Podcasts about west coast us

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 285 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Crafty Adventures KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Cniotáil Láimhe Designs on Ravelry, Area 51 Fibres, Stitched by Jessalu & Paper Daisy Creations on Ravelry.   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Static Musselburgh Pattern: Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague (7 GBP Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry & Ysolda's website) Yarn: Knit Picks Static Fingering Weight Yarn in the Peppercorn colorway Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) & US 2.5 (3.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Note- the pattern just got some updates About the yarn: blues, grays, cream and a bit of a salmony orange. Self patterning yarn.   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Owen's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! web.archive.org-Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Our Archives.pdf Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White Hook: G (4.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: 2 pieces done, seamed up. Cuff is done and steamed. Snowman applique pieces finished. Sidetracked by all the mojo   Vegas Baby Socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Vegas Baby Colorwork Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: cast on both socks using 2 50g cakes. Sock 2 has a heel. Sock 2 is almost ready for a heel About the colorway- gray tinted rainbow with stripes of purple, blue, darker green, lime green, mustard/yellow, pink   Mom's 2024 Christmas Socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Cascade Heritage Prints in the Holly Stripe Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the colorway- Red, white and green uneven stripes. The first sock is finished. The second sock is beyond the heel.   Hattie's Scrappy Helical Socks Yarn: Random bits & bobs of fingering weight leftovers in pinks, purples and blues Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) US 1 (not 1.5), 48 sts. long cuff. Ravelry Project Page Check out my video tutorial for using Cate's Clasp Weft Join along with Helical Knitting. I measured Hattie's foot recently when she tried on this WIP. I need a 7-7.5 inch foot. Toe will be 12 rounds, which is about an inch of knitting, so Ii knit a little more than 6 inches before starting the toe. Progress: First sock finished.   Better Waverly Cardigan Pattern: Better Waverly by Taylor E Owen. $8 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry. Yarn: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool in the Brown Heather Colorway Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the Pattern: I saw Taylor talk about this pattern in her recent YouTube Video. Progress: Still working on the raglan increases   Silverlining Sweater Pattern: Silverlining by Jennifer Steingass $8 pattern available on Ravelry Yarn: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool in the Oatmeal Colorway + Junction Fiber Mill Making Tracks Yarn in the Day's End Colorway Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Size B (because working with fabric that has about 18 inches over 4 inches) Progress: several inches into the body (put on hold) and about half way through the first sleeve.   Brainstorming Bee Stacking Toy- Ravelry link for  $5 crochet pattern (also available for free on this website)   From the Armchair Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Gilmore Girls: The Official Knitting Book: Knit Your Way Through Stars Hollow and Beyond by Tanis Gray- available on Amazon. Link to patterns on Ravelry. Be sure to check out: A Thousand Yellow Daisies by Beth Leath- Ravelry Pattern Link I also like the Daily News Hat by Alina Appasova- Ravelry Pattern Page.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   Crafty Adventures Dan went to a Better Off Dead movie party. I helped him make pig ears to sew onto a chef's hat (he did the sewing). He also made slime (with raisins because "you like raisins') and lots of other props from the movie.   KAL News Pigskin Party '24 #DCSPigskinParty24 Event Dates: Thursday September 5, 2024- Monday February 10, 2025 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form  (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions-  ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Our Official Sponsor for Q1 (October) is The Little Wolf Knits. This means you've got a challenge that can earn you more points and entry towards a cool prize. Check out the challenge details in this Ravelry post. Winner will be announced in the next episode. Our Official Sponsor for Q2 (November) is Twin Mountain Handcrafts. Check this Ravelry thread for details about the Button challenge!   Events   Fiber Festival of New England- November 2 & 3- Mom, Riley and I are going on Sunday November 3rd Maryland Alpaca and Fleece Festival: November 9-10, 2024 in West Friendship, Maryland For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Contest, News & Notes Check out this article if you're an Apple user who plans to become a member of any new Patreon communities to avoid this 30% fee to Apple. You can check out my Patreon page here.   Life in Focus I gave a quick update on Mom who will be starting a new cancer treatment on 11/1/24. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers, please.   On a Happy Note Outing with Mom to get eyelash extensions & Savers. Laura's visit: Matching PJs- Cuddl Duds Coffee PJs from Kohls, My first trip to Costco! Grand Opening of Dance Legacy Arts + Hattie preview of Frozen Jr. Movies (Substance= terrible) + dinner with Megg (lovely) Ryan and Nicki visit with Mom, Dad and me after Rhinebeck & they brought me a skein of yarn! 2 massages in 1 week (24 for 2024 list) Dan and I went to vote together last Saturday morning, then I headed over to a local Sample Sale, knitting on my Silverlining sweater while I waited and listening to others local gossip. I got a ton of Christmas shopping done, then I met up with my mom's friends Patrick and Szymon in from Arizona. Mom, our friend Sharon (in from CT) and our cousin Linda (who I just found out listens- HI), met us for lunch!  Liz came over and we watched Little Women (2019 version) which I hadn't seen and was on our to watch list. (3 of 5 movies for my 24 in 2024 list). I visited my parents on Sunday. Millie and Garret were there. We took a walk to neighborhood nearby for Mom's PT for the day. Group text with friends who went to VT- about our sweaters and other adjacent things. Lots of fun and motivation. Monday night dinner with my parents, Patrick and Szymon. Early morning walk to local State park. beautiful sunrise and golden leaves around the reservoir. Need to do this more often.   Quote of the Week It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are indeed part of the problem. -Coretta Scott King   Thank you for tuning in!   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.  

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 284 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.    This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Some Years Later In my Travels KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Woolen Women Fibers, Bronwyn the Brave Designs & Chit Chat Knits Designs   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Farmhouse Pumpkin Pattern: Farmhouse Pumpkins by More Dreams Less Life. $4.25 crochet pattern available on Ravelry. Yarn: KnitKraft Wintuk Yarn in the Rust Colorway Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page   Rest Relax Recharge Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn: Plush Sock in the Rest Relax Recharge Colorway (from the March 2023 Yarnable Box) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Check out my Yarnable Unboxing Playlist on YouTube Get $5 off with coupon code BOSTONJEN using my Affiliate Link   Urth Yarn Turn a Square Hat Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood ($5 pattern available on Ravelry & Brooklyn Tweed website) Yarn: Urth Yarn Uneek Worsted Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) for ribbing. US 7 (4.5 mm) for body. Ravelry Project Page Started August 5th but never talked about on the podcast. Purchased during Cape and South Shore Yarn Haul a year or two ago.  Ended up being about 48g. Still have about 56 g leftover so I will make another.   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Owen's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! web.archive.org-Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Our Archives.pdf Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White Hook: G (4.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: 2 pieces done, seamed up and working on the cuff. I need to finish the cuff, create the appliqué, sew on the name the hook.   Peace & Light Socks Yarn: Woolens & Nosh SW Targhee Sock in the Peace & Light Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: 6 stripes in blues/teals, 3 in creams/yellows- Pigskin Pro Shop Sponsor Purchased from Michele at VT Sheep and Wool. Wound up the yarn on Sue's ballwinder the next morning and knit most of the leg of the first sock on a boat on Lake Champlain with Sue & Dave Stokes, Paige and Paul Miller and Rachel!! Woolens & Nosh is a Pigskin Pro Shop Sponsor   Dirty Crayon Box Socks Yarn: Fiber Stash Strong Toes Sock (80% SW Merino/ 20% Nylon) in the Dirty Crayon Box Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page I bought this yarn at a festival a long time ago. Speckly with an overall purple tone. Progress: cuff done and a few inches of the first leg.   Dream Big Socks Yarn: Fibernymph Dye Works Strong DK (75% SW Merino/ 25% Nylon) in the Dream Big Colorway (Fundraiser for our FearLESS Living Fund) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) Ravelry Project Page 48 sts cuff down Cast on in June but haven't talked about on the pod before. leg of the first sock is nearly done: About the colorway: larger stripes of blue, green, orange. Smaller stripes of orange, purple, gray.  Fibernymph Dye Works is a Pigskin Pro Shop Sponsor   Vegas Baby Socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Vegas Baby Colorwork Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page   Welcome to Litchfield Hat Pattern: Citrus Hat by Laura Treadway (free knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Handspun (Ravelry Project Page)- Into the Whirled; 2 braids Texel & BFL Tussah Silk in the Welcome to Litchfield Colorway + Traveler colorway on Cheviot base to make a 3 ply yarn Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) & US 6 (4.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page   Brainstorming   I fell in love with the Love Today Cowl by Knit Sisu that I saw at a VT Sheep and Wool. I found some of my handspun (Ravelry page here) that I thought would work, wound it up and then did a wraps per inch test and its too thin. I went back to the handspun bin, and found another skein (Ravelry page) and now I'm thinking they'd be nice in the Inclinations Cowl by Andrea Mowy (Ravelry | website). The goal of this cowl was for a potential Christmas gift even though I'd like it for me, but I think with these 2 skeins of handspun I want to keep it, so we'll see if I cast these on now or let it marinate, because I also want to cast on a sweater for me, and more socks and hats for Christmas gifts. I swatched for a sweater with yarn from VT Sheep and Wool. More on that next time.   From the Armchair The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   Some Years Later   I've been wearing lots of woolies lately as have my loved ones! Same as It Ever Was by Sarah Jordan (Pigskin Sponsor)- Ravelry Project Page Dad wore his Musselburgh to Topsfield Fair- Ravelry Project Page Megg also wore Nanaimo Cardigan to Mamma Mia- Ravelry Project Page I also have 2 Nanaimos that I've been wearing- the original one I knit is in earthy oatmealy tones and the other in gray- Ravelry Project Page 1 & Ravelry Project Page 2 here. I'm also wearing a lot of wool socks, especially with wool clogs. I need more supportive clogs for walking. Any suggestions for me?   In My Travels   Check out my VT Sheep and Wool Vlog Video on YouTube. Patrons, check out the video linked in your feed for more photos and no ads. I talked about the following makers: Woolens & Nosh,  Wooly Thistle, KnitSisu, Junction Fiber Mill, Jennifer Steingass's Silverlining Sweater- available on Ravelry.   KAL News Pigskin Party '24 #DCSPigskinParty24 Event Dates: Thursday September 5, 2024- Monday February 10, 2025 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form  (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions-  ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Our Official Sponsor for Q1 (October) is The Little Wolf Knits. This means you've got a challenge that can earn you more points and entry towards a cool prize. Check out the challenge details in this Ravelry post Q2- November- sneak peek- sponsor= Twin Mountain Handcrafts- using buttons! Commentator Mary Klute's report: The first quarter challenge has really inspired pigskin partiers! There has been a lot of chatter in the huddle thread about the new techniques folks are planning to meet the requirements of the challenge!   Some players are planning to tackle knitting techniques that they have never tried before like half fisherman's rib, colorwork, intarsia, magic loop, a new cast on or bind off, and brioche. Others are trying out a new tool like an i-cord maker or a new knitting app Others are trying new kinds of projects: a garment with lace down the side, joggers, knitting a shawl for the first time, knitting a shawl with an unusual construction, and colorwork socks A couple of people have mentioned joining mystery knit a longs for the challenge Others have mentioned using varieties of yarn they've never used before like boucle yarn or non-superwash wool. And a finally a bunch of players are planning crochet projects--some who have never successfully crocheted before and others who want to grow their crochet skills by moving beyond granny squares or learning how to join crocheted pieces. This challenge is really motivating players to step out of their comfort zones!  If you still haven't decided what to do for the quarter 1 challenge--head on over to the huddle thread for some inspiration!    Events NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY Fiber Festival of New England- November 2 & 3- Mom, Riley and I are going on Sunday November 3rd Maryland Alpaca and Fleece Festival: November 9-10, 2024 in West Friendship, Maryland For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Contest, News & Notes   My friend Linda is looking for donations of warm handknit/crocheted items for adult and youth homeless in Massachusetts. They set up tables on Thanksgiving and put all of the handmade items on the fence outside the First Church in Woburn, MA. Calling for all makers who want to donate. PM me on Ravelry or email me at downcellarstudio at gmail.com and I'll give you the address to send them to. Any fiber type welcome. Hats, scarves, mitts, shawls, blankets. Anything warm is welcome!   Life in Focus   2024 Word of the Year- Heart   2024-  Goals: Use my podcast/YouTube/Instagram following to raise money for the FearLESS Living Fund (details in the Ravelry group- and email if you're one of our regular sponsors) Make & assess goals every month in 2024 Monthly review of number of workouts + weigh on at least twice a month. Stretch/Theragun 2-4 times a week   24 for 2024 List Updates Get 2 massages beyond the one per month at Massage Envy (1 at Oasis in July, 1 scheduled Oct had to move. scheduled 2 more) Read more books than you did in 2023 (50) 45 as of now Knit at least 1 finished project with handspun in progress Knit/crochet myself a new sweater swatched Make a Christmas afghan for the living room- in progress Try a new local restaurant - Lolita (want one even MORE local)   On a Happy Note   Mamma Mia + dinner at Ruka beforehand October 4: we celebrated my dad's birthday with an evening cookout and swim! Dad left the pool open while mom was in the hospital, and heated it back up to a warm 88 degrees for us to all enjoy one last swim. VT Sheep and Wool!!! Mom, Dad, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Wendy all went to the Topsfield Fair. Beautiful quilts, handknits, emotional support chickens. Live Laugh Love cross stitch- live, laugh, love. Mom got some blue tinsel in her hair! Adorable. Saw everyone's photos of the Northern Lights on Facebook on the way home so I had to take a few! Baby Jane- adapted for the stage by my Mom's friend Michael Hammond for Company Theatre- Marybeth in it.   Quote of the Week   Bob Dylan on the advice his father gave him: "Even if you don't have all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have that you don't want."   ------ Thank you for tuning in!   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.  

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 283 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.   This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Knitting in Passing KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitchin with Yarn, winemakerssister, Yumi Yarns & Fibernymph Dye Works   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins LFA Helical Socks Yarn: Legacy Fiber Artz Steel Toes in the Portal Colorway & a Mystery Colorway (both 50g skeins: 75% SW Merino, 25% Nylon). Knit Picks Felici in the Beatnik Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Cast on in June 2023. Finished September 5. Forgot to share in the last episode.   Frozen Shake Cozy Pattern: Ball Band with a Twist by Jennifer Lassonde. $2 crochet pattern available on Ravelry | LoveCrafts Yarn: worsted crochet cotton Hooks: F (3.75mm) & G (4.0mm) Ravelry Project Page Yarn- mystery blue cotton on a cone that was from Aunt Rachel's stash. Made for mom during September hospital stay when the dietitians started making frozen shakes to get nutrients into her.   Ribbed Bobble Pumpkin Pattern: Ribbed Bobble Pumpkin by Breann Mauldin. $3 crochet pattern available on Ravelry. Free version available here. Yarn: KnitKraft Wintuk Yarn in the Tangerine Colorway Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Yarn gifted to me by my friend Heather. We became friends through the dancing school we went to. Her mother was the stage manager and my mom was the house manager for our recitals. We've all know each other since I was 12. Heather's mother Rita passed away a few years ago. When Heather heard my mom was in the hospital she dropped off a care package at the dancing school- chemo caps for Mom and yarn from her mom's stash for me!   Rita's pumpkins Pattern: Pumpkin by June Gilbank. Free crochet pattern available on Ravelry. Free version available here. Yarn: KnitKraft Wintuk Yarn in the Tangerine Colorway Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page 5 finished Yarn is definitely 1970s/1980s squeeky acrylic, so not my favorite to work with, but it feels great to put it to good use and to bring a bit of life to Rita's old stash.   Farmhouse Pumpkin Pattern: Farmhouse Pumpkins by More Dreams Less Life. $4.25 crochet pattern available on Ravelry. Yarn: KnitKraft Wintuk Yarn in the Tangerine Colorway Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Worked in the round. Does use FP & BP HDC which I learned in my crochet cables class at Staci's! Love the look of this. Worked up in an evening of TV.   Pumpkin Patch Cup Cozy Pattern: Pumpkin Patch Cup Cozy by Kylee Keller. Free crochet pattern available on Ravelry & this blog. Yarn: KnitKraft Wintuk Yarn in the Tangerine Colorway, Knit Picks Brava Worsed in the Dublin colorway (green) & mystery brown acrylic yarn from stash. Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page The pattern calls for thicker yarn and a larger hook than I had. It also calls for what's essentially a 1x1 ribbed look, but I liked the look of the ribbing from the front/back post crochets on the Farmhouse Pumpkins, so I used that pattern instead. I used the stitch count from my Ball Band with a Twist pattern (available on Ravelry | LoveCrafts).   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Farmhouse Pumpkin Pattern: Farmhouse Pumpkins by More Dreams Less Life. $4.25 crochet pattern available on Ravelry. Yarn: KnitKraft Wintuk Yarn in the Rust Colorway Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page I initially grabbed the yarn from Heather and threw some in my bag for the hospital and rest (still in its plastic Thom McCann shoe store bag lol into my craft room). I though the other skein of Wintuk was red- but when I went down there again, I realized it was rust! and the pumpkin madness continued! Cast on Saturday 9/28 watching Season 2 of the OA with Dan on Netflix.   Static Musselburgh Pattern: Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague (7 GBP Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry & Ysolda's website) Yarn: Knit Picks Static Fingering Weight Yarn in the Peppercorn colorway Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) & US 2.5 (3.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Note- the pattern just got some updates About the yarn: blues, grays, cream and a bit of a salmony orange. Self patterning yarn. Progress: 15 inches. I will plan to add one more inch and then work the decreases.   Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist This subscription is not available to new subscribers but there's a new one coming in the Fall. Blanket Pre-Orders for the Murder She Knit club are available now! Please consider using my Affiliate Link. Progress: I finished 9 my July squares & seamed them. I started my August squares and have 1 package waiting for me to open- the last batch.   Stranger Things 2 Socks Yarn: Desert Vista Dyeworks Viso base (75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the Stranger Things 2 Self Striping Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Cast on the morning of Thursday 9/5 for the Pigskin Party. I didn't get to join in the round until that night, but now its well underway. About the colorway- stripes of: orange, hot pink, purple, navy blue, medium blue and red. Progress- My first Pigskin Cast on using Snack Shack Sponsor yarn. I'm almost to heel of the first sock.   Rest Relax Recharge Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn: Plush Sock in the Rest Relax Recharge Colorway (from the March 2023 Yarnable Box) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Cast on both cuffs so I can try to work these up quickly. They'll match some of Mom's go-to pjs. Cute acrylic Pigskin markers from Twin Mountain Handcrafts on them. Thanks ladies for sending them to me. I love them.   Brainstorming Making the pumpkins has me itching to make toys. It would be great to make some for the little kiddos for Christmas. I need to start the Christmas stocking for my cousin Colleen's little boy Owen so I have that ready for Thanksgiving. The pumpkins also have me longing to crochet some hats.   From the Armchair Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   Knitting in Passing Talked to several nurses and other staff about my knitting and crochet while in with Mom. One PCA learned to knit before but said she never really full understood it. I told her I'd be happy to meet her for coffee and a lesson anytime. The staff all oooh and ahhh over Mom's handknit socks. One morning when Mom was really out of it from anesthesia the day before, I was putting on her handknit socks and I had them totally crooked, heel on the side, and she was busting my chops. I told her "hey, I said I was good at knitting them, not putting them on!" and she insisted on taking a photo for me to share! Little glimpses of her coming back to her real self were great- even if it was going to be a bit more time before she was back to normal. I recently saw a notice in my town's Facebook page that the senior center is looking for yarn they can use to make things to sell at holiday's craft fairs. PSA: even if your community hasn't reached out- see if they need yarn so you can clear out anything you don't need and know it will go to good use.   KAL News Pigskin Party '24 #DCSPigskinParty24 Event Dates: Thursday September 5, 2024- Monday February 10, 2025 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form  (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions-  ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Tailgate Talk Challenge- Click here for Ravelry Link Great way to get to know your team. There will be daily prompts from 9/5 through 9/16. Answer them in your Team thread in the Ravelry Group. If you answer them all, no more than 2 per day, you'll get 150 points (as long as you enter them on the Points Tally form by 10/1).  Our Official Sponsor for Q1 (October) is The Little Wolf Knits. This means you've got a challenge that can earn you more points and entry towards a cool prize. Check out the challenge details in this Ravelry post Commentator Mary Klute's report- One of the best things about the pigskin party is the community!  It is so much fun to get to know other players and the annual Tailgate Talk is a great way to do that. It looks like this year's Tailgate Talk was a great success--at the time of this report nearly 200 players had submitted for their Tailgate Talk points! But players aren't just chatting--they are also finishing projects!  So far there are 307 finished projects on the scoreboard, including 10 blitzes!  And it looks like players are really using sponsor products to rack up some extra points.  So far, finished projects have earned over 50 points on average by using sponsor products!  Symama09 is a great example of how to really maximize those sponsor points.  She earned 280 sponsor points on her recently finished gnome by using 2 proshop exclusive products, three proshop non-exclusive products, and two products from snack shack sponsors!  Her gnome is super cute too- check out the Ravelry Project Page here! Finally, don't forget to spread the word about the PSP!  You can join 14 players who have been earning points by drafting players! Tune in to hear if you're a September Participation Prize winner. I will be in touch with all winners via email.   Events Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 5 & 6, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT Lambtown, Dixon, CA - Oct 5-6, 2024 NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY Maryland Alpaca and Fleece Festival: November 9-10, 2024 in West Friendship, Maryland For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know!   Contest, News & Notes   My friend Linda is looking for donations of warm handknit/crocheted items for adult and youth homeless in Massachusetts. They set up tables on Thanksgiving and put all of the handmade items on the fence outside the First Church in Woburn, MA. Calling for all makers who want to donate. PM me on Ravelry or email me at downcellarstudio at gmail.com and I'll give you the address to send them to. Any fiber type welcome. Hats, scarves, mitts, shawls, blankets. Anything warm is welcome!   Life in Focus Update on Mom: Diane is still in the hospital after being admitted on 9/12. Attempts at the bedside to put filler into her right vocal cord to bring back her voice didn't work, so they brought her down to the OR and did the procedure there. She has so much more volume now! She doesn't notice a huge difference but we all do. We thought about 2 weeks in that she'd be going home, bags were all packed and they decided to do a last minute CT which showed spots in her lungs. We were told it wasn't cancer but it took until Thursday to do a Bronchoscopy to reveal the cause of that issue- 2 different bacterial infections. Of course at first we were told it was just 1 and she could go home on oral antibiotics. 10 minutes later the other was found and now she has to stay for at least a few days of IV antibiotics.   How to make it fun in the hospital Get to know your caregivers; find out what you have in common. It makes it more interesting if you can actually have a bond with the people you're interacting with on a regular basis. Get some new pajamas- especially if that's all you get to wear. If your family can stay over with you- get matching PJs. It's a little thing but it can make it feel a bit more special. Find ways to make the little things into bigger things. Our first matching PJ night, we wore flamingo pajamas. In advance of that, I purchased flamingo decorations at the party store and bought light up necklaces, straws & ice cubes to turn the evening into a party. The next night, we planned to have an ice cream sundae party. The unit always has ice cream on hand. Mom ordered a peach puree from the daily menu and I saved M&Ms that my cousin Jenny brought and we had an ice cream party. As it turns out, I spotted fireworks out the windows of the elevator lobby that night and was able to bring Mom over to see. Made what could have been an average night - or a depressign one because we thought she'd be home, more entertaining. Have folks send in mail and bring it to the patient! Chellescraps- Michelle, sent a bouquet of paper flowers (I believe they're from freshcutpaper)- my brother's family also got her one early on in her stay (these are great because, you may not know this but some patients cannot have fresh cut flowers- burn patients, some immunocompromised patients etc); Sewrunknit, Suzanne, sent a funny card, ElsaandEm, Emily, sent a handknit/embroidered flower pin, my cousin Jenny brought a WonderWoman balloon and ironically on the same day, a friend dropped off a Wonder Woman pillow at the house (great to use to push into Mom's side when she had pain) Ask friends and family to text photos and videos! Hattie sent Mom the cutest video of a little dance/kartwheel which was so fun.    On a Happy Note Sharpie Rollerball Pens (.5mm)- available on Amazon. The only thing that would make it better is if it was a click top, but I'm totally willing to live without the convenience. Trader Joe's Honey Hydration Day & Night Cream Duo. $7.99 (dupe for Farmacy Honey Halo, which I've never tried) One day when my SIL brought Riley, Garret and Millie in to see Mom at the hospital, Millie said she wanted to see my office, so since Mom was still at her MRI, we took a detour. Millie did a full on simulation of me at work, drinking selzter, typing on my computer etc. My parents celebrated their 47th Wedding Anniversary. Thankfully Dan had more brain cells and time than the rest of us and got Mom flowers on his way in to visit. I picked up my grandmother to bring her in for a visit with my Mom. We had a lovely visit. My cousin Sabrina came up from Tennessee with her girlfriend Maria for a visit with my Mom. It was so great catching up with them. Watching The American President. I love that movie. Mom and I had been talking about it in the hospital that day- specifically the line from Michael J. Fox (as Lewis Rothschild) "I tell any girl I'm going out with to assume that all plans are soft until she receives confirmation from me thirty minutes beforehand." Robin McCall: "And they find this romantic?" Lewis Rothschild: "Well, I say it with a great deal of charm." I was able to use our John Deere tractor/backhoe to free myself when a tree fell in our driveway and I was trapped. Dan was in Vermont and I thought I'd have to call my nephew Oisin but it didn't come to that! I scored a $300 ski bag with a charging set-up for boot warmers for $15 at a yard sale this weekend. Trader Joe's pumpkin Kringle! with Cinnamon coffee.   Quote of the Week   Strive to be whole, not perfect, for in wholeness we embrace both our strengths and our flaws, while in perfection, we lose the beauty of our true selves. -Unknown   ------   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.  

