anime. I've tried looking these characters up, and all I found was an ad image for a site, not the series: See them there? Right in the middle? Blue eye patches, blue eye patches! The two girls (I think) in blue warned me that they were not from the same series, and I told them, "I don't care. I don't know anything about series. I just like your costumes." They were not impressed with my answer, as you can tell from their facial expressions. This guy is not from a series. Lots of people just dress up as animals. I am mainly interested in her arm armor, which she made. My friends told me later that there was a girl with homemade, lightweight armor all over her body, in curlicues reminiscent of (but less chilly than) Princess Leia's outfit in Jabba the Hutt's den. Eeeee! The guy was walking around with the box slightly open, and just his eyes peering out. I wish I knew who this was supposed to be. Gas mask! And, perhaps, Waldo. Unicorn! "Strange Town" is by Ivan Chew, used under a Creative Commons Noncommercial Sampling Plus license.

"Space Cowboy" is by Matthew Long and is available on GarageBand.com. The short story, "Operation Earthworm," was written by Joe Archibald and published in Fantastic Universe in September 1955. I found it at Project Gutenberg. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse: Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew (1000 Series) is by Garth Johnson. Robot makers: * Mike Rivamonte * Scott Sauer * "Chrome-delicious Robot Art & Ray Guns" article on robot makers, with links to their websites, from Dark Roasted Blend The Expectant Knitter: 30 Designs for Baby and Your Growing Family is by Maria Connolly. Natural Nursery Knits: 20 Hand-knit Designs for the New Baby is by Erika Knight. "Chiron Beta Prime" is by Jonathan Coulton and is available on Music Alley at Mevio.com.

The Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, read for you on LibriVox (by Kara Shallenburg). The modern English translation is me glossing the text using the definitions on the Librarius.com page. "Garden of Roses" is by Spring Heeled Jacks Original Swinging Jass Band. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote "Pied Beauty." "Grow a Garden" is by Kesang Marstrand. Thomas Carew wrote "The Spring." Evidently I pronounced his name wrong: it should be said "Carey." "Flowers" is by Gold Box Kingdom (featuring AMY B). Garden Gnome Liberation provides the free template "Letter to Gnome Captor." "Bees and Flowers/Joe Smallwood's Reel" is by Duane Andrews. Charles Dudley Warner wrote "My Summer in a Garden." Please note that times were different then. However, the difficulties that beset the gardener are pretty much the same now. "Flower" is by Supraluxe. Edgar Wilson Nye wrote "The Garden Hose." "Farmyard Rock n Roll" is by The Jackass-Penguin Show. You may recognize it from my Episode 6. Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote The Secret Garden. "Among the Green Leaves" is by Kesang Marstrand. All the music on this podcast was provided by Mevio.com.

"The Man Who Understood Women" is a short story by Leonard Merrick, published in 1911. The theory of knowledge-making, or epistemology, that I described is drawn from actor-network-theory but can also be found in other theories of knowledge-making, such as those of John Dewey or Brenda Dervin. SCBWI is the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. These are my new glasses: The Dapper Rat site offers some ideas for fun toys for pet rats. The music in this podcast is provided by Mevio.com. "A Mutual Misunderstanding" is by Peter, Bjorn and John. "Nobody Really Understands" is by Dan Coyle. "Better" is by Jonathan Coulton.

The segment from George Orwell's novel, 1984, is taken from Part 3, Chapter 2. All the music in this podcast is provided by Mevio.com. "Dear Mother" is by Jordan Doucette. "Things I Used to Know" is by James Casto.

Holiday music from the artists at Mevio.com.

Holiday music from the artists at Mevio.com.

A brief update and a description of the two following tracks.

Hans Christian Andersen wrote "The Old Bachelor's Nightcap." I mangled the words "Hysken Sträde" because they are a nonsense version of Hyskenstræde -- which I'm sure I would have mangled also. I should probably just say them in American instead of trying to figure out how to say them "right." Eisenach is a city just south of the halfway point of a straight-line journey between Berlin and Dusseldorf. Lady Holle might be a Scandinavian goddess or demi-goddess. The Tannhauser legends are pretty interesting. Ah, for the days before science. The tale of Tristram and Iseult has been told many ways. "Walter of the Vogelverde" is probably Walther von der Vogelweide. The music in this podcast was provided by Mevio.com. "Die Alone" is by Ingrid Michaelson. "A Girl Alone" is by Hungry Lucy. "Coming Home Soon" is by the Adam Woodall Band.

Sy Montgomery wrote The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood, which I found a challenging read due to the text's excess sentimentality and which I didn't finish. And I like animal fiction and nonfiction. For example, I really enjoyed Space Station Rat, by Michael J. Daley. Judith Martin/Miss Manners wrote Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior. Jenny Davidson wrote Hypocrisy and the Politics of Politeness: Manners and Morals from Locke to Austen. Music for this podcast was provided by Mevio.com. "Farmyard Rock n Roll" is from The Jackass-Penguin Show. Adam Balbo performed "Tammy's a Nice Girl." The Unnormals created "Polite." "I Want to Be Good" is by Susan Govali. "This Time I Want the Truth" is from Jeff DeHerdt.

As You Like It is a play written by William Shakespeare. There are many related production notes, commentaries, translations, summaries, and glossaries on the Web. I went on a trip with Southwest Airlines. They pulled me off my flight just before takeoff for fear of the H1N1 flu (or "swine flu") and said I could only get back on a flight home if I was tested at a hospital first. This embarrassed me, cost me a lot of money, and didn't actually accomplish anything, as the test was only 70% accurate. Charlie Rose aired an episode about H1N1 and what we know about it so far. Unfortunately, the video itself isn't available yet. Here is a Q&A session with one of the participants in the Charlie Rose panel. Notice that, in spite of the "national emergency" status given by President Obama (whom I voted for, remember), the actual data we have on H1N1 show it to be slightly different but not necessarily more dangerous than other types of flus. I sang the intro to the fashion segment to the tune of "Moon River," written by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini for Breakfast at Tiffany's. I like this movie. Except the Mickey Rooney bits. I've been following the fashion shows in New York, London, Milan, and Paris for the past few years, via podcasts by MODTV and Style.com. Some of the designer collections I mentioned in this podcast are: * Anna Sui, New York, Fall 2009 * Erdem, London, Fall 2009 * Christopher Kane, London, Fall 2009 * Peter Pilotto, London, Fall 2009 * Gucci, Milan, Fall 2009 * Giorgio Armani, Milan, Fall 2009 I also talked about Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting magazines. All the music was provided by Mevio.com. "Winter Wind" was composed and performed by Jon Schmidt. Seamonkey adapted "Swine Flu" from "Footloose" (popularized by Kenny Loggins).

The Welsh fairy tale, “Elidore,” is collected in Joseph Jacobs’ Celtic Fairy Tales (some editions) and in his More Celtic Fairy Tales (other editions). The name “Elidore,” or some form of it, was current close to the time of Henry Beauclerc. (Henry Beauclerc is Henry I of England.)”Elidore” may be a derivative of the name “Eleutherius,” which was the name of the bishop of Rome who sent Christian missionaries to England. “The great forest near St. David’s” is the forest around the land or cathedral of St. David, in Wales. St. David is the patron saint of Wales. The “hips and haws” that Elidore eats in the forest are probably rose hips (wild roses) and hawthorn berries. I was wrong when I said that David, the “bishop of St. David’s,” lived between one and two hundred years after Elidore. It turns out that he really did hold office around the time of Henry Beauclerc. “Udor” is Greek for “water.” “Hap” is not the Greek word for “salt.” The myth that the Britons were descended from Priam of Troy, and that London was New Troy, was important justification for their domination of Scotland, among other places. The British say St. John as “Sinjin,” or some such thing. A. E. Cannon used this difference in pronunciation to make one character look silly in her book, Amazing Gracie. Alyssa Milano’s ex-husband is named Cinjun. [uncontrolled laughter] Joseph Campbell gave a model of a hero’s quest in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. For a look at some folktales that do not follow Campbell’s model, try Fearless Girls, Wise Women and Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World. An excellent example of a story that does follow Campbell’s model is Lloyd Alexander’s novel, The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen. “The Plain in the Prodigy,” an episode of the TV show, Bones, questioned the validity of religious proscriptions. Jenna Woginrich wrote Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life. The music in this episode was provided by Music Alley from Mevio. “Phantom Spaceman” is by THE VITAL MIGHT. “Your Silence Betrays You” is by Mojave. “Farmyard Rock n Roll” is by The Jackass-Penguin Show.