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 282 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Knitting in Passing Crafty Adventures KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Imagined Landscapes, Fibernymph Dye Works, BellaFio Yarn Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Wool Ease Hexagon Blanket Pattern: Basic Crochet Hexagon Pattern & Tips from Make Do and Crew Website & YouTube Tutorial Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. Centers in colorways- Fern, Coney Island, Seaglass, Slate. Borders- Wheat & Oatmeal Hook: 10mm (N/P) 96 total hexagons + half hexies to square off the edges. Border: 1 round of sc (used nearly 1 skein of yarn), 2 rounds of hdc, 2 rounds of Dc on short sides and sc on long sides 4,499 grams used 1,728 grams of multi color yarns / around 10 skeins 2,771 grams wheat used. / around 16 skeins used Total for Stash Dash: 2,567.6 meters Berry Bliss Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock (75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the Berry Bliss Colorway (May 2024 Yarnable Box) & Legacy Fiber Artz Glitzy Toes (pink mini from 2023 Advent Calendar) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Cast on July 12 About the yarn- lemon yellow, sherbet orange and pink. I worked the first heel in a pink sparkle yarn from Legacy Fiber Artz because I have some spiral striping going on and didn't want to disrupt it. Stash Dash Update Jasmin (of the Knitmore Girls Podcast) & I competed again this year. Check out my Stash Dash Spreadsheet here. Here's Jasmin's Spreadsheet. My 2024 Stash Dash Total: 12,088 26 projects- 16 knit, 8 crochet, 2 spinning 2 blankets, a cowl, 3 hats, a book holder, a pair of mitts, 11 pairs of socks, 1 Christmas stocking, 2 tops and 4 skeins of yarn Jasmin's total: 29,811 with the meters for a finished spinning project not yet on her spreadsheet. I always knew if she buckled down and finished one of her massive spinning projects she'd annihilate me and she finally did! One of her spinning projects was 23k! Nicely done, friend!! My hat is off to you. On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Static Musselburgh Pattern: Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague (7 GBP Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry & Ysolda's website) Yarn: Knit Picks Static Fingering Weight Yarn in the Peppercorn colorway Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) & US 2.5 (3.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Note- the pattern just got some updates About the yarn: blues, grays, cream and a bit of a salmony orange. Self patterning yarn. I'm loving how its working up so far. Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist This subscription is not available to new subscribers but there's a new one coming in the Fall. Blanket Pre-Orders for the Murder She Knit club are available now! Please consider using my Affiliate Link. Progress: I finished 9 my July squares & seamed them. I started my August squares and have 1 package waiting for me to open- the last batch. Stranger Things 2 Socks Yarn: Desert Vista Dyeworks Viso base (75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the Stranger Things 2 Self Striping Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Cast on the morning of Thursday 9/5 for the Pigskin Party. I didn't get to join in the round until that night, but now its well underway. About the colorway- stripes of: orange, hot pink, purple, navy blue, medium blue and red. Progress- almost to heel of the first sock. Brainstorming Autumn Doodle Cup Cozy by Jamie Lomax ($2 knitting pattern- Ravelry) . Quick  fall colorwork project with DK yarn. From the Armchair Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.  Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Listened to this because I want to watch the Netflix series based on this starring Sarah Chalke & Katherine Heigl Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. Knitting in Passing During Marta's visit, the kids turned the living room at my parents' into a craft room. Millie knit on the hat she's making for her dad. Riley worked on crochet hexagons for our matching blankets. Roc crocheted on a crab and eventually started a giraffe amigurumi and a baby hat. Riley taught Roc to make a crochet hexagon. Even Max & Garret got in on the action and did some drawing. One of the first afternoons, we were sitting at the bar at my parents' pool. Marta was sewing up a hole in Max's shirt, I was finishing some socks and Roc was crocheting his crab. Throughout the trip, Roc (age 12) was crocheting constantly- in the car, at the table, at the park, anytime he had a few free minutes. He was incredibly adept at chatting and keeping up with his pattern working in increases and decreases. We ended up going to 6 craft stores- Plymouth Harbor Knits, Michaels, Joann, The Craft Loft, Hobby Lobby, Gather Here. Roc also got a crochet kit at Dollar Tree (the same dinoaur my niece Aila bought earlier this summer). We had a campfire at my house one night. Roc, Millie and Hattie spent most of the night crafting in my studio. We visited my house after kayaking & ice cream one afternoon- Hattie also did a bit of knitting on my Musselburgh hat. I found a few dropped stitches the next time I picked it up but that's ok. Crafty Adventures Marta, Roc and I did some resin projects while they were visiting. Roc put resin in the bottom of a small wooden crate and then we worked together on a pumpkin lazy susan. KAL News Pigskin Party '24 #DCSPigskinParty24 Event Dates: Thursday September 5, 2024- Monday February 10, 2025 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form  (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions-  ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Playoff Prediction Contest:  Check this Ravelry Thread on 9/4 for post. Choose the NFL team you think will win the Super Bowl this year (before the thread closes on 9/19). Correct guesses will get you extra points. Tailgate Talk Challenge– Click here for Ravelry Link Great way to get to know your team. There will be daily prompts from 9/5 through 9/16. Answer them in your Team thread in the Ravelry Group. If you answer them all, no more than 2 per day, you'll get 150 points (as long as you enter them on the Points Tally form by 10/1).  Stay Tuned for our October Challenge hosted by The Little Wolf Knits. Commentator Mary: The season is off to a great start! The first Monday Night Football game was still on and there were already 18 projects in the end zone dance thread! There were lots of hats and dishcloths, of course, as these are often quick projects. But one player went above and beyond! Shellylynnknits already completed a blitz in 4 days!  She crocheted a scrap yarn basket that is super cool! https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Shellylynnknits/scrap-yarn-basket  That pattern looks like a really fun idea for using up scraps! The September chat thread is in full swing. There are lots of old friends reconnecting after some months away and new players introducing themselves and getting warm welcomes.  There is a lot of chatter about life events, plans for pigskin, and an interesting discussion about why people like knitting socks. In addition, if you are a reader or a cook, be sure to check out that Pigskin Book Talk (Ravelry Link) and Pigskin Recipe Ideas (Ravelry Link)! threads as they are quite lively too!  Don't be worried about falling behind on any of these threads…you can jump in at any time! Events Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY (GREEN-Witch) Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl, (CA and NV) – Sept 12-15, 2024 Cape & South Shore Yarn Haul (MA) September 14-17, 2024 Lambtown, Dixon, CA – Oct 5-6, 2024 For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site. Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know! Contest, News & Notes My friend Linda is looking for donations of warm handknit/crocheted items for adult and youth homeless in Massachusetts. They set up tables on Thanksgiving and put all of the handmade items on the fence outside the First Church in Woburn, MA. Calling for all makers who want to donate. PM me on Ravelry or email me at downcellarstudio at gmail.com and I'll give you the address to send them to. Any fiber type welcome. Hats, scarves, mitts, shawls, blankets. Anything warm is welcome! This year they're especially looking for men's things. Life in Focus 2024 Word of the Year- Heart Thank you Emily for sending me a knit & embroidered heart pin! Its so beautiful and it made my day! Update on Mom: Mom had a couple good days while Marta was visiting. Grateful we were able to spend time together even when she couldn't leave the house. The sound of the boys laughing brought her joy. She had the catheter removed from her lung. Began having throat issues that worsened day after day. On Thursday 9/12 came for scans and chemo, but only had scans and then was admitted. She's had a whole slew of tests and so far they haven't found anything wrong which is good news, but we still need to get to the bottom of things. One bit of good news, she should be having an injection of filler into her paralyzed right vocal cord that will allow her voice to come back. Ask Me Anything Herdofhills asked about: fall project plans, books, favorite fall recipes I am looking forward to: apple picking, apple sauce, wood chopping weekend, oven baked oatmeal (here's a recipe I like to use), a Better Off Dead movie party, I've already enjoyed watching Hocus Pocus (1 & 2), pulling out the wool socks and wearing those at night, decorating, overnight oats for breakfast which I tend to eat more in fall/winter. Even better for fall is warm. Deborahjay- Love is blind UK I was watching but got sidetracked with Marta's visit. For the first time, I found myself fast forwarding through the pre-wedding stuff to hear yes/no. Liked that it seemed like folks were actually there for love and that the cast was far less dramatic than the US participants. kjkcrochet- I'd love to know a little bit more about your job I'm a Project Manager in the Nursing Dept of a big boston hospital, supporting a communication system and other projects thank involve communication, responsiveness (to patients) and technology). Tune in to hear more. On a Happy Note Max's reaction to Plymouth Rock! Teaching Roc some new crochet stitches and seeing his enthusiasm. He's definitely my new buddy. My heart almost burst when he sent me a screenshot of his Home Screen- photo of us outside the Craft Loft in Cambridge. Handpicked sunflowers from my friend Eileen's garden. Laser tag Going on a Duck Tour 2 whole weeks with Marta. We haven't been together that long since 1998! And all of the funny moments and inside jokes that come from it. Connections at work making tough days a little easier. Quote of the Week Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night. ~ Hal Borland —— Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out myDown Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 281 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.   This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Knitting in Passing KAL News Events Life in Focus Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Thank you to this episode's sponsors:   Twin Mountain Handcrafts Irocknits Designs Thelittlewolfknits Stitched by Jessalu   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Declan's 70s Socks Yarn: Patons Kroy Stripes in the Seventies Stripes Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Finished August 3rd Total for Stash Dash: 278.2 meters (304.2 yards)   Log Cabin Mitts Pattern: Log Cabin Mitts by Karen Templar (free knitting pattern available on Ravelry & on this site) Yarn: Barnyard Knits, Fuse Fiber Studio, One Twisted Tree (shop formerly own Prairie Girl Danie) + other leftover sock yarn Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) 9 sections of garter stitch log cabin. I decided to knit the 2 squares concurrently so I'd remember which yarns I used for each section, not reading ahead enough to know that you were supposed to work them slightly differently to make matching mitts, but that doesn't bother me at all, so I just went with it and mine are opposites. I like that I can see all of the colors on the top or bottoms of my hands.  60g fingering weight yarn (held double) 253.8 meters for Stash Dash   Rafa's Hat Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in the Cielo y Tierra colorway Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) Pattern: Rafa's Hat by Joji Locatelli (free knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page: Started July 9. Finished August 7th. Total for Stash Dash: 115.2 meters   Laura's London Socks Yarn: Qing Fibre Dashing Fingering Base in the Salt colorway (cream with blips of neons & gray) & a 50g Legacy Fiber Artz Steel Toes Micro Skein in a Mystery Colorway (gray) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page Bought the Qing Fibres Yarn in London in November 2022 with Laura. She chose this skein from my stash in 2023 not realizing we bought it when we were together. Total for Stash Dash: 272 meters   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Wool Ease Hexagon Blanket Pattern: Basic Crochet Hexagon Pattern & Tips from Make Do and Crew Website & YouTube Tutorial Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. Centers in colorways- Fern, Coney Island, Seaglass, Slate. Borders- Wheat & Oatmeal Hook: 10mm (N/P) 2 rounds of color- 1 round of wheat or oatmeal 30 done in July. 47 done by August 7th. Had to order more yarn (twice) and ended up with 96 hexagons. The blanket is nearly the size of a full sized comforter.  Last summer's hexi blanket was fingering held double- 60x84 inches and took about 300 hexis which were 4 rounds each (these have only 3). (Check out the Ravelry Project Page here)   Berry Bliss Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock (75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the Berry Bliss Colorway (May 2024 Yarnable Box) & Legacy Fiber Artz Glitzy Toes (pink mini from 2023 Advent Calendar) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: I've finished the heel on the second sock.   LFA Helical Socks Yarn: Legacy Fiber Artz Steel Toes in the Portal Colorway & a Mystery Colorway (both 50g skeins: 75% SW Merino, 25% Nylon). Knit Picks Felici in the Beatnik Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Cast on in June 2023. Finished the first sock and am nearly to the heel on the second sock. I'm helical striping the LFA yarn and used leftover Knit Picks Felici Self Striping Yarn (purple, blue and a pumpkin orange) for the heel and toes. You can't tell its striped at all. Looks like 1 cohesive colorway. Progress: first sock finished, nearly to the heel on the second sock.   Brainstorming I'm debating starting my first Woolens and Nosh advent sock early since December is hectic I never get as far as I'd like. I thought I could make a sweater from me with the leftovers of Mom's Rhinebeck Sweater yarn, but it doesn't look like I'll have enough yarn, so that project is on hold. Perhaps I'll look for more yarn to add to it and save it for that. Dan's Litchfield Hat with Welcome to Litchfield Handspun (Ravelry Project Page) I'm planning to knit socks for my friend Sheri. My niece Aila asked for socks for Christmas. She'd like these Daisy Socks- pattern on Ravelry.   From the Armchair The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. No One Tells You This by Glynnis Macnicol. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. All Fours by Miranda July. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Bitter Blood: A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness and Multiple Murder by Jerry Bledsoe. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   Knitting in Passing Last Saturday, Oisin came here to Work with Dan. When Megg, Tom and Hattie came to pick him up they stayed for a chat. Hattie got out the ponies and Barbies, then she abandoned that to knit on my Berry Lemonade socks with me. She did fantastic after a quick reminder of the stitches and even took my feedback about putting her left index finger on the second stitch on the needle to prevent that from falling off while slipping the stitch she just worked, off the left needle. Hattie asked to start her own pair of socks (ambitious) and tried on scrappy helical socks I started in November (Ravelry Project Page) She tried on the scrappy helical socks I started in November and they fit. I need about 1.5 inches before toe on the first sock, so I should pick those back up soon.   KAL News Pigskin Party '24 #DCSPigskinParty24 Event Dates: Thursday September 5, 2024- Monday February 10, 2025 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form  (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Find out what Team you're on (Team Chats will open 9/1/24) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Being updated regularly so keep checking back. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions-  ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com   A special THANK YOU to our team Umpire- Wendy- socalknitgirl Commissioners Emily- (ElsaandEm)- Llama Conference Alicia (almariecraft)- Alpaca Conference Nicole (KnitterNicole)- Sheep Conference Commentator- Mary (Maryklute)   Playoff Prediction Contest:  Check the Ravelry Group on 9/4 for post. Choose the NFL team you think will win the Super Bowl this year (before the thread closes on 9/19). Correct guesses will get you extra points. Tailgate Talk Challenge- Click here for Ravelry Link Great way to get to know your team. There will be daily prompts from 9/5 through 9/16. Answer them in your Team thread in the Ravelry Group. If you answer them all, no more than 2 per day, you'll get 150 points (as long as you enter them on the Points Tally form by 10/1).  This year, we'll have 4 primary challenges during the full months of the event- Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan. Stay tuned for those details. The sponsors are: October: Thelittlewolfknits November: Twin Mountain Handcrafts December: Fangirl Fibers January: Fibernymph Dye Works   Other current & upcoming events: Summer Bingo with Monica & Cortney of the Craft Cook Read Repeat Podcast Colors of Fall with the Yarniacs Podcast Group. June 20- September 22 Summer Spin In with the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Podcast Group- May 27 - September 2 Summer Sock Camp with the Crazy Sock Lady The Knit Girllls are hosting their annual Stash Dash Event from May 24-August 31,2024. Here's a chatter thread for stash dash 2024! Stash Dash will run from May 24th-the end of August. Craft all the things and see how your FO pile grows! This is a competition only against yourself. Discord link: knit girllls discord Jasmin (of the Knitmore Girls Podcast) & I are competing again this year. Check out my Stash Dash Spreadsheet here. Here's Jasmin's Spreadsheet.   I have 9,273 meters as of August 25. Jasmin is on the board with 5,910 meters Sending much love to Jasmin & Gigi after hearing about Gigi's recent stroke.    Events Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl, (CA and NV) - Sept 12-15, 2024 Cape & South Shore Yarn Haul (MA) September 14-17, 2024 Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT Lambtown, Dixon, CA - Oct 5-6, 2024 NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know!   Life in Focus   Mom Update: After Whole Brain Radiation, Mom went right into 5 targeted radiation treatments to help reduce the size of the cancer in a lymph node that was pressing on nerves that then get in the way of her right vocal cord. As of about mid-July, she didn't have any voice, and they hoped to correct that. On her last day of that radiation, she also had a PleureX cathetered installed in her right lung to allow regular at-home drainage to keep that pressure off her lung. The day after that- Dad and I tested positive for Covid and by Monday Mom had too. Thankfully Dad and I had only mild symptoms and Mom had none- which was a blessing because the insertion of that port left her riddled with pain for days. Now she's coming out of that but starting a new chemo. We're hopeful that this will take away some of her pain and its already meant she doesn't need her lung drained as frequently. Hoping September will be a better month for her than the last couple.   Ask Me Anything   NDoyle asks: What has been your favorite item you've made this year and why? Millie's Squishmallow Sheltie Dog that I crocheted without a pattern- Ravelry Project Page Emotional Support Chicken- Ravelry Project Page Marilynknits- What gauge do you knit your socks at? 8-8.5 sts per inch. 56 sts on US 1.5 needles= 6.5 to 7 inch circumference   On a Happy Note I am very relieved that Covid was mild for us, especially for my Mom. Also very grateful that my brother who was on vacation in Virginia just as we came down with Covid, ended up having a bicycle accident that left him with bruises all over and a broken rib- but is going to be OK. I made everyone promise we'd all stay out of the hospital for one full week! Visits with my cousin Jenny and her daughter Vera who often come over to see my Mom. Weekend pool time, especially with our youngest niece and nephew who are absolute fishies! My dear friend Nathan (only a couple years older than me) had a successful heart and kidney transplant only 1 day apart from each other but is recovering well. Our family all bought t-shirts and made donations to help his family and got a great photo to send him poolside one afternoon! My Mom wanted to get eyelash extensions so she, my cousin Jenny and I all went and it was a lovely experience. Dan and I picked up my grandmother and we all went to my cousin Nancy's Surprise 60th birthday. Mom and Gram both had a great day that. Beautiful sunny poolday with all the kiddos swimming, I caught up with many of my cousins who I don't get to see all the time, learned there's another new baby coming in January and enjoyed fresh pizza from a woodfired oven. We also sang to my grandmother. From there, we headed to Terri's Graduation Party. She runs the dancing school where I met Kris & Megg, two of my best friends who have 5 of our niblings. Dan's younger brother Dave played in the band, the kids all played together. We got to see Terri's brother who came up from FL, and Conor, Carly and baby Miles after they were in Nantucket for a couple weeks. Dinner & Les Mis with Kris, Aila and Megg. At Mom's chemo treatment, we got to see my friend Waveney who was my officemate in my first job at the hospital 22 years ago and her son, Tighe, checked us in at the Infusion Clinic. As soon as I said hello, his whole face lit up with a smile and he came around and immediately hugged us all. It was pure joy! He'll be back off to college soon. We hosted a 90th birthday party for my grandmother at The Tavern in her assisted living facility. I put together all sorts of cool photo decorations & used some of her old picture frames for the tables and guests could take them as favors. Dan DJed, and my Dad, our friend Sharon & cousin Susan prepared the food) and the kiddos all acted as bartenders. Hattie even went around and took photos. All of the joy and hope coming out of Democratic party with coverage of the DNC. It feels great to have a candidate I'm truly joyful about supporting. A quieter weekend- getting ready for my friend Marta to arrive from Barcelona (if I'm a bit MIA that's why)   Quote of the Week One evening in August, you have an errand outdoors, and all of a sudden, it's pitch-black. It is still summer, but the summer is no longer alive.   ~ Tove Jansson   ------ Thank you for tuning in!   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.  