Actor-network-theory (or ANT) posits that the world is made up of forces, given physical form–it’s actually more complicated than it sounds. I gave a brief and inadequate explanation of how this theory applies to creative writing. (All brief explanations of actor-network-theory are misleading.) A better explanation of the particular point in ANT that I referenced is given in “Unscrewing the Big Leviathan,” a paper by ANT theorists Michel Callon and Bruno Latour. If you want to learn more about ANT, you can visit the Actor Network Resource. Tales for the Perfect Child is by Florence Parry Heide, with illustrations by Victoria Chess. Right now it is on sale on Amazon for a dollar or so. It is definitely worth the shipping costs, as it is a very light little book. Charmed Life is by Diana Wynne Jones, one of my favorite authors. She is no relation of Tim Wynne-Jones. You can buy fitting shell patterns from the major pattern makers, such as Vogue (the last two patterns on the page). Each fitting shell is customized for that company’s patterns. You may need to make other shells to give yourself baselines for working from patterns published by other companies, because their sizes may be different. Threads magazine has a library of excellent sewing tips and instructions; here is an article on fitting shells, also known as slopers. Here is another that briefly describes ease, and another really helpful one on evaluating the quality of a given pattern. It is about sewing, but has good ideas for a knitter to think about. Want to know how to measure yourself accurately? You may need a friend to help get the hard-to-reach measurements. This Threads article shows you how. Find out about darts! The VogueKnitting article on fitting is by Lily M. Chin, and came out in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue, on page 40. Also see Lily Chin’s Couture Crochet Workshop: Mastering Fit, Fashion, and Finesse. Adele P. Margolis wrote Make Your Own Patterns: A Primer in Patternmaking for Those Who Like to Sew. What is a gusset? Gibbs’ wrestling move is actually a martial arts move (silly me) known as a C-step. An “Ender complex,” as I have named it, is the tendency to hit back at an aggressor as hard and as long as it takes to destroy that aggressor, so that he/she/it will not dare or be able to attack again. I named this complex after Ender Wiggins, the protagonist of the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. (Hi, Kris and family, if you’re listening.) Rat aggression can be caused by many things, including an oversupply of testosterone. Note that not all male rats or even dominant male rats are aggressive toward humans. Most of them are very sweet, very bad boys. My McGee is totally dominant, must supervise everything and eat all the good stuff first, and he is a total cuddlebunny to my husband and me. A very active, toothy cuddlebunny. He pinches and pulls the other boys’ loose skin with his teeth all the freakin’ time, but he doesn’t pinch us. The most straightforward thing to do is get the aggressive boys neutered, since mine hate being separated, even when they are in a turf war. (This is so codependent of them.) I don’t know what to do for girls. Finding an appropriate vet to do the job can be tricky because rats have different physiology “down there” than dogs, cats, and rabbits, and if the surgery is not performed correctly, your rat can leak bad stuff and get infected and suffer a lot and then die. So do your best to find a good vet. The music in this podcast is included by permission. “Jim the Toothbrush” is from Eric Strom’s Daily Song archive. The lyrics are by thscientist1 — whoever that is. Kate McDowell wrote and performed “The Princess’s Promise.” You can find more of her work at http://www.katemcdowell.com/ The Vital Might wrote and performed “The Truth.” Find more of their work at http://www.thevitalmight.com/music/

The first book in the series, The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival, titled, Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone, is written by Dene Low (a.k.a., my mom) and is published by Houghton Mifflin. You can buy it at any retailer of fine books (Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc.) If your local bookseller does not carry it, you can ask that it be ordered in. The author will sign it for you if you pay for postage. I've done this, so I know it is true. Email her at denelow @ comcast.net (taking out the spaces, of course) and find out for yourself. A contract for producing an audiobook of this title is currently underway with Audible.com. My cousin Emily might get to be the voice. I used this set of instructions to record my Skype conversation with my mother. Dene Low's pitch line for this book, which she used in query letters for editors at publishing houses, was that this book was a combination of Sherlock Holmes, P. G. Wodehouse or Oscar Wilde, with a touch of Kafka. * Sherlock Holmes mystery stories were written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. * P. G. Wodehouse wrote novels, short stories, and Broadway plays (search for "wodehouse"). He is perhaps best known for his Jeeves and Wooster characters. * Oscar Wilde wrote deeply ironic stories and plays (search for "wilde"). * Kafka wrote The Metamorphosis (second author entry on page). * Dene Low's book also has a lot in common with the better works of Georgette Heyer. My mom participates in a writers group, is active in her state and local literary societies, such as the local chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and attends writing conferences such as the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop. She also has a contract with a literary agent. Dene Low's planned quartet of Petronella novels: 1. Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone 2. Petronella Saves Several More 3. Petronella Saves at Least One 4. Saving Petronella A "brick" is a wholly dependable person, someone you can really count on in a jam (search for "brick" after opening that link). "The Bulletin" is The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Ann Cannon has also published under the name A. E. Cannon. I use Goodreads.com to keep track of which books I like and don't like, why I feel that way, and what these books might be useful for in the future. The Jo Sharp cardigan I'm working on is referenced in the show notes of episode two of this podcast. A gusset is a triangular addition to fabric, usually along a seam, to create more room in the finished piece. A worsted weight yarn is heavier/thicker than a DK weight yarn. Taking care of the chickens at the local organic farm is a lot of work because there are 200 chickens to care for. I may knit some cute baby caps for my friend's new baby. The music used in this episode is all British music from the decade 1900-1910, the decade in which my mother's book is set. I got it from the Internet Archive, and it is all shared in accordance with a Creative Commons license. "Nothing Hardly Ever Troubles Me" is by Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan. "What D'Yer Want to Talk About It For?" is by Harry Bluff. "I Remember You" is by Ada Jones.