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 280 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.   This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Crafty Adventures Knitting in Passing In my Travels KAL News Events Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitched by Jessalu   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins     Silver Spoon Socks Yarn: A Whimsical Wood Yarn Company Pixie Toes Socks in the Silver Spoon Up My A$$ colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: peaches and pinks with gray/taupe. At my gauge it is striping (~2 rounds per color). I purchased this yarn at Yarncentric event in Maryland. Started in May 2023. Finished on June 28, 2024 Total for Stash Dash: 262 meters   Baby James' Cozy Clusters Blanket Pattern: Cozy Clusters Baby Blanket by Leelee Knits (free & paid options available on the LeeLeeKnits website) Yarn: Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes in the Slush Colorway (purchased 3). 1 skein of Loops & Threads Impeccable in Colorway 01110 [Navy] for the border Hook: I (5.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Bobble Border instructions from this blog Finished size- 30.5 inches wide by 38.8 inches tall (not including the bobbles) Finished on July 2 Total for Stash Dash: 1,010 meters (833 meters Caron Cakes [2.25 skeins] - 178 meters Loops & Threads- less than 1 skein)   Trish's New Orleans Socks Yarn- Cat Tails Yarn in the Chartreux Base (75% Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon, 10% Silver Stellina) in the Christmas Bonfires Colorway (part of the Down in New Orleans Collection) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Trish purchased in New Orleans in 2024 (exclusive colorway for the Quarter Stitch). $34. Finished on July 3 Total for Stash Dash: 259 meters   American Ewe Turn a Square Hat Yarn: American Ewe Worsted Tweed in the Terrace Mountain Colorway Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood ($5 pattern available on Ravelry & Brooklyn Tweed website) Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) & US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: 3 ply Merino/Rambouillet Shaniko Wool (89%) with 6% acrylic and 5% rayon flecks. The colorway is a natural with brownish tweedy bits. I purchased the yarn for $15 at Adventures in Knitting in Harwich, MA on the way to visit friends who were staying in Wellfleet. They had a cool display of "used needles" for $4 each. I bought bamboo US. Modifications: I use worsted weight yarn and knit the smallest size, omitting the increases after the ribbing. I knit 6 inches before the crown decreases. Total for Stash Dash: 99.8 meters (109.2 yards), 51 grams   Portland Socks Yarn: Urth Yarns Uneek Fingering in Colorway 3024 Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: self striping yarn- cornflower blue, dusty orange, yellowy green, peach, magenta and purple. I purchased the yarn at Knit Wit Yarn Shop in Portland, Maine. You can purchase the same yarn online from them. I held a strand of navy blue nylon thread along with yarn for the heel flap and gusset to give more strength to the heel. I used the Lemonwood Mini Minder (also purchased at Knit Wit) and knit the vast majority of this pair of socks in 2 days walking around Portland, visiting breweries and hanging out with friends. You can see a video I made of this project on Instagram. Total for Stash Dash: 254.7 meters   Welcome to Litchfield Spinning Project Fiber: I purchased two 4oz braid of fiber from Into the Whirled in the Welcome to Litchfield colorway (1 braid Texel & 1 braid BFL Tussah Silk) along with 1 gray  (The Traveler on Cheviot base) braid to ply them together. Twist direction: singles = Z plied = S This means when I'm spinning, my wheel is spinning clockwise and when plying my wheel is moving counter-clockwise. Ravelry Project Page I didn't fully spin the gray Traveler colorway braid. Finished Project- 3 braids of 3 ply yarn: 184g= 252.2 meters (275.9 yards) ~Aran weight Total for Stash Dash= 252.2 meters x 4= 1,008.8 meters   Book Holder Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Roving Stripes in Daisy & 1 other mystery colorway (lost the ball band), Premier Yarns Parfait Chunky (mustard) & Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted Ravelry Project Page Hook: 9.0 mm (M/N) I took inspiration from this pattern on Ravelry. (Boho Book Nook crochet pattern- but I was using MUCH chunkier yarn and I didn't want to use the same textured stitches) I chained 21 sts and worked with 20 hdcs across each row- working in the third loop after the first row. I wasn't going to have enough of the Lion Brand Roving to make the whole thing, so I held the Wool of the Andes double for the part that would be covered. I worked a single crochet around the edges, and then sewed the front to back in just 1 spot on either side. I used a chain for the loop to tack it up on the wall. Total for Stash Dash: 128.1 meters   Declan's Adrift Socks Yarn: Patons Kroy Stripes in the Adrift colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page About the colorway- short stripes (about 3 rounds each) with 3 shades of blue- navy, denim and cornflower plus orange and brown. Total for Stash Dash: 278.2 meters   Deschain Pattern Deschain by Leila Raven Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm) Yarn. Rowan Creative Linen. Colorway 00624-   Gray. Worsted weight 50% Linen / Flax, 50% Cotton. 200 meters / 100 grams. Bought 4 skeins. Used a little more than 2 Size: Smallest (54 1/4 in bust) Calls for 16-22" positive ease. I should have around 19" Ravelry Project Page Originally finished July 10, 2021. I ripped out in 2024 because the back was far too short. I ripped out the sleeves (tossed) and unseamed the back and front. The instructions call for the back to be 12 inches but the front falls about 17 inches from collarbone to the bottom hem. I knit about 14 inches on the back and then worked a few sets of German Short Rows before the bottom hem instructions. I tried a few options for sleeves and then decided I"d just sew up the ends in a way to tuck/hem the ends under and I love that. In the end I made the body longer and the sleeves shorter Total for Stash Dash: 424.0 meters (463.7 yards), 212 grams   First Point of Libra Cowl Pattern: First Point of Libra Cowl by Laura Aylor Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) Yarn: Barnyard Knits, Fuse Fiber Studio, One Twisted Tree (shop formerly own Prairie Girl Danie) + other leftover sock yarn Ravelry Project Page Yarn purchased at Vogue Knitting Live January 2020 with Lauren. Planned to make a 2 color shawl. Cast on My Cryptonite by Melanie Berg and never got more than a couple inches in. Here's the Ravelry Project Page for the shawl that's now frogged. I started in October 2022. My November 2022 notes say- I'm losing mojo on this and I don't think it has to do w/ the pattern or my yarn. I like it... but its not getting finished before my trip to the UK so I will need to find other wooly accessories to bring with me. I picked up again July 2024 and it flew off the needles! Modifications: In Section 4, I skipped adding color 4 & 5 (1-3 only). Skipped Section 5. Finished size: 21 inches around. 15 inches tall. Total for Stash Dash: 406 meters   Vera's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Red, Everglade Heather and White Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Total for Stash Dash: 456.5 meters   8,353 meters for Stash Dash Over 4,500 meters added since the last episode!   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Wool Ease Hexagon Blanket Pattern: Basic Crochet Hexagon Pattern & Tips from Make Do and Crew Website & YouTube Tutorial Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. Centers in colorways- Fern, Coney Island, Seaglass, Slate. Borders- Wheat & Oatmeal Hook: 10mm (N/P) Notes: started in April 2022. I never talked about it on the podcast.  Inspired by an instagram post from Lion Brand. This WIP has been taking up a ton of space in my craft room ever since. When the pump in my dehumidifer went and we had to move some things to get at it, I decided I had to get this WIP done. 2 rounds of color- 1 round of wheat or oatmeal 18 were done. 30 finished now   Berry Bliss Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock (75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the Berry Bliss Colorway (May 2024 Yarnable Box) & Legacy Fiber Artz Glitzy Toes (pink mini from 2023 Advent Calendar) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn- lemon yellow, sherbet orange and pink. I worked the first heel in a pink sparkle yarn from Legacy Fiber Artz because I have some spiral striping going on and didn't want to disrupt it. Progress: I've finished the heel on the first sock.   Rafa's Hat Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in the Cielo y Tierra colorway Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) Pattern: Rafa's Hat by Joji Locatelli (free knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page: About the yarn: blues/tans that is almost striping at my gauge. The hat is a 1x1 rib that has a cool purl ridge detail. Progress: I've worked two repeats of the pattern   Cold Goat Farm Spinning Fiber: Cold Goat Farm Batt- I believe its Merino/Mohair but there are no details on the business card in my bag. I think I purchased it at Rhinebeck 2023. Twist direction: singles = Z plied = S This means when I'm spinning, my wheel is spinning clockwise and when plying my wheel is moving counter-clockwise. Ravelry Project Page   Brainstorming Connections socks! Have you heard about them? You take your Daily NY Times Game- Connections Results and put them into colorwork socks. Suzanne told me about them- and recently saw and loved Wendy's! Here's a link to Wendy's Connection Socks Ravelry Project Page.   From the Armchair Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. I'll Just Be Five More Minutes (and other tales from my ADHD brain) by Emily Farris. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Feed by M.T. Anderson. Bookshop Affiliate Link (not available). Amazon Affiliate Link. Briefly Perfectly Human by Alua Arthur. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   Crafty Adventures I found a small hole in my Mabel Style cross body sling bag and decided to use embroidery floss for a better hold and to add a bit of visible mending color. I received great customer service when I reached out to them! I'm in the midst of a massive studio clean out. It started w/ issues with my dehumidifier and it's really spiraled from there. I'm excited to see how it all comes back together.   Knitting in Passing   Aila FaceTimed me from a friend's house after buying a crochet dinosaur kit at the dollar store. The next day after pool day and dinner we practiced chain and single crochet.   In My Travels Dan and I spent a long weekend in Portland, Maine to celebrate our 20th Anniversary. I was able to go up a night early to attend the knit night at Rising Tide Brewery. I loved meeting Heather from Rising Tide and Jenn & her husband Chuck from Knit Wit. Friday morning, I visited Knit Wit Yarn Shop's new location and then walked around. Dan, Dana and Sheri arrived and we met at Duck Fat for lunch before showing them around to some of our favorite breweries. Saturday we visited local shops and more breweries before going to see comedian Kathleen Madigan. Sunday, I did some shopping while Dan watched soccer then we enjoyed some drinks together and ended up back at Rising Tide where there was a 6p Burlesque show so Dan got us tickets. Really fun end to an awesome weekend.   KAL News Pigskin Party '24 will kick off in the fall (specific date TBD). We're looking for Sponsors for this season. Interested or know someone who is? Sign up for my email newsletter and click the box saying you're potentially interested in sponsoring events and you'll get first dibs on spots. And/or email me for details!   Other current & upcoming events: Summer Bingo with Monica & Cortney of the Craft Cook Read Repeat Podcast Colors of Fall with the Yarniacs Podcast Group. June 20- September 22 Summer Spin In with the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Podcast Group- May 27 - September 2 Summer Sock Camp with the Crazy Sock Lady The Knit Girllls are hosting their annual Stash Dash Event from May 24-August 31,2024. Here's a chatter thread for stash dash 2024! Stash Dash will run from May 24th-the end of August. Craft all the things and see how your FO pile grows! This is a competition only against yourself. Discord link: knit girllls discord Jasmin (of the Knitmore Girls Podcast) & I are competing again this year. Check out my Stash Dash Spreadsheet here     Events Flock Fiber Festival- August 9-11 in Seattle, WA FIber Revival: August 10 in Newbury, MA Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY (GREEN-Witch) Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl, (CA and NV) - Sept 12-15, 2024 Cape & South Shore Yarn Haul (MA) September 14-17, 2024 Lambtown, Dixon, CA - Oct 5-6, 2024 For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know!   Life in Focus   Tune in for a health Update on BostonJensMom   On a Happy Note Dan and I took vacation the first week of July. Monday after Portland we just chilled. Tuesday I took Mom for whole brain radiation, then to visit my grandmother (her mother) and out for lunch. Wednesday/Thursday we visited friends renting a house in Wellfleet (Cape Cod) and Thursday/Friday we visited friends in Falmouth. Friday morning we picked up Riley from Camp and brought her to our house before she and I headed to Hornstra to get ice cream for lunch (because that's what vacation is for!) and over to my parents to the pool for the day. Monday 7/8- I met up with my friend Megg to do a 5+ mile beach walk before she headed out to Ireland for the month. Wed 7/10  Mom and I stayed in Boston to save her the back & forth daily for treatment. We met her friend Jacky for lunch. I went back to work in the afternoon. After work, we cooled off in the hotel pool and then had dinner, played Uno and bar trivia at The Hill. We stunk but it was fun! Sunday July 14th pool day at my parents. Jenna, Dave, Gabriella and Zach came over. Within a few hours they were both jumping off the diving board! July 17-18th Mom and I stayed in Boston again after her Radiation treatment. We hit the pool and fared slightly better at trivia but it was hard to be out as long. Mom's energy was much lower, she was coughing more and couldn't speak above a whisper. July 21st we had a pool day at my parents. Jeff, Millie and Garret, Jenna, and the 2 kiddos, Kris, Will, Aila and Matt. We celebrated Will's 17th birthday. Mom's hair had started falling out and the blank spots at the back of her head looked like a butterfly! Mom told us to go find some Sharpies and color it in! It was a hard day for her and by extension us, but this added a bit of fun and whimsy to it! Millie even attached little plastic gems to parts of the butterfly. After the "temporary tattooing" we shaved off the rest of her hair to help w/ the shedding. July 23rd- Mom's last day of Whole Brain Radiation! Coming home to a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Dan. Getting 2 massages this month after missing my scheduled on in June for our Portland trip! I always feel like I need it but I've been going up on weights at the gym and my upper body was screaming!   Quote of the Week “I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.” -Emily Dickinson   ------ Thank you for tuning in!   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.  

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 279 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.   This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Knitting in Passing KAL News Events Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitched by Jessalu Announcement- I'll be putting out only 1 episode per month through the summer to keep things manageable. Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Julia's Cozy Clusters Blanket Pattern: Cozy Clusters Baby Blanket by Leelee Knits (free & paid options available on the LeeLeeKnits website) Yarn: Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes in the Hibiscus Colorway (purchased 3). 1 skein of Loops & Threads Impeccable in Orange for the border) Hooks: H (5.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Bobble Border instructions came from this blog Caron Cakes – 1054.6 meters Loops & Threads – 130.5 meters Meters for Stash Dash- 1,185.10 My Little Unicorn Socks Yarn: Andre Sue Knits Sock Blank in the My Little Unicorn colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page Gray background with white and pink unicorns that look like My Little Pony. My inner 80's child loved this one. Meters for Stash Dash: 286.3 4 Bowl Savers for Mom Pattern: None Yarn: Lion Brand Re-Up in the Seaglass colorway Hook: 5.0 mm (H) Ravelry Project Page I crocheted 2 circles and 2 hexagons for Mom to put between her Pyrex bowls. Meters for Stash Dash: 119 Riley's 16th Birthday Flower Top Pattern:  Riley found in this TikTok video Hook: G (4.0 mm) Yarn: Caron Skinny Cakes in the Grape Raisin UVA colorway (purchased 3) Ravelry Project Page YouTube Video Linked instructions Meters for Stash Dash: 872.4 (1.2 skeins) I am calling it done but I need Riley to try it on and may need to adjust the neck. Children of Time 2 Ply Yarn Fiber: Into the Whirled Cheviot in the Children of Time colorway Ravelry Project Page About: I originally spun this last summer and plied 1 ply of Into the Whirled with 2 plies of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes fiber (Ravelry Project Page here). I had two bobbins of leftovers and I needed the bobbins so I plied those up. The result was much more yarn than I expected. Total= 116 Meters 2 ply: which means things went through the oriface of the wheel 3 times=  Stash Dash Meters- 116.5 x3= 349.5 Woolens & Nosh 2023 Advent Socks Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Targhee Sock. 2023 Advent Set Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page Meters for Stash Dash: 285.8 On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Welcome to Litchfield Spinning Project 4 oz of Texel from Into the Whirled- Welcome to Litchfield Ravelry Project Page Progress: finished the second braid- 4 oz in the Welcome to Litchfield Colorway in 70/30 BFL/Tussah Silk Up next: spinning 3rd braid- Into the Whirled- The Traveler colorway (medium gray). 4 oz Cheviot Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist This subscription is not available to new subscribers but there's a new one coming in the Fall. Blanket Pre-Orders for the Murder She Knit club are available now! Please consider using my Affiliate Link. The patterns for this kit will be the Northeasterly Blanket by Melissa Alexander-Loomis (knit version) and the Northeasterly blanket by Katy Stevens (crochet version).  Progress: I finished 9 my May squares but haven't seamed them yet. Vera's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Red, Everglade Heather and White Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: Stocking and cuff are finished and ironed. I crocheted the three circles for the snowman, made the scarf and earmuffs and ironed those too. I still need to crochet a carrot nose, sew on the snowman and add the name to the cuff. Nearly done! Trish's New Orleans Socks Yarn- Cat Tails Yarn in the Chartreux Base (75% Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon, 10% Silver Stellina) in the Christmas Bonfires Colorway (part of the Down in New Orleans Collection) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Trish purchased in New Orleans in 2024 (exclusive colorway for the Quarter Stitch). $34. Progress: Friday night we hung out with friends and I finished the leg of the second sock, and turned the heel on a rainy Saturday. Baby James' Cozy Clusters Blanket Pattern: Cozy Clusters Baby Blanket by Leelee Knits (free & paid options available on the LeeLeeKnits website) Yarn: Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes in the Slush Colorway (purchased 3). 1 skein of Loops & Threads Impeccable in Colorway 01110 [Navy] for the border) Hook: I (5.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: Nearly done w/ the second Caron cake. Bobble Border instructions from this blog Silver Spoon Socks Yarn: A Whimsical Wood Yarn Company Pixie Toes Socks in the Silver Spoon Up My A$$ colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: peaches and pinks with gray/taupe. At my gauge it is striping (~2 rounds per color). I purchased this yarn at Yarncentric event in Maryland. Started in May 2023 Progress: nearly to the toe on the second sock. Brainstorming Socks for Dan Christmas stocking for my cousin Colleen's son, Owen At least another pair of socks. I really want to crochet a summer top but I can't find anything that's really exciting me… Ideas welcome! From the Armchair The Nix by Nathan Hill. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. One Last Summer by Kate Spencer. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan. Bookshop Affiliate Link.Amazon Affiliate Link. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Bookshop Affiliate Link.Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. Knitting in Passing I was crocheting on Riley's top on the T. Man told me about how he crocheted as a kid in Cape Verde and Holland. He had nothing to do. No tv. Needed something to entertain himself so he taught himself. Sister knew but couldn't teach him.  It wasn't a normal thing for boys in holland. Or girls as far as he knew and they didn't teach it in school but he had fond memories of it. Great chat learning about his travels and his work as a union carpenter now. KAL News Pigskin Party '24 will kick off in the fall (specific date TBD). I will be sending out an email to sponsors in the next 2-3 weeks asking folks to sign up. Interested or know someone who is? Sign up for my email newsletter and click the box saying you're potentially interested in sponsoring events and you'll get first dibs on spots. Summer Bingo with Monica & Cortney of the Craft Cook Read Repeat Podcast Tour de Fleece- check out this Ravelry Group for official details. Saturday, June 29, 2024 through Sunday, July 21, 2024. Rest Days: Monday, July 8 and Monday, July 15. There are challenge days, Teams and prizes. Colors of Fall with the Yarniacs Podcast Group. June 20- September 22 Summer Spin In with the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Podcast Group- May 27 – September 2 Summer Sock Camp with the Crazy Sock Lady The Knit Girllls are hosting their annual Stash Dash Event from May 24-August 31,2024. Here's a chatter thread for stash dash 2024! Stash Dash will run from May 24th-the end of August. Craft all the things and see how your FO pile grows! This is a competition only against yourself. Discord link: knit girllls discord Jasmin (of the Knitmore Girls Podcast) & I are competing again this year. Check out my Stash Dash Spreadsheet here My total as of this episode: 3,765.2 meters Events Flock Fiber Festival– August 9-11 in Seattle, WA FIber Revival: August 10 in Newbury, MA Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY (GREEN-Witch) Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site. Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know! Life in Focus 24 for 2024 list #1-Get 2 massages beyond the one per month at Massage Envy (1 and the guy was GREAT) #4- Read more books than you did in 2023 (50) 31 as of June 24 #7-Visit 1 new (to me) museum or historical site. Going to Portland- maybe will look there. Health Update– BostonJensMom begins whole brain radiation on July 1. Every weekday (except July 4) through July 22. Keep those prayers and good vibes coming. We recorded a very long health update video that will go up in 2 parts on the YouTube Channel. It takes a bit of time to edit because I like to add in photos/videos of the fun life stuff we chat about to make it more fun. Keep an eye out for that if you want the full story of my parents car accident and April and everything that's happened since our last recording in February. Health Update Video Part 1 Health Update Video Part 2 On a Happy Note Mom, Megg, Kris and I went to see Come From Away in Boston I helped Dan build a shed for his brother and then relaxed in the pool at my parents once we were done (and good and sweaty). I pressure washed the house and the deck- it's currently covered in pollen but at least I got the worst of it off. It's such a satisfying chore! Mom and I went to Aila's voice recital and out for drinks after. I brought my grandmother to my cousin Jenny's daughter Vera's Baptism Party. Beautiful day! Celebrated my birthday at a local Irish Pub for live Irish music. Dan treated us all for dinner. My parents, Megg, Tom (who is from Ireland) and their friend David (visiting from Ireland), Megg's Mom Terri, Trish and Liz. Very fun, silly night as usual. Megg and I weren't doing gifts this year because of our Opera House season tickets but I made her socks in March and she brought me a beautiful plant! We all went back to Megg and Tom's after which was fun because I got to see Eme, Oisin and Hattie too. The boys made lobster for David who hadn't tried New England Lobster before. After the most stressful and hellish week at work I've had in 22 years, I convinced the directors in charge of my Nurse Call Integration project that it was too unstable and had to be shut down so while it was awful, it was done in little more than 3 days. Thankfully, none of the blame was on me (didn't make it feel that much better). Vendor was woefully unprepared and mismanaged things. On that Friday, my boss told me to leave early. I met up with Dan for lunch at The Galley in Scituate. Sitting in the window/door until a huge storm blew in and they had to close it up. June 11th- my cousin Colleen had her baby boy- Owen (not on my birthday but soo close) June 12th- my nephew Garret graduated from 8th Grade and my Mom (and Dad) were there for it! June 14th- Conor and Carly welcomed their baby boy Miles. I did the stage decorations and played house manager in the last ever Terri's School of Dance recital. We had a party at Kris' house after. Father's Day Pool Party- Dan taught Garret and his friend Terry how to properly shuck a lobster. We played games and swam a little in the pool. My cousin Gayle flew in from FL and joined us for the recital and Father's Day fun. I had Monday off and headed over to Mom and Dad's. Jenny and Vera were there, and Millie never left. We swam, played Tock, and went to Heidi's for an ice cream. On Juneteenth- I hit the gym then took Millie and Riley to get their nails done, then took Gayle to Athleta, swam a bit. Dan, Jeff and Melissa came over and we all had dinner together by the pool. Quote of the Week As soon as I have a deadline, I work much better. Time unbounded is hard to handle. –May Sarton —— Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out myDown Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 278 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.   This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair In my Travels KAL News Events Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitched by Jessalu   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Be Fearless Socks Yarn: Area 51 Fibres Sturdy Alien Base in the Be FearLESS Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: this self striping colorway is a bright rainbow colorway that's meant to mimic the logo for our FearLESS Living Fund Meters for Stash Dash: 290.4 meters   Raven Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn in the Raven Colorway from the Yarnable Box. Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the Yarn: Speckled colorway with a cream base. Green, gray/black and hot pink colors speckled in. Meters for Stash Dash: 256 meters   Beer Hat Pattern: Beer Stein Hat by Lindsay Hoffman (free crochet hat available on this blog) Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun Yarn- Hepplewhite & Red Heart Super Saver- Gold Hook: G: 4.25 mm (started with an H but thought the gauge was too large. Other Materials: 3 Pipe Cleaners Ravelry Project Page Dan's friend Chris' wife asked for this for her husband (he excitedly agreed). He's a brewer and manager at one of our local breweries, Vitamin Sea, so maybe he'll sport it to work. Meters for Stash Dash: 120.7   Total for Stash Dash meters for this episode: 667.1 meters   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Vera's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Red, Everglade Heather and White Hook: F (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page   Riley's 16th Birthday Flower Top Pattern:  Riley found in this TikTok video Hook: G (4.0 mm) Yarn: Caron Skinny Cakes in the Grape Raisin UVA colorway (purchased 3) Ravelry Project Page YouTube Video Linked instructions   Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist This subscription is not available to new subscribers but there's a new one coming in the Fall. Blanket Pre-Orders for the Murder She Knit club are available now! Please consider using my Affiliate Link. The patterns for this kit will be the Northeasterly Blanket by Melissa Alexander-Loomis (knit version) and the Northeasterly blanket by Katy Stevens (crochet version).  Progress: I finished 5 (of 9) my May squares.   Static Musselburgh Pattern: Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague (7 GBP Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry & on Ysolda's website) Yarn: Knit Picks Static Fingering Weight Yarn in the Peppercorn colorway Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) & US 2.5 (3.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page   My Little Unicorn Socks Yarn: Andre Sue Knits Sock Blank in the My Little Unicorn colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page Gray background with white and pink unicorns that look like My Little Pony. My inner 80's child loved this one. Progress: Started in July of 2023. Past the cuff of the second sock when I picked them up. I knit the leg and heel over Memorial Day Weekend 2024.   Trish's New Orleans Socks Yarn- Cat Tails Yarn in the Chartreux Base (75% Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon, 10% Silver Stellina) in the Christmas Bonfires Colorway (part of the Down in New Orleans Collection) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Trish purchased in New Orleans in 2024 (exclusive colorway for the Quarter Stitch). $34. Progress: at the heel of the first sock   Julia's Cozy Clusters Blanket Pattern: Cozy Clusters Baby Blanket by Leelee Knits (free & paid options available on the LeeLeeKnits website) Yarn: Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes in the Hibiscus Colorway (purchased 3). 1 skein of Loops & Threads Impeccable in Orange for the border) Hooks: H (5.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page I initially bought 2 skeins based on the size of a similar blanket I made with this pattern, but after coming to the end of the first skein I knew it wouldn't be large enough. I probably should have/could have used an I hook. 2 row repeat that is easy to memorize. Almost done with the 3rd skein. Plan to finish the first week of June.   Brainstorming Took a chair off the side of the road- the arms are ripped at the front but the rest looks great, so I am going to crochet covers for the arms!   From the Armchair   One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Wellness by Nathan Hill. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   In My Travels Aila and I drove out to Great Barrington for Eme's Associate Degree graduation ceremony. We enjoyed dinner at Steam and an ice cream afterwards. In taking Eme to pick up their pottery pieces for the year to bring home, I got to see and hear all about it! At the graduation ceremony the next day, I was chatting for awhile only to look up when asked what I was knitting to see Crispina French, who I know from her vending at Rhinebeck! Talk about a small world!   KAL News Summer Bingo with Monica & Cortney of the Craft Cook Read Repeat Podcast Tour de Fleece- check out this Ravelry Group for official details. Saturday, June 29, 2024 through Sunday, July 21, 2024. Rest Days: Monday, July 8 and Monday, July 15. There are challenge days, Teams and prizes. Colors of Fall with the Yarniacs Podcast Group. June 20- September 22 Summer Spin In with the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Podcast Group- May 27 - September 2 WIP Bingo with Cerulean Orchid- June 1-30th. (several West Coast US LYSs participating but you can join online too) Summer Sock Camp with the Crazy Sock Lady The Knit Girllls are hosting their annual Stash Dash Event from May 24-August 31,2024. Discord link: knit girllls discord Jasmin (of the Knitmore Girls Podcast) & I are competing again this year. Check out my Stash Dash Spreadsheet here   Events Flock Fiber Festival- August 9-11 in Seattle, WA Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY (GREEN-Witch) Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know!   Life in Focus I give a quick update on my word of the year HEART, which I've been seeing hearts in/on the trees lately! I share a quick goals update and a health update about my parents.   On a Happy Note Dan and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary on May 22nd- the 143rd day of the year (which happened in 2024 only because its a Leap Year- usually Day 143 is May 23rd). Minot's Light Lighthouse's light signal, a 1-4-3 flashing cycle adopted in 1894, is locally referred to as "I LOVE YOU" (1-4-3 being the number of letters in that phrase), and it is often cited as such by romantic couples within its range. Friday of Memorial Day Weekend we went out for dinner (to use up a gift card- which we still had $1 left on when we left) and to a friends' house for a fire. Saturday & Sunday pool days My niece Riley got her learner's permit and drove us home from the grocery store! Teddy and the snorkel (so cute) Baby Vera's first swim The long weekend allowed me the extra day off to clean out our pantry and my closet. I switched out my winter clothes for summer ones, took donations to Savers and did shopping and meal prep for the week. It felt great. Deer and turtles abound!   Quote of the Week Writer and designer Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, on what causes old age: "The producer of old age is habit: the deathly process of doing the same thing in the same way at the same hour day after day, first from carelessness, then from inclination, at last from cowardice or inertia. Habit is necessary; but it is the habit of having careless habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive... one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." Source: A Backward Glance (lightly edited for clarity)   Thank you for tuning in!   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.          