This was the transitional episode moving the podcast show notes site to this page, where you are. If you are reading this page on a WordPress.com blog, then you are probably signed up for the right feed. The podcast is moving to another provider: Jellycast.com. You should resubscribe, using iTunes or whatever, to the new feed if you want to keep listening. You can go to the new, barebones page for the avocadoknits podcast at: http://www.jellycast.com/directory/index.php?page=jellycast&id=2260 Once there, you can subscribe to the new feed. Alternatively, you can search the iTunes Store for “avocadoknits” and subscribe to the one you are not subscribed to yet. There are only two avocadoknits feeds, and they are both this podcast. The (so far) less popular podcast is the new one and will continue to put out new episodes. The feed URL for the new location is: http://avocadoknits.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/2 The new feed will have all the old episodes on it, plus a new episode for your listening pleasure. The new show notes site is at: http://avocadoknits.wordpress.com It, too, will have all the show notes for all previous episodes as well as the new one (which will be “Episode 4: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone”). Notes for this episode, number 3.5: 3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom. “Grandma’s Frilly Nightgown” was based on “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” which was written by banjoist Jim Connors and popularized by John Denver. “La bebe a la quien le cayo bien la educacion” was based on “La Bamba,” a rock and roll version of the traditional song, by Ritchie Valens. “The Ballad of Clumsy Oaf” was based on the theme song for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies: “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” by Paul Henning.

Welcome to avocadoknits! The short story I read today is the text for a picture book that I wrote in 1992. I called it Martha the Discoverer. Somebody else wrote it recently and published it. Serves me right for not doing anything with it myself. I think my tendency toward potty humor served me well when I was working in the children's section of a variety of public libraries in California and Illinois. I used to write reviews for The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Some of the pieces I wrote for the online supplements to The Bulletin can be found here: Kenneth Oppel Terry Pratchett Joan Aiken Emily Jenkins Clare B. Dunkle Suzanne Collins The Bagthorpe books are written by Helen Cresswell. They are excessively clever and very funny. I very recently got my doctorate from the University of Illinois. Yay, Ravelry! My username on Ravelry is "timnah" -- please come be my friend. I haven't knitted much for a while, so I am slowly building up my photo gallery of FOs (finished objects). I named my current pet rats Gibbs, Tony, and McGee. The Dapper Rat is a really good website for all things ratty, including fun toys and games to play with your rat. The maze box I made for my boys is basically a Clubhouse. You can see pet rats standing up to threaten each other in relation to wrestling (fighting) here on YouTube. NCIS is probably my favorite TV show. I also like So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and Dancing with the Stars. My husband's favorite TV shows are Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), Firefly, and Magnum, P.I. The local organic farm is The Learning Farm at Prairie Crossing. Pigs and rototilling? Check it out. Using pigs to till ground is an excellent example of permaculture principles: the output of the weedy field goes into the pig, which produces fertilizer at the same time it tills the field -- all using zero fossil fuels and requiring very little effort on your part. (Of course, you will want to plant a cover crop and wait a while to use the field for food production, to let the pig manure break down.) If you are interested in permaculture, you might like The Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast. You can subscribe via iTunes, but the earliest episodes are available in the AKG Index. An example of an overtly ethical/moral critical theorist is Paolo Freire. My favorite critical theorist is Bruno Latour. I also think of sacred texts as statements describing reality as perceived by the text writers via inspiration or revelation. These texts are limited statements -- no text completely describes reality -- and so are open to interpretation. I like exploring sacred texts as theoretical statements.