A daily non-partisan, conversational breakdown of today's top news and breaking news stories This Week's Sponsors: – Shopify – $1 per-month trial Code: monews   Headlines: – Welcome to Mo News (00:00)   – 1 Million Customers Are Without Power in Texas, And It Could Last Days (04:10) – Why Progressive DAs Are Losing Their Grip On The West Coast (06:35) – U.S. Gaza Aid Pier Shut Down After Damage from Heavy Weather (12:30) – IDF Says Hidden Store Of Terror Munitions May Have Caused Deadly Rafah Fire (14:30) – Trump Trial: Closing Arguments (18:50) – And Was That Robert De Niro Outside Court? (20:50(  – US Box Office On Track To Have Worst Memorial Day Weekend Since 1995 (23:45) – Famous 'Home Alone' House On Sale For $5.25 million (28:40) – YouTube Music Will Let You Search By Humming Into Your Android Phone (32:45) – On This Day In History (34:15) **Mo News Premium For Members-Only Instagram, Private Podcast: (Click To Join)** — Mosheh Oinounou (@mosheh) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022. Jill Wagner (@jillrwagner) is an Emmy and Murrow award- winning journalist. She's currently the Managing Editor of the Mo News newsletter and previously worked as a reporter for CBS News, Cheddar News, and News 12. She also co-founded the Need2Know newsletter, and has made it a goal to drop a Seinfeld reference into every Mo News podcast. Follow Mo News on all platforms: Website: www.mo.news Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mosheh/ Daily Newsletter: https://www.mo.news/newsletter Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@monews Twitter: https://twitter.com/mosheh TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mosheh Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoshehNews Snapchat: https://t.snapchat.com/pO9xpLY9

  Thank you for tuning in to Episode 277 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website.    This week's segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins From the Armchair KAL News Events Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Woolen Camelot socks Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers Sock (80/20 SW Merino/Nylon) in the Woolen Camelot colorway from the May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box. Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Check out my Unboxing Video for this May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box & the more recent June box which is available now. If you're thinking of joining, please purchase using my Affiliate Link. It won't cost you any extra. I will make a small commission.   Same as It Ever Was Hat #2 Pattern: Same as It Ever Was by Sarah Jordan ($6 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Kingdom Fleece and Fiberworks. No colorway listed. Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page I started this project in January. Used nearly all of the yarn. Loved this yarn/pattern combo. I am planning to keep this hat! It is plenty long enough to wear with the brim folded and still have it worn slouchy.   Colleen's Baby Blanket Pattern: Crochet Modern Boho Granny Blanket by Tiffany Brown (free crochet pattern available on this website) Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Blue Mint, Soft Green, Riviera (Speckle), Kelly Green, Robin's Egg, White Sage (Speckle) & White Hook: H (5.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page I learned about this edge technique on this website.     On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Riley's 16th Birthday Flower Top Pattern:  Riley found in this TikTok video Hook: G (4.0 mm) Yarn: Caron Skinny Cakes in the Grape Raisin UVA colorway (purchased 3) Ravelry Project Page YouTube Video Linked instructions About the yarn- probably about a sport weight yarn that gradiates through purples, blues and white. I'm enjoying this project but it involves a lot of counting on each row so it takes focused time which I haven't had a ton of. Working on the Front (or Back): 3 repeats of the pattern = 6 flowers   Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist This subscription is not available to new subscribers but there's a new one coming in the Fall. Blanket Pre-Orders for the Murder She Knit club are available now! Please consider using my Affiliate Link. The patterns for this kit will be the Northeasterly Blanket by Melissa Alexander-Loomis (knit version) and the Northeasterly blanket by Katy Stevens (crochet version).  Progress: I finished my April squares and am working on the border.   Raven Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn in the Raven Colorway from the Yarnable Box. Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the Yarn: Speckled colorway with a cream base. Green, gray/black and hot pink colors speckled in.   Static Musselburgh Pattern: Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague (7 GBP Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry & on Ysolda's website) Yarn: Knit Picks Static Fingering Weight Yarn in the Peppercorn colorway Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) & US 2.5 (3.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page   Be Fearless Socks Yarn: Area 51 Fibres Sturdy Alien Base in the Be FearLESS Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the yarn: this self striping colorway is a bright rainbow colorway that's meant to mimic the logo for our FearLESS Living Fund   Julia's Cozy Clusters Blanket Pattern: Cozy Clusters Baby Blanket by Leelee Knits (free & paid options available on the LeeLeeKnits website) Yarn: Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes in the Hibiscus Colorway (purchased 3). 1 skein of Loops & Threads Impeccable in Orange for the border) Hooks: H (5.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page I really enjoy this pattern. It's a 2 row repeat that I remember having memorized the first time around but thought I couldn't this time. After working maybe 10 repeats, I was able to memorize it. It's just the cozy comfort project I need right now.   From the Armchair   Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Counting the Cost: A Memoir. by Jill Duggar with Derick Dillard and Craig Borlaise. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. A Funny Story by Emily Henry. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   KAL News No Splash Pad Party this Summer, but check out these other awesome online events Summer Sock Camp with the Crazy Sock Lady The Knit Girllls are hosting their annual Stash Dash Event from May 24-August 31,2024. Here's a chatter thread for stash dash 2024! Stash Dash will run from May 24th-the end of August. Craft all the things and see how your FO pile grows! This is a competition only against yourself. Discord link: knit girllls discord   Events Webs Fleece Market: May 18 in Northampton, MA (Tent sale May 16-17) Coggeshall Farm Sheep & Wool Festival: May 18th in Bristol, RI Massachusetts Sheep & Wool: may 25 & 26, 2024 in Cummington, MA Flock Fiber Festival- August 9-11 in Seattle, WA Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY (GREEN-Witch) Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know!   Life in Focus   I shared more details about my parents' car accident. Tune in to hear more. Thankfully they are both recovering. Resources- Scituate Etrusco- serves the South Shore of MA with medical equipment that they loan out. Huge savings! Look for something similar near you. I'm not sure what this will mean for mom's upcoming cancer treatments. She was supposed to be healing to be ready for radiation. Will know more within the next week.   On a Happy Note Conor & Carly hosted a family game night for their Bucket List with a Twist item with my mom. We played Code Names & Penny Drop! Riley gave Auntie Krissy the chicken we made together and she was over the moon! It was awesome. My cousin Jenny had her baby girl, Vera Camela, at the hospital where I work, so I got to hold her when she was only a few hours old! I went to see a local production of Gypsy that my friend Megg was in. My 12 year old niece Millie was a huge help with my parents. I finished my drawing class at the local rec center. I had to miss 2 out of 6 classes, but I learned a lot doing a portrait of Eme from a photo I took of them at the playground when they were a kid. I took my grandmother to my cousin Colleen's baby shower. Coleen had a great reaction to her crocheted blanket. I'm always grateful for that. We had a birthday dinner for Aila- low key backyard party made more interesting by a full-family cartwheel contest! Big work project rolling out new technology went well. I was still able to take Mom to her appointments (while Dad wasn't driving and they didn't have a car), and was able to work other shifts so my coworkers could attend their kids events. As a thank you for that, my boss invited us to use a suite at the Garden for game 1 of the Celtics/Cavaliers Playoff Game! The Celtics crushed it. Dan wasn't able to come, so I brought my friend Liz who is a huge fan. My friend Laura came in to visit for Mother's Day weekend- along w/ 7 of my Mom's friends. We went to a movie on Friday night then to visit Mom and her guests on Saturday. Sunday we made brunch for Mother's Day and then off to see Millie as a Munchkin and Flying Monkey in the Wizard of Oz at a local theater.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   Quote of the Week “It's easier to take than to give. It's nobler to give than to take. The thrill of taking lasts a day. The thrill of giving lasts a lifetime.” ~ Joan Marques   Thank you for tuning in!   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.  

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 276 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes can be found on my website.   This week's segments included:     Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins From the Armchair In my Travels KAL News Events On a Happy Note Quote of the Week   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins     Christmas in July Socks Yarn: Area 51 Fibres Sturdy Alien Base in the Christmas in July 2023 Colorway Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page   Modern Classic Baby Blanket Pattern: Modern Classic Baby Blanket by Kristin Holloway ($8 crochet pattern available on Ravelry: free version w/ ads available on this website) Hook: I (5.5mm) Yarn: Big Twist Tweed in White (7 skeins- I used just shy of 5 skeins) Size: Crib Blanket: 36 x 50” The blanket is worked in 2 halves that you seam together at the center to make it symmetrical. The pattern features some crochet cables.   Auntie Krissy's Chickens Pattern: Chicken Family by Kensey Davis ($5 crochet pattern on Etsy) Hook: G (4.0 mm) Yarn: Premier Yarns Chunky Parfair in Mushroom, White, Ruby and Mustard. Ravelry Project Page Thanks to Riley for joining me to talk about this joint project.   On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins   Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist This subscription is not available to new subscribers but I hope you'll watch each month and see how my blanket comes along. Stay tuned to Woolen Women for all of the fun kits they have! Progress: I finished my March squares (month 6) and unboxed month 7!   Woolen Camelot socks Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers Sock (80/20 SW Merino/Nylon) in the Woolen Camelot colorway from the May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box. Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Check out my Unboxing Video for this May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box. If you're thinking of joining, please purchase using my Affiliate Link. It won't cost you any extra. I will make a small commission.   Colleen's Baby Blanket Pattern: Crochet Modern Boho Granny Blanket by Tiffany Brown (free crochet pattern available on this website) Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Blue Mint, Soft Green, Riviera (Speckle), Kelly Green, Robin's Egg, White Sage (Speckle) & White Hook: H (5.0 mm) Progress: I've finished 3 colors, doing 7 pairs of DC/DC3 tog per color. On the 3rd color, Riviera, I ran out of yarn, so couldn't complete the last row, so I ripped back and had to start with the Kelly Green early.   Riley's 16th Birthday Flower Top Pattern:  Riley found in this TikTok video Hook: G (4.0 mm) Yarn: Caron Skinny Cakes in the Grape Raisin UVA colorway (purchased 3) Ravelry Project Page YouTube Video Linked instructions   From the Armchair Booth by Karen Joy Fowler. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. I'll Be You by Janelle Brown. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.   Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   In My Travels   I took my nieces Riley and Aila to Connecticut for their birthday weekend sleepover. We got an AirBnB in Litchfield. Friday night, we stayed in and watched Gilmore Girls on Netflix (the inspiration for our adventure). Saturday we toured around! Here are some handy links.   Henry David Thoreau Footbridge Hickory Stick Bookstore The Washington Food Market Five Janes (had some cute Gilmore Girls themed merch) Stuart's Floral The Po Cafe (for lunch) Mayflower Inn and Spa- inspiration for the Independence Inn Stars Hollow Yarn in New Preston, CT Arethusa Farm Ice Cream We shopped in a couple local thrift shops, did some window shopping in downtown Litchfield before stopping for coffee at Espresso 59. Check out this blog post for more ideas of Exploring Washington Connecticut with a Gilmore Girls themed lens.   Stay tuned for a vlog coming to the Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel.   KAL News Splash Pad Registration Opens May 1 Event will run Friday May 24th through Wednesday July 31, 2024 Sponsor Call will go out SOON!   Events   Fiber Witch Festival: April 19-21, 2024 in Salem, MA (marketplace and classes) Connecticut Sheep & Wool: Sunday April 27, 2024 in North Haven, CT Yarncentrick Pop-up Event: May 2 & 3, 2024 in Frederick, MD Maryland Sheep & Wool: May 4 & 5, 2024 in West Friendship, MD New Hampshire Sheep & Wool: May 11 & 12, 2024 in Deerfield, NH Webs Fleece Market: May 18 in Northampton, MA (Tent sale May 16-17) Coggeshall Farm Sheep & Wool Festival: May 18th in Bristol, RI Massachusetts Sheep & Wool: may 25 & 26, 2024 in Cummington, MA Flock Fiber Festival- August 4-6 in Seattle, WA Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY (GREEN-Witch) Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site.   Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know!   On a Happy Note   I went to see the musical Company in Boston. I joined my parents and a few of my cousins at the Spring Fling event at my Grandmother's Assisted Living. Riley came for a sleepover to finish Kris's chicken. On Saturday, we spent some time at my parents, and then Dad drove us to my nephew Garret's hockey final. His team won and he scored the first and last goal of the game. After spending Sunday morning with a headache, I rallied to join my parents for Riley's dance competition. I've had 2 weeks of drawing classes through my town's Rec program. We did some basic exercises the first week and then moved into more structural architectural drawing using 2 point perspective. My mom's friends ran an auction event and raised over $1200 for the FearLESS Living Fund! Mom completed another round of chemo. I did a bit of studio tidying. Gilmore Girls weekend with Riley & Aila.   Quote of the Week We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down. –KURT VONNEGUT   ------   Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 275 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair In my Travels KAL News Events Life in Focus Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitched by Jessalu & The Yarn Sellar Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Thumper Hat Yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in the Light Grey colorway Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) & US 8 (5.0 mm) Pattern: Thumper Hat by Jennifer Lassonde- $5 Knitting pattern available on Ravelry & LoveCrafts The Thumper Hat is a worsted weight slouchy hat with a diamond lace pattern. For the size Large/XL, I used 66g of yarn (around 144 yards/132 meters) LFA Mystery Shortie Socks Yarn: Legacy Fiber Artz Steel Toes Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About 12 rounds of ribbing. 1 round of knitting before starting the heel I used 35 grams of yarn. Hair bow Pattern: Cottage Hair Accessories (Bow Tie) by Wool & Pine. $5 pattern available on Ravelry or on the Wool & Pine website) Yarn: Legacy Fiber Artz Glitz Toes- multicolor mini skein from Christmas 2023 Advent Calendar. Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Pattern was a part of my May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box package. Watch my unboxing video here. If you're thinking of joining, please purchase using my Affiliate Link. It won't cost you any extra. I will make a small commission. On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Modern Classic Baby Blanket Pattern: Modern Classic Baby Blanket by Kristin Holloway ($8 crochet pattern available on Ravelry: free version w/ ads available on this website) Hook: I (5.5) Yarn: Big Twist Tweed in White (7 skeins) Size: Crib Blanket: 36 x 50” The blanket is worked in 2 halves that you seam together at the center to make it symmetrical. The pattern features some crochet cables. Woolen Camelot socks Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers Sock (80/20 SW Merino/Nylon) in the Woolen Camelot colorway from the May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box. Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Check out my Unboxing Video for this May 2024 Woolen Yarn Box. If you're thinking of joining, please purchase using my Affiliate Link. It won't cost you any extra. I will make a small commission. Let the Mystery Unravel 2023 Blanket of Calm Pattern: Blanket of Calm by Casapinka (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Woolen Women Fibers- Let the Mystery Unravel subscription + Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the Forged Iron Colorway Hook: 3.25 mm (D) Ravelry Project Page You can find my Let the Mystery Unravel Unboxing Video on YouTube in this Playlist Progress: My January (Month 4) squares done and seamed and the border is in progress. My February (Month 5) squares are in progress. Be Fearless Socks Yarn: Area 51 Fibres Sturdy Alien Base in the Be FearLess Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) About the Yarn: pink, peach yellow, green and blue stripes to look like the colors in our FearLESS Living Fund logo. Pet of our February fundraiser. Progress: more than half way done with leg on the first sock Christmas in July Socks Yarn: Area 51 Fibres Sturdy Alien Base in the Christmas in July 2023 Colorway Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Ravelry Project Page Area 51. Snack shack sponsor. Progress: finished first sock. Beyond the heel on the second sock. Brainstorming Keeping a “creative projects” list in Evernote is really helping me. With everything going on, I don't always have the mental energy to decide on something but making feels good and I'm happier when I do it. Thinking ahead to upcoming birthdays and listing patterns out is working better for me this year than ever before. April Plans Crochet beer hat for Chris – Red heart gold + Lion Brand Homespun Yarn- Hepplewhite (May 31st  birthday)-  yarn purchased Mini Mock Neck Tank for Liz. Pattern by Jessie Maed Designs. $9 knitting pattern on Ravelry We bought yarn for this at Rhinebeck and in an over-tired state, lost ourselves in a fit of giggles over the description of this pattern. I need to take Liz's measurements From the Armchair I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy by Erin Carlson. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. The Women by Kristin Hannah. Bookshop Affiliate Link.Amazon Affiliate Link. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. In My Travels On Sunday March 24, my friend Megg and I spent the day at Raffa Life in Cranston, Rhode Island. We did the 4 hour Urban Sweat in the morning. We took a Worm Moon Sound Bath Yoga Workshop in the afternoon. I left feeling loose, refreshed, and calm. Curious about what a Sound Bath is? Click here for an article that may be helpful. KAL News Splash Pad Party will be coming! Events The Yarn Seller's Fiber Marketplace– April 6, 2024 in York Beach, ME Shepard's Extravaganza: April 6-7 in Enumclaw, WA Whidbey Weavers Guild Spin-In: April 6-7 in Oak Harbor, WA Fiber Witch Festival: April 19-21, 2024 in Salem, MA (marketplace and classes) Connecticut Sheep & Wool: Sunday April 27, 2024 in North Haven, CT Yarncentrick Pop-up Event: May 2 & 3, 2024 in Frederick, MD Maryland Sheep & Wool: May 4 & 5, 2024 in West Friendship, MD New Hampshire Sheep & Wool: May 11 & 12, 2024 in Deerfield, NH Webs Fleece Market: May 18 in Northampton, MA (Tent sale May 16-17) Coggeshall Farm Sheep & Wool Festival: May 18th in Bristol, RI Massachusetts Sheep & Wool: May 25 & 26, 2024 in Cummington, MA Flock Fiber Festival– August 4-6 in Seattle, WA Adirondack Wool & Arts Festival; September 21 & 22, 2024 in Greenwich, NY Vermont Sheep & Wool: October 1 & 2, 2024 in Tunnebridge, VT NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck): October 19 & 20, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY For more West Coast (US) event- check out the Seattle Knitters Guild Site. Know of an event I should spread the word about? Let me know! Life in Focus I shared an update on my 24 for 2024 list 5) Organize a fundraiser for the FearLESS Living Fund 15) Purge at least 20 items from my wardrobe (March: nearly 30 pieces) 16) Go skiing- 2/24 with Rowans 20) Buy a new quilt and/or duvet cover for our bed. Ordered in march. 21) Buy a new blow dryer. March 21st ordered Dyson Ask Me Anything Rachel asked: How are you coping with your mom's health concerns and making time for self care? Going to bed early. Not scrolling on social media- it can be fun, yes, but too much makes me feel anxious. Talking with friends and with Dan. I started seeing a therapist. Making time- not having kids definitely helps with this, but as you all know, I can definitely over-schedule myself. I have been prioritizing family events and not much else. I don't enjoying saying no or seeing so much white space on the calendar- but I know I'll need it and I often do. On a Happy Note Friday night game night at my parents with my brother, Dan and the kids. We played a few spirited rounds of Skip-Bo and watched the Taylor Swift Eras tour movie on tv. Mom, Riley, Millie and I had a sleepover then spent Saturday doing some thrift and clothing shopping, went out for lunch and brought home Crumbl cookies to taste test (with my Dad/Pepere). My phone fell into the cookie with the MOST sticky frosting. It was hilarious! We all celebrated St. Patrick's Day at my cousin Susan's annual party. I had a blast catching up with cousins and especially playing with some of the little kiddos. Seeing the Girl from North Country (Broadway in Boston series). While Megg and I did not enjoy the show, its always fun to experience live theater and the music was beautiful. Monthly massage! Lunch with Mom, Dad, Kris and Aila. Garret's playoff hockey game! He got a hat trick, they won and got to the next round of playoffs (they won the second game too). Dinner with work friends. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. Quote of the Week “Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush.” — Doug Larson —— Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out myDown Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

The 16:9 PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY SCREENFEED – DIGITAL SIGNAGE CONTENT Everybody who is active and experienced in the digital signage space knows the big evergreen challenge for solutions providers and end-users is content production - keeping programming on screens fresh and relevant, but also attractive. A lot of companies in the ecosystem - and not just the software guys - have some degree of template libraries and finished content that can be updated or pushed straight to screens. That's a piece of the solution. But there's also a demand for tools that make it easy and efficient to produce good-looking material for screens. In looking over the exhibitor list for the upcoming DSE trade show, I came across Design Huddle, and wondered, "Who is that and what do they do?" It's a small West Coast US startup that has B2B graphic design software that allows brands, agencies, and other platforms to create what it describes as lockable digital, video, print, and presentation templates for their users. There are some similarities to solutions like Canva, but also a lot of distinctions. The one that would particularly interest a lot of tech companies in this industry is the ability to fully integrate and white label the Design Huddle toolset inside something like a CMS. I haD a great chat with CEO and co-founder Dave Stewart, who is based (I'm jealous) in Huntington Beach, California. Yeah, there's LA traffic, but it's lovely by the water ... Subscribe from wherever you pick up new podcasts. TRANSCRIPT Dave, thank you for joining me. Can you tell me what the Design Huddle is all about? Because it's unfamiliar to me.  Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. Ultimately, we are an enterprise focused on software as a service platform that focuses on templating and content creation in an easy and accessible way. We're definitely API-first, so we have a big focus on platform integrations where our customers are programmatically creating content, but then we're also really focused on end-user experience so people who are actually designing, whether that's static content or motion content in a browser, are able to really easily fill in pieces of a video template or create content really for any purpose. What kind of content would they be creating in the context of digital signage, which is obviously what I'm interested in?  Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, we were actually really surprised. We're relatively new to digital signage, and within the last year, we had to get up to speed ultimately because a couple of players in this industry came to us and really expressed, “Hey, content is a big issue for us, right? We can sell these really expensive screens and they're great, but our customers are just really struggling with what are we going to put on them and how's that going to look good, right? We can have a great-looking screen without good-looking content, so there's a problem.”  So, I've been educating ourselves on this very recently, and it's really a combination of things like static content where it's like, I'm just displaying basic information that might be somewhat real-time or just informational, then also, motion content for things like, imagine the signs that are up on a football stadium or in a basketball gym, where you want to show basic animated content, that's talking about whatever the context is for that sport or things like that. So it's been a little bit of everything, but imagine anything that can be shown on a sign, someone's creating that somewhere, right?  Right. Is the core idea that the end user, the operator would be selecting from a template library or are they creating stuff from scratch or how does it work? Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. We are actually just the software. We're not actually playing in the content game ourselves. We just make it really easy to create content on our platform, and generally, that's going to mean importing from existing design files and animation files that you've created elsewhere. We can import PDFs and maintain all the layers. So any static content that's generated in any Adobe product or Figma, we can essentially just import it in and maintain that. In After Effects, you can now export to a format called Lottie files and Lottie files can be imported into our system and now essentially we can have really rich animations generating After Effects that are really easily customizable by an end user and also programmatically via API. So that's the starting point for most of our customers is generating their content on their side, whether they're contracting with an agency or they have a team internally, it's building these things. The main thing they're focused on is, we just don't want to have to do these customs per customer. I was super surprised to find out that some of the initial interest from us, these hardware companies have content teams that are literally generating content individually for their customers and to me, that was crazy. but they had to, because that was the way they were going to sell their hardware.  So we're just changing that a bit where it's like, just do that once, right? Generate some templates for them and then give them the power, empower them to actually make the changes for themselves, or, again, do it programmatically for them. So I'm curious. Is this the sort of thing that is best suited to somebody who's already a motion graphics designer, an animator, somebody with quite a deep set of creative skills or maybe technical skills?  Dave Stewart: I would say a big focus of ours is when it comes to who we are going to sell to. Definitely, software companies are high up on that list who have a general system that's trying to do a lot of things and specifically in digital signage, that might be a CMS or any of these other acronyms that we've come to find out exist here where they're trying to do a lot of things. We're just the content piece, and we feel like we can really stand out by creating a best-in-breed, seamlessly integrated white-labeled product that can fit into their platform in a way that feels proprietary but adds best-of-breed, innovative content creation ability. Now, when it comes to who's creating that content whether they have an internal design team with some expertise or whether they contract an agency just to initially create them a set of templates, it can work either way. I will also say, though, that we do work with brands directly, where brands are creating branded content that might be shown on lots of screens but they want to empower regular users to be able to make changes to those templates while still adhering to brand consistency and their brand guidelines and so like our locking feature is big in that situation because someone creates a template but then now anybody can actually make basic adjustments to it. So it sounds like it's a little reminiscent of what I've been hearing in the last year about AI and how generative AI isn't going to really replace designers, but it does add a considerable layer of efficiency in that you can remove some of the drudgery and some of the building block stuff and automate that or streamline that but it's not meant to just take designers out of the equation. Dave Stewart: No, definitely not. I feel like we're really excited about AI and everyone says that, but I'll get more specific for you. I think, for us right now, we actually just sent out an AI survey to our customers to try to prioritize the main things that they're really interested in. For us, the basic stuff, like background removal, like removing background from images, which we already do, and background from videos. You have things like speech-to-text to provide like auto captioning and things like that. Obviously, generative AI, where you're prompting via text to say, “Hey, I want an image that shows this, or I want to alter this one image to include this”, all those things fit in really well with what we do, but where we want to take that even further is, okay, let me generate a whole bunch of template ideas for you that are basic iteration changes from a set of templates that we may train a model on. So we're actually gonna take all your content you've made and the holy grail for us is, let us shoot out and show you a bunch of previews of a bunch of similar-looking templates that follow the same kind of styles, maybe themes or layouts. But in a new way you're still starting with the designer that needs to set the standard but you're able to generate content in a much quicker way and remove a lot of the monotonous activity that's usually involved there.  So what would be involved in using it? Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. So typically what will happen is, again, two sides of our business. We have a platform side where we're going to be very hands-on with our customers and integrate this into some platform that they already have, where there are already users where they need to add on templating or improve some existing content creation suite that they have inside that. So, we would inherit those users and they seamlessly became part of that platform. The other side of the business is, okay, their turnkey solution where we might work with an agency or brand directly. We white label it and they log into a portal that like we create, but it's white labeled for you on your domain. and the idea is that a user is just signing up and accessing a template in a way where you are just a distribution mechanism to provide them content that way. Either way, it's going to be in the context of a browser, whether that's on desktop or mobile and generally it's going to be filling out a template that someone has gotten you, let's call it 80 percent of the way there. Okay. So like you were saying earlier, it's not really that you would go in and say, I want to do a 15-second promotional spot for a car dealer and I would go find a template that seems to be about retail or car dealers or whatever it may be and I can monkey around with that. This is more important than what you already have and automating and making it much more efficient to do that sort of thing. Dave Stewart: Honestly, I think it's both. We have some customers that definitely fall more in the former, for sure, where they have more generic content that they're trying to reach a lot of people with and they're creating more generic content that could be used for different purposes while still allowing the user to really personalize it for themselves. But then, we also have customers that are trying programmatically.  So, let's walk through the car dealer one then. If I'm Bob's shovels in Fairbanks, Alaska or whatever it may be and I want to create five ads for our fall clearance event and I don't have Motion graphics animator on my team or anything like that. What would I do?  Dave Stewart: Yeah. No, absolutely. So in that situation, again, they're not necessarily like someone that small isn't going to be our customer directly. We're going to inherit them from the fact that they work with some other company, whether that's an agency or they have digital signage. Let's imagine that. They bought a digital sign and part of that came a subscription to some sort of content creation suite and we just designed how it all just so happens to power that content creation suite. That would be the scenario where we might be involved with a small business like that. In that situation, that would entail that the agency or the hardware company that is providing that software suite has created some basic templates for this type of customer, which is exactly what we're seeing happen by the way.  and again, I was very surprised about this, that these hardware companies would actually have content teams doing this but that's exactly what's happening. and so, the content teams are just really excited that they don't have to do super personalizing custom graphics, both motion and static for the customer anymore. They can just create templates and let the customer have them themselves.  So one of the main reasons that end users and solutions providers to some degree struggle with all of this in terms of content is cost. Agency costs are higher and everything else and the idea of these kinds of tools is attractive for a number of reasons. But one of them is, this will lower my costs of producing content. I assume you guys have done some sort of calculations to say to your potential customers that if you use our stuff, you can potentially save this kind of money. Dave Stewart: Yeah. Ultimately, not that we're in the business of replacing designers that you might already have on staff, but most of the time we're getting brought in a situation where there's a design team and currently what they're super focused on is super monotonous, non creative work where they're taking a Photoshop file and making basic text changes and dropping in images. and think about the salary of someone like that and what you're paying for. We would say, we're not trying to replace that person but let's focus that, some of that person on something actually creative, that's going to move the needle for your business, not on this monotonous work that could absolutely be done by the user themselves in a simple templating solution. So, that's how we'd approach it and so when we talk about cost savings, again, you could think about the fact that, Hey, this salary is gone, but ultimately we'd say, no, let's just repurpose that salary for something useful. Okay.  So do you want to go back to skill sets? What realistically do you need to use this? You're going to be a designer or something already?  Dave Stewart: Yeah. I would say, look, Canva is a really interesting thing to look at because Canva came on the scene and showed everyone that a platform like this in the browser can be really easy to use and we can remove a lot of the friction and difficulty that's been associated with static and motion content in the past. And so Canva has really educated the market on what's possible and that anybody can kind of design following templates and ultimately, I would say, while we're not trying to be Canva whatsoever, there's clearly a lot of overlap in what we do in terms of a simple user interface, a really easy to create templating solution. The big differentiation there is clearly that we're fully white labels and we're embedding this into some proprietary solution, typically in a way that really well fits into that ecosystem, whatever it might be in a seamless way.  So, how did the company get started?  Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. So as I mentioned, digital signage is relatively new for us and we're really excited about it, but ultimately, we operate in other verticals, so the opportunity originally was more like as we do in terms of media types, we support print, even large format prints. For instance, we were at ISA earlier this year and our focus going to that was actually more on non-digital billboards and things like that. That was actually really interesting, by the way, as an aside, because, on the plane ride there, some people behind me were talking about one of our larger customers who's actually a major player in digital signage and it opened my eyes to, wow, this is a much bigger company than I even realized. and they're having content issues. There must be lots of additional opportunities here. So, going into that show, again we shifted and pivoted. It's like, Hey, you know what? Digital signage is actually a bigger opportunity than we thought. But to answer your question, again, starting in some of those other media types, we just saw the need for really simple white labeled, digital content creation, whether that be for ads, whether that's just basic social media graphics and posts and basic print collateral. There are lots of sites that are just offering like, whether that's a printing website or whether that's an agency just providing content to their users. Content is content and at the end of the day and it can be all sorts of things. We've really just focused on how do we create a really consistent experience for both motion and static? How can we really seamlessly tie together? Even like print and digital content in a really simple to use easy editor and that has ended up applying to lots of industries and it's been really exciting to find that out  In terms of the business itself, what would be the breakdown roughly of what you're doing for print, what you're doing for online, what you're doing for digital display, like digital signage is digital signage?  Is digital signage a big component of it, or is it just something you're trying to educate the market on and grow? Dave Stewart: Yeah. Honestly, like I mentioned, we've just gotten into digital signage recently, so clearly it's not a huge piece of the pie yet. We do have very large goals in digital signage Though, we actually do see digital signage being a pretty decent slice of the pie, within the next two years, but as of right now, I'd say that it's hard because of the number of customers versus actual revenue. A lot of our revenue is tied to digital, for sure. So, there are a lot of use cases for ads, social media graphics, things like that, which were our bread and butter. We have a lot of print-focused customers. The revenue is not as high there. There's just more of them, quantity-wise. But I would say that both of those are fairly client counts evenly split. It's definitely skewed more revenue-wise toward digital and what's been really interesting is a lot of these digital-focused, even with social media. They are the ones that push us into video, right? So, like motion content, as it pertains to digital signage, we were already creating HD-quality video just to try to serve that digital market with a priority to know about digital signage. So it's been really interesting to see that a lot of the things that we've done can apply in other areas and it's really just about how we can make a better mousetrap when it comes to end user simplicity of content customization and then programmatic API first control of a platform like this?  Are you constrained at all in terms of formats and resolutions and things like that are obviously day to day things in digital signage? Dave Stewart: Yeah, what's really cool is that from the beginning, we've made it really easy to do basic resizing and that an end user could actually resize. So, if there's a slightly different aspect ratio as we can obviously find very frequently on digital signage. Our algorithm will automatically move things around for you and try to keep the design kind of integrity maintained. Now that doesn't work perfectly when you have huge aspect ratio shifts, like clearly if you're going portrait to landscape, it's not going to necessarily work as well. But yeah, it is a big component of this. I would say that on the other side of it, on the programmatic side, we will have customers that will create different templates for slightly different aspect ratios and then ultimately they'll use our API to populate all of them at once with the same data. So you're now spitting out a whole bunch of creativity at one time, leveraging the same data images, text colors, all of it. Now you've just generated a whole pack for users that might have signs of different sizes. So in terms of outputs, you can do HD video.  Dave Stewart: Absolutely. Yeah. Now we haven't gotten into a 4k yet. There hasn't been demand because typically 4k is going to be created on professional desktop software. We can do it and we are thinking we're going to get pushed into that. and honestly, it's just going to take one customer that kind of just tells us they really need it to pull the trigger on it, but absolutely, 1080p video we've been doing from the beginning.  And are there any other issues around the output files? Like the video is 30 frames per second, that sort of thing? Dave Stewart: Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So we're trying to follow all the industry standards there and honestly, even if a client has very specific requirements when it comes to Codecs and it comes to specific quality of specific items. We're a very customizable platform like we have settings for all of those things that we can match what you need. One of the bigger things has been transparent video. So, we actually are one of the few browser tools that actually supports transparent video, which is difficult because it's not cross browser. There's not one format that works cross browser on that and so importing transparent video files and maintaining them is obviously huge for things like background removal and things like that. But that's been a big one because combining that with our support for Lottie files, which I mentioned Lottie files earlier, but they're really exciting what you can do with them and that plus just bit motion clips that you've either pulled from our stock libraries or that you've shot yourself. Putting all that together, there's a lot of really cool things you can do and they're now attainable by a user who's not a professional motion graphic artist. So yeah, it's really cool. What's possible now.  So I'm very curious about the programmatic piece, and I think for people listening, it's important to understand we're not talking about programmatic advertising here where you're talking about programmatic content creation. Dave Stewart: Yeah, and I will say the overlap there is we do have some clients that are in ads and they will actually use our template platform to do A/B testing on those ads where we'll pass in slightly different colors, slightly didn't copy, to generate a bunch of creatives at once. That's our overlap in the ad space, but yes, when we talk about programmatic, I really just talk about programmatic content creation and the fact that with our API, you can generate all sorts of variations of content very quickly, including videos. We have some clients that don't even show our editor to the user. It's really just about, Hey, I want to generate a video that's 15 seconds from this template where it incorporates the customer's brand, their colors and their tagline and their company name. So, spit this out and show them this. It's that easy, right? You don't even have to have them open the editor and do it themselves. Can you give me a good example of how. You could use APIs and data tables and everything else to automate the production of a whole bunch of media pretty quickly.  Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. So if you are at a campaign that you were pushing, where you're really just trying to get out consistent messaging and you were needing to do that again, I won't even limit this to digital signage because a lot of our clients will choose us because of the fact that we can operate there and across their other marketing collateral at the same time.  But the idea would be if the messaging is the same and you already have branded templates that are the starting point for a lot of different content you might be creating, great. Pass in the mess, the specific messaging, pass in specific keywords to generate images or pass in the specific images directly. Let us fill all of those in at once and generate a whole campaign pack for you in one shot. What about for scale? Let's say you have, I don't know, a retailer that has 800 locations across North America and they want to be hyperlocal about the marketing or messaging or, “Here's our store manager for this location” or whatever. They have a template. They want to knock out 800 unique versions of this or with some variations on it. What kind of time is involved in doing that?  Dave Stewart: It's a great question. I'm glad you brought that model because we were actually operating in the franchise space before we even looked into digital signage at all because franchises specifically that have these locations all over the place had this issue with print, had this issue with social media that's been around for a very long time and so they would come to us because what will happen is those store managers or locations are either one requesting individual personalized graphics from the corporate design team on a very regular basis and kind of and completely, taking off all their time doing that, or two, they're going rogue and building off-brand content and it looks terrible and the marketing manager is finding it online and is just pissed off.  So one of those two things is happening and where we would come in is look, the only way that you're going to solve that is if you make it easy for them, because if it's not easy, they're going to try and do it themselves. or if they have to wait for you to do it for them, they will do it themselves. So the only way to do it is, Hey, how do we make this such an easy process that anybody can come in and feel like this is going to be the fastest way anyway and it's also going to look great. Why not use that? So ultimately what will happen is, again, the brand manager, corporate team, or whoever is going to create the template. Ultimately, that franchise, franchisee, that store manager, whoever it is, is going to log into the system and they're going to find the template.  If they just and , most of the time, these are super locked down. So I have this template and ultimately, I just want to let the store put their store hours right here and maybe some sort of sale information on a specific percentage discount on something, whatever that thing might be and so literally, the user is just going to click that, change the text and then export it, right? It doesn't take any time whenever you've really focused on the template.  So yeah, they can't go in and change it to Comic Sans or put in a picture of their dog or whatever.  Dave Stewart: No, our locking feature is something we spent a lot of time on. You can take it very far. Most of our clients will lock down almost everything, but we've made it to where you have full control over exactly what users can and can't do.  You were talking earlier about Canva and there are a few kinds of platforms out there that are variations on this, or do some of what you're doing. I'm also thinking about Promo and Shaker Media over in Korea. When you get asked about your company versus those kinds of companies, particularly Canva, what do you say?  Dave Stewart: Yeah, no, absolutely. It's really interesting because, again, we don't really compete with Canva, like even with Canva Enterprise solution, we don't really compete with them because ultimately, customers are coming to us because they want this white-labeled and embeddable into their own platform or make it seem proprietary. They want to have control.  Right now, when you go to Canva, you have no control, right? They control the interface. They control the layout. They control the flow. You have zero say in terms of what the user then can do and where they can go and go off crazy and get lost inside the Canva ecosystem. We're like the opposite, right? The whole goal of this is you make it what you want. You show exactly what you want. You lock down what you want and it looks like it's yours and that's why people are going to come to us.  A lot of overlap and functionality, like you said, when it comes to content creation, features and things like that, we definitely have focused on more of some of the more niche-specific things that Canva hasn't, like for instance, for print, we have full CMYK capability, Canva doesn't really. It's a conversion process for them, but we started from the ground up. For large format prints, we support really large format printing for things like large banners and things. That's not something you're really going to do on Canva. For video, this idea that we can support, like these, Lottie files and transparent video, like Canva just launched Lottie files, but their implementation is really simple where you can only really use basic, almost GIF-type content. We've taken it way further. We just go deeper on the more professional aspects and then, again, are more focused on the white-label, embeddable nature of it.  You have a booth of some kind at Digital Signage Experience. I assume you're there to start building partnerships and creating awareness that you exist. If I'm a CMS software company, that is probably the best example, what kind of work is involved if I say, “This is awesome, I'd love to integrate this into my overall solutions offer and have it white labeled.” Is that a three-month journey, a twelve-month journey, or allocating five people to work on it for a month or just how does all that come together? Dave Stewart: Yeah, that's a great question. Now we're really excited about DSE coming up. This is the first time we're even attending and we're really excited to exhibit based on, again, what we've heard and who's going to be there. So super excited about that and I'd say that when it comes to who we're trying to reach there and understanding how it would work to work with us, for a CMS company, honestly, our messaging, you'll see this in our booth is all about and we feel like you've ever actually tried to do some level of content creation already as part of a platform and so our messaging is mostly, “Hey, let's upgrade that. Let's make that a little better. Let's improve that inside of your system because we can do that and make it still feel like it's yours.”  So that is our focus in terms of messaging to them and I would say that in terms of the actual implementation for a company like that, we have a lot of walk-before-you-run type solutions when it comes to integrations. So a lot of our customers will actually start by initially just using our kind of turnkey portal that we have out of the box and then getting their initial customer buying on there and starting to create the templates that way, before actually doing the deep integration. While they're doing that, they're slowly starting to build the integration in and they could do a really basic integration where they're mostly just embedding all of our components in a simple way and then facilitating fairly basic workflows and then that's like a starting point. Then we would say that the next step is, okay, how do we incorporate some of the other data that you have in your CMS to do the automatic population of content where we can take event-specific information or location-specific information and start injecting it automatically, leveraging our API. So that would be like a second step and then how do we make sure that this feels seamless at every part of your workflow, maybe that's a third step. So we would say that a really basic integration takes a team one or two months, typically, just to get started and then we would say that if you're doing something really deep, maybe a few months after that, over time, starting to get it ingrained more and more. And what are the commercial aspects of this? If I am a CMS software company, I think this is really intriguing. What's it going to cost me to work with Design Huddle?  Dave Stewart: Yeah. So again, being enterprise-focused, we found that there are no two customers alike. We actually assign what we call personas to their end users and we say, we have some customers, like their users come into the system once a year and we have some customers where they're using the system every day. We can't price that the same; it's going to be a little bit different. When we talk about API-driven fully use cases where there's no end-user or direct interaction with our editor, that's a little simpler because we can just price it based on API activity and it's fairly straightforward. But when we talk about end users, no users are the same, so we actually do a pretty custom proposal process for customers and we dig into their specific use cases and try to assign a persona to these users. Still, ultimately, the idea would be that, in a user-based kind of pricing proposal like that, the more users you bundle, the bigger discount there is and then we have overage tiers where the cost per user gets cheaper as they grow.  The idea is that we're scaling together and things get cheaper and you get to get more profitable over time.  But for the purposes of referencing this, I'm sure there are people listening, thinking this is really interesting, but is this going to cost me like a quarter million dollars or something?  Dave Stewart: Oh, no!  It's $500 for Starter, $750 a month for Pro and then you've got Enterprise and as you said, that depends on all kinds of variables.  Dave Stewart: Yeah and each one of those, just to be clear, includes a certain number of users, right? and the number of users that's included, again, is getting into what I was just trying to describe as it can vary a little bit. But yes, we're definitely not a quarter-million-dollar product, starting point, right? We have a basic setup fee, which is usually in the low thousand s and then, in the hundreds typically for most initial engagements or low thousand s.  For that setup, that's because you're going to spend all this time working with your partner companies to sort out how to do this. Dave Stewart: We are very hands-on. I know a lot of companies say that, but honestly, for us, it's a huge waste of our time to spend a lot of time with you upfront, try to get it going and then it does not succeed. So we do everything we possibly can at the beginning of the engagement to make sure that you have the tools you need. We actually create custom documentation for every customer that lays out exactly what they need to do based on a consultation session where we talk through the specific platform, what they need to do, what they're trying to accomplish, give them tips and tricks and advice based on what we've seen successful for other customers. That's all part of it. In addition, obviously, training for content creation, like getting your templates in the system. All of that is very front-loaded and so that's where our setup fee is really focusing on that initial time we're going to spend with you to make sure that it's successful. Yeah, I've certainly seen some setup fees from software companies where I thought, okay, that's just a cash grab. But that definitely doesn't sound like the case here. Dave Stewart: No, it really isn't. Honestly, we're probably doing that at a cost, to be honest and then the idea is that once you're in, it's a great thing, like as much as we make our team available around the clock to answer, to always be around support wise, like we hear, as you can imagine, less and less from clients over time, right? So if we can make them successful at the beginning, They're really easy long term and we're just growing together and they're happy and, then, all of our support costs are front-loaded for that reason.  You're a virtual company, West Coast. How many people are in the company? Dave Stewart: So yeah, the latest count is, I'm about to hire another one, so around 12-13. We're relatively small.  Canva's got 3,500 or something like that?  Dave Stewart: Oh yeah and it's fun, right? We're a really nimble team. You know, this is my second go-around. My last company, I took it to about 150 employees before I exited, so we're still pretty early on our journey here and that's really exciting for us because we see so much opportunity in this.  I do expect this to grow a lot in the next two years. but we are a lean team of seasoned and professional software professionals and we're able to do a lot with a fairly small team right now.  And is this bootstrapped or venture-backed? Dave Stewart: Yeah, great question. My previous company actually started in the 2009 timeframe when everything crashed and there was really no money going around the way that it was capitalized. It ended up biting me in the end, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  So going into this, my partners and I were really trying to bootstrap this from the beginning. I wanted full control over how this is going to work. That said, very early on, we had a large company come to us and say, “Hey, we really want to use you guys, but we're too worried about whether you're going to be around next year.” That company is Smartsheet, right? They own a company called Brand folder, which was the one interested in us. Smartsheets is a public company, they're very large, so they ended up becoming a small minority partner. They did basically a strategic round with us. That's a very small percentage, but ultimately it gives a lot of people a little bit more comfortability working with us because they're our backstop. The only reason that they invested was really just to make sure that we were going to stick around because they were going to be so invested in us. So they're there for that reason that said we are fully, sustainably and profitable at this point. So we, actually, are currently setting our own. Of course, we're in a really good position and we're excited about that coming from my previous experience. If people are going to DSE, they'll be able to find you on the exhibit floor and I know you're coming to the mixer; and if they want to find you online, how do they do that? Dave Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. They can definitely check out our website, designhuddle.com. You can reach out to schedule some time with us. We are doing some of the DSE kind of promotional material. You may have just seen an email about us there where you can schedule some time with us at the show. but yeah, we would love to hear from you. We'd love to talk with everyone. As I mentioned, we're excited to learn more about this industry and get deeper into it and we'd love to have all the conversations we need to figure that out. Great. All right, thank you, Dave. Much appreciated.  Dave Stewart: Awesome. Thanks so much, Dave. It was a pleasure.

“Its not just words on a page or notes being played, music is all about feelings”You either feel it or you don't it's all very simple.Listen 'Live' tonight 'Monday Playcast #15 of the 'Soul of Independence ===Just Press Play===http://www.solarradio.com/radioconsole/'Your Classic' and 21st Century Soul station' Solar Radio every Monday.A full two hours of the 'Best, Modern, Independent and New Release' Soul Music on Solar Radio23:59 hrs GMT19:59 hrs Eastern Seaboard US18:59 hrs Central US16:59 hrs West Coast US

Have you ever been kept awake at night because someone might steal your idea or invention?    This week's episode is with Stephen Carter (aka ‘The IP Strategist') who is the Founder of The Intellectual Property Works. He is a patent attorney, podcast host and best selling Author.  Over his 25 years experience, he has worked with some amazing businesses, including writing the patent applications for the Speedo swimsuit that helped Michael Phelps to his record breaking 8 gold medal haul at the Beijing Olympics and European patent work for Second Sight, a West Coast US start-up who make a retinal implant to restore sight to the blind. Stephen is now recognised by IAM Strategy 300 as one of the world's leading IP strategists and is on a mission to help innovative businesses succeed by protecting their most valuable asset, their innovation, so they can make a positive impact in the world.   Five Golden Nuggets you will learn:  How valuable is intellectual property in your business What the common myths of IP Best case, worst case and most likely outcomes when investing in IP or not Why you should invest in IP Learn how to take the first steps towards building an investment ready IP strategy  ABOUT THE GUEST LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/theipstrategist LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenjcarter/ Podcast: https://www.stethoscopesandrugbyballs.uk/ Book a complementary IP strategy call exclusively for listeners: https://calendly.com/theintellectualpropertyworks/initial-ip-consultation-gc   ABOUT THE HOST This show is hosted by Adam Strong {AKA: The Game Changer} who is a Business Strategist, Former Elite Athlete, Author, Podcast Host and International Speaker Adam Strong. He currently runs 3 different businesses and enjoys working with business owners and entrepreneurs of small to medium sized companies. Adam is a Former Elite Athlete that trained with Olympic and World Champion Sir Mo Farah for 3 years. He takes the same skill-set that he learned as an elite athlete to teach his clients on how to create high performance, increased productivity and growth. He is the author of two books ‘Move it or lose it' and ‘Fit body fit business'. Both written for business owners and teams that want their businesses to excel and to accelerate faster, quicker and become more focused. Adam is co-authoring his third book due out in October 2021.  He has been featured on the front cover of Influential People, Global Man and Steer Magazines, BBC radio, the Huffington post and in People Management magazine just to mention a few. He has interviewed influencers and thought leaders such as Jack Canfield, Dr John Demartini, Bob Burg, Marshall Goldsmith, Olympic athletes and sports personalities such Neil Fachie, Jonathan Horton and Kate Strong. He has shared the stage with celebrities such as John Travolta, Vanilla Ice, Calvin Klein, 50 cent and Dr Nido Qubein. CONTACT METHOD Take our new Business Scalability Scorecard here Adam's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/adamstrongofficial