“Hudden and Dudden and Donald O’Neary” is an Irish folktale collected and published by folklorist Joseph Jacobs in his book, Celtic Fairy Tales. Social Darwinism explained. Sarah McLachlan is a singer/songwriter who wrote and performs “Adia” (lyrics), in which she expresses a theory of justice and individual responsibility that I refer to in this podcast. Paolo Freire is a theorist and activist whose ideas include many ways we as individuals and groups can act to create a more just world. His book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, is relevant, especially Chapter Two. With regard to being our own angels: I find a short passage from the epilogue to John Fletcher’s play, The Honest Man’s Fortune, to be provocative (in a good way): Man is his own star, and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man Commands all light, all influence, all fate, Nothing to him falls early or too late. Our acts our angels are, or good or ill, Our fatal shadows that stand by us still. It is perhaps good to note that “perfect” can also mean “whole,” “complete,” or “fully mature,” and that “fatal” here means “fate-al,” or “determining one’s destiny.” I first came across this poem in Louisa May Alcott’s book, Rose in Bloom. There, it is cited as a joint work of both Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (both men are contemporaries of Shakespeare). This article explains why. Joseph Fielding Smith said, “It is contrary to the law of God for the heavens to be opened and messengers to come to do anything for man that man can do for himself. . . . You cannot point to anywhere in the scriptures where a messenger has come from the heavens and bestowed upon man something man could do for himself, but angels have come and told men what to do and sent men to do it.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., comp. Bruce R. McConkie, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–57, 1:196.) Nicky Epstein wrote Knitting on Top of the World: The Global Guide to Traditions, Techniques and Design. Michele Rose Orne wrote Inspired to Knit: Creating Exquisite Handknits. Brenda Dayne writes, produces, and performs an excellent knitting and philosophy podcast (combining knitting and philosophy in one, not one and then the other) called Cast On. She has been selected to participate in the plinth art project in London’s Trafalgar Square in mid-September. Brenda is an American living in Wales, so you Britophiles especially will like hearing about Brenda’s life. Erin, or Spinnerin, produced and performed a podcast called Faery Knitting until early this year. The episodes are still available – each one starts with a fairy or folk tale in the public domain and then continues with brief (but very enjoyable) critical commentary on the tale, as well as lots of interesting tidbits about Erin’s life as a fiber producer and small farmer in Texas. If you can’t get the last episode to download (as I have been unable to do), you might contact Erin on Ravelry (her ID is Spinnerin) and pester her for it. I plan to do exactly that as soon as I get to the end of the episodes I have. Both these podcasts are available through iTunes. The Green Man performed “The Shiny Penny.” This song is included according to a Creative Commons Music Sharing license. You can legally download this whole song yourself and listen to it for free, as well as more of their work. Cat Jahnke wrote and performed “Tangle” and “Crocodiles.” These songs are included by permission in this podcast and are not licensed for random sharing. You can buy her CD though, which I swear is totally worth it. And maybe get one of those great crocodile T-shirts as well.

Poem "Der Vampir" (The Vampire) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, 1748. (Google "der vampir" ossenfelder) Harlequin novels are romances aimed at women. The movie, Twilight, is based on the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer. Creepy Cute Crochet is by Christen Haden, from Quirk Books in Philadelphia. My first set of interchangeable circular needles were Denise Interchangeables. They lasted more than twenty years. I got my metal-tip set of interchangeable circular needles from KnitPicks. My husband bought me my whale balance toy for Christmas. It is made by Authentic Models. Jo Sharp designed the Silkroad Cardigan. It was first published in the Fall 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. There are errata for this pattern. The cable pattern I'm using is on the bottom center of the cover of Beautiful Knitting Patterns, by Gisela Klopper. It's also on page 49. I was probably too hard on Red Heart yarn. They have a lot of different yarns, and not all of them stand up by themselves. I Love This Yarn acrylic worsted weight yarn (search for it on Ravelry to get the specs) is sold by Hobby Lobby. Look up "liminal space" in From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play, by Victor Turner. No rats were harmed in the recording of this podcast. They screech more when they are fighting amongst themselves than they did in the bathtub. And yes, the little squeaks you heard in the background of this episode were the rats, fighting. Music used in this podcast was licensed according to a Creative Commons license that indicates that the performers really, really want you to download and share their music. Check them out! "Vampire Theme," by icephixia. "Oh, You Make Me Cry" from the album, La vita è sofferenza (La morte è l'unica certezza), by Stephen Cartier. "Shapeshifter," from the album, Shapeshifter, by The Ease Down.