The Faction Election War Won (9) (Audio) Trump Wins, Churches Empty, War David Eells - 12/27/20 President Trump has amassed many powerful weapons in his armory for this election war.  This now outdated List was sent to me but you will get the picture: Anonymous reporter  12/17/2020 Update: Here is what we know right now. President Trump has court cases still pending that will go to the Supreme Court. Thanks to Texas, he now files it under article 3 and not under article 2. This forces the Supreme Court to hear this rewritten case. President Trump has the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) which was delayed.   Barr stepped down on the 23rd, so he is now able to be a witness. Durham is now a special counsel. He can prosecute in any state, all Biden’s! He is allowing the civil, criminal, and federal courts to fail so he is able to handle the situation using the military tribunals. President Trump has all the data from NSA, the Kraken supercomputer, the Alice supercomputer, and other systems most are not familiar with. He has the dueling electors from 7 state legislatures.  He has VP Mike Pence as the final arbiter of ballots to accept on 1/6/20. He has the Insurrection Act, the National  Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Emergency Act, the 14th Amendment, the 2018 Executive Order allowing for the rejection of the election based on proven Foreign Interference. He has January 27, 2017, the very first President Trump Executive Order, the Patriot Act, the FISA warrants, the Declassification of EVERYTHING,  including Wikileaks. President Trump has over 1,000 sworn affidavits, the QR code scan personnel who just needs access to some real ballots & he can detect if they are fake by looking for creases & printing items using his scanner technology. Trump has all the statistical data being analyzed, the videos, emails, phone calls, bank transfer statements showing the coordination of the coup. We know Zuckerberg, Soros funded & manned it. He has the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) law passed in 1970. President Trump has crimes against humanity videos, which Wikileaks just released massive videos.   As we know Julian Assange is pardoned, so he can talk about Seth Rich. Now that the governors and secretary of states certified the illegal ballots and Biden has accepted them, they knowingly committed treason! Criminals are desperate and stupid! We just raided the solar company and & Dominion closed down.  Many media company CEOs are gone. The same goes for many politicians. President Trump has the CIA servers from Germany used to change Dominion machines and he will soon have access to the state's machines too. He baited them to staying in DC so they could be inaugurated…so they can be arrested! Biden has not accepted any transition money nor has Kamala given up her seat. The military has infiltrated Antifa & BLM and President Trump has the financial tracings. He knows exactly which politicians took Chinese and Soros money. He put in Miller & Watnick. He also just reduced more regulations and wrote an Executive Order in the military line of succession. He is defunding the CIA. He just replaced Kissinger & Allbright on the National Security Advisory Board with his loyalists.   The military has been flying more planes over America and to Guantanamo for the first time in years. The DNC wanted to close Gitmo, but President Trump said no way and said softly under his breath, I want to use it for her”, meaning crooked Hillary. THE NAVY JUST PARKED HUGE NAVAL FLEETS ON BOTH COAST. The 82nd airborne is preparing for an operation (same group of Flynn & Donoghue).  ***THINGS ARE FALLING INTO PLACE.  He has it all. As we forewarned, Many of these have appeared to make no head way. There have been many left wing hindrances and time is running out.  As we have pointed out for some time, the Lord has shown us that He will not share His glory with another. He will not allow man to be saved by works, i.e. win by his own means, but has saved the final victory for his own glory and grace as we will see. 2Co 12:9  And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Ken Dewey Prophecy shared in our last program: "Even as I did send my Son to be born and He was and IS MY GIFT TO MEN TO BE SAVED...  So now I will AGAIN SEND A GIFT. This Gift will come in the form of FINALLY FINDING OUT WHO WON THE ELECTIONS IN AMERICA.  BY CHRISTMAS NEWS WILL BE COMING OUT IN FAVOR OF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP TO REMAIN AS PRESIDENT.   On Christmas day a thing just like this showed up giving this election to President Trump. He was running out of time for his methods to work. He told His White House staff to "pack up and leave" to make room for this usurper but something happened that totally turned this around so he deleted that order. Supreme Court Appears Ready To Deal Shocking Death Blow To Biden By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers - December 25,2020 https://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index3431.htm A gobsmacking new Security Council (SC) report circulating in the Kremlin today discussing events relating to Day 52 of the election war currently raging in America, says first to notice was leftist cable news outlet CNN celebrating the 80th birthday of Dr. Anthony Fauci on Christmas Eve—a celebration that saw CNN newsman Austen Bundy proclaiming: “Today we celebrate the birth of our 2020 Lord and Savior”, and when noticing yesterday, saw Security Council Members likening this demonic worship to the Russian communists replacement of Christianity with “Heroes of the Soviet Union”—communist state heroes Dr. Fauci is a carbon copy of, as while being worshipped like a “god” by his socialist-leftist followers, he then admitted that he has been deliberately lying about the coronavirus because the American people “were not ready to hear the truth”—and was a deliberate lie from this “state hero” CNN didn’t bother to even report on, as they then spent their time urging for a constitutional amendment to prevent President Donald Trump or anyone like him from having power again.   Though most critical to notice, was all of this leftist insanity occurring in the shadows of the United States Supreme Court appearing to be readying itself to launch an all-out attack on the Constitution of the United States of America in order to deal a death blow to Communist Chinese puppet socialist Democrat Party leader Joe Biden and keep President Trump in power—the evidence of which began to emerge on 23 December, which was when the White House staff was ordered to stop packing to leave and told: “Updated information will be shared in the coming days”—an order that countermanded the previous one given on 22 December telling them to begin packing, thus causing Security Council Members to question what had happened during this 24-hour period to cause this sudden change—the answer to which came into focus when noticing that during the late evening of 22 December, the Supreme Court released its previous day’s order in the case Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., Petitioner v. Kathy Boockvar, Secretary of Pennsylvania, et al.—a case against this corrupted and fraudulent election the Supreme Court is expected to join with similar lawsuits against other States—and most important to notice about this order was the Supreme Court telling Pennsylvania to give their answer by 22 January—a seemingly perplexing order as 20 January is the date of the swearing in of the next president—but becomes more clear when noticing that following this order it saw President Trump posting video messages to the American people and directly stating: “The President and all of America know that Joe Biden manufactured at least 20 million votes to steal this year’s election…He did so with the help of China”. Mysterious events strongly suggesting that President Trump and the Supreme Court are operating on a level far beyond superficial leftist media analysis—and one would expect when noticing that Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett are all members of the powerful legal organization known as the Federalist Society—which is an organization of conservatives and libertarians that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution. Not known to the masses of the American people, though most certainly known to all Federalist Society members, is that the Constitution of the United States of America was entirely constructed from its founding documents known as the Federalist Papers—and based on Federalist No. 2 Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence—Federalist No. 3 The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence—Federalist No. 4 The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence—and—Federalist No. 5 The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence, the greatest fear of the American Founding Fathers was their nation being corrupted by either foreign force or influence—a fear that extended to foreign powers being able to influence the election of a president, and in Federalist No. 68 The Mode of Electing the President saw Founding Father Alexander Hamilton issuing the questioning statement: “Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption…These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils…How could they better gratify this, than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union?”. What the American Founding Fathers most feared became a reality when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932—an election during the Great Depression that saw American globalist elites siding with the ascendant National Socialist German Workers' Party (aka Nazi Party), as they feared Roosevelt would enact policies favorable to the citizens of America that would cut into their profits—that caused these American globalist elites and Nazis to plot to steal the election from Roosevelt, and is why history now records that “during the tense months between Franklin Roosevelt’s election in November and his inauguration in March 1933, democracy hung in the balance”. And exactly why democracy “hung in the balance” was because these Deep State operatives forced through the US Congress what history now records as the “Lame Duck Amendment”, that was passed by the US Congress on 2 March 1932, and ratified on 3 January 1933—is otherwise known as the 20th Amendment—and cut the time between when a president was elected to when they were sworn in to barely two months—a strategic move intended to not allow President Roosevelt enough time to go through the courts to contest a stolen election—but to fight back against saw Roosevelt garnering enough support to make him exempt from this amendment, and on 4 March 1933, saw him being sworn in as president—that was followed by a coup being launched against him. Of the many American legal scholars who’ve known for decades that the true purpose of the 20th Amendment was designed to prevent a president from having enough time to contest an election influenced by foreign powers, one of the most noteworthy is Professor R. George Wright at the law department at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis—a prodigious legal scholar whose writing, such as this year’s “The Projected Light Message Cases: A Study In The General Erosion Of Free Speech Theory”, have for decades been citied in some of the most important rulings handed down by the Supreme Court—is further notable because of his being an Indianapolis neighbor and mentor to Justice Amy Coney Barrett—though most critical to know about is his being the author of the legal scholar article “Could A Constitutional Amendment Be Unconstitutional?”, wherein he argues: “If a constitutional amendment leaves a constitution in such a state that it is a “smoldering, meaningless wreckage” and extremely internally inconsistent and incoherent, then such an amendment should indeed be declared unconstitutional”. An argument that more than applies to the “smoldering, meaningless wreckage” of this Communist Chinese influenced American election whose “extremely internally inconsistent and incoherent” constraints placed on President Trump by the 20th Amendment so he can’t contest it through the courts are as absurd as they are dangerous—a reality seemingly noticed by the Supreme Court, and explains their 22 January order for two days after the inauguration—a 20 January inauguration date able to be challenged by President Trump, and if filed and granted by the Supreme Court to be heard would make this date meaningless, and restore it to its original date of 4 March.  [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing in quotes in this report are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.]   United States Supreme Court starts issuing orders (above) on election cases during week of Christmas.   Trump Wins, Churches Empty, War Marianna Payne - 11/28/20 (David’s notes in red) In my dream there were about 20 people in an almost empty Megachurch, reminding us of one we left because it was apostate. I called it, "A wordly Megachurch with a, What can God do for me?, attitude and empty in spirit.”  The people were waiting and hanging out in the pews.  Then over the intercom an announcement was made "Trump Won!” (This revelation is when we have said the DS anarchists will make war on the Church and it will be dangerous to be in a mega-church because of burnings, bombings and DEW weapons.)  Isaac and I were sitting in the balcony waiting and everyone else started to file out toward the foyer of the church. We came down and were standing in the foyer near a table on the right side.  (A play on words, they were on "the right side” also the sheep Jesus put on the right.)  Sitting at the table was President Trump eating a piece of pie and wearing a lime green polo shirt. His table was positioned near the entrance doors.  I was confused on why he was dressed casually. I asked him why he was wearing that and he said, "I want to keep it casual." At this point, the entire church congregation were congratulating President Trump as they were filling out and giving him high fives & shaking his hand.  The congregation began to leave the church after touching him. The congregation was about 4 or 5 wide and the line of people were endless as they were all filing out of the church. It seemed there were a lot more people leaving the church than the amount of people I saw originally sitting in the pews. (This is because this scene will be repeated all over the US and they have aready burned a few in Europe. Also the fact that there were only a few people left in the Church probably means the many had already read the "handwriting on the wall”, and these were waiting for the words, “Trump Won.") As the crowd was exiting the church there was a grassy field on the right. This field looked healthy and green. On the left was a tall, dense, dark, wooded forest. (They are looking for a hiding place not out in the open or in the light. Also on the left Jesus put the goats. He said, Many are called but few are chosen.).  Leading to the field on the right and the dark wooded area on the left was a dirt sandy road. The congregation was following the path to the dark wooded area on the left. The endless crowd followed the path into the dark woods.  Isaac and I were still standing on the right side of the table with President Trump still sitting behind the table. I turned to Isaac and asked, "Are we going to follow the congregation out of the church?" Isaac responded, "No, we are going to do our own thing." and I responded, "Ok, because I have some friends that are going to stay behind and are pregnant, but not yet due, and I want to help deliver their babies when the time comes.”  As I walked outside the church to them they were lying on the ground in a birthing position on the path between the two fields. (They were being birthed out of the apostate church. The "called out ones”.). They all three started to give birth even though they were not due. The first woman gave birth to a cantalope (Bearing sweet fruit with seeds of regeneration), the second to a potato (This fruit had many eyes that could regenerate), and the third gave birth also, but i couldn't see what it was.  All that was born,  was delivered on the right side of the path. (The positive word play again.  The sheep are on the right and will bear fruit when they leave the apostate system.    War is Coming From the DS Allies Sandy Shaw, 12/26/20 (Don and Merlene transcribed) (David’s notes in red) In this dream I’m in a raft on a large body of water and I see no land. It is a gray, dreary day.  So I just start praying. (I’m kneeling in the raft.) I feel a little cold and I just keep praying. Then I can feel the sun come out and hit my back.  Then to the right of me, I hear noise in the water. And it is President Trump! And he is struggling in the water, tired, worn out and trying to grasp at anything. I stick out my hand and he grabs it and I pull him on the raft. (Prayer for rest and protection for him from the war will do this.)  When I pull him in, his clothing is all tattered. He wants to talk and I go, “Shhhhh. Just pray.” As we were praying, the waters were getting rough. (The waters represent the peoples of the US and world. War is coming from the DS because Trump will win the election battle.)   Then Trump is trying to talk again. And again I said, “Shhhhh, Just pray.” Then I hear noise right behind us. It is my son William dressed in full battle fatigues. (He is in the navy)  He reaches out to me and I grab his hand and he has a tight grip on it. (Holding on by faith)  Then I let go. And behind him I see navy ships fighting! I see airplanes flying and fighting! President Trump says, “Look!” And I say, “Shhhh. Just pray.” And that’s when I woke up. (There are 3 navies off our coasts at this time, the Russian, Chinese, and the US.  This would also be a civil war within our own armed forces. A sailor told us "the West Coast US navy is liberal and they dont obey Navy regulations. The East Coast US navy is conservative." Sandy said she did not know who was fighting who. The bombing in Nashville was on the NSA communications.  The war has begun.  https://beforeitsnews.com/strange/2020/12/brabantian-does-nashville-bombing-signal-a-cia-vs-nsa-war-2476629.html  "The Christmas Day bombing clearly targeted a building of telecommunications giant AT&T whose Nashville facilities are also believed to serve a major outpost of the US NSA National Security Agency there. The NSA has long been in rivalry with the CIA, and they are likely now on opposing sides in the Trump vs Biden election fraud controversy.” "AT&T is said to have been ready to audit suspected US voting machines, questioning the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who are backed by George Soros, partner in creating ‘colour revolutions’ along with the CIA for decades." Pictures of an incoming missile are clear enough - Bomb Decimates NSA Spy Hub In Nashville As Americans Told To “Prepare For War” https://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index3432.htm  See also here that treasonous Generals fear Trump calling up the Militias, which is provided for in the constitution. Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), whose initial assessment says this explosion was most likely caused by a low-yield US military “thermobaric weapon” fired from an aircraft platform—an assessment based on two specific videos of this explosion, the first of which shows an unmistakable contrail appearing in the milliseconds before this explosion occurred, and the second of which shows a ground level view of this fireball explosion occurring just feet above the street, and not from a vehicle of any kind—and who further state that the target of this explosion was, without any doubt, the National Security Agency (NSA) https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-12-26-nashville-explosion-was-actually-a-missile-strike-att-nsa-spy-hub.html We also believe this was a missile that came from a plane because of Vanessa Weeks saw a plane damage Nashville in a dream on 9/9/20.   She said, "I knew there was destruction happening all over the world.  I had a sense that President Trump wanted the election to be delayed...I was sitting down and then I saw to my right, a jet with its light on. I thought, that looks normal. Then it flew in parallel with the horizon at lightning speed. I stood up then and as I watched it, I knew it was going to Nashville to do some damage… The Lord gave me Isa. 63:1 when I asked Him about the destruction to the planes that were in the form of clouds. I received it by faith at random. In context vs.1-6. Isa 63:1-6  Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? (Edom/Esau sold his birthright and destroyed his seat "in heavenly places [destroyed planes] in Christ" through bitterness against his brother Jacob/Israel/, a type of the Church. Heb 12:15-17  looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled;  16  lest there be any fornication, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.  17  For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in his father, though he sought it diligently with tears.)     6  Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. (The Lord destroyed the factions) For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. (The time to save the righteous from the factious.) And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me (Jesus is the arm of the Lord coming in the Man-child ministry); and my wrath, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.  The Nashville attack happened and the destruction of the factions will come too by the hand of the Lord. I immediately asked the Lord for a word and got 3 John 1:5-8, finger on the number 5. Beloved, thou doest a faithful work and whatsoever thou doest toward them that are brethren and strangers withal; (This is likely speaking of those who are faithfully praying and doing spiritual warfare for the President and supporters in the war.) 6 who bare witness to thy love before the church: whom thou wilt do well to set forward on their journey worthily of God: 7 because that for the sake of the Name they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to welcome such, that we may be fellow-workers for the truth.   Select LanguageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKinyarwandaKoreanKurdish (Kurmanji)KyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianOdia (Oriya)PashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTatarTeluguThaiTurkishTurkmenUkrainianUrduUyghurUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu Powered by Translate Printer-friendly version  

Guest Angel, Dan Rosenberg, founding partner of acquired apparel brand Represent, and now an angel investor in UK and West Coast US, joins me to listen to, and question, Alma Ramirez Acosta's pitch, Vibio. Vibio is looking to bring 21st century connectivity and sensuality into the world of sex toys. They launched their first female vibrator on Kickstarter with an accompanying app, allowing women and couples to control the wearable via the app as well as having educational content to improve people's sex lives. Alma is looking for funding to promote the new sex toy as well as expand the range. Sextech is a booming space but did we think Alma and her team were the ones to breakthrough? Was there differential enough with their offering? And was there a real need for the gadgetry? Brought to you by my Startup Playground, Horseplay Ventures - www.horseplay.ventures Vibio - https://www.instagram.com/vibiotoys Represent - https://represent.com/

Octoverse COVID-19 Developer Report - https://github.blog/2020-05-06-octoverse-spotlight-an-analysis-of-developer-productivity-work-cadence-and-collaboration-in-the-early-days-of-covid-19/State of the Octoverse 2019 - https://octoverse.github.com/Key findings: Dev activity remains consistent if not maybe increasing Interesting stat. When COVID-19 outbreaks occur a flux in Enterprise Repo issues increases Work cadence changes - longer days and weekends Activity between first and last push and more activity on weekends. West Coast US sees a consistent increase in work volume Patterns of work indicate potential burnout More people are collaborating Merge requests are merged faster than previously. Previous 2-3 hour average and now under an hour More collaboration tools being used Active users increased from the same period last year

Mo is changing the way tech companies assess and hire engineers via his West Coast US-based company Karat. He's our next guest, and before the podcast we're helping you get to know him...

Have you ever said something you wish you hadn't, clicked the send button prematurely, or blurted out your opinion when no one asked for it? From binge-watching Netflix to yet another bowl of ice cream, self-control is not encouraged, taught, nor admired. West Coast US living is all about excess, everything has to be bigger and faster. Jesus offers an entirely different way, which leads to true contentment and freedom from the multiply addictions that highjack our peace of mind. Text is Matthew 5 Podcast 79

Have you ever said something you wish you hadn't, clicked the send button prematurely, or blurted out your opinion when no one asked for it? From binge-watching Netflix to yet another bowl of ice cream, self-control is not encouraged, taught, nor admired. West Coast US living is all about excess, everything has to be bigger and faster. Jesus offers an entirely different way, which leads to true contentment and freedom from the multiply addictions that highjack our peace of mind.   Text is Matthew 5   Podcast 79 

This week, the guys take on Honey Bourbon, a member of the Hawthorne Pipe Band in Melbourne AUS and work diligently to get him to the point with little to no success. With the loss of Bill Merriman, a giant in the West Coast US piping scene, they take on the subject of systems for pipe band and what affect Bill and the Prince Charles Pipe Band has on the San Francisco piping scene and how Hawthorne Pipe Band positively affects their home area. Oh and Honey gets drunk and Fooko farts into the microphone for good measure. Cheers! ***Adult language and situations*** *** Opinions expressed here are not representative of any organization of which we belong*** Get your Chanter Rant Merch at www.chanterrant.com, or follow us on social media at: www.facebook.com/chanterrant www.instagram.com/chanterrant www.twitter.com/chanterrant Snapchat @chanterrant Join in the conversation with mean comments or #chanterrant and let us know if you are #oneofthesix!

Cock and Croc continue to talk about the West Coast US and how much they love it. Honestly its nauseating and we wish they would get a room. This time its all about the Pacific Northwest. They sup down some tasty sounding Beerz from Washington and Oregon and they introduce a new segment; Brewery Head to Head! Rogue Brewing and Deschutes are first up being flagships of that part of the world. So if you are not already drinking a beer go grab one and enjoy it with the boyz... don't say I didn't warn you... Show Beerz Space Needle Golden IPA - Pike Brewing Company - IPA American 6.5% Crikey IPA - Reuben's Brews - IPA American 6.8% Magnanimous IPA - Fort George Brewery - IPA American 7% (Juicy Denali Wet Hop IPA - Silver City Brewery - IPA American 7.7%)

Cock and Croc have decided to go (even more) back to basics and talk about the home of craft beers - West Coast US and all the scrumptious IPA's that they have to offer. They also attempt their first interview with wild success (hard to believe, we know). Joe - the third brewsketeer reports from the front lines of craft beer and his experience at San Diego Beer Week. Show Beerz Racer 5 IPA - Bear Republic - IPA 7.5% Lagunitas IPA - Lagunitas Brewing - IPA 6.2% Stone IPA - Stone Brewing - IPA 6.9%

Welcome to the 17th episode of Hotflush On Air. This month we have techno luminary Oliver Deutschmann with a heady, full-throttle techno guest mix. Deutschmann delivers a diverse selection of cutting-edge tunes including cuts from his forthcoming Hotflush EP 'In The Moment of Death We Have No Regret’ coming out this Friday. Tracklist: 1. Oliver Deutschmann - Control (Innervisions) 2. Luke Hess - Myriads (Echocord Colour) 3. SVT - Can't Stop (Dred) 4. Oliver Deutschmann - Reduced (Hotflush) 5. Hans Berg - Noll Koll (Montage) 6. Simic - Discussion of Interests /S. Moreira Remix (Second Nature) 7. Gunnar Haslam - Scale No Flam (Bunker New York) 8. DJ Nobu - Ufo (Bassiani) 9. Lee Holman - One Man Army / Haiku Remix (Raw Waxes) 10. Nico Purman - No Such Key (Vakant) 11. Christian Gerlach - Dusk (Lanthan.Audio) 12. Rupcy - Straits (Ilian Tape) 13. Envoy - Dark Manoeuvres / Norman Nodge Remix (Soma) 14. Stefan Vincent - Aro (Dynamic Reflection) 15. Echelon - B1 (Echelon) 16. Goldffinch - The Hidden (Innervisions) Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio.

Welcome to the 16th episode of Hotflush On Air. This month we are treated to a guest mix by NYC newcomer and the very latest addition to our roster, Lara Wehbie aka Blursome. Wehbie's music is far-reaching in scope, at once highly experimental and dance-floor ready, with a concise approach that points the focus squarely and intensely on her unique sonic ideas. Her debut EP, Rendition of You, is out everywhere this coming Friday 24th February, and we very much look forward to sharing it with you. In the meantime, allow your appetites to be whetted by this sumptuous mix... Follow --> https://soundcloud.com/blursome Full tracklist: 1. Choked Out- First Night 2. Iggy Cosky- Fields 3. Nik Shah- Babylon 4. Virgo- Dissolve 5. Will Hildreth- Track C 6. Aoud- Surd 7. Eyes Low- Set 8. Regis & Antonym/ Blursome - Simple Radical Practice/ Night 9. Wade Blazer & Dan Le- In the Place 2 B 10. Choked Out- Dram 11. Virgo- Tides of Neptune (Hush Remix) 12. Choked Out- Untitled 13. Public Restroom- Quarantine Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio.

Welcome to the fourteenth episode of Hotflush On Air. This week we are treated to a guest mix by a misterious duo from Berlin, DXC. Buy DXC's 'Rang Dong' on vinyl here >> http://www.juno.co.uk/products/dxc-rang-dong/632800-01/ And on digital here >> https://www.beatport.com/release/r-ng-ng/1885688 Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio.

Welcome to the 13th Episode of Hotflush On Air. This month we are very excited to bring you riveting journey through house and techno from one of the freshest members of our roster Or:la. Originally from across the Irish Sea, now living in Liverpool where she runs the infamous club night called Meine Nacht, her debut release 'UK Lonely' came out on Hotflush last week. Buy Or:la's 'UK LOnely' on vinyl here >> https://hardwax.com/48678/orla/uk-lonely/ And on digital here >> https://www.beatport.com/release/uk-lonely/1864971 Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio.

I interview Robin Staps of The Ocean while on their brief West Coast US tour. We talk playing the US in today's scene, getting food from fans, the direction of the next record and lots more. Dan Presland of Ne Obliviscaris discusses his first band. I recommend (an album of the year contender) Astronoid. Facebook.com/FarBeyondMetal - Twitter @Ovacord - FarBeyondMetalDan@Gmail.com

PREORDER PYUR’s debut album here >> https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/epoch-sinus/id1144320336?ls=1&app=itunes Welcome to the twelfth episode of Hotflush On Air. As this month’s guest we’re excited to introduce Berlin-based producer, visual artist and new Hotflush signing PYUR, who has delivered a lush and visceral hour of music. Her head-turning debut album 'Epoch Sinus' will be released this Friday, October 28th, on Hotflush Recordings, with each track accompanied by a video piece, translating her sonic messages into a visual body. Light, water, reflections and colours of nature all feature strongly in these distinctive visions. Hotflush On Air is broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. Tracklist: 1. Fis & PYUR - The Pact (unreleased) 2. PYUR - A Tree 3. Meta - Ambiente 2 4. wk-es – Monolith 5. E110 – vf8 6. Luigi Tozzi – Kracken 7. Antonio Giampietro – One vision 8. Call Super – Timora (Objekt Rework) 9. R.N.T.S. - Disconnect 10.Datura Dilema – I Am Landscape vs Machine (Tool) 11. Kuroi – TI 02 12. Raw M.T. Richard's Revenge 13. Oscar Mulero – Introducing Errors 14. Refracted/PYUR – Convolution 4/ A Tree - Mash up 15. Myler/ Evigt Mörker – Blue Madams /Parusi - Mash up 16. Dasha Rush – 100 Hearts 17. Rob Thorne & Fis – Untitled (unreleased)

Welcome to the eleventh episode of Hotflush On Air. This week we are treated to a guest mix by a bonafide legend of the game Trevino (aka Marcus Intalex). His new 4 track EP, 'Slide Away', dropped last week and, we think, shows off his strongest work to date. Plenty of it is showcased in this mix alongside other heavy hitters from the likes of Peter Van Hoesen, Phase and Cassy. Enjoy x Buy Trevino's 'Slide Away' on vinyl here >> hardwax.com/06380/trevino/slide-away/ And on digital here >> www.beatport.com/release/slide-away/1783633 Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. FULL TRACKLIST >> http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/blogs/news/hotflush-on-air-011-trevino-guest-mix

Welcome to the ninth episode of Hotflush On Air. This week we are treated to a guest mix by one of our favourite artists out there currently, LA-4A (aka Ambivalent). Check >> https://soundcloud.com/ambivalent Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. FULL TRACKLIST >> http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/blogs/news/hotflush-on-air-episode-9-full-tracklist

Sherwood (Nate's band)has a new album called Some Things Never Leave You! We sample the tunes, discuss song meanings, and talk about all the trolls that had to be starved to make the record. Check out the album at: http://www.sherwoodmusic.net See Sherwood on the West Coast US mid-July Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dontfeedthetrolls Website: http://www.trollspodcast.com iTunes: http://bit.ly/trollspodcast RSS: http://bit.ly/trollsfeed Google: http://bit.ly/trollsgoogle

Welcome to the eighth episode of Hotflush On Air presented by Scuba. Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. FULL TRACKLIST >> po.st/HFonAir08

Welcome to the seventh episode of Hotflush On Air presented by Scuba. Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. FULL TRACKLIST >> po.st/HFonAir07

Welcome to the sixth episode of Hotflush On Air presented by Scuba. Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. Full tracklist >> po.st/HFonAir06

Welcome to the fith episode of Hotflush On Air as presented by Scuba. Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (which is 5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. Hit your dials >> www.di.fm/shows/hotflush-on-air FULL TRACKLIST HERE >> po.st/HFonAir05

FULL TRACKLIST HERE >>> po.st/HFonAir04 Welcome to the fourth episode of Hotflush On Air as presented by Scuba. Broadcast on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (which is 5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio. Hit your dials... www.di.fm/shows/hotflush-on-air

The second episode of our new radio show called "Hotflush On Air" as presented by Scuba. It goes out on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (which is 5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio, and is made available one week later on other platforms. www.di.fm/shows/hotflush-on-air Full tracklist can be found here >> http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/blogs/news/77966785-hotflush-on-air-2-full-tracklist

This is the inaugural episode of our new radio show called "Hotflush On Air" as presented by Scuba. It goes out on the third Friday of every month at 8pm CET (which is 5am West Coast US, 2pm East Coast, 7pm UK) on Digitally Imported Radio, and is made available one week later on other platforms. http://www.di.fm/shows/hotflush-on-air Full tracklist can be found here >>> http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/blogs/news/50792001-new-monthly-radio-show-hotflush-on-air-with-scuba-episode-1

INTERVIEW: Kimberly Roberson of Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network joins Nuclear Hotseat's Libbe HaLevy to discuss a program they created, Radiation Awareness Protection Talk, or RAPT, which covers ways to best help protect from nuclear radiation. NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK: Lettuce now consider the lunacy of Panasonic and Fukushima. PLUS: Beta radiation (cesium 134/137) spikes 57 times higher than four days earlier at Fukushima, w/TEPCO analysts unable to ID the reason (DUH!); record level of "flesh-eating bacteria" cases in Japan; 5 Japanese nukes heading for decommissioning scrap heap (YAY!); Cataclysmic bird die-off litters West Coast US beaches; Thyroid cancer rates in US increasing; Obama increases allowable levels of radiation in drinking water; Savannah River Site operators divert $3/4-million from cleanup to develop mini-reactors; and Exelon's longed-for bail-out from Illinois taxpayers ain't about to happen when agencies report, "We'll do fine without you!"

INTERVIEW: Kimberly Roberson of Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network joins Nuclear Hotseat's Libbe HaLevy to discuss a program they created, Radiation Awareness Protection Talk, or RAPT, which covers ways to best help protect from nuclear radiation. NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK: Lettuce now consider the lunacy of Panasonic and Fukushima. PLUS: Beta radiation (cesium 134/137) spikes 57 times higher than four days earlier at Fukushima, w/TEPCO analysts unable to ID the reason (DUH!); record level of "flesh-eating bacteria" cases in Japan; 5 Japanese nukes heading for decommissioning scrap heap (YAY!); Cataclysmic bird die-off litters West Coast US beaches; Thyroid cancer rates in US increasing; Obama increases allowable levels of radiation in drinking water; Savannah River Site operators divert $3/4-million from cleanup to develop mini-reactors; and Exelon's longed-for bail-out from Illinois taxpayers ain't about to happen when agencies report, "We'll do fine without you!"

Discuss this episode in the Muse community Follow @MuseAppHQ on Twitter Show notes 00:00:00 - Speaker 1: I view my job here is to essentially aggregate this group of entrepreneurs that a lot of the world is overlooking, aggregate them in some way, listen to them, and then build what they want. 00:00:19 - Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to Meta Muse. Muse is a tool for thought on iPad, but this podcast isn’t about Muse the product. It’s about Muse the company and the small team behind it. I’m Adam Wiggins here with my colleague Mark McGranaghan. Hey Adam, and our guest Tyler Trius of the Calm Fund. Hey guys. And one thing we talk about on this podcast with surprising frequency is cities and in particular that remote work and all these lovely cloud tools make it possible for knowledge workers such as ourselves to choose where we want to live based on quality of life rather than where your employer happens to be. And Tyler, I know you live in Mexico City. Tell me about that decision. 00:01:01 - Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, Mexico City is great. The decision is not that interesting. I’ve been working remotely and building remote companies for probably the last 10 years. I spent a lot of time as a digital nomad and then kind of like a slow mad, sort of, you know, slowly traveling to different places. But Mexico City, we’re here because my wife works for the State Department and she’s got a job at the embassy. So since I’ve been running what we used to call Earnest Capital, and now the call company fund. I’ve been sort of just tagging along with my wife. We were in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. We launched it. We’re there for about 2 years and now we’re here in Mexico City. So the decision wasn’t really mine to come here, but I will say I’m very, very pleased to be here. It’s an awesome city. It’s really becoming like the hub of pretty much everything to do with startups up and down Latin America, amazing food, awesome weather, pretty unbeatable quality of life. I’m not gonna lie. So folks should definitely come down and visit us. We throw a conference here and hoping to see a bunch more entrepreneurs down here. So, yeah, it’s good. 00:02:04 - Speaker 2: Interesting, I guess I just assumed because I’ve just visited Mexico City once, we did an I can switch summit there, but I found it such a lovely place. I could very much imagine a person who was working remotely and has any choice they want might well choose it. But you actually highlight another good benefit of remote work, which is then you can go where your partner needs to go for their employment. So I know that it can be a source of great contention in relationships, long term relationships, when it turns out that one person’s school or work needs take them one place and another person needs to go to the other place and someone has to decide who’s gonna make the sacrifice. So here you’re not faced with that decision. 00:02:41 - Speaker 1: Yeah, we see that all the time. Obviously now knowing a bunch of people living the foreign service life and it is a big source of tension. Yeah, I mean it’s phenomenal to have sort of built this company in a way that’s fully distributed from day one. So it’s like I tell people when we moved from Brazil to Mexico, if I didn’t tell my team, they wouldn’t have noticed basically, which is, you know, super helpful. The one thing I think remote work hasn’t quite solved it is time zones. 00:03:09 - Speaker 2: That’s the last frontier, you know, that’s definitely a challenge for us between Europe and West Coast US although again, you have kind of a nice benefit of being fairly central, at least among those western places. 00:03:19 - Speaker 1: Yeah, Mexico City is hard to beat. I mean, I think if you’re able to work remotely, you should seriously come and check it out and give it a shot. It’s really a world class city, just as easy to get anywhere, like if you’re sort of US centric, it’s as easy to get to New York or LA as it is from anywhere else in the country inside the US. Yeah, super good amenities, everything just works hard to beat. 00:03:41 - Speaker 2: Nice. Well, before this turns into a veiled advertisement from the Mexico City Tourism Board, we can transition to hearing a bit about your background and especially what is the alm fund. 00:03:53 - Speaker 1: Yeah, so the Cound some folks may have heard of us as Earnest Capital, who recently rebranded this year or so, same exact company, same people, same idea. Really, it’s one of those scratch your own itch companies, essentially my kind of personal history involved. Experiencing kind of both sides of the venture capital and bootstrapped world kind of communities, at one point in my life, you know, had a business that I was working on. It was sort of a clean tech software business in a time when VCs were really, really not funding clean tech businesses. It’s like a little over a decade ago. And so I kind of deeply experienced the possibility of having like a really good business idea that just isn’t a fit for the comparatively small universe, you know, hundreds of people that do early stage venture financing and realizing that there wasn’t a sort of 1 to 1 overlap there that you could have a good idea that probably should use some early stage capital. But just as for one reason or another, not a fit for venture and that if you’re building a software company, there’s really no plan B, right? You basically have to either fund it with rich friends, credit cards, or VCs and kind of really explore that, hey, there’s a big gap in the market here in terms of early stage support for a lot of entrepreneurs. Then I went the other direction and said, OK, I’m not gonna ask anyone’s permission to get started on my next business and completely bootstrapped it, which worked out really well. I was just a straightforward kind of niche B2B sass business, ran it for about 5 years, built a remote team and sold it to a private equity shop, which was a great outcome, super fun, but when I was launching that, I had to launch it with credit card debt. It worked out in the end, you know, that was a positive experience, but those first two years with mounting amounts of debt on my personal credit cards was Really not the ideal way to launch a business, both from this capital perspective and also just a complete lack of any other kind of support. And so those two things kind of combined when I sold the company, I said, look, you know, I would like to sort of build the fund or the partner that I would have liked to have worked with on frankly, both of these businesses. So that’s what we do. We’re. Early stage funding, community and mentorship for entrepreneurs building what we call calm companies. And I think there’s a lot of ambiguity over exactly what that means and things like that. But if you think of yourself as like a bootstrapper or an indie hacker or those kinds of things, you know, we’re trying to build the kind of partner for those kinds of entrepreneurs either who have like Different ways of wanting to run their company that aren’t aligned with the traditional venture model or that are building products that just wouldn’t be a fit, right in the sense of, you know, they have perfectly good market and they can build a company that does millions, tens of millions, maybe $100 million in revenue, but it’s really never going to be like a $10 billion dollar company, you know, we’re trying to build the partner from the earliest stages for that whole swath of companies basically. 00:06:54 - Speaker 3: Yeah, and Tyler, I’ve been watching your journey with Ernest and then calm for some time now. I forget when exactly I found you online, but you’ve been doing this thing where you’re building in public, and I saw your work quite early, and I was really intrigued by it. It did feel like a closer fit for what we’re trying to do at Muse and what I’m trying to do with my career and some of the other options out there, and I’m encouraged to see that it’s doing quite well. 00:07:16 - Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks. 00:07:17 - Speaker 2: Yeah, and I’ve also been, I guess, following slash part of the earnest community for a little while, but part of why I thought this rebrand would be a great time to invite you on the podcast is that calm companies, I think, match up a lot with something we talk about in the type of business we’re trying to build with Muse. We talked about this. In our Small giants episode, I’ll like that in the show notes, but is a little bit of a reaction, I guess, to, again, startups and venture capital, which Mark and I have been both down that road, and we think there’s huge value to a lot of that, most notably not bootstrapping, yeah, getting investors who help you share the risk. And then Also ties in well with what we talk about on this podcast, also because in general funding models for different kinds of things that could or should exist in the world, things that could improve humanity, make us all more prosperous collectively, there’s kind of a narrow number of ways we get stuff funded. There’s government funding, there’s nonprofits, there’s bootstrapping, there’s venture capital is kind of a relatively recent, but obviously now increasingly high profile way to do it. But if you draw the map of all the things that we might want to build and what the right funding is for them, you find that there’s really a lot of gaps in that map, it feels like, and part of what I liked about what I discovered when you were doing that is it fills in one of those gaps potentially. 00:08:40 - Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think there’s gaps all over the place. It feels like we’re not anywhere near having sort of comprehensive coverage, especially at the early stage. I think once you have a mature anything, usually your options do start to multiply, but We’ve sort of found ourselves in this strange moment where I think the internet and software and stuff has just started to dominate everything. I think that the software is eating the world, you know, thesis is largely correct and it’s playing out before us. And what’s happened is just through kind of process of elimination, if you go back like maybe 15 to 20. years, venture capital, which traditionally was this thing designed to fund like really high risk, high capital intensive R&D intensive ventures in building CPUs and aerospace and stuff like that, was also just the only people who would take bets on software companies when you had to spend $10 million to rack servers before you could even launch your website. And so there’s become this sort of 1 to 1 convergence with this like very narrowly defined asset class and all of this exploding universe of opportunities from everything from indie game developers to online communities and all that sort of stuff. It’s basically like, oh, well, if you’re going to fund them, you have to use this really narrowly defined form of funding, which is venture capital, which has all these like. Constraints and expectations from the people who invest in venture capital funds and all that sort of stuff. And we’ve just sort of backed our way into this world where everybody thinks that they need to raise venture capital or nothing, and there’s sort of no other option and I don’t think we’re going to be the only addition to this space. I think there needs to be dozens of different permutations of ways to solve this because we’re essentially refilling the entire economy. With software and software enabled new variations, and the main driver of this is that most of the world of funding businesses is based around credit models, right, where you’re underwriting against assets and things like that. And all of this stuff has this one thing in common, which is there’s no tangible assets, right? We’re all just a bunch of people with laptops, essentially remote working with no offices and no equipment and all that sort of stuff and so. There needs to be this really broad-based rethink of, OK, how do we support these kinds of companies, organizations, nonprofits, co-ops, etc. from the early stage in a way that can leverage the benefits of capitalism, right? You can access large pools of capital and convince people to sort of continue giving you that money. So, yeah, I think it’s still very, very early days and there’s a lot of work to do for sure. 00:11:24 - Speaker 2: So our topic today is calm companies, and part of why I thought the earnest to calm rebrand was a perfect chance to talk with you about this and connect it to small giants and how we think about news and others that might like to build companies in this way, is there’s the mechanical. of how your fund works, and what kind of companies you invest in, and at what stage. We talk about those potentially, but I’m more interested maybe in the philosophical elements. Even the name gives you a sense right off the bat, which implies it’s a good brand. I’ll also like our episode on brand. At this point we’ve got enough back catalog, I guess, we’ve sort of always have something to reference. But yeah, can you define for me separately from what you invest in, what is a calm company just philosophically speaking? 00:12:10 - Speaker 1: It’s actually like a really tough question, in part I think because it’s kind of a call back to just historical normalcy or historical equilibrium of how people build businesses. Like I was at kind of a family reunion thing, bunch of family members, mostly from my wife’s side where I either hadn’t met them or hadn’t had the opportunity to like explain what do you do. So I was explaining what we do, and when you explain it to someone who’s outside of tech, it just sounds incredibly boring and straightforward. They’re like, oh, OK, you invest in these entrepreneurs and They build businesses and they become profitable and they give you some of those profits, or they sell their company and you get a piece of that and then you do it again. It’s like, well, yeah, but it’s actually kind of weird in this day and age, and it kind of harkens back to the idea that like we’ve actually ended up in this weird spot where the kind of default assumption in tech is that you’re going to build this ultra high growth sort of thing that’s gonna raise a ton of capital and move as quickly as you can and then either IPO or kind of flame out trying. So cal companies are kind of a way to position ourselves first as not that. So what that means is basically growing more sustainably, raising capitals sort of a byproduct, not the actual goal, you’re really optimizing for the long term in terms of team retention, in terms of making sure that folks can work on a sustainable schedule and continue to have high quality output. For decades, not just years or quarters, all that sort of stuff. And the reason why we’ve sort of settled on calm is to sort of affirmatively stand for something, rather than kind of just only positioning ourselves as not this, not that, not that other thing, right? Because that was never the right way to think about it. And so as we kind of Aggregated more and more entrepreneurs that we’re all just kind of picking up the same vibe, right? Everything from folks who are investors and mentors to the portfolio companies that we’ve invested in to the many other folks that are all kind of picking up the same wavelength that for various reasons we haven’t been able to invest in, they’re too far along, too early or whatever. And we sort of said, well, OK, what’s the affirmative version of this that says like, this is actually what we stand for and calm was far and away the winner of what resonated with folks there. So it’s basically about being patient and long-term focused and sustainable and operating and Way where you can be what I call long term ambitious, basically. It’s not like the lifestyle business of kickback and passive income and then sit on the beach in Thailand. It’s about, we want to do something important, we want to do it in a way that allows us to stay in the game for the long run. So, yeah, that’s a calm company. I’m still working on the really pithy answer, but that’s the explanation. 00:15:02 - Speaker 3: I think that makes sense. To me, these companies also have this element of more degrees of freedom, and Tyler, I’m curious if this resonates with you. I think it was you who originally pointed out that when you enter onto the VC track, you’re basically going on this very narrow path that has 5 or 6 steps in the last 10 years, and you basically have to take each of those steps, which by the way, is going to be with a different actor or firm potentially, and they’re all different shapes. And so you really crunch down your degrees of freedom, whereas with a com company I see because you’re profitable and thinking in the long term in other ways, you have the option to do stuff kind of your own way on your own terms in your own time. So if you want to go all remote, you can do that. If you want to stop growing for a year, you can do that. If you want to, I don’t know, pay out dividends or something, you can do that, but you just have more degrees of freedom and flexibility, and to me that’s an important aspect to these companies. 00:15:54 - Speaker 1: Yeah, I wrote a blog post a while ago, I think it was called like the Founder’s path of maximum Optionality, which essentially just talks about how you can sort of move through some of these phases of reducing uncertainty, de-risking, running experiments, learning about the market, learning about your customers, learning about what’s technologically possible, that sort of thing, without kind of fully opting into the one-way ratchet that can be really getting on the venture roller coaster and I think More and more opportunities right now merit that, right? In the sense of there’s a lot of talk around like pivots and things like that, but I just think that there’s a lot of stuff right now where, as we’re starting to see less just true green field opportunities in the world of software and software enabled stuff where it’s like, OK. Nobody is doing anything remotely like this, right? There’s various things that are adjacent or solving the problem in a different way, but we still see a big opportunity here. You kind of need to keep that optionality open to sort of figure out, OK, what is the scope of the opportunity here, how are we going to fill this, how we’re going to build the company that serves this opportunity. And building stuff that has that optionality baked in, I think is probably the right strategy for most entrepreneurs is to really kind of keep your options open. 00:17:17 - Speaker 2: And there’s two parts of that, both of which connect really well to the Muse story. One is just niche software, so part of the venture box is you need to be able to get to a certain size, but not everything that could or should exist in the world necessarily can get to that size, and we don’t know how big the opportunity is for Muse, but we do know or we expect it to be a niche thing. And we want that. We don’t want to have to switch gears into thinking, how do we make this more mainstream, because we think that would cause us to lose a lot of the soul in what we set out to do. And then the other part of it is, call it the experience for the entrepreneur, which is if you are a person that is a tech person, particularly once you have a solid CV as Mark and I and a lot of our colleagues here do, we have a lot of options, and that’s really lovely, that’s a wonderful thing, it’s a wonderful privilege. Then you think, OK, how do I wanna use that and what kind of lifestyle do I want to live, what kind of products do I want to make, what kind of team do I want to be on. And so in thinking through that, we realized, yeah, that intense one-way ratchet adventure is not quite the right fit, at least for what I want out of my life right now. But then to kind of position against some other things as well, you mentioned lifestyle businesses, you mentioned bootstrapping, you mentioned indie hackers. Something we see a lot of in the iOS haps world is, yeah, I would call it in the IOS. Developers where they make a single app or maybe they have a small portfolio of apps, but they’re sort of solo developers or maybe two, something like that. I think of someone like the maker of Agenda, who we had on the podcast a little while back, and that works really well, but you really have to start from nothing. You often are funding on credit cards, or maybe you have a little money in the bank from past success or maybe you have a family member that’s lending you some money. It seems really silly to have to scrape into doing it. And of course, not even everyone can do that when there’s so much investment money out there, but all the investment money is flowing into this one very kind of narrow box. And so you end up with, I think the two sides of the spectrum is ambitious to the point of absurdity sometimes, huge amount of money, narrow constraints, you’re really locking yourself into a certain kind of lifestyle, getting on that roller coaster, adrenaline fueled, whatever. And then the other side is slow and sleepy, small, one person, two people, you just can’t be very ambitious, at least not on the time scale of some decades, and it just feels weird that there isn’t either a middle choice or just other choices. Yeah. 00:19:47 - Speaker 1: And it’s not just that there’s a middle choice and there’s a distribution of, you know, 13, 3, 1/3 between those options. It’s like the middle choice is 99% of every entrepreneur and every opportunity out there. I think what you see is two different ways that people sort of arrive at wanting to build a calm company and both are sort of valid. Often it’s a mix of the two, but it’s kind of a blend of what you were just talking about, which is One is just thinking through the lifestyle that they want to live as founders, the kind of team that they want to build. They want to be able to bring like really top talent who maybe now they have kids and a family and they’re still equally as talented or more so because they’re more experienced than they were when they were willing to like hard charge into a venture back thing in their twenties. But now if you want that person, you got to bring them into a different environment. So there’s that one element of just kind of like, I don’t want to create a company and a life around that kind of approach. And the second thing is just like matching to the opportunity, right? We’re in a moment now where there are just so many opportunities like you talked about that are just not perfectly reasonable, maybe sometimes incredibly sized businesses, especially if you just don’t raise too much money to begin with. So you still own the majority of the company, but they’re not going to reach the kind of billion, 10 billion kind of scale that venture capital kind of narrowly needs. So it’s a bit silly. And one thing I see a lot, there’s like two failure modes that you avoid. One is that I think burnout kills a ton of companies, right? And so that’s where the lifestyle aspects comes into, of like, hey, we’re actually being long term ambitious here. We’re going to try and bring this incredible team together that we know can go the distance, rather than burning out, which I think kills a lot of really good companies. And the second one is trying to continuously expand the idea to the point that it sort of collapses on itself. And I see this all the time from really early stage founders who have clearly been on the sort of pitch train where they’ve been speaking to 50 or 100 VCs recently. And then we started with this idea, and the idea they describe is like great. It’s like the software for this particular industry sucks. There’s still hundreds of thousands of these businesses and we could charge them $400 a month each. We could build this incredible $90 million a year business that we own most of. We started with that idea. But now what we’re going to do is build a platform for like all the adjacent industries that are related. And of course, we’re not going to sell the software because that would limit how fast we grow, you know, it’s like, OK, wow, you’ve just expanded into the realm of, now you’re competing with Amazon and you have no customers yet. It’s like, just go with the good idea. You have this background in this industry, you can build great software for them. You know, they want to pay for it. Just do. that idea. And I think that kills a ton of companies now where you actually have a really good insight into a market need and there is the opportunity there. And nowadays, you have this thing I call the peace dividend of the Sass Wars, which is it’s so much cheaper, easier, faster to start a software company than it was even 10 years ago, that you can bring together a small team with relatively small amounts of capital, like hundreds of thousands, not 10s of millions, and you can launch a product for This market and it can be the best product they’ve ever seen. You can build an incredible company and you don’t have to just like continuously expand the scope to where, you know, you’re explaining how you’re basically going to take over the world. You can just build a great company. And I think that’s another appeal of com companies is you can sometimes just do the straightforward thing. You don’t have to be the all in one fintech omni platform for a particular industry. You can just build good products and sell them to customers. Can still do that these days. 00:23:37 - Speaker 2: Yeah, which again comes back to why explaining it to your family members, where you say, well, we invest in businesses that make good products, sell them to customers, hopefully at a profit. It’s good business, but the software world has these unusual dynamics because of its history, and so it’s in some ways, getting back to the basics of business fundamentals and how capitalism could and should work, but within the new framing of this software and internet world we live in. You mentioned briefly there one thing that was, I don’t know how much it was, probably was reading some of your earlier writings and be exposed to folks in your community, but also it was just something I think was already in my mind, which as I had experienced that don’t charge money too early, you’ll get locked into the wrong revenue, or you’ll actually hurt your fundraiser. Valuations because once there’s an actual number, instead of the investor being able to sort of imagine how much money you’re going to make, they can look at your profit and loss statement and the reality is all companies, no matter how amazing they seem at the start or how much hype they build, the numbers always start small, or I shouldn’t say always, they very frequently start small and they just take time. It takes years to build your revenue, and I’ve been part of startups that do kind of delay charging money and I think there is a discipline of the market, or perhaps it’s just that the product validation you get when someone is willing to pay versus you’re giving them free stuff, you know, here you go, here’s a piece of software that costs millions to develop and we’ve poured our hearts and souls into it and it’s got design and brand and engineering and all these other things, and it’s free. Yeah, you say you like it and yeah, you’re using it, but how do you really know for sure the value of that in someone’s life. We went through this a little bit at Hiroki where we were giving away a lot of free stuff effectively through the way the premium product was set up because we didn’t get the pricing right early on or perhaps. Ever, and what that meant is it was hard to separate people who were getting a huge amount of value over other competing things versus people that just were getting something cheap or free, and they liked that, and that hides the signal of what the value of what you’re creating in the world is. And so that idea of charge as early as you can before you’re really comfortable with it, is something we brought into Muse, and I think we’ve talked about this in past episodes, but basically, when I started pushing for this, when we were 9 months out of the research lab or something like that, at that point we had a pretty solid product in some ways, but when I said we should start charging money for this, Folks on the team, kind of like, wow, I don’t know, you know, I’m used to working on these products for years and you polish, polish, polish, and need to have every feature in the world. Partially, this is a sense of craftspersonship, but frankly, it was kind of a shocking idea if you do come from the tech and software world, but I’m glad we did that because it changed our relationship with our now customers as soon as we did that. You know, if you screw up and there’s a bug and you mess up someone’s data, When it’s free, yeah, people are more forgiving in a certain way, but when they’re paying, they get really angry, and that’s as it should be, I think. So it creates this filter for people that really find value in what you’re doing and force you to sort of get real about the cold hard numbers. 00:26:54 - Speaker 1: Yeah, so it’s interesting, in part, I feel like the building blocks of our overall worldview are just kind of The non galaxy brain take on all of these things, right? What if we just ask the dumb questions and have simple answers to them, essentially it’s kind of the basic components of this, which is, yeah, like what should we do with these products? We should charge money for them. Yeah, that’s probably it, you know, but I’m curious, how do you think about that now in retrospect? Because I think we’re right to be kind of asking the dumb questions and sometimes proposing straightforward answer, you know, what should evaluations be? Well, they should matter. We should think about like, will we ever make money on this, you know, that sort of thing. But I’m not sure we’re always right. I do think it’s worth actually comparing them rather than what you often see as folks just sort of dogmatically assuming like, wow, no, we don’t charge for our products, sort of thing. Where have you landed right now with Muse in terms of What would be different if you were polishing and polishing polishing for several years, potentially in a positive way, like, what’s the case for not charging right now? 00:27:58 - Speaker 2: Yeah, if I’m to play devil’s advocate to my own position, maybe play debate team, right? Take the position you don’t necessarily agree with. Charging money brings you into this realm of commerce and transactions. People expect certain things that really brings it down to earth. But maybe in a way, particularly when you’re doing, and for music I make this argument, it’s a really new kind of product. A lot of people aren’t even really heavy iPad users, and even for people that are, we actually use the iPad and super weird. In unusual ways, it’s a really big mental shift to even understand the vision of what we’re doing and then potentially fit that into your workflow. And so the more you can keep that in the realm of mystery and excitement and less in the realm of just base commerce, I think we could potentially have more time to build excitement, build a community. And then of course make a thing that is when it’s more polished and then if it comes out more to a mainstream audience published on the App Store or whatever, it’s further along, and so you’re more able to understand the ways it’s weird and see why the weird things are what make it good and special, as opposed to just this is weird and seems bad. That would probably be my best argument for something like that. 00:29:12 - Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes sense. I mean, I think it’s a no brainer to charge for stuff when the pain point is just very obvious, right? Basically, if your target customers not using software to solve this problem, or they’re using really, really terrible outdated software and things like that, that’s where it’s just smashed. Button right away, of course, you should charge for this, no brainer. I do think it starts to get into an interesting gray area where you guys are, right, where it’s like, OK, you’re kind of trying to get into people’s habits with things, right? And maybe change their habits, like, even if it’s just they have a go to thing that they pick up. To do that kind of process of brain dumping, mind mapping, strategizing, whatever it is, whichever one of those hooks, if there’s bugs, right? Or if there’s one feature that’s kind of lacking that actually would make that hook work, you can make the case maybe that you only get one or two tries at that depending on how intense the pain point is. So I feel like you guys are actually really close in the middle and I think probably makes sense to charge to get that feedback from power users to make sure you’re actually solving something for them. And I feel like you have put together like the team you need to make sure that it’s not shipped completely terribly. I mean, one thing you’ll see in our world, right, is we talked about like we do a lot of investing in vertically focused B2BA, right? So for industries you’ve never even heard of where like they’re using mostly Excel or something like that, literally emailing Excel files back and forth to each other, we’re like, oh we could build some software for that. You can ship something like that with one developer that takes 3 weeks, and it’s gonna be such a massive improvement for their lives that you should charge for it right away. You can pre-sell that thing with a demo. So it’s interesting to sort of identify what exact kind of opportunity is a match for some of these strategies. And the good part is, at least we’re actually thinking them through at this point rather than kind of picking like one playbook and immediately jumping on it. 00:31:06 - Speaker 3: One other potential wrinkle with Muse, and I’m curious if you’ve encountered any examples like this Tyler is individual versus enterprise. So an argument for not charging with Muse could have been give it for free to individuals, get as much distribution as possible, and expect to eventually only charge enterprises, that is businesses because they have all the money basically. And so I’m curious if you’ve encountered a case like that in your world, probably not, but maybe. 00:31:33 - Speaker 2: That is pretty close to the, what’s usually called the B2D playbook, which Hiroku used in GitHub and Tuo and now countless others, which is the idea that you get developers to use and love something, maybe it’s an open source library, maybe it’s a service, and they use it for their hobby projects for free or nearly free, and then they will bring it to the. Their work, but that does require a long game, particularly if you’re doing something open source, you know, you look at something like an open source database or something like that. There’s a very long period of getting entrenched and winning those developer hearts and minds, and then only much, much later then you start getting that pull of like, hey, I’d like to use this at work by my bosses, we need this or that. Access control thing, do you have this SLA for blah blah blah, and that’s when you slap a big price tag on it and start breaking in the box, but it’s a very long game, and the up front of that it’s a big investment, and that is a place where it is an argument for venture money because you need those pretty large investments of capital for many years before you really start to charge money. 00:32:37 - Speaker 1: Yeah, I was thinking of the same thing with mostly being developer focused. I was not really sure if there was a sort of like tool for thought, project management, like that general space of collaboration with an example of it. 00:32:51 - Speaker 2: The best example there would actually be something like Gmail. Gmail spread far and wide with this incredibly generous free plan. And then they added the Gmail for business thing, and that kind of connected to Google Docs, which again, similar thing, people are using it for free, and then they were able to kind of transition that into the enterprise product. But again, same thing, there it was just backed by a corporate parent, they could just say, Yeah, let’s develop this mind blowingly good piece of software and all this infrastructure that runs it and do that for years and years and years and get this really wide distribution, and then we can go ahead and monetize that. But that would be, I think, impossible to do as an indie hacker, bootstrapper, whatever. Yeah. 00:33:30 - Speaker 3: I also think this playbook could be appropriate for certain two-sided marketplaces. So one that I’ve thought a lot about is recruiting. I almost did a recruiting startup, ended up choosing to do music instead, but there you could imagine offering some sort of services to the candidate side to get them in and get some liquidity in the marketplace and then to charge the hiring firms. Yeah. 00:33:50 - Speaker 1: I think one of the core pieces of our thesis is that a lot of spaces are a lot more saturated than they were, you know, 1015 years ago. So if I was to think about this playbook running it from use, it seems to me like the thing that you would want to test, right? I don’t actually know what the answer is I don’t have an opinion, but one thing I we’re seeing is now when you’re talking about, OK, we’re only going to charge when the whole company starts to use this product to collaborate. The friction point there is going to be probably you’re gonna have like one or two power user advocates trying to convince a large number of people in their organization to switch from something and that’s something might be a little bit more orthogonal, like, you know, we get on Zoom and we whiteboard on a literal whiteboard or something, but you need kind of buy in. Whereas like 10, 150 years ago, it’s just like an open field. It’s like, OK, yeah, we’re gonna roll this out as fast as possible and then they’re going to pick this because they’re not using anything and that’s when we’ll start charging. Now, a lot of times what you find is that you are displacing something or you’re asking your customers to switch from something, and I think that increased level of friction would be the key variable, right, whether you should be just straightforwardly charging the power users and not Being reliant on them, convincing everyone in their organization to switch, just like it can be just them as power users or it can be a small subset of their team that really finds it valuable or the whole company loves it. And regardless, you’re sort of gonna have a linear kind of revenue from them versus like, OK, we only really survive as a company if we’re consistently convincing like whole teams or organizations to sort of switch. That would be the big question. For me, that’s something we think about a lot is basically avoiding that dynamic because a lot of the playbooks that were sort of ran a decade ago, sometimes don’t work as well because now you’re going into a saturated market where they at least have some cobbled together thing on Salesforce add-ons or they have some no code solution or they have something that you’re competing against for their time in dollars. 00:36:00 - Speaker 2: It’s an interesting picture you’re painting here, if you can allow me to rephrase or summarize in my own way. It sort of seems like you’re saying on one hand, the software world is way more saturated in certain areas. People are using when it comes to project management tools and other kinds of general purpose software, even just like, you know, Excel spreadsheets that get the job done for them. Most of the productive world is computerized and has their tools and so on. And so if you go in to do something really general. Purpose, like email or a word processor or these businesses of the past that managed to blow up and fill this just totally wide open frontier, you’re actually in a red ocean there. But in fact, there is still a huge amount of uncovered territory that is just in smaller niches, like you said, verticals, some kind of insurance software that you wouldn’t have even specifically thought of unless you’re in that industry. And so on one hand, there’s maybe more opportunity than ever in all of those spaces. But then on the other hand, the classic places that you go, or if you look at the businesses that were successful in the software and internet world in the last decade or two, those are now in spaces that are very hard to compete in. 00:37:11 - Speaker 1: Yeah, basically, I think there’s fewer and fewer wide open winner take all markets, basically, I think that we’ve started to fill a lot of the big pillars of software productivity world, and if it still cost as much to launch a software startup as it did 10 to 20 years ago, we would be in real trouble, right? Because you really did have to find those really huge winner take all markets to be able to build a software business. But we’re very lucky through this entire stack of products and services and stuff that’s become much more scalable, that you can now launch these businesses and get them to, you know, not just MVP, you can get them to like very, very high quality software solutions with a lot less capital and time and people. So it starts to make sense to fill in all of these smaller pockets, which can still be enormous, and at the same time, As entire industries have become more kind of aware of software or just open to the idea of software finding some of their processes, those number of pockets are multiplying and expanding all over the place. Little sub thesis of ours is that There’s a whole ton of mom and pop industries that have gotten used to the idea of using computers, the internet, not their phone, not paper invoices, etc. by these venture funded vertical marketplaces, right? So you can imagine lawn mowing businesses. 30 years ago, right, they’re not using computers at all. They’re just literally I mean pen and paper and you know, checks mailed and all that sort of stuff. The thing that got them over the hump of just using technology into their business were things like Craigslist and then some of the more omni channel like thumbtack and things like that, like these marketplaces that were aggregating up demand. But now what you have are these folks who are used to getting down to a computer, and that’s how they generate quotes and that’s how they close business and send their invoices. So now they’re starting to think, well, wait a minute, why am I paying this huge 30%, 60% cut to this marketplace? Like maybe I should get my own software and do that process ourselves. And so that’s creating this new demand for B2BAS for lawn care companies, essentially, and you can basically multiply that across just like every small industry that you can think of. And now we’re very lucky that it’s essentially cheap enough and easy enough to build software to serve that solution that you can’t do it and literally just serve lawn care companies and you don’t have to. Expand to every single home care product that exists. Maybe you can, if you’re good enough. The upside is still there, but that’s not the hurdle. You can just build a really good software business that only serves, you know, lawn care companies in the state of Georgia, and that could be like a pretty awesome business. 00:40:04 - Speaker 3: Yeah, I think an important point here is the enormous size and fractal nature of the economy, especially in the US, and so you can go down several branches of the classification tree and still end up in a huge node. So lawn service, organic lawn service in Austin, Texas, I bet that’s still a huge market, right? And you can imagine all the other variants of this, and so there’s corresponding software business to be built at many of those junctures. 00:40:28 - Speaker 2: Fun, relevant anecdote there is many years back when I was doing consulting to pay my bills in between ventures, had a really good client that I worked with for a number of years that is windows and doors. Which is a whole huge branch of the construction industry, and they needed very specific things in their software. Windows not only have their size and the type of glass, but they just break a lot. They break in transit, and there’s a whole service process related to that, and there’s the way you manage the breakage, the little breakage in your inventory, and you kind of account for that. I don’t know, maybe there’s some firm now, perhaps funded by Calm, I don’t know, that makes Turkey software for that, but yeah, we built really comprehensive, complex software for managing all that, and it was a real, at least the owner of their business felt it gave them a real competitive advantage to have all of this computerized in this way. 00:41:22 - Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, there’s just endless examples. Sometimes I get a little nervous because a lot of these are businesses that don’t really want to shout from the rooftops, what a great business they are, but. Yeah, there’s just more than you can think of examples like this that are just comically one little industry only serving Belgium, right? And they’ve built a phenomenal business with like 7 people just raking in cash, you know, and yeah, you can just sort of copy paste that everywhere, yeah, countertop installers and window washing services and all this sort of stuff. It’s amazing. The economy is big. 00:42:01 - Speaker 3: I’ve always enjoyed speaking with these small business owners because they have a certain down to earth and grounded quality, you know, cause the way you’re successful in that realm, it’s like you just kind of sweat it out and you provide good customer service, you make a high quality product, and you get referrals and do that for 10 years. And one of the things I love about the commund is it’s bringing more of that sensibility into the software world. You know, there’s a place for the Galaxy brain stuff, and I’m glad we have all that, but I’m also glad we have some of this so-called small business mentality in the software world. And by the way, these are small businesses that are worth like 10 to $100 million right? So it’s, yeah, still a very good business. Yeah. So one of the things that I mentioned earlier was that you were building Earnest and then calm out in the open, and I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about that, like, was that a deliberate decision, how has it worked out for you, so forth. 00:42:48 - Speaker 1: Yeah, so it definitely was a deliberate decision. One of the early risks that I kind of identified in the plan was that the target entrepreneur that we were gonna try to Build for historically has a really strong distrust of any kind of investor, right? Either they’ve had first or secondhand experience with somebody who had a great business and then raised money from investors that came with board control and then they got kicked out of their own company. There’s a whole laundry list of reasons, but the idea was that one of the first things we had to do was build trust to say, hey, look, we’re legitimately trying to do this in a different way. We’re not just trying to trick a bunch of bootstrappers into taking our money. And I sort of tell people that I’m kind of a one trick pony when it comes to marketing, but it just turned out to be the right trick for this market, which is just really authentically building in public, talking about our thinking, soliciting feedback. And engaging the community has the benefit of being really good marketing and also a way to sort of build trust with that group. So that was why it’s been that way from day one for us. So literally the very first hello world of Earnest Capital at the time was we had designed a new funding structure, basically a substitute for convertible notes and safes and this general toolkit of early stage investing called the Shared Earnings Agreement and Basically just published it and said, hey, you know, we’re about to launch this fund in a couple of months. This is the term sheet that we are thinking of offering. What do you guys think? And literally just wrote up a blog post explaining our thinking, put the term sheet in an open Google Doc with comments turned on, like open comments. Yeah, and just blasted it out to every like community of entrepreneurs that we could find on Twitter. Etc. and we got like several 1000 comments. It turned out to be like really difficult to start to work through, but it was really fascinating to see the way that the folks would engage and they would say, oh, I wouldn’t like this as an entrepreneur and somebody else would pipe in and say, I think you’re not thinking about it the right way. Here’s what this means and all that sort of stuff and just that level of saying like, here’s what we’re doing and we’ve got nothing to hide from day one was pretty valuable. And then from there, I think it’s sort of continued to be a conscious strategy for building trust and engaging with folks, but it really has turned into a full-on kind of community driven strategy where we kind of view or I view my job here is to essentially like. Aggregate this group of entrepreneurs that a lot of the world is sort of overlooking, despite the fact that in aggregate it’s a huge, huge group of of entrepreneurs, aggregate them in some way, listen to them, and then build what they want. So we do that in small ways. With our portfolio, at first we took this very hands-off approach and then we started to get feedback from them that said, hey, we want a little more structure in terms of how we engage with folks in our mentor group and with you guys. So we said, OK, well, what if we took the idea of quarterly board meetings and we made them calm, we like did it our way and so here’s how we’re gonna. And do that and the folks like that. And as we think about the future, it’s like maybe there’s going to be different financial products and everything just kind of comes from building this community of folks, explaining our strategy, explaining our challenges, explaining what we’re trying to do, listening to what comes back, and then trying to make it happen for them. 00:46:23 - Speaker 3: Nice, yeah, I think there are a ton of benefits to building out in the open like this and building a real community, not just of loosely affiliated fans who are really invested and active and providing a lot of feedback and support. One of the things that we talk about with building in the open for a traditional commercial venture is that when you go to bring in new customers or new hires, they kind of already know what’s up, you know, they’ve read your blog and they’ve self filtered in, and they might even be familiar with your lingo and so forth, and we experienced this both as Potential I guess customers of your firm as well as LPs, where I had been following stuff on Twitter and I’d read the school doc and I had seen your spreadsheets of how the seal works, and I’d run all my own simulations. So when we were talking about does it make sense for com to invest in Muse, and when I was deciding should I invest in the fund, I basically knew all the parameters already. I knew you, I know your work, I knew the fund versus having to start from scratch. That was awesome. 00:47:16 - Speaker 1: Yeah, we’re in an interesting market position where there’s a large but dispersed group of folks who 100% get it and then the vast majority of the kind of centralized gatekeepers completely don’t. So for example, like on the fundraising. I mean, we’ve taken like a completely decentralized approach to raising capital for the fund, and we basically have raised from our next fund, we’ll have 249 individuals in it, and that’s almost all entrepreneurs and folks like you guys and basically just people who Read what we’re about and get it and want to support it. We just closed a crowdfunding campaign. We had over 1000 investors join that from the unaccredited space and we’ve basically just built a whole process. Like if you go to our website and you’re interested in investing, you can fill out an email and you get this like 10 part essay series that just lays out with. Really nothing held back, like exactly what our strategy is, exactly what we’re trying to do. You could absolutely just like copy paste a clone of our fund, at least in terms of from the strategy perspective, because we just put it all out there. And what that does is it creates these flywheels of folks who show up, they get it, they want to support it, and we have, I mean, I would say probably. Even before the 1000 crowdfunding campaign, probably 60 to 70% of people commit to investing in the fund before I’ve ever met them, you know, and usually later at least try to have a meeting at some point, but there’s enough out there that they can put the pieces together to join and support it. And now, I mean, with the crowdfunding campaign, I don’t even know, probably 90% of those folks I’ve never met either. It’s a different way to sort of bypass the gatekeepers, which would be like large institutional investors that normally back funds like this, you know, we didn’t want to kind of run into the same issue that I was talking about, where like you have a good idea and you pitch VCs and then you change your idea to try and get money from them. Like I felt like we were setting ourselves up for the same dynamic, basically because we’d be pitching the people who fund the venture funds. So we kind of knew we had. go a different way and that community driven approach was essential for raising the fund. And then we also see the same effect on the portfolio side where we have a lot of folks who show up and say, look, I’m interested to raise money from you guys, or I’m just gonna bootstrap. This is not a process. I’m not pitching 30, 40 funds, like I know what you’re about. It resonates. I want to either raise money and work with y’all or I’m just gonna do my own thing, so. Again, like the one thing I know how to do reasonably well is just like explain what we’re doing and why we’re doing it from just kind of like the only way to get it off the ground to like a real flywheel, I would say of competitive advantage or just making it sort of self-sustaining if that makes sense. So yeah, it’s been cool. 00:49:57 - Speaker 2: As you explain all that, it reminds me a lot of, I guess most of the business ventures I ever do, I usually feel like there is much about, I have something I want to say about the world or I want a product to exist that is weird and different in some way that I think will be good and special, that’s up for the market to decide. But it’s essentially breaks convention or breaks status quo in a number of ways, and two elements of what you’re describing for calm very much strike me as similar to what I went through with Hiroku, what we did with Think Twitch and what we are now with Muse, which is, first of all, once you start questioning some of these base assumptions that Cascades and you kind of end up reinventing everything in a way, like you were mentioning like your board meeting style is going to be different because once you change those base assumptions, everything else kind of has to change. But then you end up with something worse, this whole kind of weird universe into itself, where everything you do is different from what people are used to. And so then the explaining is so critical, right? And so, in Hiroki’s case, I ended up writing tons of blog posts, but also ultimately this manifesto called the 12 Factor, and that’s when things really started to click for people. For years, I’d basically heard people come in and why is this Things so weird, it doesn’t work like how I expect with other hosting it’s like this. Why can’t I write to the file system? Yeah, exactly. Why can’t I ask to say, etc. and we would kind of one off try to explain, well, actually, if you start from those first principles of what we’re doing differently, that is a consequence or a detailed downstream consequence. You know, it takes time to be able to fully articulate that philosophy, but once we did manage to articulate that philosophy, it’s much easier for someone to come in, download all your thinking, and then they come in and see that the product works in a weird way, and it may or may not fit with what they want, but instead of just comparing it to the status quo and being confused, surprised, or even angry that it’s different, they see why it is different, and then they can decide whether that’s right for them or not. 00:51:57 - Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s a really good insight. I mean, there’s this magical thing right about building software is that essentially you just have to write like clear directions and you build a product, essentially, like if you really distill it down, you’re writing this code and explaining very clearly how you want this thing to work and that’s your product, and I never really set out to be in finance or to be an investor per se. It wasn’t like, oh if it wasn’t this, it would be something else. This is the one idea I have for how to build a fund, but I really like it now because it even is like reduced down to just zero steps like clarity of thought is like the whole product basically, essentially just explaining the thesis to both sides of the marketplace, essentially people who want to invest and then people that you want to invest in. That’s basically the entire product. I mean, there’s some ancillary things around controls and processes and stuff like that, but you really do just have to produce clear thinking in a way that’s consumable, and that’s the product, which is kind of a cool business to be in. 00:53:02 - Speaker 2: I’m not gonna lie, so clarity of thought could not possibly be more on brand for Muse. 00:53:08 - Speaker 1: So I’ve got a question for you guys, which is around the idea of how you align and incentivize folks who are on the team, basically employees. I think that for founders, everything about calm companies and a general approach makes a ton of sense. You own the company, you want to build a profitable, sustainable company that lasts. Forever and has great lifestyle for you and your team and as long as you have this nice ownership and maybe you have some nice dividends, you’re not super concerned, but one thing I think is sort of an unsolved problem, both for companies that we’re investing in and a lot of folks in this space is employees. How do you Incentivize them, how do you think about the spectrum of options, profit sharing, sharing in the proceeds if you ever sold, you know, all that sort of stuff, and how do you do it at the early stage when it’s very risky to make sure they have some upside and then how do you do it over the long haul when maybe liquidity events, selling the company is not on the near term road map. Yeah, I’m just curious how you’re approaching that or thinking about that with Muse. 00:54:11 - Speaker 3: Yeah, that’s a great question, and we’ve thought about this a lot. I would say first that I think a lot of the benefits or the appeal of being a staff member at a com company come from these degrees of freedom. It’s like you’re basically able to offer an employment experience that is at least different and we believe for many people better because you have this flexibility. So one thing is remote work, which even a few years ago was not super common, obviously, it’s. Much more common now. But another thing is just like general flexibility in terms of how you work. So we have a partner who really likes to travel the world and work all over the place. So sure you can do that. We had someone who wanted to go to 4 days a week instead of 5, which if you were at a thing would be like a whole thing with HR, right? Or maybe probably not even possible. But here it’s like, yeah, sure, basically, seems good to us. And you have more degrees of freedom to shape the work environment to be however you want. Now more on like the financial and compensation side. That is tough. Our approach has been to try to make all full-time staff members partners in the business. That’s the title that you have title Adam and I have and all the other partners have. And by that, it’s someone who wants to act like an owner, we expect to act like an owner and is in fact a very substantial owner in the business, much more than you would be in a typical venture backed startup. Now, the mechanics. How you actually convey the ownership are very tricky. And we could do a whole podcast. I was actually going to do a workshop at the original Thunder summit on this, like basically the legal and tax mechanics of partner compensation. It’s a huge mess basically because of US tax law. But the kind of spirit of it is that we’ve tried to make the partners substantial equity owners in the business, so that if we do issue dividends, they participate in that. And if we do sell the business, they participate in that, and so forth. 00:55:54 - Speaker 2: And maybe part of where that works for us, certainly because we have a small team, you know, 5 or even if we were to add a 6 or a 7th, I could see that scaling. It wouldn’t go to 25 partners probably wouldn’t make sense. Then you do probably need sort of two different classes, that’s similar to those kind of professional partnerships, like an attorney’s firm or something where there’s partners, and there’s kind of everyone else who are employees. And maybe going back to business fundamentals. It’s OK that we don’t need to waive this lottery ticket of some options that might be worth something. It’s like your salary, that’s your compensation, and it’s not a crazy work environment, that’s all about we’re inventing a platform to change the world, we just, we make a great product, we sell it, and then, you know, employees get paid a fair market share. I feel like there’s precedent from the non-software world for profit sharing plans and things of that nature potentially as a chance to again create a little bit of that upside without the complications of having absolutely everyone be an owner, or I don’t know, maybe there’s stuff we can draw. From co op models, maybe everyone should be an owner of a small amount, but it’s not the startup options. OK, we’re going to pay you less because you have this lottery ticket that might be worth something if we exit someday. It’s like almost the internal worth is very clear because you’re paying dividends. Which is something certainly we will be excited to do if we get to that point where, and I’ve done this for past businesses in my pre-startup life, it was just, yeah, at some point when the business is profitable, you